Life Is a Training Camp: Lessons From an Israeli Soldier

Kobi was an idealistic Israeli teenager. He graduated high school successfully and eagerly awaited his draft notice, dreaming of serving in a combat unit. When he enlisted in the IDF, he was assigned to a unit and sent to a base in southern Israel. He completed basic training and then began officers’ course. The course was grueling — the unit trained in the heart of the desert, surrounded only by sand and sky. They climbed mountains, descended cliffs, crawled through caves, and trekked across valleys. The sun scorched them by day, and at night they huddled in tents against the biting cold.

One day, Kobi’s father came to visit him. At the entrance to the training camp, he stopped, shocked by what he saw. Soldiers were climbing a rocky slope with heavy gear on their backs, running across sandy and stony ground, leaping over obstacles and ditches, panting and dripping with sweat.

Then he spotted his own son, Kobi, running like the rest with a huge field radio strapped to his back, shoes caked with dust, body drenched in sweat. The father couldn’t contain himself any longer. He turned to the brigade commander and said:

“I’m ready to take care of your boys! I’ll pave the area, build proper paths, and put in steps so it will be easier to climb the mountain. Why make them suffer so much? They’re still so young!” he finished, his pain unconcealed.

The commander restrained a smile and replied: “Understand this, Father, the tougher we train them under difficult conditions, the stronger and more resilient they become. The obstacles they face today are what prepare them for tomorrow.”

Life as a Training Camp

This world is a training camp. The soul descends here on a mission, sent to fulfill its purpose and God equips it with a precise instruction manual — the holy Torah. The world is full of trials and obstacles, demanding that a person overcome and strive against the evil inclination that constantly seeks to trip him. His task is not to fall, but to rise above every challenge, keeping his eyes on the World to Come. Here, in this world, we are only in training, preparing the soul for eternal life.

What is the soul’s fuel? Observance of Torah and mitzvot, Shabbat, honoring parents, loving your neighbor as yourself, tefillin, tzitzit, and many others. None of these are fulfilled effortlessly. To acquire even one good trait, or to fully perform one mitzvah, a person must invest effort and stand firm against his evil inclination. Our primary mission in life is to break our negative traits and dedicate our hearts to our Father in Heaven.

In God’s instruction manual, there are also landmines to avoid, prohibitions like forbidden foods, sexual immorality, murder, vengeance, and bearing grudges. These are like traps, but if we overcome them, we come closer to our purpose, purifying our souls for eternal life.

Everyday Opportunities

If we look at life this way, we will realize how many treasures fall into our hands daily. Through countless simple actions, we can acquire great mitzvot, if only we pay attention.

When a man goes to the store to buy bread and milk for his family, he should intend that this is an act of kindness, toward his own household, which is true kindness. When a man pays a worker who completed a job in his home, he should intend to fulfill the mitzvah “You shall give him his wages on the same day.” These are examples that confront us daily — we need only to be more mindful.

On the other hand, there are countless prohibitions and stumbling blocks that we may transgress without even realizing. The Chofetz Chaim lists 17 prohibitions violated by speaking lashon hara (evil speech).

If we learn to identify these landmines, that is the beginning of inner change. If we read the terrain correctly, we will know where to invest and what to avoid. In this way, we train and prepare our souls for eternal life of the World to Come.