Additional Safety Barriers at Ofra Junction

I frequently wait for a ride home to Shiloh at the Ofra Junction. It's a good spot for rides. After night shift a friend quite often gives me a ride to there, and I wait. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to get a ride, and sometimes the minutes feel endless. That's tremping aka hitchhiking; it can be very unreliable. But when you don't have a car, and there's no bus expected, nu....? What else can I do?

For years there were a few cement barriers near the unused bus stop, but that was a bit far for me, since I like to be in view of the guard at Ofra. I stand very close to the corner.

And yes, there have been a number of terror attacks at similar spots. The Arab terrorists' latest method is running people over. So the security people placed a whole bunch of barriers for us to stand behind. The idea is also, if Gd forbid there is some shooting, we'll have someplace to hide.

The Phone Kept on Ringing

Suddenly there were a whole bunch of phone calls. I was at work, and I'm not really supposed to be on the phone, but I had to answer. I had to reassure all those calling me to ask how I was.

There were also a whole bunch of SMS's from the Shiloh security with details I could give people. There was a terror attack, a drive into Jews type, like the one I was injured in almost twenty years ago. Baruch Hashem I'm fine. This time the Arab terrorist drove into a few soldiers on patrol.

It happened a couple of kilometers from the Shiloh Junction. It's not a place where Jews wait for rides or wander around, though from the descriptions on the news, people wouldn't know. I knew, because I know the area well. And "everyone" knows that I tremp, take rides aka hitchhike.

As soon as I heard the location, it was clear that it had to have been an attack on soldiers. Soldiers are someone's kids, too. It doesn't make me feel any better about it, just because the victims aren't neighbors. We're all in this together. The Arabs want us all dead and gone.

I had been at work at the time. Actually, I hadn't been home all day. I also hadn't been following the news. I don't work seated at a computer. At least I wasn't told off for being on the phone. My phone quieted down once the news made it clear that the victims weren't pension-age grandmothers.

May G-d send a refuah shleimah, complete recovery to the injured soldiers.

Riding the Jerusalem Light-rail in Times of Terror

Cross-posted on Shiloh Musings

Ever since the summer war and terrorism, when Arabs attacked the lightrail which goes through their neighborhoods between Pisgat Ze'ev and Givat HaMivtar Jerusalem, I've ridden it much less than previously. There have been many reported Arab terror attacks and harassment of Jews. Besides the safety aspect, there have been times when the train was delayed, so a long indirect trip, although comfortable, had become an unsafe one.

Many people avoid taking it further north than French Hill, and now after a couple of fatal terror attacks on the "seam,' the stops between Givat Hatachmoshet, Ramat Eshkol and Sha'ar Shechem, more people are looking for buses than ever.

Yesterday I ended up getting off a ride to Jerusalem at Pisgat Zeev, and yesterday was Thursday afternoon when the traffic is pretty heavy, especially on the routes I'd need to get to downtown Jerusalem. My mind was busy going over the pros and cons of the routes I know which can be caught in Pisgat Zeev.

But without any bus in view, I got on the train with the intention of going just two stops within Pisgat Zeev to change for a bus. I was curious to see how the #66 route was. I called the son I was to meet, and he told me to stay on the train, which would take me right near his apartment. So, that's what I did.

I sat in the front behind the dirver, where it reportedly is and feels much safer. There have been reports of more harassment in the rear of the train.Hardly anyone was on the train even though it was Thursday afternoon, a busy shopping time. Maybe the other direction was fuller.

As we approached, Shuafat, the first stop after Pisgat Zeev, I got nervous, because I could see a whole bunch of men crowded together at the stop, in what appeared in my mind to be a threatening manner. There's no picture of them, because I thought I'd be safer with my camera and phone tucked away.

It wasn't until we stopped that I saw their uniforms and realized that they were Border Police or regular  police, not sure with all the bulletproof vests and all.

Besides them, nobody was waiting to get on.

A security guard walked up and down the train. For the first time, he was equipped with a very impressive weapon. I overheard him telling another passenger that it was new. Prior the guards were protected by bulletproof vests, but didn't have much else. I'm not sure about pistols.  People were more afraid of the ticket inspectors and the fines they could impose.

I don't think a dozen people got on the train at the three Arab neighborhood stops. I don't know how much they wanted to avoid security inspections or because they had nothing to do where the train was going. Many usually get on and off at the Old City (Sha'ar Shechem) or the seam stops (Shimon HaTzadik and Shivtei Yisrael) which skirt Arab neighborhoods. They do have lots of buses to use as alternative public transportation.

The streets of East Jerusalem were quiet.  You could see more security than ordinary shoppers.

As we got to the areas of the recent Arab terror attacks, there was a lot of police to be seen.

And soon the train was packed. At the two first downtown stops, the Municipality (City Hall) and "Jaffa Center," so many people tried to enter the train that the driver had to override the passengers option to open the doors. He locked the doors while people were clamoring to get into the suddenly packed train. I was afraid I'd have trouble exiting.

Just before my stop, I caught the eye of an older woman who was standing and told her that I was giving her my seat. She kept insisting that she was fine standing and I should sit. It took me a bit to convince her that I needed to get off at the next stop, so I wasn't getting up because I thought she looked more decrepit/elderly than myself.

The bottom line is that I had a safe trip on the train and got to where I needed to be without any hassles and relatively quickly, when you take into account I didn't wait long and didn't need to get off and then wait for a bus which could easily have been slow due to the hour.

