Before the Beginning of the Road

On a journey like ours, it would be tough to place a date and time on the "beginning." It would be nearly impossible to say just when it became "real" or which stage of the process was truly the start. The truth is that in some ways we are well on our way while in others we are not even close.  Four months since my last entry, though, there is some news (even if it is only minor), as we have both completed our preliminary applications to participate in the program which we hope will facilitate our move. After many months of waiting, we have finally made the first tangible movement toward realizing our ambitions of serving in the Israeli Defense Forces.

It seems appropriate to discuss what this program is now and what we hope it will do for us. Tzofim Garin Tzabar is a program that pulls together diaspora Jews (both Israeli-born and otherwise) who have a yearning to move to Israel and serve in the IDF. The objective of the organization, a branch of the Israel Scouts, is to create a family-type support environment for the individuals who participate so that they are not alone in their experiences. For these specific "lone soldiers" (those who serve without family members in Israel), the Garin becomes a "home away from home" and is a crucial benefit. Each Garin comes from a different region of the United States (or somewhere else) and begins by familiarizing its members with one another and their journey with seminars in their home area before moving as a whole to a kibbutz in Israel and preparing for/executing the draft process. Needless to say, there is more to be said about it, but that will do for now.

Garin Tzabar has become an extremely important part of our planning for aliyah and our draft into the IDF. The benefits of this program will make our lives much easier both now, in the planning stages, and in the future, when we are going through various parts of our service. We have both been registered to receive information on applying for the longest time and it would be impossible to explain how happy we were to see the preliminary registrations open. We are now eagerly waiting to be contacted for interviews. Our hope, of course, is that we are accepted into the program and are able to take advantage of what it has to offer.

I want to make sure that I am documenting each landmark, however major or minor, so that it may serve as something to look back on for us and something to assist whoever may be coming along the same path in the future. While it may seem trivial to blog about an extended form that we have filled out, it represents something large in the bigger picture. My intention is that our experiences are shared before, during, and after our move and our service.

 - Darren