A Cammando in Hashem's Army as appeared in Hamodia

A Commando in Hashem's Army!

Debbie Shapiro interviews Ariel Siegelman

"In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles" Ben Gurion.

At 3:30, the doorbell rang and I opened the front door to a young man sporting a large black velvet kippah, long tzitzitt, and a smile as large as Wyoming. Ariel Siegelman is a soldier in an Israeli Defencse Force special counter terrorist unit that's been involved in many "serious and dangerous operations in enemy areas." Six years ago, while still active in the IDF reserves, Ariel took his expertise in counter-intelligence and security to an international level with development of The Draco Group, a security company specializing in security solutions and security training to clients worldwide. One look at this gentle young man with keen, intelligent eyes and my stereotyped preconception of the egotistic macho "kochi v'otzem yadi" Israeli soldier was shattered.

THEY NEVER MISSED AN OPPORTUNITY TO REMIND ME OF MY JEWISHNESS

Ariel grew up in North Carolina "on the border of Georgia and Tennessee," in a secluded rural area, where "aside from my family, there was only one other Jew living there.

"There was only one other kid in my school that wasn't a Baptist – he was Catholic. The kids would ask me where I went to church. I told them that I don't; that I'm Jewish. They were even more shocked when I told them that I don't believe in their god. It was a difficult time for me. They never missed an opportunity to remind me that I was a Jew - I guess I own them gratitude for that, baruch Hashem."

Ariel grew up with a strong sense of Jewish identity. His parents sent him to a Lubovitch shaliach to prepare for his bar mitzvah, and from then on he put on tefillin every morning. Although he didn't keep kosher, he was always careful not to eat pork.  

In college, Ariel became involved with a non-Jewish foreign exchange student and traveled to France to meet her family. "At dinner, I asked what type of meat was being served. The girl's mother quickly answered, 'Don't worry. I wouldn't serve pig while you're here.' With those words, my girlfriend's grandmother started yelling at her daughter, and within a few minutes, the entire family was screaming at each other– in French, of course. It was as if a firebomb went off! With my refusal to eat pig, the grandmother had realized that I am Jewish, and she was furious that there was a Jew in her house! She had lived in Occupied France under the Nazis; who knows how many Jews had she sent to their deaths? It suddenly dawned on me that I could not marry this girl – or any other non-Jewish girl."

DISCOVERING JUDAISM

Not long after Ariel returned to the United States, his best friend was killed in a car accident. "It happened when he was on his way to visit me. I suddenly realized that life is very short. I had no doubt that my friend, Eric, was standing before Hashem, giving an accounting of his life, and I suddenly realized that life – even if one lives live to be a hundred and twenty – is really very short. What was I doing with my time on earth? Was having a good time at a party really that important? I knew that I had to identify my values and then do something with it."

Not long afterward, a visiting rabbi gave a lecture at my university campus. "All of you came to this lecture because being Jewish is important to you," the rabbi began. "But if someone was watching how you live your life, how long would it take for that person to realize that you are Jewish. What are you doing on a day-to-day basis to identify yourself as a Jew?"

That question piqued Ariel's curiosity. What COULD he do to express his Jewishness? Before long, he and a friend began studying Judaism together. "Neither of us really knew anything," he explained, "but my father, who had meanwhile become religious, provided me books and made himself available to answer our questions. I soon came to the conclusion that I should show pride in my being Jewish by behaving like a Jew, in other words, to follow the Torah. By the time I was twenty-two, I was trying to live my life according to the halachah.

"Then, in September 2000 the Intifada broke out. Watching coverage of the violence, I saw footage of Israeli soldiers – boys my own age – put their life on the line to retaliate against the acts of terror. People were afraid to travel to Israel – they were cancelling their tickets  --   yet I felt that this was davka whan I must go. After all, if I were to see masked men sneak into my house, followed by screams, I would never say, 'Boy, am I fortunate not to be there!' I'd rush right in to help my family! Well, Israel is my home and the Jews are my people. How could I not be there with them?"

A year after moving to Israel, Ariel joined a special Army unit that, as he so evasively put it, "does the types of things people in special units do." From his refusal to answer any additional questions, it was obvious that he was involved in extremely sensitive missions and that more information would not be forthcoming.

OPERATION CAST LEAD

Operation Cast Lead started on December 27, 2008, in response to the bombardment of civilian targets by terrorists stationed in Gaza. A few days later, Ariel was one of the thousands of troops involved in an all-out Israeli military offensive against the enemy.

