* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
Ayelet Malka, from the north of Israel, sent me the following note:
Shalom Sivan,
I would like to share a thought before Tisha B’Av.
We, the residents of the north, have been unable to use “Waze” or “Google Maps” for the longest time. In fact, last time I checked, our location was in Beirut… It’s annoying and difficult, but it has also changed us in profound ways.
I believe that something very significant is taking place here; God is telling us to look out our windows, notice other people’s challenges, and offer to help them. In this way, these days of Bein Hametzarim (“In the Narrow Places”)—the Three Weeks—can be transformed into a time of kindness and unconditional love in the most practical way.
These days, we need to ask someone passing by on the sidewalk: “Tell me, how do you get to the gardening center?” Or, we have to roll down our car window and ask: “Where is the BIG Shopping Center ? Do you continue going straight?”— just as we used to do in the “old days.”
This has happened a lot to me lately. In fact, my attitude towards my surroundings has completely changed. Now I stop to offer help or to be helped. Just today I met a stranger and we concentrated on solving a problem together, face to face.
And only yesterday, I was driving along the road when a woman stopped me in the middle of an interchange to ask for directions. The traffic behind me came to a halt until I was able to explain to her where she needed to go. And nobody honked their horn!
I look at people differently now, and sometimes I just feel like sticking my head out of my car window and asking: “Friends. I live around here. Does anyone need help getting anywhere?”
With God’s help, we will go back to using Waze again. But in the meantime, let’s appreciate the transformation of our society! We are literally helping each other find the right direction; in this way, we are repairing the world and bringing redemption closer.
Check out this week’s podcast episode in English here: https://www.tabletmag.com/podcasts/sivan-says/sivan-says-devarim
