A ‘simple Jew’ is never simple. This is true everywhere and in Bet Shemesh you can see it with your own eyes. You can go into a garage when it’s time for the afternoon prayers and see men placing a kippah on their heads and praying an afternoon prayer for a half hour straight including making blessings on food (of course everyone listens so they can say amen!) and a listening to a halacha (Jewish law) from Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s books. The average afternoon prayer normally takes only 15 minutes so you get the idea… a simple Jew is not at all simple.
If you get the pleasure of getting a cab in Bet Shemesh the drivers will all say how livelihood comes from G-d and they are generally unperturbed by life’s uncertainties. Just watching them in action never fails to strengthen the faith. Try it!
My friend David shared a story of his ride home with a Bet Shemesh taxi driver from Tel-Aviv. The ride was pleasant and the roads, especially route 38 which goes to Bet Shemesh are greatly improved. My friend commented on the road improvements recently instituted. “You’d think that with all the money they poured into this highway, that they’d do away with these 2 traffic lights and make the whole ride flow without needing to stop,” said my friend David.
The taxi driver heard the point David made and responded: “You’re 100% right! They could’ve planned out the road a bit better to not even need these 2 traffic lights. But think about how greatly improved the whole ride is. Do you remember not even 6 months ago how long it used to take on Route 38 to get home?”
“And besides, now we’re in Elul before Rosh Hashana. It’s good to always see the positive in everything. It’s very easy to see the negative. We’re all trying to improve ourselves and when we look at ourselves we can be very hard on ourselves. I believe the best way to look into yourself to improve anything is first to see everything good inside you. Once you’re sure of that then you can begin trying to fix everything you want to fix. But it first starts from seeing the good inside and around you.”
You can ride high with this taxi driver straight through all the high holidays!
(Heard from David in Bet Shemesh)