Gadna
This past week from Sunday to Wednesday Heller High participated in Gadna at Sde Boker. It was an experience all right. The first day when we arrived we learned how to stand in Akshev. When we put our bags down and came back we were yelled at in Hebrew which was translated by one our bilingual classmates. We were told how this week would be very hard but a good experience. We were then split into Sevetim (group) I was in 19 and had Noya to translate everything. She worked really hard and did an amazing job. I thought her translating was absolute magic due to our Mfahkedet’s accent, how fast she was talking and how much she was saying before Noya could translate. This was same for Zach and Michael as well. Every second we had to stand in Akshev and answer every command Ken Mfahkedet. It was a big burden. My mfahkedet was very nice about it, but whenever we were in a bigger group if the tiniest detail was wrong with our Akshev position we had to do push-ups (sit ups in my case) 7 for boys 3 for girls, regardless of physical strength. One girl did 112 throughout the week. I ended up doing about 50 during the 3.5 days. Everyday waking hour we had to be in our uniform except for right before bed where we held it. We also had to have our bakbook (water bottle) and jacket w/ us at all times. Throughout the days we had multiple activities in the learning center with the big group and others with our Sevet in huts. Above our Miffahkedet was the Hasmedet, possibly another rank and then the Memen. All were very strict. We had to wear hats every second of ever day except for inside buildings when they were uttely forbidden. We had to run everywhere on a ten or twenty second timer which was really hard because it was hard to estimate how much time it would take to gather our belongings, stand up run and put down our stuff and get in Akshev followed by saying Tahn az mon akshav b’mfahkedet.
The food was pretty good but there was not nearly enough and we couldn’t take more. The bathroom situation was a mess. One shower building wijth feces and dirt all over, never showered. One bathroom building same deal, It was horrific the first night my sedet had to clean the bathrooms with lots of mud and other things that were worse. As for the sleeping situation. We had a metal foldable bed spring followed by a foam mattress. NFTY gave us a quilt cover which I’m sure we all went in due to gross sleeping bags that were provided for us. We were forbidden to do anything once in our tents. We had 4 mins to get ready for bed and if anyone talked, laughed, went on their phone or anything besides sneeze they had to change into uniform stand outside in the uncomfortable achshev position for 4 minuets. One time one of us said Lilah Tov after the commander said it and had to go through that ordeal. In the mornings we had to roll up the flaps of the tent before starting our long day.
The day we had to shoot was something, when we first got their the only thing I was scared of was going deaf. But as I was with the gun putting the bullets in I got really nervous. I hated having the power/burden of lives in my hands. When I shot it was so loud and I almost lost control. I continued to use my bullets quickly and wanted to get out. I’m glad I did it but I’m not sure I’d want to again at least with a gun that big. It was used by an American/Capitalist soldier in Vietnam, which I found cool. Later that day we had a physical test 1st was a running test and we had to run in place when we weren’t running. They told us it was all mental and that we could keep going as long as we wanted and somehow I made it until the end. The next round was crawling without using our knees which was basically moving in lush-up position. Due to my arthritis I couldn’t get past going halfway to one side.
Gadna was something special, it was a way of life that I’ve never seen before. I've seen lots of army propaganda but the real thing is too indescribable. Looking back I’m glad I did it and survived it but it’s not something I’d want to do again. So my question for you Kitat Maayan is: Can you name something you enjoyed, disliked and/or wished you had done differently?
For me גדנע was an amazing week that taught me what respect really is. I really enjoyed the last day where we crawled and snuck around a field. My מפקדת was really sweet but also very knowlegable. She taught us that every person has a life, and if you don't respect that person you must respect their life. I wish I pushed myself from the beginning and not just at the end, it would have given me a better and fuller experience.
