"מישהו טפח על שכמי. מה נשמע? גם בפלוגה שלכם יצא צוות אחד לעשרים וארבע שעות? היה זה מוטי מפלוגה גימ"ל. שוב עלו המראות ואני רציתי שקט. שקט כבר לא יהיה לי.במוצאי יום הכיפורים נסענו יחד בדרך לטבריה באוטובוס מקריית־נוער. מוטי ישב לפנינו עם שעיה. שעיה נפל. אני ישבתי ליד דוב. דוב נפל. "סיפור המחדל המזעזע של מלחמת יום כיפור, מסופר מנקודת מבטו של חייל, בן ישיבת הסדר שהתגייס לצנחנים והועבר לשיריון. המספר שירת בחזית הסורית בזמן מלחמת יום כיפור. רוב הספר מתמקד בתיאור החוויות מהמלחמה והאבל על אובדן חברו דוב....

In all fairness, I probably would have given this a higher rating had I read it in English. And I feel pretty bad giving it just one star -- a soldier fights in the Yom Kippur War and loses his best friend to enemy fire but not his religious faith. It should be inspiring and close to my heart, right?Alas, I found the story (such as it was) extremely hard to follow, jumping back and forth around the timeline, mixing various narratives of various soldiers, interspersing things that happened to the...

Unfortunately, a big part of our definition as Israelis have been shaped and sculpted against a short period of time and the most impact on that definition was within the War of Independence (1948), The Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973).No one objectively 'succeeds' in wars. It is very hard to choose a goal that is falling into place of all of the ideas within a country of what constitutes success. Some would say that a war is, by its own virtue, a failure to begin with.The Yom Ki...

What IDF military intelligence, MOSAD, and politicians failed in preparation for the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, reservists and conscripts made up through shear courage, faith, and necessity. In the initial days of war along the northern Golan Heights, an unprepared and dismally chaotic Israeli armored brigade suffered against an organized Syrian armored division eight times its size. Known for its highly skilled Air Force and air superiority, the IAF failed to support its ground forces. Unprep...

An incredibly moving story of friendship and faith amid the confusing tumult of war.

My concentration is shot these days, so I found it very hard to focus on this book. It's translated from Hebrew, so that may be part of the problem. Also, it's a soldier's story, and I don't follow the details of military battles well either. But I do love how Jewish faith and liturgy weave seamlessly into the narrative.

At the heart of this book lie some of the most engrossing and terrifying first hand accounts of war that I've ever read. Haim Sabato's story of a young and observant soldier fighting in the Tank Corps on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 is quite unlike any other book of war writing/memoir that I've previously encountered. Haim's (and his friends') experiences in that dreadful war were all too vivid and real. Threaded throughout the narrative are some of the contemplations, pra...

This novel provides a compelling argument for the chaos of war, the multiple perspectives, and how fundamental beliefs can be shaken or reinforced. The juxtaposition of the mundane --concrete religious practice, bound by time of day and year --with war made this read fascinating on multiple levels. We know the outcome of the Yom Kippur war writ large; Sabato provides a view of the war, micro scale. I do not know how well the experiences of these citizen soldiers transcends to those of other sold...

I read this book with the purpose of getting factual material about the Yom Kippur War but found it more than that. I am not religious, so I kind of skipped the religious passages although it's clear the writer tried to make them accessible to everybody, not just those who know, but I was very impressed by the patriotism, courage, camaraderie and ingenuity displayed by Israeli soldiers in the face of the looming disaster brought about largely by the country's own government and high command. It'...

4.5 I was born at the end of Yom kipor war. Living in israel you get to hear a lot about that war and i am not a fan of war stories so i took my time reading it but Sabato takes you from the very first word by the hand and leads you gently with so much humanity in a world gone mad. Its a beautiful book

Lyrical, religious, almost liturgical writing. This is a story of Israel's immigrants from many lands, of comradeship and war, and of grief and loss. There isn't much of a plot. The story is thin but manages to capture so much of the pain and confusion of the Yom Kippur War.

A story of an observant Jewish soldier in the Yom Kippur War. It is a far cry from a 'war novel' - a moving tale with descriptions that make you feel you are there. It makes the duel world the soldiers lived in come alive.

Emotionally difficult, but there was an inspiration on every page despite the so difficult and hard background: You Kippur War, Israel 1973. לעולם יראה אדם עצמוחציו זכאי וחציו חיב,ואת העולם כולומחצה זכאיומחצה חיבעשה מצווה אחתהכריע את עצמוואת העולם כולולכף זכות

A wonderful portrait of Judaism as a living faith and not an archaic, dead religion.

faith and gunnery

Poignant and moving, with Torah and faith woven throughout.

This is my second reading of “Adjusting Sights.” After reading the lyrical “The Dawning of the Day,” I so wanted to give this book another chance. But unfortunately, it still did not meet my expectations. “Adjusting Sights” is semi-autobiographical about a religious soldier from a Middle Easter background fighting in the Yom Kippur War. But with so much detail it is hard to know where reality ends and fiction begins. On the positive side, it is wonderful to read about prophet-soldiers who recite...

Beautiful and poetic, but it was obvious that a lot was lost in translation. Also, the plot meanders all over the place with flashbacks and stories, and it's hard to tell where the flashbacks end and what's going on. The ending dragged on and on. The plot was never really resolved: (view spoiler)[ we never find out what happened to Dov. And I get that the point was that it didn't matter what happened to him, that the author had made peace with it, but still. That was the whole plot of the story....

One of the best books I have ever read. I bought copies for my family. When I finished I gave it to my husband to read; and when he was done I took it back and started again, reading it cover to cover a second time. There's so much depth there.

2.5 starsI wished he focused more on the friendship, as that was implied to be the foundation of the story.

Too much religious stuff for me as an atheist. The descriptions of war are really good.

two people told me this book was excellent. i had a hard time getting through it.

הספר הזה הוא יצירת מופת.זה גם ספר שקשה להיכנס אליו, גדוש בשפה עשירה שמשלבת רפרנסים ישיבתיים, צבאיים, תורניים ועוד. ספר שעובר בין צירי זמן שונים, ספר שכורך ביחד כאב ואמונה.