YWN has announced a kiddush hashem that happened on a mehadrin bus. A woman got on the bus in front. Not only was she not told to move to the back, or at best ignored, but the people in the front seats offered to get up so she could have the front seat!
It is sad that on a bus that the passengers call "mehadrin" we have to be impressed that some people were kind to others. Unfortunately that is what it has come to, and yes, I think, in light of the recent explosion of the situation their behavior was a kiddush hashem..
So what is more of a surprise, the average sportsfan returning a wallet for the fan of the other side, or the men offering a front seat on the segregated bus in Jerusalem?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you consider an act of "menchlichkeit" Kiddush Hashem?
ReplyDeleteAnon - Rafi didn't give it the title, Yeshiva World News called it a kiddush Hashem.
ReplyDeleteThis is what we've come to:
ReplyDeleteA guy with a hat acting not like a savage, but a normal human being = "A Kiddush HaShem."
Maybe so, but this gives you an idea how low the level of expectation is.
Come now, people. You know perfectly well that there's a lot more of this going on than the other. Its just that somebody had a video camera. I got on the mehadrin bus about a week ago(I use a cane and my balance, especially on a moving bus is pretty poor)by accident (okay, my eyesight isn't so good either) and sat down in one of the seats behind the driver set aside for people with handicaps. When I realized where I was and started getting up to go to the back, I was told very firmly to sit put.
ReplyDeleteIts not my first ride on a mehadrin bus and I've seen instances of women trying to sit up front or men trying to sit in the back trying to create an incident. Nobody ever did more than mutter about lack of consideration after the person refused to move after being asked politely.
I'm not saying that the other kind of incidents don't happen.I'd had one myself years ago where I rewarded the nasty idiot who made a really unpleasant scene about my sitting down in the front by leaving my extremely hyperactive (and unmedicated) 8 year-old to sit next to him for the trip from Jerusalem to Chashmonaim("Yonki,sweetheart, this nice man says women have to sit in the back but he's going to take care of you so you can sit with the men until we have to get off the bus.")He looked pretty sorry he'd said anything after an hour plus of hyperdrive stream-of-conciousness chatter and bouncing and I had a good rest. But you have to admit its the nasty stuff is what usually gets the coverage. People being polite,decent and forebearing usually doesn't sell papers.
I like the great Kiddush Hashem story. Thank you for posting this. And no need for any sarcasm. I appreciated it just as it is. Kol Hakavod.
ReplyDeleteI have taken these busses and had normal good experiences. Unfortunately as a Baalat Teshuvah, I can tell you that what the Jewish world calls mentchlechkeit is not as common as it might seem to be and should not be taken for granted. The world sees the Jewish people as the Jewish people see Chareidi Jews. The nations will treat Israel the way we treat Jews to the right of us. So if that means being cynical to our sensitivities (especially when it comes to Hashem and his Torah) or to make little of the good we do and evil we work to overcome, I guess that is where we should examine ourselves. I for one understand that no one is perfect, that we have a hard time seeing the value of G-d's will before we know it in our experience, that every act of goodwill is precious and that the way we see things usually says more about us than what we are seeing. To quote the lubbavitcher rebbe: If you see a portion of the world that needs repairing and do good to repair it, you have found a portion of the world Hashem has left for you to fix, but if all you see is ugliness than it is you yourself that needs fixing.
ReplyDeleteShiur from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks : Kiddush Hashem in a complicated World
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rabbisacks.org/kiddush-hashem-complicated-world/