גיבוש צנחנים

Avi O.

South Africa

צנחנים, מאי 2021

My Experience At The גיבוש

So yesterday I did Gibbush Tzanchanim, and this morning I received the message that I passed — and I want to say that Tzevet Mikey was largely responsible for my success. They have contacts in the unit who got me in even though I gave up after 15 minutes. Okay, סתם ,not really. I feel like I was actually just prepared both mentally and physically for the exercises and challenges we had to face because of the time I invested in myself through Tzevet Mikey workouts.

The day began at the Lehavim train station, where we filled out some procedural forms with our details before we were led onto the bus and driven to the Tzanchanim basic training base. Although I expected to start out with a two or three kilometer run, we were instead led into large indoor basketball court for a beep test, with the task of having to
run from one side to the other before the beep sounds, as the time before each beep incrementally decreases (just in case you didn’t know what a beep test was). To be honest I did not feel good after that; I felt like I could have given a bit more by running another one or two laps. I actually thought then that that was it, I was going to be eliminated
before we even started.

Soon after we were split up into groups and lined up in a חת , and they called out numbers, but I didn’t hear mine. Luckily— for me, at least—it turned out that those were actually the people who had been eliminated…pretty awkward…

For the next few hours we were allowed to relax a bit in dorm rooms while we waited to have our interviews with the megabshim (those that conduct the גיבוש). When I
had mine, they asked simple yet important questions like: where are you from, why did you make Aliyah, why do you want to be in Tzanchanim, can I catch a ride with you back to Jerusalem after this (maybe that last question was separate from the interview though. סתםםם he didn’t ask me that).

This part of the gibbush is pivotal, but just as other people suggested to me beforehand—be yourself and don’t specifically try to impress them, they have a nose for inauthenticity.

We were also made to drink a liter of water every hour. People…loved that. Yeah, they definitely did not complain that they were over-hydrated already or that they were going to go into kidney failure.

I will warn, all of the waiting around can put a pretty hefty dampener on your motivation, because you’re just waiting for the “real” gibbush to start. But just remember that it already has and this is a part of the challenge—even though תכלס it was just too hot for the main workout.
Finally we were taken on a five minute bus drive to a beautiful hilly area where we could see two massive, comfy looking sand pits waiting for us. For the next, I’d say, three hours, we did a combination of sprints (the last hour with a stretcher for those who were fastest) and crawling along the sand. Little tip: if the megabesh says, “this next lap is optional”, it is definitely not optional. Even if you think you are about to slowly pass away, don’t stop moving.

Throughout the physical/mental challenges, we were asked to have two discussions and put forward representatives to speak about what was discussed, for example: we had to have a debate regarding whether or not testing on animals for medical purposes is morally just or not, and offer three opinions for and against it; we also were given an imaginary situation in which someone’s friend was in debt so he stole money from a criminal, and now we had to decide whether or not to report our friend to the police.

At what I found out later was the end of the gibbush, we were led back to the base, and I thought that there was another hour or two left of exercises, but then we were lined up in a חת and the megabesh congratulated us for finishing. I soon noticed that they had set up food tables for us. We all went to eat, to get refreshed. And those were some of the best stale chumus sandwiches I ever had.

I want to thank Tzevet Mikey for preparing me for this gibbush and the army in general. The specific exercises that are incorporated into the sessions as well as the intense and inspiring environment empower all those who have had the זכות to take part in it.