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Dad Would Be Proud: Orbaum Triplets All Serving In Israel Air Force
Jerusalem Post ^ | 12/09/2009 | Yaakov Katz

Posted on 12/09/2009 2:21:41 PM PST by goldstategop

The concept of 'one for all and all for one' can get pretty absurd," the late Jerusalem Post staffer and columnist Sam Orbaum wrote about his identical triplet daughters 14 years ago. The Orbaum girls in uniform.

The Orbaum girls in uniform.

Orbaum, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 46, went on in the column, entitled "The threeness of it all," to describe life as a father of identical triplets.

Not only did he sometimes mix them up, Orbaum wrote in his well-known wry, comic style, but he was also constantly impressed by their tight bond - when for example they stood up for one another in fights in the school sandbox.

The three blond 19-year-old sisters are still sticking up for one another, although this time not on the playground but in the IAF, in which they all enlisted a few months ago, making history.

While all three are in khaki-colored air force uniforms, they don't serve together. Odelia, the oldest (born a minute before her two sisters), serves as a control officer in the IAF's underground command-and-control center in the Kirya in Tel Aviv; Nomi is an air traffic control officer at the IAF's Palmahim Base; and Donna is currently in training for a different IAF position near Herzliya.

"Even though we are, in a sense, still together since we are all in the IAF, it was still difficult to split up to different positions and offices," said Odelia.

The sisters say that they think of themselves as one person, which might not make sense - until one sees how they complete one another's sentences or give the same answers during the interview.

Since elementary school the three have been together, going on to the same high school in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood and then to the same premilitary academy in the Jordan Valley.

It was there that the triplets decided to enlist in the IDF and not do national service like most of their female classmates.

"As religious girls we were confused about what to do," said Nomi. "But [we] decided to enlist into the IDF since national service, like working in an old age home, is something we can always do after our military service, but military service is right now. [It's] the only time we can do it and is what characterizes the state."

Once they made their decision, all they had left was to find fulfilling jobs in the IDF. Donna said she thought about trying out for the pilot's course; Nomi thought at one point about joining the Ground Forces Command and becoming an infantry instructor.

In the end, they all made their way to the air force, albeit on different bases.

"We didn't all decide to joint the IAF," explained Odelia. "That is just how it worked out."

Nomi, the self-declared "controlling" sister, said that becoming an air traffic controller fit in very well with her personality.

"I usually make the decisions so becoming an air traffic controller was natural," she said.

While the three are not currently together, they all plan on becoming officers and hope to be in the same course at the Bahad 1 Officer Training School near Mitzpe Ramon in a few months.

If that doesn't work out, there's always the post-IDF trip overseas, which they have no doubt they will make together.

The girls also don't doubt that their father would have supported their decision to join the army. When Sam came to Israel he tried to enlist, they said, but he was exempted on medical grounds.

"He supported us in everything we did until he passed away when we were 12," Donna said. "This is the seventh year since he passed away and I think about him all the time and see his smile and know that he would have been proud of us."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: conscription; iaf; israel; jerusalempost; nationalservice; orbaumtriplets; yaakovkatz
One picture is worth a thousand words: three Israeli sisters in the Air Force!


The Orbaum Girls In Uniform

1 posted on 12/09/2009 2:21:45 PM PST by goldstategop
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To: goldstategop

RAWR


2 posted on 12/09/2009 2:25:34 PM PST by TheZMan (Just secede and get it over with. No love lost on either side. Cya.)
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To: goldstategop

Wow


3 posted on 12/09/2009 2:26:31 PM PST by Jewbacca (The residents of Iroquois territory may not determine whether Jews may live in Jerusalem.)
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To: goldstategop

Sooo Not Guilty x3


4 posted on 12/09/2009 2:27:45 PM PST by MetaThought
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To: goldstategop
One picture is worth a thousand words

Or in this case three thousand words

5 posted on 12/09/2009 2:27:53 PM PST by null and void (We are now in day 322 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: TheZMan
Their father died young. They've come a long way since he passed away and its an occasion for the Post to grant tribute to one of their colleagues and see what became of his unique children. I have no doubt if he was alive today, he would be proud of his daughters.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

6 posted on 12/09/2009 2:29:04 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop

It`s easy to see why their daddy got them confused

They`re just like three beautiful peas in a pod


7 posted on 12/09/2009 2:45:24 PM PST by Harold Shea (RVN `70 - `71)
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To: goldstategop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfCFU3Mqww


8 posted on 12/09/2009 2:54:11 PM PST by Nachum (The complete Obama list at www.nachumlist.com)
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To: MetaThought

+1 +1 +1


9 posted on 12/09/2009 2:55:06 PM PST by naturalized
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To: goldstategop

Bump, from the proud uncle of an Israeli soldier.


10 posted on 12/09/2009 2:56:59 PM PST by Lurking Libertarian (Non sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege)
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To: goldstategop

OK, as stated on the other thread with all the hot Israeli girls, I am converting.


11 posted on 12/09/2009 3:11:28 PM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Nothing to see here. Move along.)
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To: goldstategop

The daughters of Job ...


12 posted on 12/09/2009 3:14:21 PM PST by ROTB ("By any means necessary" is evil. See what God thinks of "rising oceans" in Jeremiah 5:22)
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To: ROTB
IDF girls on a break. One of these maybe?

Image Hosted by MyFiero.com

13 posted on 12/09/2009 3:22:21 PM PST by TexasRedeye (Eschew obfuscation)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...
his identical triplet daughters

14 posted on 12/09/2009 4:37:11 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

15 posted on 12/09/2009 4:51:49 PM PST by SJackson (In wine there is wisdom, In beer there is freedom, In water there is bacteria.)
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To: TexasRedeye

>IDF girls on a break. One of these maybe?

They alls fine. =)


16 posted on 12/09/2009 5:04:50 PM PST by ROTB ("By any means necessary" is evil. See what God thinks of "rising oceans" in Jeremiah 5:22)
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To: goldstategop
attractive triplets - check
uniforms - check
guns - check
Jewish - check

Making of the best porn ever. Or at least a good dream for tonight. Sweet dreams y'all!
17 posted on 12/10/2009 12:23:56 AM PST by rmlew (Democracy tends to ignore..., threats to its existence because it loathes doing what is needed)
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To: goldstategop

Women of the IDF

http://www.serialno3817131.com/


18 posted on 12/10/2009 11:52:36 AM PST by El Sordo
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