…בראשית, הייתי ברוטשילד בדרך לוונג

In the beginning, I was on Rothschild, on the way to VONG. But it started before that. It started when I couldn’t handle the States and would google things like, “how to join the idf,” inevitably ending up on Garin Tzabar’s website. Or maybe it started even before then, when I mused about enlisting instead of going straight to college. But really, the first active step was while I was strolling down Rothschild, on my way to pick up a chicken curry-esque dish a la 10bis.

I don’t totally remember what prompted it. All I knew was that I needed more information. So during my lunch run, I called Garin Tzabar’s Israeli office. While I was perhaps more confused after that initial phone call, what it started was a process I had perhaps subconsciously dreamt of or thought of for at least a while.

It was while I was on Rothschild with my oversized VONG bag, chicken curry in hand, that it hit me: I was going to join the IDF. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the next logical progression in my life. I wanted to finish school and I wanted to make Aliyah. The IDF seemed to fit into that plan perfectly, and Garin Tzabar seemed like the perfect transition.

But this was just the beginning.