Yom Sayerot

There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding what is "yom sayerot," and since I have friends who have gone through it and told me first hand what it's like, I'll explain exactly what it is. "Yom Sayerot" literally means "Special Forces Day." It is the first try-out to get into two elite units, Sayeret Matkal (Operation Entebbe) and Shayetet-13 (Navy SEALs). A third possibility is to become a captain in the Navy. I think that Wikipedia says the third possibility is Shaldag. Wikipedia is wrong. Admittedly, I'm not entirely sure about what exactly that means to be a captain in the Navy, what kind of job it is, and why it's so elite that you need to go to yom sayerot for it. If I find out, I'll post about it here.

[So, just to be extra clear, because I know some people are confused about this: There are only three (3) possibile invitations you can earn at yom sayerot. If, for example, you want to go to Sayerot Golani, then first you need to get into the Golani brigade and after that you will be asked if you want to go to the gibush for SG, or any of the other sayerot in that brigade. It has NOTHING to do with yom sayerot. It works the same for Tzanchanim, Givati, etc.]

I'll give a rundown of not only what the day is like, but also the process of being invited to yom sayerot. Of course, things can and will change, and I haven't done this personally yet, so keep that in mind. However, I wouldn't post this if I didn't feel like I was giving accurate, useful information.

First you have to ask to be invited. You can speak with the draft board (Liskat HaGius) or with one of the contacts for chayalim bodedim. Before you can request to go you must have a high enough physical health profile, as determined by the army doctor. This number determines if you are eligible for a combat unit or not. Should you be eligible, you can request to go to yom sayerot. NB: I'm pretty sure that the minimum eligible score for an elite combat unit is higher than the minimum eligible score for a regular combat brigade; which means that it's possible you will be fit for combat but NOT for one of these elite units.

Beyond being physically able, there is other criteria for getting accepted or not, but unfortunately no one knows what the criteria is. I would venture a guess that a lot of it has to do with security. People get accepted and rejected seemingly at random. Everyone who's job it is to help new immigrants will tell you that once you are rejected, the decision will never be overturned. This is not that case; my friend initially got rejected but managed to come up with six letters of recommendation, plus a personal essay, and ended up getting an acceptance letter. He told me that all six of his refrences said this is the first time they heard of a rejection getting overturned. It's hard people, but if you throw enough dedication at anything, magic things happens.

Should you get accepted, you'll receive a letter in the mail with a date to be examined by the army doctor a second time, and of course a date to go to the yom sayerot. Twice a year, around November and January, for one month there is a yom sayerot every day. You will be invited to one of these days.

Finally, on the day of yom sayerot, you'll be required to have a white shirt, the doctor's approval, and your invitation. You need a white shirt so that you can write a number on it in order to be easily identified by the commanders. The people over there don't play games, so should you forget one of these things, you can rest assured that you won't receive any sympathy. Yom sayerot is always held at the Wingate Institute, and the day starts at 7:00 a.m. Most or all of the people that will be with on your yom sayerot, numbering about 400, will be Israelis still in high-school. Yom sayerot is strictly for civilians only, once you are in the army you are no longer eligible.

I'm not completely sure about the exact order things happen in, but this is it, more or less. First, you'll be given something small to eat, my friends got bread and chocolate. Then you'll be asked to fill out a form, which asks you to select a favorite from the three possible things you can be invited to. Then you'll do a two-kilometer run, in groups of about sixty, and be timed. My advice here, and don't hold me accountable if this doesn't work, is to actually try to not do so well on this run. Don't make it obvious, but try to be slightly below average. I'll explain why later.

After the run there will be a break for the commanders to get together and put all of you in groups. They put people who got similar scores in the same group. One of my friends who went to the yom sayerot finished eleventh out of sixty, and said that everyone in the group he was put in (of about ten people) was fast as lightning. He didn't get any invitation, despite finishing the day.

Another friend of mine, who got invited to the gibush for Shayetet-13, was put into an average group after the 2k run. For this reason you might not want to go all out on the 2k run-- so you don't end up in a group where it will be difficult for you to stand out.

After you are put into your new group, you will all go with a mefaked (commander) to the sand dune... and start sprinting up and down it. My friends emphasized to me how soft the sand was, and how steep the dunes were. Each sprint up hill last between 20-30 seconds, depending on how fast you are. You will do this all day. At times they'll have four of you carry stretchers and one of you carry a jerry-can on your back during the sprints.

IMPORTANT: Yom sayerot isn't to test if you are physically the faster or strongest, it is to test your character and determination. The same is true for the gibushim as well. I can't emphasize this enough. Be in shape, but know that being in shape is like showing up to a math test with your calculator; required, but you don't get any points for it. You get points for showing the will to succeed. They will play games with you in order to test how much you really want to be there. For example, at one point while the stretcher and jerry-can is out, your mefaked will say that the first four people to finish will have to carry the stretcher on the next sprint, and the fifth will get the water. Then he'll say something like he isn't timing you on this next sprint, go as fast as you want. You are being tested here. You are being tested to see if you will still go as hard as you can, if you know that putting in more effort will result in more work (i.e. carrying the stretchers.) You must try as hard as you can during these sprints if you want to get invited to a gibush.

Another test that they did to my two friends (who went on separate days) is, after say the first ten sprints, asking everyone, "Who thinks they can beat the time on his first sprint?" Raise your hand, and try damn hard to beat your first time (the mefakedim have timers), even though you probably won't. Whether or not you beat your first time isn't really important, what's important is that you express confidence and determination in yourself by raising your hand, and character by really giving everything you have in the sprint.

My friend explained to me that most people quit within the first hour, and what's difficult isn't the physical aspects, but the shock of being in a military environment for a few hours; how cold and uncaring the commanders are.

At one point during my friend's yom sayerot, everyone was given a small shovel and told to dig a hole in the sand. The mefaked went around to everyone and asked, "Why did you dig your hole here?" You have to make something up like, "I dug my hole here so I'd have a good vantage to point to see the approaching enemy troops" (if that makes sense given your location) or something like that. Like El Al security interviews, it's probably more important how you answer rather than what your answer is.

During the whole day you'll never get more than ten-fifteen seconds between each sprint, save for three ten-minute breaks, and these three breaks will be the only time you'll be allowed to drink water*. This will go on for five-seven hours. No matter what kind of shape you are in, you will become utterly exhausted, and at that point your will-power will kick in, and that's all the mefakedim are really interested in. Really, it's not important if you finish first every time. Some people finished last or almost last every time and still earned an invitation. Why? Because even though they weren't in the best shape they were trying just as hard if not harder than everyone else there.

Finally, at the end of the day, the mefakedim will get together and decide who gets to be invited to the gibushim (which last like five days). They take about two hours to delibirate. Of all the 400 people who arrived at the beginning of the day, probably only between 80-150 won't have quit by the end of the day. Of those who are left, about fifty will earn invitations to something. The rest will leave with nothing and never even be told why.

Good luck, it's really not as hard as it sounds, and not getting invited isn't the end of the world.


*NEVER get water unless you are TOLD to get water. They'll tell you during the day things like
"if anyone's thirsty they can go get some water if they like." The people that fall for this are like the people in a horror movie that say they're going into the basement to look for their cell phone, and then mysteriously never come back. They'll also say things like "if anyone is dizzy and wants to go see the doctor, that's no problem. You can come back in two weeks and try again if you'd like." Lies. All lies.