IDF soldiers eating the traditional apples dipped in honey to celebrate Rosh Hashana. Photo: IDF Spokesperson

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Anyone who walks into the IDF’s central kitchen will immediately notice of the hard work being done in an effort to prepare for the upcoming holiday season.  Soldiers and their commanders have been working long hours for the past month and a half to prepare for Rosh Hashana celebrations within the army.  New recipes have been sent to army cooks on various IDF bases, rigid schedules are set in place for all army kitchens, and large quantities of food have been distributed to all army bases even in the most remote corners of the country.

50,000 IDF soldiers will be on base and on duty unable to return home for Rosh Hashana, and the IDF is committed to providing them with a holiday that is complete with all the trimmings.  This means that they will distribute 35 tons of meat, 14 tons of red apples and four tons of honey, ten tons of honey cake, and 6 tons of pomegranates, all in keeping with traditional Rosh Hashana foods.  They will be sending 12,000 bottles of grape juice to use for Kiddush (they festive prayer traditionally made over wine), and an additional 12,000 bottles of various soft drinks to make the holiday that much sweeter.

“We provide the soldiers with quality food all year round, not just during the holidays,” explains Chief Commander of Logistics and Technology in the IDF’s central kitchen, Colonel Boaz Banai.  “But in light of the holidays, we are taking extra special care to make sure that every single soldier in the IDF will have a balanced meal with all of the traditional holiday food.  We are making a special effort for the holiday to provide every unit in the IDF with exceptional food and service.”

This past Friday, IDF bases in the north, center and south of Israel received their holiday food, and central kitchen’s the hard work will help provide a happy and sweet new year for all of the soldiers who will be spending the holiday on base.