The Hitchhiking and Falafel Torah Way of Life

As a child growing up in the U.S. adults stress the importance of not talking to strangers. We are taught the potential consequences of doing so and are often reminded of Stranger Danger. Parents warn child to "never get in a car with strangers, never talk to strangers, and obviously never take candy from strangers". We are brought up in a world full of fear and danger that is advertised in all sorts of media outlets. This fear is sensationalized on the nightly news, in books, movies, and television and because it is such a central part of our media there is often a disproportionate fear of society and of the strangers that live within our communities. It is a fantastically eye-opening experience to live in a country such as Israel. Israel is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous places on the planet and perhaps because of the very real political conflict, Israelis are much less concerned with many of the superficial things and ridiculous fears that we are distracted by in America.

In my brief time here thus far (just over two weeks) my experiences have led me to rethink many of the norms that I know to be true. A few examples of this include reconsidering the notion of Stranger Danger and on a separate note trying to come to terms with the fact that American Seminary girls are the "cleaning people" of Israel. As a college graduate my earning potential in this country is somewhere around 5 dollars an hour -- to scrub floors. I am amazed by the humility that the girls that I know exemplify by ignoring their ego in order to earn some money.

I just spent a beautiful and majorly normal and relaxing Shabbat in Neve Daniel, in the settlements outside of Jerusalem. The travel to and from Neve Daniel was the most shocking experience that I have had since arriving in Israel. First of all I got on the wrong bus on the way to Neve Daniel, and instead I was headed for Efrat. Some man alerted the bus driver that I had gotten on the wrong bus and the bus driver (of the bulletproof charter bus) assured me that he would tell me when to get off so that I would not be too far away from my destination. He ended up pulling over on the side of the road, and dropping me off in the middle of nowhere on a road that looks shockingly similar to the road to Rocky Point. I thought maybe he was confused, since I was the only one disembarking the bus -- but he wasn't and so I got off.

After Shabbat ended Mordecai drove to shul with his daughters to go learn for an hour. He said I could come with him now and that I would find someone to drive me back to Jerusalem. I figured that meant that I was going with them to shul and that we would ask around. Instead, he dropped me off on the side of the road, near the exit of their community. He said that I would just hitchhike back to Jerusalem. I didn't understand. Hitchhike? Hitchhiking goes against everything I ever learned growing up about safety and general behavior. He said that he hitchhikes every morning to work in Jerusalem. It is normal here. It is very strange that in Israel, one of the most "dangerous" and "unsafe" countries, one of the most "dangerous" and "unsafe" practices is completely normal. In the U.S. as a young woman traveling alone hitchhiking is a sure way to get raped and murdered by some creeper. Apparently not here.

So, I stood on the side of the road along with four Israelis and one Australian. As it was only the Australian's second time hitchhiking, he understood my apprehension for breaking the cardinal rule of Stranger Danger -- never get in a car with someone you do not know. He instructed me on the etiquette of flagging down a stranger. It is as easy as it looks -- stick out your hand and yell "Yerushalayim" and either get in the car or not. The Israelis and the Australian eventually got into cars and I waited to feel out the situation. I finally stuck my hand out as a car drove past. The driver nodded yes and I jumped into the front seat of his Subaru. He was on a fancy phone and had a siren on the dashboard. Frantic thoughts entered my mind at this point, especially as the fancy phone rang and I heard him speaking a mixture of Russian and Hebrew.

Is he in the KGB? Is he a Nazi? Is he Arab? Is he going to rape me? WTF am I doing. After the driver got off his fancy phone, he handed me the siren off the dashboard to throw on the floor and we started talking in English. As it turns out he in the Israeli secret service and is the personal body guard to a member of the Knesset that lives in Neve Daniel. Not an Arab. Not in the KGB. Not a Nazi. And not a rapist. He drove about 20 minutes out of his way to drop me off at the nearest (only) Coffee Bean, so I could sit and process my experience here so far.

My whole experience thus far in Israel has been sort of like this -- learning about totally counterintuitive behaviors, doing them, and (thus far) making it out alive and well. I am experiencing shockingly new environments and people and social norms and am slowly overcoming my American perspective and tendencies. This trip is very special and I am learning a lot about myself, the life I want for myself, and the person I am hoping to become (and not to become) very quickly. I am breaking down stereotypes and overcoming the conventional way I've come to know and interact with the world around me. I have a lot to learn while I am here and am very excited to spent the next several (hopefully six) months exploring this different, but beautiful path by engaging myself in the hitchhiking and falafel Torah way of life.