Hello, My name is Michael Amiraslani, the Co-President of Team Canada here on our Shorashim adventure challenge. Us few Canadians on this trip have been bundled together (much like how eggs and bacon are commonly bundled with maple syrup in every household around the world) by one our humble leaders on this invaluable experience. Humility is what I am going to talk about on this post; thoughts which have been stimulated by some if the most fascinating young men and women I have had the privage of meeting: our Israeli soldiers.
They ran a simulation of basic military training for us merely two and hours and a half ago (at the time of writing it is 12:40am) to give us a ten minute taste of what they go through for four months until they undergo more advanced training in various fields. The goal of these drills is to shock the citizen into a soldier. They had us arrange ourselves into rows of three whithin 20 seconds, which ended up taking about 20 attempts. We were "ordered" to address our Israeli friends as Sir. We were not aloud to look them in the eyes. If we did not obey we would then be instructed to do pushups with hostility. I'll leave the delicious canned food drill out for now since I know there are some parents who would come pick up their children tommorow. I simply cannot stress how powerful the psychological effect was for all of us. The friends we shared laughs and talks with were now dressed in uniform and dark sunglasses, yelling orders. At the conclusion of the drill we had a group discussion to get into the minds of both the soldiers and us participants. The common element amongst amongst all the soldiers was their absolute dedication and passion for what they are doing and the people they are protecting. It was raised by another participant earlier that he has never been as passionate about anything in his life the way that these soldiers are passionate about what they do, a statement which could quite possibly hold true for most people I know. To think that the majority of this country has a shared passion with such strength is not an easy thing to wrap ones head around. This passion and dedication does not come without a cost to these soldiers (besides the obvious). One of our Israeli soldiers pointed out how the majority of the participants on this trip have degrees and have already traveled abroad, while the average Israeli soldier would still be in the military at that time, leading them to accomplish the world of academia and to travel years later than us, a statement which clearly had a deep effect to her. She then went on to say how she wouldn't have it any other way because her country was worth more than anything she knows about, and that the sacrifice was for a country she loves. Again, these soldiers are more passionate than any man or woman I know, and are selfless. My biggest accomplishments in life have been for myself alone, while arguably the biggest accomplishment for these soldiers is the selfless act of protecting their country and the Jewish identity. Truly a humbling expirience. I'm done, Michael Amiralani Co-Pres. Team C
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