What I've learned from hitching rides

We're carless. To travel we depend on public transportation and "tremping," the Hebrew for hitching rides, but it's better described as the goodness of others and Gifts from G-d.

People who always drive themselves think that they're in charge of the world. One of the recent scandals in Israel concerns prominent lawyer Avigdor 'Dori' Klagsbald, who with "other" things on his mind, didn't notice that the cars in front of him had stopped, and he rammed into them killing a young mother and her child.

The TV news has been filled with the story, since his sentencing was this week, and I heard the killer/driver complain that he couldn't understand why a mistake of "seconds" should "ruin his life." His lawyer said:
"This is a very harsh ruling, and we will file an appeal. He received a special punishment because he is a lawyer," said Scheinman. "In my opinion, his negligence was only temporary. He never denied responsibility, and for months he's been slandered by the media without reacting, which he believes was the proper response."

This isn't about a small "mistake." Two innocent people were killed, and all he cares about is himself. Remember, death is permanent!

back to hitching...
I've learned to accept that I can't really plan my traveling. The better I get at it, the more I enjoy it. I feel the "Hand of G-d" all the time. Sometimes I'm very pleasantly surprised.
This past Tuesday night I went to a wedding in Jerusalem after work. There were no rides to Shiloh, so I planned on getting one to the bus stop in French Hill where good souls pick up hitchhikers. Actually I didn't even know how I was going to get there, but I was confident that I'd easily find a ride from the wedding. That's what happened. I ended up getting home more quickly than I ever could have expected.

And back to that lawyer who killed the two people. His punishment isn't harsh enough.