Moving IDF Ceremony

The crowd begins to form.

Young soldiers and sailors.

Rifles and Bibles at the ready.



The IDF Band; so cool!

This afternoon, we were able to score some highly sought-after tickets to the underground tunnels of the Western Wall. This was one of the highlights of our trip so far - it was amazing to walk the entire length of the Western Wall underground. Jen wrote about our tunnel trip above.

However, when we were headed toward the tunnel tour, we happened upon the setup for an Israel Defense Force (IDF) ceremony in front of the Wall. We talked to our tour guide in the tunnel who told us that at 7:30 p.m. the ceremony would be an initiation ceremony for new recruits into the IDF infantry and into the Israeli equivalent of the Navy Seals.

After our tunnel tour, we stayed for the ceremony, which was incredibly moving (despite several speeches in Hebrew that we didn't understand at all). The crowd was huge - it was wall-to-wall people and it was impossible to see much, thankfully they broadcast the ceremony on big-screens. After the speeches, it was time for the new recruits to be formally inducted into the military. Each recruit approached one of the green tables.

When the new recruits were handed their rifles, they were also handed a Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) from the piles set up on top of more than a dozen tables. Such is the Israeli military - preparing for and carrying out war based on the Jewish principles and laws of the Bible.

After all of the new recruits were issued their rifles and Tanakhim, the IDF band (which includes several singers, backup singers, and a electric guitar player), which entertained the crowd during the rifle and Tanakh issuance ceremony, led the soldiers and the crowd in the national anthem, "Hatikvah." Seeing and hearing everyone sing the anthem was just incredible.