Ariel recalls, "Gaza is a dangerous place. It has a lot of people who are violent and want nothing more than to see a lot of dead Jews."

"We all knew that we were going into a place that the enemy wanted us to come into. We knew that they had booby traps set for us, we knew that they were waiting for us with antitank rockets; Gaza is not a place you want to go.

"Walking toward the border, there's this line of soldiers as far as I can see. At a certain point, I was asked if I have my dog tags. I didn't. So they give me tags with a number – 6624, and added my name with this number to a long list. 'Put one in your boot. Put one in your other boot. Put one around your neck.' If they find pieces of my body somewhere, hopefully they will be able to tell, oh, that's #6624.

"Right before the border, we're ordered to stand up in a big semi-circle many, many men deep. Our brains are buzzing, trying to figure out what's going on. A rabbi stand before us and, yelling at the top of his lungs, he screams the pasukim that the Kohen Gadol said to the nation before they went out to battle: 'You are the army of Israel and you are going to war. But you will not be afraid because G-d is going out to war with you; G-d is going to fight your battle for you.' I think I speak for the other guys who were there, all that buzzing, all of that confusion that was going on in our heads, now it was focused. We went into Gaza, and G-d went into Gaza with us."

Ariel's unit engaged in heavy combat, yet, "from all that shooting, all of those explosions, all that stuff that was going on around us, no one in my unit got killed!" One soldier was injured when a chunk of concrete flew out of a house and tore the arm of his uniform. A medic took care of it with a baby-wipe! "These experiences made me realize how much Hakadosh Baruch Hu is in the details in every moment of our live. If that guy had been standing just one inch closer to the building, his arm would have been torn off."

SHABBOS IN GAZA

Ariel recalls Shabbos in Gaza: "It was Friday, and we had limited supplies. Amidst the constant hyper-awareness of being in a war zone, a debate began regarding what we should use to make iddush. We decided to make a minyan in one of the operations bases. It was amazing; even those guys who keep nothing were willing to risk their lives to take part in the Shabbos davening. The streets were extremely dangerous --- booby traps everywhere, any corner or window could be hiding a sniper, even our 'safe houses' weren't so safe, and we had to crawl through certain parts of it so that the enemy wouldn't see us. Yet, as the sun was getting lower, small groups of Jewish men snuck through the dark alleyways in order to take part in the minyan.

"To keep the enemy from identifying our location, the house had to be kept absolutely pitch black dark. So there we were, a few dozen soldiers, dressed in our combat gear, standing together, shoulder to shoulder, very quietly singing Lecha Dodi. Outside, the enemy was hunting us, yet inside, it was Shabbat! There we were, a room full of hunted Jews, connecting to eternity  -- and to the generations of Jews before us, who were moser nefesh to keep Shabbos. It was an awesome moment. My friend, Ayal, who is not yet religious, turned to me with tears in his eyes  and said, 'Ziggy [that's my nickname],  this is something that you will never be able to explain to anyone, but you will tell your grandchildren about this moment.'"

THESE ARE OUR ENEMIES

I ask Ariel for more stories. "After taking over a house, we began checking the area around us. This is very dangerous work – every corner, every window, has the potential for death. As my team rounded the edge of a small shack, the first soldier at the door checked the area using a strong light anchored to the end of his weapon. In the back, near the wall he noticed a pile of blankets on the floor. Something about it didn't seem right. Then the pile began to move, and an old lady sat up.  Our team leader yelled to her in Arabic to come out, but she just sat there staring out. The Commander heard what was going on and ordered, 'Shoot to kill.' The team leader responded in shock, 'What?! But she's someone's grandmother.' The Commander, now more assertive said, 'SHOOT TO KILL!!' At that, he fired into the mass of blankets and the human form melted away.

"A few minutes later, back in our safe house, we stood together, shuffling our feet, feeling terrible as we commenced a debriefing of the situation. After all, we had killed someone's grandmother. None of us had come to Gaza to kill old women. Shortly afterwards a special explosives unit was sent to check the shed, as was standard procedure. They discovered that the shed was packed with all kinds of wires leading to huge explosives buried underneath the dirt floor. The old lady – that sweet little grandmother – was still holding the detonator in her hand.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Upon completing his Army service, the IDF asked Ariel to train community rapid response teams, the civilian volunteers who act as a first response to terrorist attacks, most usually in the so-called settlements.

