Only in Israel

Inspiration from Jerusalem

by Sara Berelowitz
March 22, 2025

Yesterday was a day of chaos in Jerusalem. The roads were blocked, the buses weren't moving, and getting home felt impossible. I thought about walking, but my bags were heavy, and the distance was long. So I got on a bus, figuring at least I'd be warm.

The bus was packed, mostly with older people who didn't quite understand what was happening. Tension filled the air. At one point, an older woman, overwhelmed by the situation, started shouting in frustration. A 16-year-old girl sitting nearby gently said to her, "It's okay, we all feel the same way, but take a deep breath. I'll get you some water, everything will be alright." The woman didn't calm down, but the girl's kindness stood out like a bright light in the heavy atmosphere.

Time passed - more than an hour of being stuck in place. The same woman, now at her limit, burst out again: "I can't take this anymore! What kind of country is this? What kind of people?!" And then, almost in the same breath, she sighed, "And I'm hungry! I haven't eaten all day!"

A Haredi woman (trying to get home to her four month old baby who needed to nurse) sitting behind her leaned forward and asked, "What do you like to eat?"

"Pizza, with mushrooms," the woman answered.

Without hesitation, the girl got up. "I'm getting off to get you a pizza." She left her bags on the bus and disappeared into the cold. The sixteen year old with slits at the knee jeans joined her in her mission. A few minutes later, they were back - not just with pizza, for the hungry woman, but with two pizza pies bottles of water, and extra food. The woman didn't just hand food to the woman—she walked through the bus, offering food to everyone.

After the older woman was satiated, she blessed everyone on the bus and called to the Arab driver, "Driver, you will never forget today! You will never forget what wonderful people you had on your bus !"

Many people offered to pay the Charedi woman for their pizza and drink. She refused. She only asked to pray for her son Yehuda by Shani for a speedy recovery. I told her that I would spread the word….

At a time when everything feels so divided, when frustration boils over so easily, this moment was a reminder: The people of Israel are alive.
Not just alive - but deeply, beautifully connected !

! עם ישראל חי

In the photo: A 16-year-old girl in slit jeans
distributing food to hungry passengers
on a bus stuck in traffic in Jerusalem.
(The young Haredi woman who bought the
food for her fellow passengers did not want
to be photographed.)
Shabbat Shalom
and may Yehuda ben Shani
have a speedy recovery
in the merit of our prayers and his mother's kindness.