From what I have seen in my 3 years as a combat soldier in the Golani brigade is that only paratroopers 202 wear this vial and of them I have seen maybe 2 soldiers actually wearing it, 2 soldiers out of the entire IDF and this is indicative of a pattern, also It is a rumor of whats inside the vials. Young men going off to fight like symbols of home and of the people they love, many soldiers in every army in the world have scantily clad or perfumed pictures of their girlfriends. What is the authors point? since 202 paratroopers is only one small unit in the army and of them only a certian amount of soldiers have girlfriends, and of the girlfriends im sure from what I have seen that only a miniscule amount of the couples would do this tradition, and do the commanders come to the girls and tell them to do this for the country? Most of the combat officers are religious, and I know from being in war that whilst, almost every soldier brought with him Tihillim (psalms) as a source of comfort, the author chooses something .00000001% of soldiers bring for comfort as the driving force of motivation for soldiers...

Esther your theory deals with soldiers from another age, another country, another war

Israelis have fetishised their army into an idol of worship. Israel is the most militarised country in the world...half the size of Switzerland with the world's fourth largest military. Institutionalised paranoia. Ben Gurion wanted the Negev to bloom. Over 60% of it is militarised. So much for his dream. This article harps on about the soldiers' suffering without mentioning once the mental and physical suffering they inflict on Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Territories on a daily basis.

"As a means of motivating them to live up to these impossible expectations and become "men," soldiers are offered various incentives:..." The expectations are not impossible, they're just hard, sometimes very hard. The listed incentives -- they're laughable. Herzog, don't insult those to whom you owe your life.

I'm so sick and tired of this patchouli stupidity. I'm going to go on a expletive rampage now: ban this &$); vial of @&$() vile &$)( patchouli and get it the $&)($ over with. I know combat soldiers have never been famous for having brains but all this has gone too far. Give'em lollipops if it helps raise morale.

Esther Herzog has written an insane rant. She needs to stay far away from military affairs .

this god is worth less than those patchoulis /

This is a bad attempt in comedic writing. This poor aspiring comedian should come to the US. They teach much better humour.

...try and stick to the topic here. You're making a bad attempt trying to steer the issue away to the "poor pali predicament "..that indeed, they put themselves into. Try 'Ha'aretz'

“You fight to survive and protect those who fight along with you. You do it as quickly as you can to be able to escape from it.” Very well put. Thank you.

need G-D to keep their moral high.Those who don t believe in G-D replace it with superstitions. You are not the only one here who don t believe in G-D,but you are the only one who reacted on my comment. You know why? Because your divine part,the soul ,whom you deny his right to be connected to G-D,cries out for G-D. Find peace within yourself,Charles.

And if they need a god to keep their moral high , it are sad and bad soldiers . How can something INEXISTING keep their moral high ?Red mir nischt an dan schwere krenk . You don't know anything about my "soul" , and INSULT me . Try to become a MENSCH , a normal one , not one who needs the tora laws to behave correctly . But , as you said it . Only unsane can be brainwashed into your superstition .

is this because you guys need guns to feel brave? (switzerland is #4 in per capita gun ownership...israel is #79)

...and understand. She may have unravelled the mystery of why our Jewish Ethiopians had problems assimilating into Israeli society by shedding some light on the workings of bureaucracy, however, she's as butch as they come... My 'frogmen' friends from Atlit would laugh her out of town... ....maybe that's what happened to her a long, long time ago..and resulted in this deluded article. I concur with Eaglebeak

I said:"you are far to sane to be brainwashed" If i say to an employe,you are far to honest to make private phones in the office,doesn t mean that those who do that are crooks. If you do not connect to internet,then internet is inexisting for you,but existing for those who are connected. To know how G-D can keep the moral high,you have to try,there is no other way. I know a lot about your soul,even more than you.You have a fine Yiddishe Neshume. If this was not the case,i would have ignored you completely.You deserve that. But i can t do that to your unique wonderful Neshume in distress.I feel for it a strong attachment [spiritual] Charles,i think,as i already said , we should stop talking about G-D. I appreciate you as you are,for me you don t have to change anything. i wish you with all my heart only good.

about me , about my soul . How can you , who don't knows that porcelan dishes can't be kashered , know something about a soul . . Yes , i'm Jewish , but can't believe in something that does not exist . You don't want to talk about religion ? Do as the oistrich , they too don't want to see the truth either . If sane people can't be brainwashed , it means that only insane can be .

It would be intersting to see a research why persons like prof. Herzog lacks an elementary sense of humor...

We need tough, motivated soldiers. We don't need anti-Zionist, left wing, anti-Men screwballs like Esther undermining our elite units. I don't care what the hell a soldier wears around his neck if he is willing to stand and fight for Israel.

Rich imagination, but certainly not supported by education. An ability to pose a hypothesis, but certainly not to deliver a proof. Smells like a deeply rooted inferiority complex; I bet she is a man.

Men seldom understand women and women seldom understand men. Pof Herzog's article proves this point. Assuming the content of the vial was freely given by a consenting adult why is it so much of a problem? What if a female soldier wore a locket with a curl of her boy friend's hair? Would that be reprehensible?

As a true friend of Israel, I congratulate you, Esther Herzog, for your excellent words. Unhappily, some other talkbackers have offended you. Do not care. Women like you represent, verily, the Jewish State, founded on Democracy, Humanism and Solidarity. Sexism and Chauvinism must be erased from all the world. Of course, men and women are biologically different, but equal in patriotism, moral strength and dignity. Old prejudices are too harmful. God bless you. Salutes.

business from. Stating that you do believe a god or higher being exists would be more appropriate as niether you nor I can prove or disprove the existence of such a being. As such, these somewhat vicious back-and-forths with Ora are pointless.

Not seen it , so does NOT exist . Give me a proof it exist . A PROOF , something that can be scientifically attested .

time to think ,they have to rely on their intuition, to react instantly.The healthier their soul is,the better they can react. You see the soul is a very important part of a human being. That is the truth,and i have no reason to be afraid of the truth. May be you should think a little less,and rely more on what you feel very deep inside you. Feel fine,Charles.

exists ,he does not have the need to prove His existence.Those who are connected to G-D see and feel every day manifestations of His presence. They feel happy and joyful.They wish everybody to feel the same.

It may have been someone else though. The obligations we place on someone or something do not have any impact on its actual existence. For instance, my expectations of the PotUS to fix the the country - the fact that Obama didn't fulfill them doesn't mean that he isn't, just that I (and every other American who. Voted for him) made a lousy choice and shouldn't have put so much faith in someone saving us when there was no guarantee. Just because we had hope that such a being would help us during our greatest catrastophe doesn't mean that said being was actually under any obligation to do so and then it still wouldn't have any impact on its existence - unless there's some mechanism for that when it comes to what ever manner of being we're talking about here, but that's also hypothetical. As I said, I cannot prove or disprove the existence of such a being. I merely hypothesise there is one and you that there isn't. Given our limited understanding of the Universe, niether of us can actually prove our hypothesis. Maybe when more science fiction becomes science fact and you and I are long-dead, someone will finally have the answer.

I think God exists, but I can't really know he exists. My faith works like this: believe unless it is proven false (preferably by archaeology, but that's mostly with regard to stories in the Torah - most of which seem to be true, except for stuff in Genesis and Exodus). Judaism is fun and should be fun. Judaism is like planning a party for a friend. We set up things we think someone will like and can only hope when the party comes that the friend will enjoy it. the friend never tells us of course, but we have fun trying to guess.