הכל יעבור

"Step after step" they say. As we are walking deep into the night, with unimaginable body weight on our backs, we are told to just continue taking step after step, and soon everything will pass.

Since I finished paratrooping course, a two week course where we jumped three times, we returned to base in late August for a short easy week. Since then, there was this feeling in our platoon that all we need to do is get through the next four weeks, and then this seven month training period would essentially be over. Why did we say this? We said this because ahead of us were four super intense weeks in the fields, weeks where we scarcely slept and where we were pushed to the maximum. After these four weeks, which is where we are at now, we knew we had a lot of breaks for the Jewish holidays, and then after we would have three more weeks of training, which at that point is the final push.

So essentially, the last four weeks have been very tough. We've had two full weeks in the open fields, far away from base and living like animals. We had one week off base learning combat in urban areas. And we also had one week of advanced shooting with tests we needed to pass. On top of that, we've had three masaot, which are long treks with our equipment on our backs, comprising of 17km, 23km and 31km respectively. Each trek takes hours to complete, as we are walking endlessly into the night.

*Platoon in the shooting range

This past week specifically was the hardest of them all. We left for the fields right as Shabbat was ending, walking 8km to our first destination. From there, we continued the week performing drills, walking and walking some more, and learning how to operate in the fields during a war. We then came back Wednesday morning and had time to rest before embarking on our 31km trek later that night.

Throughout this all, there is this shared feeling that הכל יעבור, everything will pass. We know that despite the pain we might be feeling right now, and the tiredness in our movements, at the end of the week we will be laying down in a comfortable bed eating whatever we want. We know that everything will pass simply because everything has passed before.

This past week wasn't the first hard week we've had. We've had tough weeks with little sleep and a feeling that the week would never end. The hours would move slowly and the work would feel burdensome. However, those weeks would pass, and in the end we'd be relaxing and living life the way we want to live. This mental state has made the last few weeks easier. As a platoon, we've been through a lot. We know that the hard weeks will pass, and no matter how hard something will get, that too will pass.

This mindset is a skill that I think will help me far after the army, and one that I really struggled with in the beginning. However, with 1.5 months left to go of training, and with most of the hard weeks in the past, there is this feeling that not only are we almost there, but whatever we have left will also soon pass.