Ezra Smith, 21-year-old son of BIAV members Bruce and Karen Smith, recently received an ”Award of Excellence” bestowed by the chief rabbi of the IDF, Rabbi Ayal Karem, along with 18 additional soldiers from the Rabbinical Corps.
In an email Smith said he accidently learned of the award ahead of time, when the rabbi of ground forces visited his base.
“He accidentally let it slip that I was receiving the award. It caught me off guard, because I hadn’t at all been anticipating it. My direct commander, Rav Oz Kapach, then officially notified me around early July as well. He hadn’t been on base that week for the most part and had just checked his email, receiving confirmation that I was to receive the award.”
The award was presented on Aug. 2 at a gathering of the Rabbanut Corps with about 20 other soldiers from all across the Rabbanut Corps in different positions.
The award recognized Smith “for hard work, doing my job with diligence, and going beyond the call of duty to provide a good religious infrastructure to the soldiers of my base — even though everything I did that they considered above and beyond, I consider a standard expectation of my job.”
Among the jobs Smith performed was staying on the base for Shabbat and giving lessons when he wasn’t required to; making an effort to develop good relationships with the soldiers on base and provide these soldiers with the best religious infrastructural feedback as he could.
“I got up early and would go to sleep late to make sure that everyone had the best experience that they could have. My job was to provide structure for a religious person to thrive in while on duty. If I didn’t do my job right, then people’s experiences would suffer. I knew that the more I put in effort, the better they would function, so I put in as much effort as I could to ensure they would function properly. I didn’t exceed expectation, I didn’t excell, I wasn’t extraordinary.”
Smith made aliyah in late October 2017 due in part to his strong belief in parshat Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27): “God said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your homeland to the land that I shall show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great.’ ”
He was officially released from the army in September and is now back in Yeshivat Hakotel to finish the Hesder program, which consists of at least one more year of learning. Hesder is a special five-year program for Israeli citizens who desire to combine learning Torah and army service. Students learn for a year and 10 months, serve in the army for a year and four months and return to the yeshiva for another year and 10 months.
Smith said he is not studying to become a rabbi but is not yet sure what he plans to do when he graduates from yeshiva.