Marva

Marva (Hebrew: מרווה) is a two-month Israel Defense Forces basic training program for young Jews from the Diaspora which offers an opportunity to experience the IDF and Israeli life. The program is based at Sde Boker.

History

Marva, originally affiliated with Gadna, which is now part of the Israeli Education and Youth Corps, is open to young adults aged 18-25 fluent in English or Hebrew. The majority of participants are 18-20.

Every week, the program focuses on a different aspect of Israeli army life. Participants travel around the country visiting IDF bases and experiencing the life of a soldier while learning about the army itself. The program costs 1650 USD and is non-refundable. Medical coverage does not apply to out weekends, which are every two weeks. Should a participant need time off during the course a letter must be written to the commanding officer in Hebrew. Also all orders are given in Hebrew, however due to it being understood that the course participants are not fluent in Hebrew, all orders are translated.

Marva (raga)

Marwa is an hexatonic Indian raga; Pa (the fifth tone) is omitted. Marwa is also the name of the thaat.

Aroha and Avaroha

Arohana Ṇi re_ Ga Ma_ Dha Ni re# S'
In the Western scale this would roughly translate to: C C-sharp E F-sharp A B c

Avarohana re_ Ni Dha Ma_ Ga re Ṇ Ḍ S

The Ma is actually Ma Tivratara, which is a perfect fourth above re komal (which is 112 cents above Sa))

Vadi and Samvadi

The Vadi is komal Re, while the Samvadi is shuddh Dha. Notice that these do not form a perfect interval. So V.N.Paṭvardhan says "It is customary to give Re and Dha as vādi and saṃvādi, but seen from the point of view of the śāstras (treatises) it is not possible for re and Dha to be saṃvādī (i.e. consonant) to each other. For this reason, in our opinion it is proper to accept Dha as vādī and Ga as saṃvādī" On the other hand if Ga receives too much emphasis, it would create the impression of raga Puriya

Pakad or Chalan

Sa is omitted within a taan; it may only be used at the end of a phrase and even then is used infrequently. Bhatkhande gives the pakad as Dha Mâ Ga re, Ga Mâ Ga, re, Sa. Patwardan has shown the mukhya ang as re Ga Mâ Dha, Dha Mâ Ga re, but points out that the raga is also clearly indicated by: Ṇi re Ga Mâ Dha, Dha Mâ Ga re Ṇi re Sa.
The chalan given by Ruckert is: Ṇi Ḍha re__ Ṇi Ḍha Ṃâ Ṇi Ḍha Ṇi Ḍha Sa__ re' Ga Mâ Dha__ Mâ Ni Dha Mâ Ga re__ Sa Ṇi Ḍha re Sa__