What I learned standing in line for gas masks

Alen asked me like a week ago to get us gas masks.  They had given them out over 2 days last spring in our town but being busy and not recognizing the flyer as official when it came in our snail mail box, I had not paid attention and not seen it.

So last week I called the post office, which is supposed to deliver them, but they were busy and took my number to call me back which of course they never did.

So yesterday Alen was really serious about wanting them and I drove down to Beit Shemesh where they were giving them out.  They had said 11 am to 7 pm, but when I got there after work around 6 pm I found out you had to take numbers and there was no chance of getting one.  People had been waiting for hours.

So today Alen went down around 10:15 and got number 408.  And from 10:15 am to 6:15 pm they served about 250 families.  Alen was there for a couple of hours, and I went back around 6:30 after coming home from work and driving down there.

I stood there from about 6:30 to 8:30 pm.  They stayed open more than an hour after they had said they would.  Our number was never called.  They finished up on about number 350 or 360.

So what did I learn and gain?  What did I think about and what was I reminded of?

I met a nice English speaking guy named Efraim, formerly from Elizabeth NJ.  I talked to him about gay marriage, about aliyah, about parents making and not making aliyah. 

I met a young woman from Tzur Hadassah who is studying political science and Latin American studies and whose family is all away out of the country right now with their identity cards so she can't get gas masks for them.  She couldn't get one for herself either - her number was over 1000.

I met a teacher from Gedera who used to teach in Ein Karem and now teaches in Bet Shemesh.  I told her this was a spiritual challenge and she said, "my spirit is doing fine; I don't need any challenges thank you."  I told her I'd like to say that to my kids sometimes.

I met a religious woman from Kiryat Malachi who told me that Rabbi Kaminetsky told the students at the Mir Yeshiva that masks are for Purim.  But she said that that was his answer for those students, that every person has their own answer.  She and her husband had left the kids home and been there all day - they had number 340 and got their masks.

I saw Israel in all its diversity.  I saw people of all backgrounds and almost all ages.  I saw people shouting at one another, I saw people helping one another.  I saw people telling jokes and making one another laugh.

I watched people get upset and shout and I thought about how I hoped no one from the media was filming us and I thought about how I believe G-d is watching us and that at this season we are all being judged.

I told the teacher from Gedera, what if this were a line for rice, like you see in Africa sometimes?  This is whipped cream topping I said.  What if we were in line for something we really needed?  On the way home I thought about how Russians used to have to wait in line for everything, bread, eggs, etc.  I wondered how I would behave in a famine, or if I was really in a war.

Of course any crowded line like this and I start thinking about cattle cars or selection lines.  That's where my brain goes.  And I was only there 2 hours - some people were there much longer.  I wonder whether they also get those feelings.

I was able to thank the workers for their work and wish them Shanah tovah.

I was able to live with disappointment.

I was able to honor my family.  I was able to be happy that I had gone because Alen wanted me to and because our family needs gas masks.  I was able to joke with people that I was there for my father in law in Trinidad so when he calls we can tell him we have them.  I was able to tell the teacher a story Vlad told me - about a Palestinian young man 19 years old who, during the intifada, went to live in Haiti, to escape the violence, and how he died there from a gunshot.  About how we used to worry about Vlad in Haiti and he used to worry about us here.

I was able to review in my head my conversation with my friend Alex this afternoon where we assessed the probabilities of each of the "ifs" and concluded we are not likely to be in danger right here, right now. 

When they told us they were closing up, packing the gas masks onto a truck and leaving without distributing any more, I was able to call the homefront command to ask why they were closing up and not giving out more.  I was told the shift is over, that's it.  I was able to find out that they are receiving 6000 calls an hour, that the whole south has no distribution points, that "in an emergency situation the homefront command will open emergency centers".  I was able to find out that on Sunday they will open distribution centers in the Haifa and Tel Aviv areas but they have no information yet on our area.  The young woman I spoke to was able to tell me that what I was seeing was not nearly as bad as some other situations, that she had gotten much worse calls today, and I was able to wish her Shanah tovah and many blessings, and to thank her, and to get in my car and come home.

And for all this, I'm grateful.