One of my sons likes to hike & hitchhike around the country when he's not in yeshivah.
(You can read about a couple of his exploits here: Despite All the Grumbles, There’s No Place Like Home and more recently: We Didn't Start the Fire...But We'll Still Gladly Help You Put It Out, Brother!)
Being age 20, the people who give him a ride often say things like, “Hey, how old are you? Why aren’t you in the army?”
He thrives on the opportunity to pleasantly defend himself, seeing it as a way to hone his own position.
And as far as he has experienced, these family-like confrontations are always self-affirming.
Anyway...at one point, an older Moroccan couple from Tiveria picked him up.
The husband was a firm supporter of Tiveria’s rabidly anti-Torah current mayor and the wife supported her husband.
But seeing my son’s obviously yeshivish appearance, the man didn’t want to get into it with my son.
Anyway, the wife started rambling about their son, who’d joined a combat unit in the IDF.
“They don’t feed them well,” she fretted. “When my son returned from battle, he was THIS thin!” She held up one finger.
My son silently noted with amusement that she seemed more concerned about her son’s food intake than the dangers he faced in battle.
Then the woman turned on my son, saying, “Why should my son have to risk his life on the battlefield while you sit in yeshivah?”
“Maybe the whole reason your son came back from the battlefield was because I’m sitting in yeshivah,” replied my son.
“Huh,” said the woman, thoughtfully. (It's hard for older Moroccan ladies to be REAL kofrim.)
The man didn’t say a word.
But he didn't chuck my son out of the car, either.
They dropped my son off at a convenient location, he thanked them, and things ended on a more or less amicable note.
(You can read about a couple of his exploits here: Despite All the Grumbles, There’s No Place Like Home and more recently: We Didn't Start the Fire...But We'll Still Gladly Help You Put It Out, Brother!)
Being age 20, the people who give him a ride often say things like, “Hey, how old are you? Why aren’t you in the army?”
He thrives on the opportunity to pleasantly defend himself, seeing it as a way to hone his own position.
And as far as he has experienced, these family-like confrontations are always self-affirming.
Anyway...at one point, an older Moroccan couple from Tiveria picked him up.
The husband was a firm supporter of Tiveria’s rabidly anti-Torah current mayor and the wife supported her husband.
But seeing my son’s obviously yeshivish appearance, the man didn’t want to get into it with my son.
Anyway, the wife started rambling about their son, who’d joined a combat unit in the IDF.
“They don’t feed them well,” she fretted. “When my son returned from battle, he was THIS thin!” She held up one finger.
My son silently noted with amusement that she seemed more concerned about her son’s food intake than the dangers he faced in battle.
Then the woman turned on my son, saying, “Why should my son have to risk his life on the battlefield while you sit in yeshivah?”
“Maybe the whole reason your son came back from the battlefield was because I’m sitting in yeshivah,” replied my son.
“Huh,” said the woman, thoughtfully. (It's hard for older Moroccan ladies to be REAL kofrim.)
The man didn’t say a word.
But he didn't chuck my son out of the car, either.
They dropped my son off at a convenient location, he thanked them, and things ended on a more or less amicable note.
Why am I telling you this?
It’s just a slice of life in Eretz Yisrael.
Also, Israelis on opposing sides do not usually behave with the ferocity portrayed in media outlets.
It goes more like the above: Open & straight-shootin', possibly passionate, but not hateful.
The media either makes things up or pounces on the handful of ferocious behaviors to set a magnifying lens on it.
Normal Jews may be flawed and misguided, but are basically decent people.
If we would skip over all the purposefully inflammatory video clips & rhetoric, we might all get along much better.
(And we'd behave with a lot more seichel too.)
It’s just a slice of life in Eretz Yisrael.
Also, Israelis on opposing sides do not usually behave with the ferocity portrayed in media outlets.
It goes more like the above: Open & straight-shootin', possibly passionate, but not hateful.
The media either makes things up or pounces on the handful of ferocious behaviors to set a magnifying lens on it.
Normal Jews may be flawed and misguided, but are basically decent people.
If we would skip over all the purposefully inflammatory video clips & rhetoric, we might all get along much better.
(And we'd behave with a lot more seichel too.)
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