If you are a soldier stationed along the northern border for Rosh Hashanah, will there be apples and honey, sheep or fish head, or even shofar blasts? Can it still feel like Yom Kippur if you are driving a tank or operating a drone in the heart of Gaza City while others are deep in prayers in synagogues across Israel?
B, a lone soldier from Canada in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, understands that he may be limited in his celebrations during the upcoming holidays when he is scheduled to work. And, he says, he is ready and willing to serve.
“On base, there is a cafeteria with warm food and holiday options,” he explains. “But the nature of what we do is 24/7, and as soon as you take a break, you could be called back into action. When we go in, it’s mostly canned food.”
While his friends feel sorry for him, concerned that he will miss the joys of the upcoming holidays, he is not worried at all.
“It is a great pride and honor that our jobs as combat soldiers are letting the rest of our Jewish brothers and sisters enjoy the holidays safely,” he says.
He understands that he may have to adjust some of the usual practices that, as a Jew with an Orthodox upbringing, he has become used to. He has served during other holidays, and he is schooled and perfectly content with the prospect of not observing things quite the way he would at home.
“We are here to give the soldiers everything they need to do the mitzvot,” assures Rav Shaul Aviel, one of 30 rabbis in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion. There are many more rabbis enlisted beyond Netzah Yehuda as well.
“Our soldiers will have shofar, honey, and all the simanim [traditional symbols for a sweet new year]. The army even tries to accommodate personal customs. The Netzah Yehuda haredi brigade provides some of the rabbis available to lead prayers and give the soldiers guidance and words of Torah to keep as many Jewish traditions as possible. We try to give the soldiers everything they need,” he elaborates.
“Even in the hardest places, the army provides a small Torah, transported in a backpack, portable aron kodesh [Ark], and the soldiers can pray and read even in the heart of Gaza.”
The Rabbinate has consulted with top authorities and has written a book of guidelines with laws designed to help each soldier observe in the manner he is accustomed to.
This, B says, he studied extensively during advanced training, months before he went into combat. He learned some of them in the hesder yeshiva of Sha’alvim as well. Then, he says, the army reinforced it.
Religious zeal is good, but religious bravado has no place on the battlefield, he explains.
Halachot of religious life in the army
Religious army life is not intuitive. Rav Aviel says that a soldier in the midst of an operation on Yom Kippur, for example, is actually forbidden to fast. Fasting is simply not an option for someone on the battlefield.
“When someone has grown up with Yom Kippur as the holiest day of all, this is hard to fathom,” B says. “But whenever it comes to saving a life, you are allowed to break any Jewish law. Not only that – it’s actually a mitzvah to do so. So while it may be weird, it is the right thing to do.
“We learned the laws pertaining to being Jewish soldiers four months before we went in,” he adds.
A soldier who gets called off base on Yom Kippur must break his fast immediately, Rav Aviel says.
“Hashem wants them to take their communication device, their weapon – it is as big a mitzvah as any other,” he asserts. “Saving lives trumps all Halacha.”
As for breaking the Yom Kippur fast, B explains, “The body requires energy and water. As a member of the infantry, I may be expected to run five or six kilometers in the sun. If someone hasn’t had food or water, it is easy for him to have a stroke.
“And he not only puts himself at risk, he puts his whole platoon at risk. If the platoon has to stop to wait for him to recover or be evacuated, we could lose time in saving others. We also put ourselves in danger. A platoon staying still for too long can be suicide on the battlefield.”
Lt.-Col. Ortal Gabriel Edri, head of the Food Procurement Branch, is responsible for making sure that soldiers are well fed on the holidays and every day.
With many Jewish mothers in the group of 50 army logistics personnel, including army reserve officers, responsible for providing food for the entire army, Edri says, “Our slogan is ‘It comes from the heart.’”
“Our goal is to make sure the soldiers feel ‘at home’ during our holidays,” Edri explains. “Before we buy ingredients, we speak with the soldiers to find out what they need and want, whether they are in Gaza or Lebanon. The dishes we prepare will be the same, but the food suppliers may vary, depending on where they are stationed.”
When soldiers are on bases within Israeli borders, they are guaranteed hot meals for the holidays. For Rosh Hashanah, that means all the fixings, which includes apples, dates, honey, hot soups, kabobs, chicken, and asado. Soups will include kubbeh soup, chicken soup, minestrone, and harira, a Moroccan specialty. Fruits such as yellow dates and mandarins will be provided for the special “Sheheheyanu” blessing customarily made on Rosh Hashanah.
