Autobus #2

Okay , so when we said there was so much to say about the bus rides, we had no idea that these adventures would continue almost daily!  As we said before, it's the BEST place for people watching - up close and personal at that!  So much happens on the bus each and every day, we could probably write a blog each month just about things on the bus - and we may :)

We really wish we had the chutzpah (nerve, guts, etc) to take more pictures on the bus.  So instead we'll tell you a little about what we wish we could show you....

Not one of the children's backpacks,
 but still very large!

One of the things that amazes us, is how safe Jerusalem really is.  There are children all the time riding the bus by themselves.  Now if the city was unsafe, you know parents wouldn't be able to allow this.  So we often see children using the public bus system.  The backpacks they wear are many times bigger than they are! We must try to get a picture of this...



Many times there are soldiers, both young men and women, traveling with not only ginormous (we looked this word up - it's actually in the dictionary!) backpacks that sometimes cover from above their heads to almost to their knees, but also slinging an M-16, something new for us being in Israel, but actually brings comfort and peace - not insecurity.  The picture we would have loved to provide was of a female Israeli soldier - very petite - standing at a bus stop with her weapon slung over her shoulder.  She was so tiny that the gun hung below her knees...

Another mental picture was of two men in seats facing each other - toe to toe, knee to knee - in some great discussion.  Talking, analyzing what each was saying, in great depth of thought and discussion...

Many times the bus is so full we don't know how they will fit another person on!  And yet they do... One day recently we wondered how in the world we were going to make it from our seats (amazingly we had a seat) to the exit of the bus when our stop arrived?? Well, you "slicha" (excuse me) your way all the way through the very tight quarters until you can get off and breathe again!  But this is common, and people are very tolerant, not thinking anything of it.  We haven't really been able to determine the timing of the busses to avoid this phenomenon.  We do know that Friday morning the bus is very empty and traffic is light because Friday in Israel is becoming more and more like the Saturday of the States, it's a day off for many, so there isn't the normal "rush hour traffic" in the morning - that is on Monday morning, though, just like we are used to.

There is, however, a mad dash to get home on Friday afternoon by everyone in the city.  Shabbat is coming!! The most holy and sacred part of the week! You must get a bus by 3:00 - 3:30 pm or you'll be walking home (or taking an Arab taxi).  Shabbat (Sabbath) in Israel is like no other place in the world.  We will do a blog in the future dedicated entirely to Shabbat.  Baruch HaShem Adonai - Bless the Name of the Lord!

Again, another picture worth sharing from our memories - standing in the open area where there's room for strollers and such, was an older man with a beard facing the window with his eyes closed in fervent prayer - not aloud, but with much passion to the Heavenly Father.  Not caring who was on the bus, his lips moved with petitions to Heaven as his head rested on the glass of the moving bus.  What would cause this man to interrupt his prayers? Well, at the next stop a woman was trying to get on the bus with her baby stroller, so this gentleman stopped praying to help her pull the stroller on board, then watched the newborn baby for her while she went to pay the bus driver up front. A mitzvah, a good deed.  The Hebrew word actually means "commandment", but when one is said to "do a mitzvah" it's usually referring to a good deed, which is a command, yes? Love your neighbor as yourself? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you? Yes, this man, with a willing heart interrupted his prayers to do a mitzvah.  May he be blessed for his caring heart.

Recently we were riding the bus one morning, in seats that were facing the other two people across from us.  A young girl, probably in her early twenties had gotten on the bus sitting directly across from Linda.    In her heart, Linda felt that Father God was wanting this young woman to know that He thought she was beautiful - that it was something she needed to hear, to know He (her Heavenly Father) had these thoughts toward her.  Now it took the entire bus ride for Linda to get the chutzpah to say anything to this girl, actually all the way to our bus stop!  But knowing the alternative - not obeying what she was being asked to do, was far worse than fear or embarrassment.

So right before we got off the bus, Linda got the girl's attention (she was listening to an Ipod with earplugs), and spoke to her in Hebrew (the best she could come up with).  Not knowing if she would understand, but wanting to do what God said, she pointed up to the sky, and said, "HaShem - at yaffa." HaShem means "the Name", and is how many Jewish people refer to God - not wanting to in any way disrespect His Holy name.  At yaffa is "you beautiful".  Immediately the young girl gave a huge smile and said, "Really???  You just made my day!!!" - IN ENGLISH!

HAAA!!! Now isn't that funny!!  Dumbfounded that God would have Linda speak Hebrew to encourage a young lady on the bus who knew English, she made her way off the bus before it pulled away again to the next destination.  So we wonder if at lunch that day this young lady told her friends of a woman who spoke Hebrew to her on the bus an encouragement from her Father.....

SMILES....PRAYERS....MITZVAH....OBEDIENCE

....ALL ON A PUBLIC BUS.....