The talk on the train among strangers and conversations I've had with friends about the lightrail centers on one theme. There should be a way for the train to bypass the Arab neighborhoods. The train should be able to get from Pisgat Ze'ev to the depot. It can already go from the depot straight to Givat Hamivtar/French Hill. That would have the double advantage of making the trip faster and staying out of the Arab neighborhoods where trains and train stops have been attacked. None of the ticket machines can be used there. The Arab terrorists/rioters have destroyed them.

The train goes right by the location of "my terror attack" making the trip a reminder of how G-d saved me. That attack was long before the lightrail was built. And that terror attack was the first one in which a terrorist used a vehicle to mow down innocent people at a bus stop. It happened over eighteen years ago and now is the popular one by Arab terrorists. It's also the most impossible to fully prevent or predict.

And about predictions, I wouldn't dare try my hand predicting what's next concerning security and terror in Jerusalem.

Let's pray that our leaders get wisdom and use it.  And let's also pray for the speedy and complete recovery of all the injured in previous terror attacks.

Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach
May it be a Peaceful and Blessed Sabbath, G-d willing

Following Crowds, The Funeral of the Three Murdered Teenagers

In my many decades, being of pension age I'm no youngster, I've learned that at times one must just go with the flow. There are many times we just find ourselves in places or opportunities unplanned.

I must admit that I don't make it a principle to go to funerals or shiva (condolence) calls when I'm not actually acquainted with the people. If anything my "principle" has been to avoid those public occasions. I've been to too many funerals of terror victims whom I actually knew and visited and helped at homes of the victims. Before the three teenage boys' bodies were discovered (davka by a civilian crew led by a Shiloh neighbor) I kept feeling haunted by the similarities of the photos the families Fraenkel, Sha'ar and Yifrach had given to the media to show of their sons hiking the Land to photos of Yonatan Eldar, Shmuel Yerushalmi and Avi Siton, HaYa"D. Those three teenagers were all from my neighborhood and all three had also been murdered by Arab terrorists, and the pictures were so familiar. All one needed to do was to Photoshop their faces, and you'd think they were the same exact boys, Eyal, Naftali and Gil-Ad, HaYa"D. Deja vu...

When I got my schedule for this week, I was surprised to have Tuesday off, since I had been working Tuesdays of late. I do work part-time and had given my boss a lot of leeway in scheduling me. I really didn't know what to do. It was too hot to try to visit a cousin in Tel Aviv; the Israel Museum isn't open Tuesday morning. And my daughter had asked me to babysit on Monday. So then when it was announced Monday night that the boys's bodies had been discovered, I began pondering the idea of going to the funeral. It was cinched when I got a message that there would be buses from Shiloh. We were to only attend the last part, the joint burial. That made sense, and was logistically the most sensible, also the safest, health-wise, for us to do. No doubt that most of the people who needed medical care had been to one of the earlier eulogy parts of the funerals in the various communities the boys were from. Our bus picked up people on the way who already looked close to collapse. They told us that they were coming from Talmon and their bus had broken down.

Since I'm not going to repeat/copy the article I posted on Shiloh Musings, please click here to read it. And of course I'm interested in your comments. Please share it, too, thanks.

Funeral of Eyal Yifrah, Gil-Ad Sha’ar and Naftali Fraenkel, HaYa"D

Remembering Miracles

This Shabbat is Parshat Zachor, when we are commanded by G-d to remember what Amalek did to the Jewish People. The Gematria (numerical values of Hebrew Letters) of Amalek is the same as that of "doubt." Amalek attacks us when we are weak.

Because of King Saul's sin there are still descendants of Amalek among us. Haman was descended from Amalek, and Mordechai from King Saul. Therefore Mordechai began the "tikkun," correction of King Saul's sin.

We are suffering from Arab terrorism, because we have been showing signs of weakness. Our politicians keep begging for "peace." Last night Kadima's Meir Shitrit was on the tv saying that we shouldn't leave any stone unturned in our quest for peace. Hogwash! That's weakness! There will never be peace if we're begging for it.

On Shiloh Musings, I posted pictures of the place of the terror attack where I was injured. It's "that time of the year."

Guess where I am!

No, I'm not a home.
And no, I'm not in an internet cafe`
nor the public library.
I'm not at my husband's office,
nor at a friend's or one of my kids.

I'm at... work!

Let's put it very simply. I came about four hours too early for a staff meeting. How did I do that? Simple! I finished teaching at 3:25, and there's a staff meeting called for 7:15.
My daughter said that she'd be with the girls today, so I don't have to babysit. It doesn't pay to "tremp" (hitchhike) home or even go to Jerusalem for an hour or two, just to spend money. I did that here in Beit El while waiting. There's a nice-sized store near the yeshiva. I bought a couple of pairs of stockings.

That store "saved" me from being at a terror attack almost eleven years ago. Our old road went via Beit El, after going through downtown Ramallah. I was in a ride with a neighbor who wanted to shop in that store after going to the Beit El gas station. So instead of turning right to the main road from the gas station, she turned left to go into Beit El. Then she stopped the car and called the store owner on her cellphone to see if they'd open a few minutes early.

When she got off the phone we saw people running out towards the road. An Arab terrorist had shot at the people, mostly teenagers, students in this very same yeshiva. The terrorists murdered David Boim, HaYa"D.

If we hadn't turned into Beit El when we did, we would have had been on the road when the Arab terrorist was shooting.

I hadn't really planned on writing about it, but I guess it was on my mind, since I had already told the story to one of the teachers before going to the store. In three weeks, it'll be eleven years since the terror attack in which I was injured, lightly injured, but just have had been there changed my life.

That's another story of course.