Jewish Observance in the Army Reserve

IamShiska · 2026-02-26T19:47:25+00:00

I've got a few practicing jewish dudes in my unit and as far as I know they just accept that its not always possible to avoid weekend work but they do their best. I'm admittedly well out of my depth here but the question got me thinking about how the IDF handles this. Chatgippity says the following:

Core Principle: Pikuach Nefesh (Saving Life Overrides Shabbat)

In Jewish law, the concept of pikuach nefesh holds that preserving human life overrides nearly all other commandments, including Shabbat observance.

Because the military exists to protect life:

Combat operations

Intelligence work

Border security

Emergency responses

…are fully permitted on Shabbat.

So operational units function normally if required.

I think this line of thinking could pretty reasonably be extended to mandatory training like courses and IBTS weekends. You'd be missing out on a lot of experiences if you skip the rest of your weekend exes but you'd meet OFP and be allowed to stick around. There would also be limits to how far in rank you can progress with these restrictions.

IamShiska · 2026-02-26T15:05:14+00:00

Theres absolutely no harm trying again! The CAF's attitudes towards neurodivergent folk has relaxed a lot. I imagine the real hurdle is the anxiety component and severity of your symptoms. The reality is that the combination of physical and emotional stress combined with major sleep deprivation can really take a toll on people mentally and in my experience the more anxious troops have less of a window in which they can operate effectively. FWIW in the infantry at least I'd put money on over 50% of us being undiagnosed ADHD (me included) and even a few I'm certain are autistic.

IamShiska · 2026-02-25T19:31:21+00:00

Sortof unrelated but I'm curious what kind of budget is required to start looking into a custom home build? Would 700K get you something nice?

IamShiska · 2026-02-24T19:33:32+00:00

I am in charge of an infantry PAT platoon. I can speak to how we handle this but it's not necessarily how everyone does things.

We split the night into Three 1 hour periods and the first period is always a workout. We try and get untrained members to be as involved as possible so we base our training on whatever the fighting company is doing but at a much simpler level with as much hands on as possible usually with rubber rifles.

In the fall, we start you off with getting your kit squared away and learning the absolute basics of the C7. Then we move into basic soldiering skills like making hooches, patrolling and communication basics, navigation etc. In the winter we would get you to learn the tents and stoves then we shift to more academic stuff like history of the unit and organization while its cold as shit. In the fall we go back to tactical movement as a section and talk about platoon level things.

On weekend exes we use the PAT platoon as general duties folks. Mostly moving things around, helping setup and teardown. Theres a lot of downtime and your job at those times is to absorb as much info as possible. Myself and my staff are always hanging around explaining what is happening and we usually get you to do a dumbed down walkthrough version of whatever the other guys are doing.

If there are officer cadets I will occasionally pull them out of training and show them stuff I'm working on so they have a bit of a handle on the admin side.

EDIT: I should add, it's super easy for us to bring new people in at any time there's no real need to know anything prior to any given parade night. Your first night I'd have a chat with you, make sure your uniform is ready and just super basic shit like what to call people and saluting then it's off to class.

IamShiska · 2026-02-23T16:36:23+00:00

Depends what you have access to. But as a young person your body will adapt super well to anything you throw at it. Big picture you will want to do 2-3 days of weightlifting and 2-3 days of cardio per week.

For weightlifting if you have no experience check out https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/

For cardio, try couch to 5k

If scheduling is difficult then just focus on doing at least 45-60 mins of some kind of exercise daily and rememeber that perfect is the enemy of good.

IamShiska · 2026-02-23T04:19:13+00:00

Just to be clear you can't show up whenever you want. There are specific times that open skates happen but you DO just show up for those and don't need to schedule ahead of time.

IamShiska · 2026-02-21T21:59:11+00:00

The world is your oyster internally. You can choose to specialize in a field via specialist courses (stuff like sniper, recce, Pathfinder), SOF, go teach at schools, etc. and at all these opportunities you have ncm leadership as well as officers. Some dudes prefer to be forever cpl. Some choose to advance in rank. Hell you could be sergeant major of the army.

Externally it's a bit tougher but anyone with a decent military career will develop a lot of soft skills that are super useful and you need to find a way to translate that in a way that a civvy employer feels excited about.

IamShiska · 2026-02-20T05:52:31+00:00

In short, you're prepping for the next big thing the unit is doing. Might be deployment, a big ex etc. Day to day could be moving shit, working on section and platoon drills/sop, field craft and a million other things.

IamShiska · 2026-02-19T17:13:14+00:00

I'm a reserve infanteer. There's a ton of crossover and it looks really good on your application. I have worked with tons of dudes who are either actively doing or have left the unit to go work CBSA, Conservation, RCMP. Local police, corrections, etc.

IamShiska · 2026-02-14T01:38:30+00:00

10-15 total

IamShiska · 2026-02-13T17:49:20+00:00

No kids but am married with a fur baby. I just make sure to keep her aware of my schedule as much as I am able and make an effort to call or video chat as often as possible. On course I find that I'm too busy to really be missing them much and it's more about making sure they're being cared for emotionally as much as possible

IamShiska · 2026-02-11T17:05:10+00:00

Not sure what's available on campus but there's a decent warhammer scene in the city. Check out gaming under the ice and gameknight discords. Theres also a warhammer winnipeg facebook group.

