The Ironic Simpleness of Life

There is nothing easy about preparing for life in the army, let alone an army far away from where you grew up, but life has been pretty simple lately, and ironically so.

As the month of chaggim finished up just a few weeks ago, a routine has set in for our Garin. Everyday we wake up, eat breakfast, and head to Kibbutz Saad (a Religious Kibbutz 15 minutes away) for Ulpan (Hebrew studies) at 8:00 AM. We spend all morning learning Hebrew in our respective levels, and then return to the Kibbutz by 1:30 for lunch. We continue the day with a period of time to complete our homework or study what we learned, followed by several programs run by Garin Tzabar to learn about Israel or the army, and then followed by an occasional group workout on some days. We complete our days with dinner and then free time during the night, starting at a different time every evening depending on the schedule. A routine has clearly set in, bringing some comfort to our lives.

However, the simpleness of our life comes more-so from what's on our mind, rather than the day to day activities. When there is always a lot to think or worry about, life becomes more stressful and even more complicated. However, when life's goals are simple, and big decisions aren't looming, the simpleness of life tends to increase.

As a kid, while not everything is always the easiest, we tend to think of those years as the simple years of ones life. Kids don't need to worry about making a living, what they are going to do with their lives, where they are going to live, or the many other stresses that comes with adulthood. Instead, kids go to school everyday, learn, play with friends, and try to have the best time they could. I'm not saying life isn't hard for kids. Children still need to deal with social issues, educational problems, the difficulties of growing up and maturing, and many other things. However, when all is said and done, adults many times envy children because they miss the simple days when the big problems in life were fighting over a toy.

As one grows older, life becomes more complicated, and usually, at least I believe, due to the important decisions one will have to make throughout their life. Where will I go to college? What will I do with my life? Will I ever meet a spouse? How will I support myself? How will I support my family? Am I making the right decisions? Life brings constant worries about the future and whether we are making the right decisions.

Throughout the last few years, while I was at college, even though it may not be the most complicated time in ones life, the stresses and ideas I mentioned earlier still loomed. College students are always thinking about what they want to study, what they want to do with their lives, whether they will make enough money to support themselves and their families, and above all else, whether they are making the right decisions. During a time where 18-22 years olds are told to think about their future, natural stresses inevitably present themselves, and I was no exception.

I spent a lot of time in college thinking, and stressing, about what I wanted to study, how well I'd do in my classes, what I wanted to do after college, whether I was making the right decisions, and whether I'd regret any of my decisions later. We were told to think about our future, or at least we assumed that was the goal, and a goal and mindset like that is bound to, and it did, bring stresses.

So now, living my life on the Kibbutz, I can honestly say that my life is a lot less stressful and at the end of the day simpler, and it boils down to our goals.

While the goal of our years in college is to think about and prepare for the future, our goal right now is, and it may not sound simple at first, but it's to prepare for the army.

Everyday, as I wrote about earlier, we spend time improving our Hebrew, exercising, and learning about Israel and the army. Our goal, by the end of the absorption period of Garin Tzabar, is to be more ready for the army and feel more a part of Israeli society. And yes, while these may not be the simplest things, the comparable stress in the atmosphere is far less than anything I felt while at college.

And, despite the simpleness of life now, from everything I've heard about the army, I expect my life not to get easier by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely to become simpler. I have been told that once you enlist into the IDF, you are essentially selling your body to the army. The IDF will tell you when to eat, when to sleep, when you can use the restroom, when you need to run, when you need to crawl, when you can take a break, and when you can't. My life will become a lot harder, but it will also become simpler. I won't need to make many decisions, and my day to day life will be controlled by those above me.

Furthermore, while in the army, I won't need to worry about where I will sleep, how I will afford food, or how I will get around from place to place. I will sleep either on base in the army or on my Kibbutz, the army will feed me throughout the week and I will have food on the Kibbutz when I return, and public transportation is free for all soldiers. So essentially, three necessities of shelter, food/water, and transportation will all be handled for. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I'll have to wear an army uniform almost everyday, so I won't need to worry about what I should wear as well. Life in the army, as I expect it to be, will be tough, exhausting, and monotonous; but will also be more decision free and simple.

The only thing that is not simple, as you may be wondering, is the decision itself. How is it simple, Ira, to decide to leave the country you grew up in and travel halfway around the world to serve in an army in a hostile region? How could that be simple at all? You are right, this isn't simple at all, but it's also not something that's on my mind. This is a decision I finalized last year after thinking about for a long time, and a decision I guess I still could have changed by this past summer. At this point though, the decision is way in the past.

I have chosen to come here, and not only do I not regret it at all, but I'm so happy I did. And, to be completely honest, I haven't thought about this at all. First of all, there is no reason to think about whether I should move to Israel to enlist into the IDF because it's in the past, and furthermore, there are other things on my mind. If anything, the biggest decision on my mind is what I will do in the army, which to me isn't even that big of a decision because regardless of my position I will still be serving in the same army.

Now, sitting on the Kibbutz on a nice weekend day, I hear the silence in the air, see the cats strolling around, and feel the calmness in the atmosphere. None of this is easy, believe me it isn't, but it certainly is a lot simpler, and maybe even ironically so.