ailyn

Kindness in Unexpected Places

Very heavy traffic on Highway One this evening on my bus ride from Jerusalem to Beit Shemesh. A couple of small children were making life very challenging for their parents.

A teenager approached the parents and asked if he could help. With the parents’ consent, the teen took the two small children to a part of the bus that was not as packed and played games with them.

They were entertained, they laughed, and certainly stopped the previous crying and complaining.

As the parents were about to get off the bus, they thanked the teen profusely, and noted that August is challenging for childcare. The teen, for his part, said that his August job had fallen through.

The teen and the parents exchanged phone numbers and said they would arrange babysitting. Thankfully, a couple of passengers on the bus said they knew the teen and could vouch for his good intentions.

So assuming the details can be worked out, the parents will now work a fuller schedule at their jobs with peace of mind about their children’s welfare over the coming month, and the teen had a summer job after all.

~ David Jablinowitz

A Journey of Kindness and Connection

My husband and I did a 3 month business working trip to South Africa, Scotland, Amsterdam, and London. While there, I started having terrible pain. Turned out, I needed ER Gallbladder removal surgery.

I went to a regional ER 2 hours outside of London and next minute, I’m being transferred to the major teaching hospital in London. My husband had no idea where they took me and I was in completely unfamiliar country and public hospital system.

I was getting moved from one room with 6 beds to another to another. Due to the extreme pain, I convinced the doctor to operate to remove my gallbladder at 10pm that night.

I had an elderly woman with dementia in bed next to me in this 6 bed room. Busy hospital, short staffed, and majority were elderly patients. I was in so much pain and put in a bed next to an elderly patient with dementia. She had beady eyes so she made me a bit uncomfortable. She would just stare at me.

Being a carer-type of person and due to lack of nursing staff, the elderly female patients were getting emotional and anxious. So, I was getting all the other 5 ladies out of chairs they’d been sitting in all day, settled into their beds, ensuring they were given their proper meds, and fed 1 hour after surgery. Me, Superwoman, up caring for and calming down the other ladies less than 1 hour out of surgery. I forget I’m humble sometimes.

When I went to get the woman in bed next to mine with dementia into her bed, for 3-5 minutes, she was coherent. I got her situated in her bed and asked her if she needed anything? She looked at me and said “You are kind”.

Touched my heart. I will never forget it. The way she said it and just her awareness for that one moment.

The male recovery nurse, who cared for me when I was coming out of anesthesia after surgery that night, he was telling me as he was trying to wake me up, that his desire and dream was to work 6 months in London to earn money, then go to war torn country, I’m sure it was Israel, to work with children in hospitals to showcase to them that not all people mean harm. 

After returning to my bed, I never saw him again nor remember providing him any of my contact details.

4 months after returning to Australia from our working trip, I receive an email from him. He said he arrived in country and was in airport lost and a gentleman approached him to ask if he needed assistance?

He wrote to tell me that he thought of me in that exact moment. He accompanied his message with a photo of him in a hospital with 2 young boys sitting on his lap.

He was making a positive difference to the lives of these children through his actions of service and kindness. He was being a Kindness Ambassador.

God is good! Kindness matters! And, I learned and promote it every where I go all because of our connection.

~ Ann Murdoch-Brown

The Guiding Arm of Kindness

One evening, after enjoying a lovely meal at a restaurant, I walked toward the exit just ahead of a woman assisting her elderly mother. As I approached the curb, my arthritic knees made me pause, unsure if I could climb it without difficulty.

To my surprise and delight, an arm appeared to my right, offering assistance. It belonged to the elderly mom, who extended her hand with kindness and understanding. Grateful for her gesture, I accepted her help, and together, we conquered the curb.

In that brief moment, her selfless act touched my heart, reminding me of the beauty of compassion and the power of a helping hand.

~ Daisy Williams

History Will Judge Us

You might think that a nearly empty bus would not be the place to find a story, but actually I have found a couple of times that the opposite is true. Perhaps it makes for an even more conducive atmosphere to chat.

During the late morning, there were just a few of us on the bus. We were on Highway 1 from Jerusalem toward Tel Aviv. A modestly-sized sign at an interchange along the way reads: “History will judge us.”

It was an interesting sign. There was no message beyond that. On which side of the divide are the people who posted this message? There was no one there; just the sign that was hanging there.

One of the few other passengers on the bus was also pondering its message. I didn’t ask him, but he wanted to tell me what he thought.

This was his message: “I don’t belong to any organized religious framework, but I believe in God and I feel a belonging to our history. You know what? The people who did this sign are correct; history will judge us, God will judge us. God is neither Right nor Left. He will not judge us over whether we are Right or Left, pro-government or against the government, for or against the judicial overhaul. He will judge us over whether we are genuine.”

I ask him to explain. He replies: “I don’t think it needs any explanation. You know what I mean.”

Then he says: “In exactly two weeks, we mark the Ninth of Av. I don’t care whether you fast; I care if you are genuine. How will history remember 5783? Are we Korach and his people or are we Shammai and Hillel?”

Before I conclude this post, I just want to say that I am no longer amazed, but I was when I first started living in Israel: firstly, everyone has an opinion; and secondly, so many people over the years have said to me that they don’t consider themselves especially religious, but then they proceed to express such an understanding of our history and our place in history.

This gentleman had it right: as long as we understand our place in history and don’t forget that God is watching and wants us to be honest with Him and ourselves, we will be fine.

A woman in a police uniform was also on the bus and heard the conversation. “We will be fine,” she concurred, “but I pray each morning: please God, make sure no one gets killed.”

Amen.

~ David Jablinowitz