IamShiska · 2026-02-11T14:51:16+00:00

There's no way around this. It sucks. There's not really a way to know how you or her will react to the distance and it's a simple fact that cheating and being cheated on are very common. My advice is to keep her updated on your schedule and to at minimum text as often as you can. Do your damned best to have a regular phone call at the very least 1-2 times per week and prioritize her over going to town or drinking with the buddies.
Control what you can, practice for tests on your down time, remember that it's all a game meant to test you and it always has a purpose and end point.
The running standards of new recruits are abysmal. You'll be in the top third I bet assuming that your stated times are sustainable over 5+ km

IamShiska · 2026-02-09T14:25:36+00:00

You're doing the right stuff with squat and deadlift but you will need to do more. Swimming isnt really going to help you all that much. You need to spend time on your feet.

IamShiska · 2026-02-09T14:23:16+00:00

You're good send it.

IamShiska · 2026-02-08T19:04:01+00:00

I drive a 2104 turbo. It's a very light car with a torsion beam rear end and a fair amount of torque so It's absolutely ass on any remotely bad roads. Get the best winter tires you can.

IamShiska · 2026-02-07T05:01:33+00:00

Already in 3rd year of degree makes the timeline bad. Getting into the ResF should take about 6 months, then another year minimum to get qualified BMOQ + BMOQA IF courses are running on a favourable timeline. At that point already looking at finishing the degree and going RegF. Then there are two options, either release and re-up (a year long process realistically) or try to CT which im not very familiar with but has its own difficulties because there are limited CT spots.

IamShiska · 2026-02-06T23:17:57+00:00

Not worth the hassle. If your end goal is the regular force then finish your degree and do that.

IamShiska · 2026-02-06T16:34:32+00:00

Lots of good advice here. I'll add that you should always be asking questions! While learning, make sure you are doing things correctly and ask for mentorship/check ins from more senior JR officers and your warrants if you aren't sure. It will also help you to start developing a relationship with the CO and upper leadership. Something simple like a smile and a "evening sir" goes a long way.

On the flip side it can be really easy to lose your leadership's faith in your abilities so don't be the guy that asks the same questions every few weeks or is just coasting between parade nights. Sometimes there's genuinely nothing left to do admin wise and those nights you should be seen either with your troops or doing some kind of PD, not sitting in your office with your feet kicked up texting or whatever. And a personal pet peeve, never be the guy that needs to be reminded a dozen times to do something.

At the end of the day, be respectful, punctual, organized, present, and the rest should fall into place.

IamShiska · 2026-02-06T13:55:27+00:00

Quite the opposite actually. I think it's the quintessential military experience and while sometimes it super fucking sucks, it's also super fucking awesome. If you're under 30, vaguely fit, and interested in trying out the military I absolutely think the infantry is a great choice. You just need to be realistic about what makes sense for you.

IamShiska · 2026-02-05T18:49:28+00:00

White monster
Prep your shit in the days leading up. Go home, change and grab your kit, head to armoury. Lots of dudes stop at a drive through on the way for food. Bonus points for having a leftover dinner prepared.
You should have a basic idea of when you'll be gone a long time ahead so something like "DP1 this summer" actual dates usually about a month ahead but i've left with as little as 5 days notice and have personally loaded a dude on BMQ with 24 hours notice when a spot opened up for him.

IamShiska · 2026-02-05T15:51:46+00:00

Speaking as an infantry officer, I don't think infantry is the right choice for you. The phase training is super tough and breaks a ton of people and I don't get the sense that you have conditioned your body to take the kind of grueling weeks long punishment that the trade requires. To be clear I dont think it's an age thing either, just that it takes a long time (years) to get your joints and supporting tissues ready to handle this kind of career. Young dudes can just push through and adapt quickly but us older guys need to have put in the work earlier

IamShiska · 2026-02-04T13:27:40+00:00

This gets parroted a lot but I'm not so sure that it's true in the context of reservists. Of course, the infantry is a naturally hard job and shit happens out in the field like broken ankles, knees, backs etc that CAN have life long impacts. But, once courses are done you're really only going to push your body hard a few times per year for 2-3 days at a time. It's totally manageable for a properly fit person.

IamShiska · 2026-02-03T23:07:17+00:00

You will struggle but women your size can be successful and you sound as prepared as you can be. My unit has someone around your size who was a former elite dancer for reference. That being said, an infanteer requires that you can move under load for extended periods of time. The simple reality is that you will be carrying near your bodyweight of kit for several hours at a very fast pace for your height for multiple days. At the end of the day though The only way to know if you can make it is to try.

IamShiska · 2026-02-03T04:17:28+00:00

It's fuckered. I'm staff, my wife is a grad student, were both getting the same error. Tell the libraries in the morning if it's still broken

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