Life sure is interesting here in Israel. Chazal say,
"Even the mundane conversation of the people who live in the
Land of Israel is Torah" (Vayikra Rabba 34:7). And,
really, there is never a dull moment, always something to
learn and experience, if you keep your eyes and ears
receptively open.
Risa L. spent last Shabbos at the home of my friend Shifra.
It was there that she saw and read "On Bus Drivers, Dreidels
and Orange Juice," a collection of true stories about life in
Israel.
After putting the book down, Risa turned to Shifra and said,
"I have a story that happened to me a few months ago that is
even more unbelievable than these!"
And she proceeded to relate what had happened to her on her
way back to the Neve Yerusholayim dorm one night...
Risa had already been in Israel for a few months. During that
time, she had `discovered' her Jewish heritage and found Neve
Yerosholayim, a baal tshuva seminary for girls in Har
Nof. She studied hard and was learning a lot. And,
periodically, she went to the Kosel for an additional
spiritual boost after her evening classes were over to say
Tehillim. It was only one bus ride away!
This night was no different than any other night as she
traveled the 50 minute bus ride to the Kosel. Except that she
stayed longer than usual and only just made the last bus back
to Har Nof.
Being very tired, and since Har Nof was at the opposite end
of the #2 bus line from where she had boarded, Risa
unwittingly fell asleep in the dark, quiet, fairly empty bus.
Risa was still somewhat new to Har Nof, so that when she woke
up with a start when the bus stopped and the driver announced
that this was the last stop, she was a trifle disoriented
when she descended.
By the time the bus had left the area and Risa had collected
her wits enough to look around in the darkness, she realized
that she was nowhere near the Neve Yerusholayim campus and
that, actually, she had no idea where in Har Nof she was.
The street was very dark and also very empty of any movement.
Suddenly, in the darkness, Risa noticed a man walking towards
a nearby house. Though it was by now after midnight, Risa
approached the stranger and asked him which direction she
must take in order to get to Neve Yerusholayim.
"Oh, I'll take you there. It's much too far to walk," he
immediately offered. He then entered his house, presumably to
get the car keys.
Risa stood on the lonely pavement, wondering what her mother
would think of her daughter, walking up to a complete
stranger on a deserted street, in the middle of the night,
and then agreeing to take a ride with him in his car! She
smiled to herself. Her mother had no frame of reference for
life in a Jewish orthodox community, especially in Jerusalem.
At that point, the front door opened and the man's wife came
out holding the car keys.
As she drove Risa to the Neve Yerusholyaim dorm, this
stranger invited Risa for a Shabbos meal. When Risa thanked
her, but replied that she was already invited elsewhere, the
woman asked if Risa had any family in Israel.
"No. No one," she replied.
The stranger, wife of a stranger whom she had never seen
before, turned to Risa and flashed her a warm smile, "Well,
you do now. Us. Come to us whenever you like." And she really
meant it, and expected to be taken seriously!
Life in Israel. One big family. One People. One family.
Author of ON BUS DRIVERS, DREIDELS AND ORANGE JUICE
(Feldheim); HAPPY HINTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL ALIYA (Feldheim) and
A CHILDREN'S TREASURY OF SEPHARDIC TALES (Artscroll). Tzvia
Ehrlich-Klein has also edited several books including TO
DWELL IN THE PALACE (Feldheim), an anthology on life in
Israel.