ReplyDeleteגדנע was my absolute favorite thing that we have done in our short 3 months of being in Israel. It showed me the core values of israel, and I find it beautiful to be unified and to have a peoples army to protect the people. My מיפקדת is someone that I will never forget, she is one of my favorite Israelis that I have met in my life and truly showed me the essence of what it is to respect every person and the importance of equality. I wish I had gone into גדנע with a positive attitude, but I am so grateful that I got into it right away and I loved every second of it, even when it was difficult or when I smelled bad and couldn't shower.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED GADNA SO MUCH. I loved the beginning to the end of Gadna and I think that there is very little I would change about my experience. I think the hardest part was dealing with some of the Israelis who were constantly making comments about me being either a girl or American and then also hearing how they were treating other individuals. However, it didn't affect my experience that much. If there was anything I would change it's that Gadna was longer. I learned a great deal concerning the establishment of Israel and the values that Israel as a whole shares. All of this aided me in not only better understanding but also appreciating the country I've lived in for the past three months and the home of the Jewish people.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed gadna. It was a lot of fun learning what it is like in the army. I really enjoyed shooting the gun and our commander. The hardest part was listening to them all the time in Hebrew because I don't understand it. My only wish is that we were there for longer.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed Gadna. I really liked the mini physical test they gave us, as that was what I had been expecting the entire week to be like, and I enjoy being pushed physically. I disliked sleeping, because I didn't My sleeping bag was ripped, I was freezing, and I had nothing to distract me until I felt tired. I wish that I could be fluent in Hebrew, as I think it would be a more meaningful experience without a translator, even though they were great!
ReplyDeleteGadna was a bit of a roller coaster for me. I started out hating it, and I asked the Madrichim if I could stay in the hotel with Ayli. I am not someone who copes with yelling/anger well, and the change in atmosphere overwhelmed me. Over time, I started to accept that it was a game, and that I just had to play along. So eventually I was screaming "ken hamifakedet" at the top of my lungs with every chance I got. I don't think that I would change too much about my experience, I perhaps would have tried to push myself more in the physical aspects.
ReplyDeleteGadna was awful. It was probably one of the worst parts of this semester. I am not glad that I did it because I wish I lived a life in which I didn't. That said, the most enjoyable part was seeing our Mafadim break character in the end. It was funny and meant that the days were truly over. i disliked all of it but especially the heat. It was **hot**. If I could do anything differently, I would have brought a rubber band to tie my coat tightly, for the coat was extremely annoying.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved Gadna. I even liked the food. The first day was a little bit hard, but starting day two everything became amazing! I loved the short gibush we had and absolutely enjoyed our last day in the field. If I had to change something it would have been that instead of the lessons they taught us about the army (that we could have just found out about before gadna) I wish we had more physical activities.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Gadna as a whole. It was interesting to see my friends in a different way; structured. I think I have found things I have in common with people even under the facade of a militaristic environment. My favorite day was field day. We ran around and played games such as hide-and-go-seek and covered our faces with mud. Though games, they gave us somewhat of an understanding of how the army functions on field operations. If I was to change something about Gadna, I would have wanted to shoot more bullets. We only got to shoot 5 and I was grateful, but bummed out. I also liked the part where the Mefaked dropped the 'act' and talked to us as a friend. It made me choke up for a reason words cannot describe.
ReplyDeleteGadna was okay but it definitely wasn't my favorite thing I've done this whole semester. I really don't like being told what to do and ordered around so it was pretty difficult for me, and at first I was really fed up having to do push ups and the same repetitive running and being in place over and over again. After the first night I just stuck it up and that was that. One thing I really disliked was how they had soldiers stand in our tent until we fell asleep and we couldn't talk or do anything, and I thought it was ridiculous how we only had 4 minutes to get ready for bed, but at the same time I probably would have stayed up talking to people and it's good that I was forced to fall asleep. I really liked meeting other teenagers from Israel too.
ReplyDeleteI liked translating on the first day. I was over it by the end of day two. Also, I have a problem with authority. This just didn't help. Like at all. Remind me to NEVER join a military. Yeah. Not for me.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed our entire time spent at Gadna. I really liked experiencing what it is like to be in the army and to learn the values of thr IDF. One thing I didn’t enjoy about our time in Gadna, was waking up early and feeling dirty. I felt like I was super dusty the whole time. I really liked my Mefaked. He was really kind.
ReplyDelete