Saturday, November 27, 2004
Sparks From Israel
Riding the Bus
Imagine giving a motorcycle gang member a bus license and saying, go ahead, have fun. Sometimes riding a bus, especially in the night when there is less traffic is a thrilling experience. Overseas when you get stuck behind a bus you complain because they go slow and stop everywhere. In Israel they swing to the left and right barely missing people, and other buses, stopping only for pit stops as people hurry on and the race continues. One night as the bus zigzagged through traffic at lightning speed the bus drivers friend started to beep the horn ‘yahoooo’. They laughed and I also was amused.
Another night, I was coming home and the bus driver detecting my English accent asked me to help him translate a line from a Beatles song. We enjoyed talking with each other so much that he missed his turn and took the bus on a different route. I told him that this was actually closer to my place, and so he happily dropped me at my corner. We shook hands and parted.
As my brother once said, in Chutz Le Aretz we have ‘I’ ‘It’ relationships. We relate to people more as things and objects. Here it is an ‘I’ ‘Thou” relationship, and we relate to each other regardless of our station in life, as family, brothers and cousins. It’s really such a huge difference.
That’s it for this week. Oh yes, I heard another famous terrorist passed away. I couldn’t really care less, but I went to the Shiva and I brought a deli plate. There will be more of them I’m sure, just like mosquitoes or hornets in the summer, but it won’t stop me from building my corner of the Promised Land. I hear they are also opening a new hotel in Gush Katif. Kol hakavod! Shabbat Shalom
Riding the Bus
Imagine giving a motorcycle gang member a bus license and saying, go ahead, have fun. Sometimes riding a bus, especially in the night when there is less traffic is a thrilling experience. Overseas when you get stuck behind a bus you complain because they go slow and stop everywhere. In Israel they swing to the left and right barely missing people, and other buses, stopping only for pit stops as people hurry on and the race continues. One night as the bus zigzagged through traffic at lightning speed the bus drivers friend started to beep the horn ‘yahoooo’. They laughed and I also was amused.
Another night, I was coming home and the bus driver detecting my English accent asked me to help him translate a line from a Beatles song. We enjoyed talking with each other so much that he missed his turn and took the bus on a different route. I told him that this was actually closer to my place, and so he happily dropped me at my corner. We shook hands and parted.
As my brother once said, in Chutz Le Aretz we have ‘I’ ‘It’ relationships. We relate to people more as things and objects. Here it is an ‘I’ ‘Thou” relationship, and we relate to each other regardless of our station in life, as family, brothers and cousins. It’s really such a huge difference.
That’s it for this week. Oh yes, I heard another famous terrorist passed away. I couldn’t really care less, but I went to the Shiva and I brought a deli plate. There will be more of them I’m sure, just like mosquitoes or hornets in the summer, but it won’t stop me from building my corner of the Promised Land. I hear they are also opening a new hotel in Gush Katif. Kol hakavod! Shabbat Shalom
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