It was in the winter of 1974. It was raining in Jerusalem and my upstairs neighbor Dror popped in to ask if I wanted to accompany him to his business advisor, a Kabbalistic rabbi who lived in Katamon, not far from us in Beit V'gan.
Dror had decided to move his business to Houston Texas as he suffered from PTSD. His tank was one of the few tanks that had survived holding the Golan the year before, during the Yom Kippur War and his wife thought moving to Houston would put an end to his nightmares.
We parked outside this old house and entered the open entrance. There were old newspapers stacked up everywhere from floor to ceiling in the badly lit corridor leading to stairs up to the office on the floor above. In some places, rain was running down the piles of paper from a leaking roof creating a damp smell in the downstairs hall. I understood that the rabbi and his family used to live there many years ago but now lived in one of the buildings opposite the Kotel.
Dror was already halfway up the stairs as I quickened my pace to join him. The top of the stairs faced a large, dimly lit room with more old newspapers in little piles spread around the room. Dror introduced me to the bearded rabbi, clothed in black, and explained I was his neighbor and worked at IBM. Dror and the rabbi discussed how to move his jewelry business from Israel to Houston. His jewelry store was in front of the King David Hotel building.
I managed to understand most of what they said as at that time my Hebrew was still a bit rough. I was really impressed with Rabbi Aaron's very imaginative advice. Rabbi Aaron eventually turned to me and asked if I had any ideas or suggestions. Then the discussion turned to other things, and a warm friendship was forged that lasted many years.
I would often visit on my own and bring him stacks of good quality computer printer paper printed on one side from the government computation center where I worked as the resident IBM service engineer. He used the paper to make notes for his many clients. During these visits I would sometimes translate for him when he got international phone calls from different countries, long before the advent of personal phones, as the international operators spoke English. They were from people asking for different things, sometimes a prayer for a sick child.
On one of these visits, a day before I was to go to miluim (army reserves), Rabbi Aaron said he wanted to give me a gift of a Kamiya. I had no idea what that was and watched as he tore off a piece of paper from the new batch I had brought him and scribbled something on it in what to me looked like Aramaic. When I got home, I spoke to an old friend about the Kamiya and as he knew of the rabbi, he told me that people paid significant sums of money for what he had given me for free.
The next morning, I left for the army reserves and I could feel the heat from the Kamiya inside my wallet in my pants pocket. Every morning, I became strangely agitated before I had checked I had put the Kamiya back in my pants pocket. I slept with the Kamiya every night under my makeshift pillow. The few weeks of miluim passed quickly and although I was only a sergeant, I acted more like an officer. I was more aware of things around me; my mind was razor sharp. I was able to make impressive suggestions and always give clear, timely commands that at times even surprised me.
On the morning of the last day I was cleaning the heavier machine guns as I always had some tools with me, when the regiment commander (magad) came over and sat down on the bench next to the cut-in-half oil drum where I was cleaning the guns and smiled. A good sign ☺. He then told me that a few soldiers had approached him and asked him to send me to Officer's School as they wanted me to replace their lieutenant who was leaving shortly for Germany to work on a joint research project, making electricity out of algae. I was more than a little surprised. He added that they felt safe with me as I was so sure of what I was doing, and I seemed to be able to decide on what to do in an instant. Only later on in life did I learn that it is not that important what you decide, just as long as you make a decision.
I got home and after a shower decided to visit Rabbi Aaron and thank him for "changing my life". He was alone and asked if I would like a cup of coffee. While he was making the coffee, I was thinking of how to thank him. He returned with the coffee and started rummaging in a plastic bag that was hanging on the wall next to us. With a smile he presented me with a triangular leather object, roughly sewn on two sides. I took it, a little puzzled and asked what it was. He smiled and told me it was the Kamiya he had promised me. I reached into my pocket and took out the piece of paper he had given me.
"What is this then," I asked? He looked at it, smiled, and said, "Oh this is just a note for me so that you don't have to wait in line."
On the way home I thought of the tremendous hidden power of autosuggestion which in other words is FAITH. Arriving home I put this strange object at the back of a drawer and with a sigh, understood why some people believe so strongly in religion and inanimate amulets.
So, the question is who is the real me? I thought it just proved what I was capable of and in the future I could do so without an amulet. Did the Kamiya give me faith or confidence and is there a connection between the two?
The following year, when I started miluim, I initially tried to simulate what I had done the previous year when I was under the influence of the powers of the Kamiya. Very quickly I realized that the year before I had been too hasty in deciding on things and therefore decided to go back to how I was before. I now believe the Kamiya had made me overconfident by reducing stress levels therefore bypassing critical thinking when making decisions, making them faster but less safe.
I am sure that if called for, I can once again act with confidence and purpose. But I will do it on my own, without the need of a charm or to belong to any group having a framework of common beliefs – strict rules sometimes called groupthink.
Irving Janus, a Yale University Research Psychologist, developed the influential theory of group decision-making that he called groupthink which maintains that group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner. Janis emphasized that high group cohesiveness can be a double-edged sword. While it can foster positive aspects like camaraderie and teamwork, it can also lead to the suppression of critical thinking and independent judgment.
Then again some believe an amulet does not work like groupthink. While both involve a degree of shared belief or influence, they operate on different principles. Amulets are typically personal objects believed to possess protective or lucky properties, while groupthink is a psychological phenomenon where a desire for harmony within a group overrides realistic appraisal of any alternatives.
It is now 2025, 49 years since the Kamiya story happened, with Israel at the end of war with Hamas in Gaza. In hindsight, I believe that the Kamiya as an amulet affected me like Janis' groupthink theory and therefore was just as dangerous when the split-second decisions had to be made in a dangerous environment. One learns to decide quickly but what one decides must be based on a clear picture of surroundings and not helped by "feeling lucky". Something interesting indeed to think about.