Eventually, Ariel decided to use his vast experience in anti-terrorism to open The Darco Group, an international organization that provides security solutions to individuals, organizations, governments, businesses and corporations. They specialize in providing training, protection, and logistical support for clientele in difficult to operate regions. Ariel's team has provided security in both maritime and land-based operations, securing ships against piracy and providing full support to businessmen and diplomats alike. Although, due to discretion he could not be very specific about his clients, he did show me pictures of himself, together with a few other Israelis security experts, deep in the African jungle. "We were protecting a mining company," was his terse explanation.

What was it like being the only religious Jew among primitive natives and secular Israelis?? "First of all," he begins, "it's not totally outside of my world. After all, I grew up in a rural environment where I was the only Jew.

"Although at first glance the Israelis that I work with might seem irreligious, I am always amazed at the greatness of their Jewish neshamah! If I would make a brachah quietly, for example, they would chide me, 'Nu, why can't you let us have the zechut of answering amen?' When I'd make Kiddush, they would all quickly stand to listen, while placing their hands over each other's heads in lieu of a kippah. It's amazing to see how, in such a totally non-Jewish environment, Israelis connect so strongly to their Judaism. And their level of mesirat nefesh! I have never seen a people so giving, so caring, and so willing to suffer for their own people, for the cause, and although they won't tell you straight out, but yes... for the Torah."

Ariel's team also utilizes their military and security backgrounds to offer high adventure trips in Israel and around the world. "We build tailor-made experiences for businessmen, families, and youth. One of our most popular experiences is the Commando training courses that we offer in Israel. People come to us to get real training in Israeli combat and security techniques. It might sound strange to some people, but we have been very pleased with the outcome of teaching Jews from around the world skills to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. It gives a sense of confidence, of responsibility to our people, and besides," he adds with a laugh, "it's just plain fun!"

ON THE HIGH SEAS

The word “pirates” bring to mind raggedy eye patches, thumping wooden legs, colorful talking parrots (who constantly repeat, "Yes Mate" in a gravelly voice) and, of course, old fashioned boats with blossoming white sails. So when Ariel told me that his company fights piracy, I was taken aback. 

"Today," he begins, "the majority of pirate attacks take place around the Horn of Africa. The pirates capture ships and hold the sailors for ransom – as a matter of fact there are now some 400 sailors being held hostage in Somalia under extremely primitive conditions. The pirates are careful that the hostages remain alive, for if not, the Western World would react with a large scale operation to eradicate piracy. They're not interested in war; they're interested in money."

How does The Draco Group secure vessels against piracy?

"The first step is prevention," Ariel begins. "That means securing the vessel so that it's not easy to board, and installing adequate technological systems that can offer enhanced capabilities to the team on board for detection of suspicious vessels. In this way, the crew can buy time and avoid confrontation. However, most important of all, we place onboard well-trained, disciplined and discreet security personnel, who know how to create a powerful deterrence and, if it becomes necessary, will fight the pirates. But the best deterrent is when the pirates see that the ship will not be an easy target."

WE'RE ALL DOING OUR PART

"Each person alive in this person has a responsibility to use his knowledge and capabilities to make a difference," Ariel explains. "For that reason, my posek told me to always carry a gun with me; since I am an expert marksman, I have a responsibility to use that knowledge, if necessary, to save Jewish lives."

How do you feel about the yeshivaH bachurim who don't serve in the Israeli Army?" I asked. Even as I worded the question, I felt as if I was walking on eggs.

Ariel immediately put me at ease. "There's really no distinction between a guy wearing a uniform and a guy in a black suit. To think otherwise is small minded. Not everyone should or can do the same thing. Each person has his own mission, and they should try to fulfill that mission. A person who joins the army just to pass his time is missing a golden opportunity to protect Am Yisrael and to save Jewish lives. Likewise, a person who warms the yeshivag bench while feeling relieved that he's not in the army, is missing the whole point of his learning. We all have to be warriors in whatever we do, and both aspects are crucial. In whatever you do, that is your mission for Am Yisrael. And you better be a commando at it!"

The author wishes to thank aish.com for allowing her to use some quotes from  one of their videos.

Chazak -- appeared in Hamodia January, 1012

From Strength to Strength

Bu Debbie Shapiro

Opening up our local phone book, one can't help but be amazed at the sheer number of Gemachim that are available – and at the wide range of services that they offer. I've heard of Shabbos gemachs, Chalaka gemachs (that provide everything you need, from cake designs to prayers, to make the day special) table and chair gemachs, linen gemachs, table center gemachs, but it wasn't until a few days before Rosh Hashana, when a friend of mine forwarded  me the following email, that I  heard of a CHIZUK gemach!