Provisions for soldiers on base
Synagogues on base will consist of a large tent with a traditional separation for the men and women, so female soldiers can participate in the prayers as well. Anyone is welcome to participate, says Rav Aviel. “They are given a place and siddurim [prayer books] to pray alongside the haredi, hiloni [secular] – all together.”
On base, the pre- and post-Yom Kippur meals will be filling and sumptuous, Edri assures. Should a soldier need to break his fast to go on a mid-Yom Kippur mission, he will be provided with food and drink to give him the energy to enter the battlefield.
Soldiers on duty in Gaza or beyond the bases will not have hot food but are given a package containing the traditional foods in packages and cans, such as beans, beets, dried apples and honey, cake, grape juice, pomegranate juice, peas and carrots, pumpkin seeds, fish crackers (instead of fish heads), and tuna fish, along with an elegant Rosh Hashanah Seder plate.
“All the soldiers will have the opportunity to hear the shofar on Rosh Hashanah,” Rav Aviel asserts. He says that because we have conquered so much of Gaza, he is hoping there will be no areas where the sound of the shofar does not ring out on Rosh Hashanah.
Even the “Tashlich” prayer, usually said at a body of natural water, can be recited along the Mediterranean Sea or at one of the ponds in Gaza. Worst-case scenario, for those stationed inland, he says, the support rabbis will provide makeshift basins to help the soldiers recite their prayers.
B is looking forward to hearing the shofar echo its message of hope throughout Gaza.
“Even during a mission in the religious platoon, they make sure that our minyanim are covered. We hear the shofar, and it gives us motivation – inspires the Jewish soul. Loud and proud.”
He adds that lone soldiers like himself are given a lot of support in the army and even occasional l’chaims, along with plenty of motivation.
“Today, they gave us fabric tablecloths, Kiddush cups, crystal candlesticks. And when we’re not on base, they match us with families to visit for Shabbat and holidays.”
He says the relationship with the people he protects is one that benefits both parties.
“We are all one family,” he says. “We know that even when we are protecting millions of Jews – not just in Israel but in the Diaspora as well – millions of our people are praying for us. The Jewish people take care of each other. We cover each other.”
He says that within the platoon, they are a family of warriors. Being with them for the holidays is indeed spending time with family.
Lost family time
Reserve soldier E, stationed in Gaza, has a more complex situation.
His wife and three children are left to divide their time between his parents and his wife’s parents while he fights. “While it’s a zchut [honor] to be in the reserves, I feel bad that my children and my wife have to be without me for the hagim.”
Initially called up on Oct. 7, E was with his family for last year’s round of High Holy Days; but this year, he has spent months in combat in Gaza and isn’t due out until the end of October.
“Each unit will have a shofar,” he says. “It will be a special experience to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah in Gaza. Like our ancestors on the way to battle, we are continuing the tradition.”
Meanwhile, he is thinking of ideas to try to make up for lost time with his wife and children.
Sukkot on the battlefield, B says, is “very good energy.”
“Whatever they bring us, we use. It’s a great experience. We may not have the best resources, but we still have beautiful moments with our brothers in arms. We always find a solution. We may not be able to build a sukkah for all of us – sometimes it could be a target – but we find a way to do something.”
Indeed, Rav Aviel is ready with a solution. “Even in the heart of Gaza, our soldiers will have sukkahs,” he says, albeit small personal sukkahs that they will eat in one at a time. Each is one square meter, with the required bamboo roof to enable the soldiers to eat in them. The sukkahs are fully transportable from place to place with the soldiers.”
Edri promises that the Sukkot food on base will be memorable. It will include fricassee – a Tunisian fried bread filled with tuna, egg, and hot sauce. There will be holiday meals to enjoy that will include entrecote, asado, pineapple, and a variety of fruits to celebrate the harvest season.
The logistics crew provides the same menu to soldiers all over the country, even though certain items are sourced locally. Furthermore, Edri asserts that everything is taste-tested by the food procurers to ensure quality. They have special menus for vegans that include artichokes stuffed with soy protein, sweet potato, or broccoli patties.
“We accommodate all tastes and cultures,” he says. “We love our soldiers, and as much as we love feeding them, we want them to all come home soon.”
B has not regretted his decision to become a lone soldier and serve his fellow Jews, even as the rest of the country takes a Jewish holiday break. “While Canada is beautiful, with lakes and trees and mountains, there is no place like Israel for Jews. Keeping them safe while they celebrate the holidays is an honor and a privilege.”