Giyus season

July 24, 2008 - 10:28 AM by Jessica

It’s not even 11 a.m. and I already experienced a first for the day: We took my niece, Noa, to her giyus, or induction, into the army.

Noa isn’t my first niece or nephew to enter the army; in fact, she’s number seven. But for a variety of reasons, while I’ve attended my share of army ceremonies, from one nephew paratrooper receiving his red beret to a niece’s promotion to officer and a host of others, I’ve never actually brought anyone to that very first day of the army, when they’re numbered, processed and sent on their way to basic training.

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Noa’s heading to an education unit, where she’ll be working with soldiers who are considered at-risk, coming from low-income, troubled homes. She’ll be joining a bunch of friends from her mechina, the pre-army program that she did last year in Tel Aviv, where she and 29 other 18-year-olds lived in the city, working with immigrants, refugees, studying art and keeping in shape by running on the beach at six o’clock every morning.

So besides being a year older than the average inductee, she had a lot of friends there this morning, which made it feel more like we were dropping her off for summer camp than for the army. We were dropping her off at Ammunition Hill, a battlefield and historical site known from the Six Day War, but given the swarm of teenagers in shorts and tee-shirts carrying massive backpacks, with parents looking on nonchalantly, it didn’t necessarily feel like a major moment in life.

And so, we acted accordingly. We sent her off with lots of candy and gum, face wipes — it gets sweaty during basic training in the summer — bandaids, blister pads (for coping with uncomfortable army boots) and a small screwdriver. That, said my nephew Eliav, Noa’s older, wiser brother, is great for cleaning out the gunk from your gun.

We said our goodbyes, and two hours later, I received a text message: “The bus ride was fine. We first got to watch a movie. It really is like camp when you have all your friends with you.” Go figure.

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