A Missed Ceremony Recaptured

Paula R. Stern
A Soldier's Mother
08 January '10

After the first three months in the army, most combat units have successfully completed the first level of basic training. They've mastered, for the most part, the concept of discipline, of using a gun, of being...well, a soldier. In those first three months, the boy that entered moves so much closer to the man that will, God willing, exit some three years later.

To mark this moment when the boy becomes a soldier, trusted by the army - one of them, there is a ceremony. It is called the Swearing-In Ceremony, in that this is when the soldiers make their commitment to serve and defend the State of Israel. It's an incredible concept, really.

First, they receive two symbols of Israel: they are given a Bible, and they are given a gun. Really, they've had the gun for many weeks already, but this is the formal handing over of a concept and a reality. From this moment, the gun really becomes theirs; the responsibility to know where it is at all times, to use it only as trained.

Second, they are given the "oath," if you will. This too is a beautiful concept. They weren't asked to swear an oath when they entered the army but rather now, three months after they have already worked so hard, changed so much. This too, is a very Israeli concept. Come, learn what we are asking you. Understand this is not a picnic. You will be taught to use a gun...and God help you, you may well have to use it. If you are in artillery, you will be taught to shoot large missiles at accurate targest far in the distance. Paratrooper? You will be taught to jump from planes and land in far off places, there to fight for Israel. Navy? You will patrol our borders. Air force? Our skies.

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