The news here in Israel can sometimes be difficult to hear. Whether it’s the security situation, the political discourse, or terrible accidents, there’s, unfortunately, no shortage of disturbing bulletins. With all that, there is always some positive news, as well, which reminds me how lucky I am to live here.
In March, three Israeli civilians were injured by gunshots in a shooting attack near a cafe on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv. Tragically, one of the wounded later died from his injuries. One of the casualties was Rotem Mansano, a wedding DJ. At the time of the terror attack, he had a full schedule of weddings lined up. Seventy DJs, most of whom were not even acquainted with Mansano, offered to take over his jobs. Not only that, they would not take payment for their work, but rather, they would put the money toward his recovery. Wow!
Yochananof is a supermarket chain owned by the Yochananof family, with branches all over the country. Several weeks ago, on an unseasonably stormy Friday afternoon, there was a power outage in the Ramat HaSharon branch about an hour before closing. Talk about timing.
There is never a convenient time for a power outage, but Friday afternoon is a particularly inopportune time. The supermarket was bustling with shoppers whose carts were filled with all they would need for Shabbos. Among other things, the cash registers were not working, making it impossible for the customers to check out. While they couldn’t pay for their purchases, they also could not leave the supermarket without them. It was a Catch-22. What were they to do?
The store manager made a quick decision and announced that everyone should take their purchases and return the following week to pay for them. No questions asked. Nearly 100 customers left the store without paying their bills. By Sunday, seventy percent of the customers had returned to settle their debt. The rest came back to pay throughout the following week, prepared with lists of their purchases and photos of their barcodes. The customers had all they needed for Shabbos and the supermarket didn’t lose a shekel! Amazing!
An American living in Israel told of a heartwarming story that took place at the time when missiles were being fired toward their area in the south. She had just picked up her three young children from gan, one of them a baby. The siren went off while she was on her way home with her kids. According to the guidelines of the Homefront Command, when a siren goes off, everyone is instructed to run to the closest shelter as quickly as possible. But how could she manage that feat with her little ones in tow?
As she contemplated her frightening situation, three strangers rushed to her car and offered help. The woman grabbed her baby, and the others grabbed her other two children. While she hugged her baby, they hugged her children and spoke to them in a calm and soothing way so they wouldn’t be scared. When the alert ended, the strangers helped put the kids back in the car and went on their way. We can rely on each other as we are one family. The strangers treated the woman and her children as such.
During the most recent escalation with Gaza, citizens all over the country opened their homes to the residents of the south who wanted to escape the rocket zone during that dangerous time. A family from Moshav Even Shmuel organized a fun day for the residents of Sderot who were within rocket range and spent much time in their shelters. The activities included inflatables for the children, pizza, drinks, and more. The whole country stood with the residents of the south and tried to lighten their burden any way they could.
Last month, a debate took place on Facebook between an anti-judicial reform activist and the rosh yeshivah of a hesder yeshivah located in Ashkelon. In the middle of the argument, the anti-reform activist asked the rosh yeshivah for the address of the yeshivah. He then sent a large delivery of shawarma for all the boys in the yeshivah, at his expense, to raise morale and increase ahavas chinam. The rosh yeshivah called to thank the donor afterward and explained that the yeshivah was very excited about his gesture, which shows that we are all brothers despite our differences of opinion.
On Yom HaAtzmaut, a fatal car accident sadly took the life of the one-year-old baby of the Domnovich family. Others in the family were badly hurt. Within one week, more than three million shekels had been raised for the rehabilitation of the family.
Kenafayim Shel Krembo (“Wings of Krembo” – Krembo is an Israeli treat), a youth movement that runs activities for the special-needs population, announced that it was going to cancel its summer program due to a lack of funding. Two weeks later, it announced that its plans were back on track. The money had been quickly raised.
With all the less desirable news that one is exposed to here in Israel, there’s still no place I would rather live!
Suzie Steinberg, CSW, is a native of Kew Gardens Hills and resident of Ramat Beit Shemesh who publishes articles regularly in various newspapers and magazines about life in general, and about life in Israel in particular. Her recently published children’s book titled Hashem is Always With Me can be purchased in local Judaica stores as well as online. Suzie can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and would love to hear from you.