Y K C : Resilience (10,000 hours of coffee meetings)
Below are select entries from my Facebook journal during my summer in Israel circa 2016. In 10,000 Cups of Up-side Down Coffee I explored many different themes and emotions (which alongside the pressure and Middle Eastern heat) were pretty intense. Resilience is something the people in Israel have in spades, and something I look to develop every day with every action I take (when I get out of my comfort zone). Looking back on these entries, I can’t believe I experienced such intense emotions, and my posting became a form of therapy. I look back now and the very act of expressing myself and sharing my experiences had a cathartic quality to it. I have edited (and added content) where appropriate.
I used Instagram to take my pictures, and decided to add a picture from last summer for this entry in addition to the original pictures and keep this entry in a long-form content style. I toyed with the idea of self-publishing a coffee table book with these photos and experiences but as I had not gotten around to doing it decided listen to my own advice and stop trying to be perfect. One day soon I will dig up my journals from my time as a solider and self-publish them…
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“The most important thing in life is to dare. The most complicated thing in life is to be afraid. The smartest thing in the world is to try to be a moral person.”
-Shimon Peres
⚪️4th of July
In the States the July of 4th is always a joyous time spent with family and friends celebrating the country’s birthday and our everyday freedom. Israel’s Independence Day period is a day of intense mourning followed by a day where the country holds street parties and people bop each other over the head with blue and white plastic hammers.
America has helped Israel more than any other country since Israel’s founding. The US-Israel relationship is understood as Israel’s most important relationship. You see this manifested day to day in the gratitude and respect the citizens of this country have for the United States. Even in such a divisive time, with such divided political leadership in this country Israel remains America’s most staunch supporter. It of course goes deeper than just shared interests, there are shared universal values. But honestly, looking at the political malaise in both countries, I wonder sometimes how much we’re going to have in common in the future.
When deciding what to post I wanted to show a more bittersweet realistic portrayal of how important the fight for freedom is (especially during this time given world events). On this 4th of July the freedom (and the concept of universal human rights) America brought to the world should be appreciated more than ever.
The picture below from is Mike’s Place, a bar right next to the US Embassy situated on the beautiful Tel Aviv beach. In 2003 the bar was attacked by two suicide bombers who killed 3 Israeli citizens. They were murdered for no other reason than a perverted hated of freedom; what Israel, and what America stand for. Freedom comes at a cost, and in 2016 it’s cost we are still paying.
⚪️Second Lebanon War
The Second Lebanon War started this day 10 years ago (July 10th, 2016). I was living in Tel Aviv at the time and remember waking on that terrible day to the news of IDF reservenicks Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser’s kidnapping by a cross border raid the Hezbollah conducted. I recall sitting on the beach later that day with friends overcome with the sense of dread that a war was coming.
10 years on, and 10 years of relative quiet on the northern border. And despite the recent violence in Syria that remains true circa February 2018). I remember the public outcry after the war and how heads rolled politically; the Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and Chief of Staff all eventually went home. As someone who served on the northern border when I was a soldier in Golani it is a deceptively quiet border that literally explodes all at once. Maybe the talk of hitting Hezbollah and southern Lebanon very hard during the war caused the terrorist organization to think twice. Maybe it’s been Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian civil war that’s kept the quiet. Who knows, no likes to think about the 100,000 odd missiles they have amassed since then. Unfortunately, time will tell.
As for the picture below; I’m sure this olive tree was planted in Rabin Square as a symbol of peace. While in the current political environment that seems far off, olive trees still grow in the terrain of northern Israel and southern Lebanon. It is also the Golani insignia.
May the memory of those who fell fighting for this country be blessed. My review of Pumpkinflowers here (Matti Friedman’s book which best describes Israel’s long history in southern Lebanon).
⚪️First Sergeant Omri Elmakis Z”L
The last few posts at that time had been lighter and I wanted to sit a few days with my thoughts before I wrote this post below. I attended the memorial service at the military cemetery in Ramla signifying 10 years (in 2016) since a friend from my platoon in Golani; Omri Elamakis, was killed fighting in the Second Lebanon War.
On a personal level I can’t believe 10 years have passed since that surreal, terrible summer. I remember it like was it was yesterday; hearing the news of Omri’s death, and how he fell during an operation in the southern Lebanese village of Markhaba. I’m never going to forget that call; the solider on the other line crying and telling me Omri had been killed, the wails of the women at the funeral; the oppressive August heat and the constant news of casualties streaming from the battlefield only a few kilometers from Israel’s northern border.
10 years on and life continues in Israel; because what else can people here do but continue forward, survive, and ultimately overcome and thrive. There can be no real consolation when a country’s youth are taken away from it; ultimately those who have paid the ultimate price live on in our hearts…
⚪️גולני שלי
I haven’t been at Golani Junction since I hiked 90 odd kilometers or whatever the insane amount it was to get my brown beret many years ago, so I decided to stop by the camp grounds. I thought I would write a sappy post about camaraderie, blood, sweat, overcoming physical and mental struggle. But as I roamed the grounds and saw all the old IDF equipment used by the infantry another idea came to mind.
Below is a pic of an Achzarit (אכזרית in Hebrew, definition “cruel”), which is a gutted Soviet Era T-55 tank Israel captured from the Arab armies and jerry-rigged as a heavy armored troop transport used to take soldiers into dangerous areas under heavy fire. (I took a course during my service learning how to drive a similar monster truck lookalike… unfortunately that license has not been transferable to civilian life.) This bootstrapped transport epitomizes the spirit of how the IDF utilizes its limited resources; in very similar fashion to start-up culture, making the most out of nothing (in this case an out-of-date junkyard tank), and succeeding to accomplish the mission with what they have at hand.
There are many talented entrepreneurs who came from the ranks of places like 8200 (and other prestigious intelligence units), but I know there are such as many talented entrepreneurs who founded successful start-ups from the ranks of Golani and other combat units. The daily stress that is the life of a combat soldier serves as much as a life skills incubator for an entrepreneur. Yes, service in 8200 refines a young soldier’s programming skills (or so I am told and is the beginning of a track towards a career in tech as well as a built-in network) but service in the infantry and related roles are the ultimate leadership accelerator. If the data on that is not available I’m going to find it or create it. I addressed and developed these ideas in Run, Shoot and Code I and Run, Shoot and Code II.
Soldiers use many rhymes to pass the time during their service; in this case one comes to mind: “Golani m’alter, Golani panther”. It makes less sense in English but is used when a Golanick jerry-rigs something under pressure.
To phase in 2018 terms: “Golani hacks, Golani succeeds”
⚪️Tikkun Olam Makers
JLM: Makers for Heroes What an inspiring evening it was what was an amazing and emotional event. On that day groups of Makers worked with wounded IDF veterans to come up with practical, low cost solutions to improve the wounded veterans’ day to day lives. The event, brought together many different and diverse communities from here in Jerusalem. The teams demoed what they created that evening such as Team Moran’s device; a low-cost prototype which assists people who use crutches to carry items. Moran is a young woman injured in the Israeli Air Force flight school; because of her injury she has restricted use of her ankles. Team Moran won the competition but there were many inspiring stories such as the officer from an elite paratrooper unit who was injured during operation Protective Edge in Gaza, all he wanted to do was find a solution to do a proper pull-up. An incredibly talented and inspiring group of people.
Jonathan ‘Yoni’ Frenkel
