Just like America but Jewish

Remember when I told you about the post office appointments, how if you need something from the post office you have to make an appointment, wait three days or sometimes more, and then be sure to arrive within 10 minutes of the scheduled time? Well, sometimes that's not enough to get your stamps. Here's a story that happened today. Woman arrives twenty minutes early, but the door is closed. She can see that there's a worker in there, but the door doesn't open. It's now 1/2 hour after opening time. People are waiting, but nothing. Her time passes. Nothing. 1/2 hour more passes but nothing.

Suddenly the door opens, and the sole poster worker scurries out, locks the door, ignoring everyone, and leaves the building. This woman rushes over to her and says "Where are you going? Are you opening? We have appointments." Postal worker says, "Too bad. It will open later."

Welcome to SSOI (the secular state of israel).

There were numerous Americans on the uncomfortable benches in the hallway of this rundown shopping hallway. It's not like a lovely American or European postal office. It's bland and beat like everything in Israel. They all chattered about how could she, this postal worker, do this? Doesn't she see we are waiting?

So the woman I know asks me, "Do they still think they are in America?" I told her, yes, and that's why they moved to SSOI. They were told all their lives that Israel is like America but Jewish. Oh, it's not quite as affluent, but it's close enough. If you'll just give up a little bit of your luxuries, you'll have it all!

And they don't budge from this fantasy. Their brains have been built around it, particularly if they went to Modern Orthodox schools. Oh they'll complain about Israelis. They complain often because the Israelis are often obnoxious.

Sometimes, they try to be lighthearted about it. Oh, those Israelis. Like their behavior is some kind of mildly annoying idiosyncrasy.

But this woman kept 10 people waiting for an hour and left them walking out with nothing but anxiety from having wondered, what is going on?

Why would she be this way? I say, it's learned in the army for this is how the military treats Arabs and has treated them for a century. You don't care about Arabs you say. And I can't seem to get you to care. But do you care about Jews? Because the treatment of the Arabs spills over into treatment of Jews.

The source problem again is violating the oaths and taking the land by force, which leads to military conscription, which leads to an entire generation of Jews learning bad middos.

I can tell you 100 more stories like this. A friend of mine was on the bus with his family late at night, last ones on the bus. Driver didn't want to finish his route, so he kicked them off the bus, 1 mile from their home. Suitcases and little kids had to be schlepped for a mile at 1 in the morning. 

I listened to the story in disbelief until it happened to me. A driver tried to kick me and my family off the bus along with a teenage boy that was still on the bus. This was also 1 mile from a home. Why? Driver didn't feel like finishing his route.

So RHS wants to tell you that SSOI is a wonderful place to live with all the modern conveniences.  And you believe him because if you are Modern Orthodox he's the biggest name around, the MO gadol, and we follow the gadolim. 

But real gadolim know the world, know life, know people. They aren't just booksmart. And a real gadol wouldn't tell you to live in a place that he doesn't live in because you can't know a place just by visiting, particularly if you a famous rabbi who gets escorted around town.

SSOI is not a wonderful place to live. It has its moments, but not many of them. There are some nice people, but it doesn't take more than a few of the other kind to disturb your day and to negatively affect your feeling of Ahavas Yisroel. Their rudeness isn't an American rudeness. It's way worse than that. It's so brazen. You try to explain it away, but you are left angry. Your Ahavas Yisroel suffers. 

That's one of the many mitzvos that you lose here as you come to have resentment and hostility to Jews. And that mitzvah is a constant mitzvah that is a d'orita chiyuv in our era, unlike yishuv ha'aretz which is an optional mitzvah, even according to the Ramban. 

So if you care about mitzvos, SSOI is not the place to be. And if you care about your sanity, don't even think about coming here.