From: Chazak 5772

To: Chazak 5772

Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 12:32 AM

Subject: CHaZaK 5772 - Issue II

We are proud to present the second issue of CHaZaK 5772. For those who participated last week, well done!

With the approach of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, let's remember how we feel during Ne'ilah, as we feel the gates of Shamayim closing and we wish for a few more days of opportunity to prove ourselves, to overcome our yetzer hara and come closer to Hashem. Now is the time! Now, the gates are open! Let’s make the most of each and every moment!

But sometimes it's difficult to push ourselves to actually sit down and decide what it is that we would like to work on. We are all so busy with our day-to-day life that we often don’t make the time that is necessary to actually take on ourselves to make changes. And then it so often happens that even after we have made a firm resolution to make some changes in our lives, we get busy with other things and forget about it. 

CHaZaK 5772 (ChiZuk Kabolos) is offering incentives to encourage us all to make these resolutions --  these kabolos --  and to actually keep them! Of course we would never take on a Kabolah just for the prizes; it wouldn't be worthwhile. The prizes are there to give us a push to do what we already want to do.

So here's the program: choose one or two kabolos and write us to tell us what you chose. Don't worry, names will not be publicized or passed on. Next week, write us to let us know if you kept it, and if so, you will enter our raffle. Two Kabolos doubles your chances of winning!

*   *    *

At the end of the email was a long list of suggested kabalos – from making the minyan on time to learning ten minutes of Mussar a day, to avoiding a questionable hechsher – followed by a list of 14 prizes to choose from, ranging from a magazine subscription, to a tablecloth, to a balloon arrangement.

But it was erev Rosh Hashanah, and there was a lot to do. With a three-day Yom Tov coming up, who had time to think of something as mundane as teshuva? So I filed the email away and assumed that I'd forget about it.

Sunday morning, 4 Tishrei, the dishes were (finally) washed and put away, the house was beginning to return to normal, the bottom of my laundry bin was finally visible, and I was feeling just a wee bit nervous. On Rosh Hashanah I had resolved to make a few small changes, and now, just three days later, they were all but forgotten. With a start, I realized that the same thing had happened to me last year, and the year before, and… 

When I checked the email that morning, my eyes were drawn to the email that my friend had sent me a few days earlier, and I decided to take a second look at it. "Let's remember how we feel during Ne'ilah, as we feel the gates of Shamayim closing and we wish for a few more days of opportunity to prove ourselves, to overcome our yetzer hara and come closer to Hashem. Now is the time!"

"Now is the time!" The words seemed to shout at me. So many times I had made a resolution to begin my day with the study of halacha, but by the time erev Sukkos rolled around, my firm decision was lost amongst the colored chains and kreplach. So I quickly pressed the reply button, and – oh, this was so out-of-character for me, I'm so far away from being the goody-goody type -- penned a quick response.

Bli neder, I hope to take on myself to learn five minutes of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch each morning AND put on my shoes the halachic way, right, left, and then, for tying, left right."

I felt a bit silly about the second kabalah. After all, it's such an easy thing to do; it's really just a matter of habit. But it so often happened that I realized that I had done it wrong only AFTER my shoes were on… and then it was just too late. But if doing it properly --- and redoing it if necessary – meant that I might win a PRIZE, well, that was enough of an incentive for me to try to do it right the first time, and if not, to do it again.

One week later, I (very proudly) typed, "Kept 2!"

Two days later, I received the following email:

Mazel Tov, you have won!

Yes, you read right! You are one of the winners of CHaZak 5772. Mazal Tov! Please choose you’re prize from the list below and send us your choice. We will be in contact as of how to collect it. Your anonymity will be protected.  Please note, winning one issue does not reduce your chances another issue. Theoretically you could win every single week!!!

Me? Win?

I was so shocked I had to sit down.

The last time I had ever won something was twenty four years ago. It was a voucher from a men's clothing store for two suits. The timing was perfect, just six weeks before our twin sons' bar mitzvah! Now, too, the timing was uncanny; I really needed a new tablecloth, but, after comparing prices, had decided to put off buying one until Pesach.

The tablecloth was beautiful, and I was hooked.

THE SEARCH IS ON

Over the next few weeks, I found myself slowly taking on new kabolos; nothing earth shaking, just small, baby steps toward becoming a better person. And then, being a writer (and a very curious one, to boot) I decided to write an article about the organization, and, hopefully, in the course of my journalistic foray, discover the identity of the illusive people at the organization who were cheering me along from the sidelines.

