Hit the road!

This was written a couple of months ago for VOICES, but when the war broke out, Sharon requested that I quickly write something about that, which I did. Now I have to psyche myself up for the coming school year and my extremely difficult work conditions. This year's schedule is impossible, and, at present, I'm very impatiently waiting to hear that they've remedied it.


When people ask me how I travel to work, or when it's one of those "no bus now" times of the day, I answer: "Siyata D'Shmaya kaful," with a double dose of G-d's help. One dose, like everyone else, protecting me on the roads from traffic accidents and terrorists, and the second dose because sometimes I need G-d's help just to get on the road.



The truth is that not only kids "tremp," or hitchhike, grandmothers like me do, too.

We've never had a car, and at this stage of life, we're certainly not going to. I was the only driver when we got married and moved to Israel in 1970, and when I saw how people drove then, I thanked G-d for public transportation.

Recently there has been lots of tsk-tsking about the youth's "irresponsible, risk-taking behavior," since a teenage boy from Itamar was kidnapped and as I write this, we don't know his fate. (He was murdered by the Arab terrorists almost immediately after his kidnapping.) And a few weeks ago some Arabs tried to kidnap a couple of teenage girls near Rechallim. According to "the rules of the road," the girls' behavior was impeccable, even enviable. They fought and got away. Baruch Hashem!! That's the spot where my friend, Rachella Druk, HaYa"D, was murdered, and I have no doubt that her neshama joined G-d in helping those girls escape.

True, we can't take for granted that G-d, Rachella or anyone else in This World or the Next will rescue everyone in danger on the roads. The responsibility in This World rests in the Israeli Government, which is supposed to empower the military to destroy terrorism and the police to stop rapists.

One thing for sure, we shouldn't blame the girls, as many did, for the attack. "Tremping, or hitchhiking, is a necessary part of life here in the Shomron. First for the practical reason that there isn't enough public transportation, and we are not yet at a population figure that makes it financially viable. Israel, like modern countries all over the world is becoming more and more dependent on private cars.

Many people who travel in private cars in Yehuda and Shomron consider their vehicles to be opportunities for chesed, a "mercy gift" to others. They enjoy the opportunity to help, without getting anything in return. This is not a simple mitzvah, and there's much controversy involved.

Honestly, some people are quite ambivalent about it. They complain of rude ungrateful passengers, making chutzpa-dik demands, damaging equipment and even stealing. The complaints range from talking loudly and incessantly on cell phones, demanding changes in routes, inadvertently detaching baby's car seats and burgling. For that reason, some car-owners are very selective in whom they welcome into their car, if they take riders at all. Others make it very clear about where passengers can sit and what behavior is tolerated.

Those of us who "tremp" must always remember that the vehicle owner is "king" and has the right to decide who gets in and who not. Sometimes it works to our advantage and sometimes not, but it's fair.

Some of us have no choice; we must "tremp." For example, I have no other way to get to and from work. I live in Shiloh and work in Beit El. There is no direct public transportation between the two communities. Even though our buses to Jerusalem pass the Beit El Junction, location of Givat Asaf, they don't let me off there. It is against Egged's regulations.

If I were traveling by car, door-to-door, it would be just over twenty minutes, but if I wanted to go by bus to work, without tremping, I would have to leave home by 10:15am to begin teaching at 1:45pm, yes three and one half hours!!! As it is, I leave at 12:15 to take the bus, which may not even leave Shiloh until 1pm, to Ofra. At Ofra I have to hitchhike. If I'm lucky, I'll get a ride to Beit El, if not then I get off at Givat Asaf, where I wait for a ride to Beit El. Yes, I have to give myself an hour and a half. It's not easy.

So when you hear about hitchhiking, please think of me, a hard-working middle-aged grandmother and not a bunch of ill-disciplined kids.