Last week on a day off, I had been invited to the Psagot Yekev/Winery for Scholarship Award Ceremony of the Simcha (Simon) and Chana (Jana) FALIC and BARAD FAMILIES SCHOLARSHIP AWARD of Chesed Menachem Mendel – Colel Chabad. It's not far from Shiloh. All the buses to Jerusalem stop nearby. It's Just literally on top of Migron which is across from the Gas Station on the way to Tel Zion, Psagot and Kochav Yaakov.
I calculated when to leave in order to catch a bus, and then a few minutes before that I got a notice that a neighbor would be going to Sha'ar Binyamin in half an hour. I quickly called him to see if he would drop me off at the stop I needed, the "gas station," just a kilometer from his destination, and he said yes. He said he'd call me five minutes before leaving. Then just when we should have been leaving, I got a message from him that he wouldn't be going at all.
Oops! I was stuck. The chance of getting there on time was just about impossible. I would need a miracle. I grabbed my bag and ran to the bus/hitchhiking stop. A neighbor came by, but she wasn't going that far at all. She was only going to the main road, where I wasn't going to wait. So I asked to get off at the Shiloh-Shvut Rachel Junctions which does get more rides. Immediately after getting out of her car there was a car to Ofra. I jumped in. At Ofra immediately there was a woman with kids in the car who said she was going to the "gas station," just the stop I needed. As we drove, it occurred to me that maybe she was going to the Yekev, since I didn't think she was getting gas. There is also a gas station in Ofra. So I asked where exactly, and she replied Migron, so I asked to go there since it was on the way. Even better was that she was going to one of the uppermost houses on that hillside.
It wasn't a bad walk up, and I arrived in time for the ceremony!
Baruch' Hashem ! Sometimes you can see the "Syiata dishemaya", the Divine Help (and sometimes it's not so obvious, but it's because of our short sights...).
ReplyDeleteYou wrote : "As you should know by now, we don't have a car. And considering our ages and financial position, it doesn't look like we ever will"... I'm in my forties, with six children from 2 to 18, and both of us are working. Would you give me, and all of your readers, an advice to make it through? Otherwise asked, what should you have done differently, economically speaking, 20 years ago to be wealthier, let's say to avoid tramping?
Over the years we have hired vans and private taxis for special ocasions. We do not drive so a rental is not an option. Owning a car that is not needed daily or weekly is a waste of money.
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