So after getting the okay from Hamodia's editorial department, I sent the following email:

Dear the anonymous people at CHaZak 5772,

Hamodia is interested in my writing a feature on your program.  I assume that you are interested -- just think of the thousand of people who will join the program after reading that I won the tablecloth of my dreams :).

Please get back to me.

Debbie Shapiro

A few days later I received the following response:

Of course you can write an article, we would be grateful for as you say it would generate more interest (and others might even start similar programs. The idea is not copyrighted!) Please email a list of questions,

CHaZak 5772

Over the next week, as the emails flew back and forth over cyberspace, I was not given even the slightest hint as to the identity of the people behind the organization. When I expressed my exasperation at having to deal with a pseudo-people, I received the following response:

I’m sorry about this anonymous business, but if, for example, one of us happened to be your downstairs neighbor, chances are that you'd never send it another kabbolo (at least not something like 'I’ll refrain from speaking loshon hora about my husband…')Don't worry, no one here is your neighbor, but if people who know our identities, they might feel very uncomfortable.

They definitely had a point there. The more I realized the extent of their dedication to anonymity, the safer I felt sending in my kobolos. After all, the mere fact that I had resolved to take upon myself something new, meant that I wasn't doing it before, and that, of course, is an admission of being less than perfect. And who wants others to know our human frailties?

So What Is Chazak 5772?

Although I never succeeded in attaining a face-to-face interview with the people behind CHaZak 5722, we did end up having a very successful interview via email.

As one of their representatives explained, "Our goal is to encourage all types of Jews to take on themselves kobbolos in their avodas Hashem, and then provide them with incentives that will help them to actually keep them.

"Although most of us want to make improvements in the areas of prayer, chessed, shmiros halashon, etc., it's difficult to take the time to actively decide to change something specific. And then, even if we do make such a resolution, the inspiration soon wears off and more often than not, it gets forgotten.

"CHaZak 5772 doesn’t offer a magical quick-fix solution. Instead, it gives a gentle push to help its members take small steps in the right direction. Anyone can join. All he/she has to do is choose one or two kabbolos and tell us about them. We are careful to protect or participants anonymity (I can vouch for that!). If, after a week, he sends us an email informing us that the kabbalah was kept for six days out of seven (we're aiming for growth, rather than perfection) his name is entered into a raffle.  Since the number of prizes depends on the amount of positive replies, participants have nothing to lose by telling all their friends about the program."

Can you provide Hamodia's readers with a sample of suggested kabbolos?

"There are different categories of kabbolos. Kabbolos in Torah, for example, include resolving to learn the Daf Yomi, or reviewing the parsha with Rashi each week. Kabbolos having to do with  Tefillah, prayer, include slowly and thoughtfully reciting specific brachos, such as Birkas Hatorah or Asher Yetzar, or praying on time.  Among suggested tznius kabbolos for women are refraining from speaking loudly in the presence of men, or alterating an outfit to make it more modest. Then, of course, there are general kabolos such as refraining from speaking lashon horah, or doing acts of chessed. The list is constantly growing."

Can you tell us about the prizes?

"We can't offer a dream vacation or fancy car. Our prizes are really just incentives to motivate the motivated, to provide a push to help people do what they already want to do. Winners can choose from an ever growing list of prizes, which range from a few weeks subscription to the Binah, to a silver Kiddush cup, a CD, or even private piano lessons!"

What compelled the organization's founder to create CHaZak 5772?

"First of all, he believes that it's worth investing time, effort, and yes, even money, into avodas Hashem. In the past, he's come up with many innovative ideas, which I can't specify, as if would give away his identity (oh well…). He also believes that it is a tremendous zechus to strengthen other people's mitzvah observance. He  saw how much money people spend on tzedaka raffles and realized that although people realized that they had very little chance of winning, they were willing to part with their money because it was going to a good cause, and then adapted that principal to create CHaZak. People are willing to invest effort into making and sticking to resolutions, since they know that even if they don't win a prize, they will never regret entering the raffle!"

Who funds the prizes?

"At present, we have one sponsor who is basically funding everything, except for one prize, the tablecloth. The woman who manufactures Tabella Tablecloths was so impressed with our initial email that she contacted us and asked to contribute a prize. At  present, we are reaching only a small number of people, but we hope that as CHaZak expands, more people will be inspired to contribute.

"As I said before, there's no patent on what we're doing. We really hope that other people institute similar programs in their communities. We're not doing this to become a well known tzedaka organization; all we want to do is strengthen Yiddishkeit. To join, send an email to chazak5772@gmail.com.