By Rabbi Zvi Gefen
Last month my family packed our bags and got ready to leave the place we called home. We were leaving Israel. Living there was just so special, there are so many lessons I learnt just by spending casual time with the locals whether it was sitting on a bus, walking the streets and even talking to the owners at my local makolet. I would like to share with you one story from my time in Israel.
Earlier in the year I was driving down the busy Yimiyahu Street, towards the entrance to Jerusalem. As many rushing driver do at a junction, (not that it is right) I turned into the yellow box hoping for the lights to be kind to me and allow me to go through. It didn’t. My small miscalculation had left me stuck in the middle of the junction, blocking both ways of traffic and a huge bus wanting to come the opposite way as I hopelessly waited for the lights to change. It didn’t. I was nervously, anxiously praying for the lights to change. My Israeli brethren in the train of 50 stagnant cars behind me had started the get vocal with their displeasure of me guy in my little blue Mazda 2. For Mancunians, think Cheetham Hill during rush hour, but with Israelis. After what seemed like a lifetime, the light changed and I was permitted to carry on my journey
Since we were children, we had been taught that Rosh Hashanah is the day that the good people are sealed in the book of life and the wicked are written in the book of death. So, the question I put to you is: Why don’t the wicked people just drop dead on Rosh Hashanah and the good all have an amazing year with all their dreams coming true?
Our Rabbis teach us that when we say ‘sealed for life’ it means a life of opportunity, where G-D gives us more chances to do more for others, to reach out in our community and make a real difference. That is the real meaning of life
But how can I really make a difference in the world? I’m just a small car caught up in the rush hour of life. However, as we see that my driving error on Yimiyahu Street made a difference to those around me, albeit the wrong one to fellow drivers, similarly, one small action in our life can improve that of those around us, and in some cases, even literally save lives as the following story demonstrates;
After hearing some similar words of inspiration from her Rabbi, a lady in New York decided that when an opportunity arose for her to do a good deed or favour for those around her, she would do it immediately. Whilst she was driving down East 90 and Avenue N, she noticed parked by the side of the road in a car was a young woman fast asleep. Odd seeing as it was 3pm on a weekday; still, she thought nothing of it originally. However, as she was pretty much stopped next to this other car, she noticed the young woman’s head was unnaturally positioned; it couldn’t have been comfortable, something was wrong. She knew it.
After a few moments of thought, weighing up the possibilities, she decided that she needed to ring Hatzolah (the voluntary first aid response team).
She exclaimed “I hope you forgive me for calling you, I’m not sure if there is something wrong, but there is a lady here on East 90 and Avenue N , I can’t get out of the car since there are cars behind me, and there is only one lane. Please come check it out, but I am sorry for bothering you”. The Hatzalah member said “Don't ever be sorry for calling. That is what we are here for. Have mercy for the potential victims, don’t have mercy on us. Call us whenever you have to and we will be there in a minute”. She drives off. 20 minutes later she gets a call from Hatzalah. “Are you the lady that called hatzalah about the women that was sleeping the car?” “Yes”. “I want you to know that you saved her life”. She said “how did I save her life?” They said “she is diabetic. She was in diabetic shock. If she would have been there another 20 minutes she would have died”. Two months later she receives another phone call from the mother of that lady who was sleeping. She said “you didn’t save one life you saved 2 lives. My daughter was expecting and today she had a little girl”! That is chesed. Do it right away.
In our hearts we have to make a commitment. Charity doesn’t necessarily mean just money – it means anyway of reaching out to another person and making a difference.
Let’s realise that with our own ‘cars’ we can make a huge difference.
Now that’s called living!
