Warning: This post is significantly longer than my usual fare, but it is worth it.
If I say so myself.
Have you ever been going through very difficult times, but had a number of things happen to you to let you know you are not alone?
Allow me to elaborate on that rather obtuse question.
As readers of Israellycool will suspect, I’ve had a very rough past 10 or so months. From the time we discovered my dad was ill, as well as the extent of the illness, I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to return to Australia twice to spend time with dad while he was still alive, and those were precious times indeed.
Flying for over 24 hours is always going to be a tough proposition; it is even tougher when you are consumed by thoughts of your father’s likely fate, and the suffering he is experiencing along the way. Needless to say, my flights to Australia were extremely difficult to say the least.
However, small things happened along the way, which reinforced my belief that I was not alone during my darkest hours. I have already mentioned such occurrences from my last trip to Australia while dad was still alive, albeit in passing. But the occurrence of further events has forced me to look back at those initial events in a new light.
The first event occurred at Zurich airport, near the boarding gate for my Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore. I could swear the security guards were speaking Hebrew, but I assumed I was just tired (everyone sounds like they are speaking Hebrew when I’m tired). But lo and behold, when I went to show my boarding pass, I noticed that the guards had very Israeli names.
Ok, that put a small smile on my face, but I did not think much else about it. That is, until the second event occurred on the very next flight, from Singapore to Perth. I was sitting in my aisle seat when a man and woman came and sat next to me. They looked like regular people, and the woman had a very ocker Australian accent. Waiting for the flight to take off, I could swear I heard them speaking Hebrew. C’mon Dave, your’e tired again! I tried to listen closer, over the hum of the engine, and again I could swear I heard Hebrew. After a few minutes of eavesdropping – and still hearing what I thought was Hebrew – I asked the couple a question in Hebrew. They looked at me in disbelief.
It turns out they were speaking Hebrew.
To cut a long story short, she was an Israeli who had been living up in North-Western Australia for a long time, hence the really Aussie accent. And her companion was a friend coming to visit from Israel.
I spoke to my new-found Israeli friends for much of the flight, and it definitely helped me take my mind off some of the more morose thoughts I had been having. When I looked back at those two occurrences, I felt that perhaps they were signs that G-d was watching over me.
Then a number of other things occurred during my recent flights to Australia for dad’s funeral. Now I know these were signs that G-d was watching over me.
Event #1 (or should that be #3?): I am boarding a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong, and the Chinese-looking woman in the seat behind me starts engaging me in conversation. She has an American accent, and she seems to take the presence of a Jewish skullcap on my head as a sign I am friendly.
“Why were you in China?” she asks. “I was here to visit my daughter. It is sad, really. She married out.”
I am a bit taken aback by her disclosure, which seems to be a candidate for the too much information folder. But I am guessing she sees I am a Jew, knows that us Jews place stock on marrying other Jews, and has decided to demonstrate that she has similar values.
“Oh, what denomination are you?” I ask, figuring she is likely a religious Christian.
It is at this point that she looks at me with an almost incredulous look on her face, and blurts out:
“I am Jewish, of course!”
It turns out that this Chinese lady had been married to a Jewish man for over 30 years. She had undergone an Orthodox conversion, and seemed, at the very least, culturally Jewish. She lamented the fact her children had married out, did not celebrate Passover, and did not keep kosher. As she spoke about all of this (bearing in mind she wasn’t afraid to throw out the odd Hebrew or Yiddish word), I couldn’t help but think this strange situation was yet another sign from G-d.
Now in case you are reading this and thinking that all this all shows is how egocentric I am, perhaps you are right. But withhold your judgment until you hear of the last thing that occurred to me a number of hours later.
I am sitting at Hong Kong airport, in the boarding lounge for my flight to Perth. In front of me are two men talking – a 30ish year old man of Asian appearance and a young Australian man in his twenties. I am not paying particular attention to them, but at one point I think I hear the word “Israel.”
C’mon Dave, not again. You are just tired. Not everyone is from Israel!
A few second later, and I am sure I hear it again. The the word “Jerusalem.” I listen a bit closer, and it seems the Australian man is describing his recent trip to Israel!
It is at this point that I step in.
“I couldn’t help hearing you talking of your trip to Israel. I actually live there,” I say, pointing to my skullcap, as if it is definitive proof of my Israeli residency.
What transpired was a very uplifting experience. The young Australian man – I will now refer to him as Alex, since that’s his name – tells me of his trip to Israel. He went as part of an AIJAC (Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council) program, who send politically active people like Alex to Israel to see what is really going on. Alex was taken to places like Sderot, and he witnessed firsthand the destruction inflicted on Israel by the terrorists out to destroy her. Not only that, but Alex actually took from his trip an accurate perspective of the conflict. Let’s put it this way. Judging from the conversations I had with Alex, he would not feel out of place here on Israellycool (correct me if I’m wrong, Alex!)
The other gentleman – Jules – was from the Philippines, and while he was not coming from Israel, he had been asking Alex many questions about it because of his interest in the region. During the course of our conversation, he revealed that he had a friend who had worked as a caregiver in Israel, until he was killed in a suicide bombing attack.
At one point of the conversation, Jules told me that Israelis were the “best looking people in the world.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked
“Because it is true. And because my history teacher told me that. And not long afterwards, an Israeli won Miss Universe!”
I couldn’t argue with logic like that. And, to be honest, it felt really good to be talking to these two friendly strangers, who just happened to love Israel!
So there you have it. A number of events that occurred to me during some of my darkest times, which helped to elevate my spirits and help me get through the flights. And when I look back at all of these events together, I realize that it was G-d’s way of letting me know I would get through this.
And just in case you think I made this up, here’s a picture of Alex and Jules wearing Jewish skullcaps!
