From Beirut to Jerusalem (With a New Preface) by Thomas L. Friedman

Author:Thomas L. Friedman [Friedman, Thomas L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Middle East, General, Political Science, International Relations, World, Middle Eastern
ISBN: 9781250381965
Google: 3lEKEQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Picador
Published: 2024-10-15T08:53:08.074458+00:00

12

Whose Country Is This, Anyway?

Riding a bus down King George Street in Jerusalem recently, I hadn’t particularly noticed the young woman in the back of the bus who sat down next to the Haredi [ultra-Orthodox] Jew since he, in his black hat, black coat, and long beard, and she, in her sandals, skirt, and sleeveless top, were part of a typical scene that included soldiers on leave, a babushka-capped grandmother, five-year-olds with knapsacks, and an occasional American-looking rabbi late for an appointment. It was only after the young woman quietly asked the Haredi to please close the window that I lifted my eyes out of the newspaper and watched him turn to her rather matter-of-factly with the words “Would you please lengthen your sleeves?”

“Mister,” the woman said, her voice rising to match her indignation, “the open window is bothering me!”

The Haredi seemed nonplused.

“Madame, the bare arms are bothering me,” he responded.

Her face was now grim and determined as she slowly extracted every single syllable from her mouth and planted them into every ear on the bus: “Are they my arms or your arms?”

—Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in the JERUSALEM POST, May 20, 1988

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.