Good news for beginning 2018

I am handicapped and use a wheelchair outside my apartment. Recently, my helper, Zenaida, and I decided to travel for the first time from Modi’in to Tel Aviv by train. I had no idea how much fun it would be.

When we arrived at the ticketing office, there was a special attendant who took charge of me, and with Zenaida pushing the wheelchair, he directed us to the correct platform, where we waited in a special area for people in wheelchairs.

Exactly on schedule, the train arrived and the wheelchair attendant put me and my wheelchair onto a special carrier, which he then pushed to the car designated for people with disabilities. Once inside, I sat in a niche for wheelchairs, and Zenaida sat beside me.

Exactly on time, the train departed the Modi’in station and glided along the rails. After stopping at a few stations, we arrived at the Shalom station exactly on time.

Shortly before we arrived, another railway attendant came to us and helped us disembark.

The railway cars were spotlessly clean and the announcements regarding stations were in both Hebrew and English.

All in all, I feel that Israel Railways is more entitled than China to the title “Silk Road.” SYDNEY CHASKALSON

Modi’in

As Jews throughout Israel were lighting the eighth candle of Hanukkah, I found myself driving a dear elderly friend from Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem to Ben-Gurion Airport.

Pnina had experienced a fall. After several days of care, the medical staff wanted to discharge her. Her knee was bruised, however, and she would not be able to ascend the steps to get into her home. An olah with no immediate family in the land to provide the level of care she needed, she decided to return to the US and her daughter’s home, at least for a while.

I had been visiting Pnina from the States when all this came about. I offered to help her travel all the way back, as it was obvious she could not travel alone. The enormity of the task seemed overwhelming: How will I get her from my rental car to the check-in desk? How will I push her in a wheelchair and push the luggage cart? Who will help me transfer her from her wheelchair to a seat on the plane?

I began to sense the angels when the car rental agent drove us to the airport entrance and not only fetched a wheelchair, but an attendant to push Pnina and guide us through the entire check-in and security process.

Boarding the El Al 747 to New York would have been complicated and risky except for three more assistants who knew what they were doing in helping her all the way to her designated seat using a narrow wheelchair. As we settled in, a beautiful flight attendant leaned over and whispered to Pnina: “If you need anything or just want to talk, I will be here for you.”

I was stunned at this sincere offer and was feeling more hopeful that we might indeed make it. But as we lifted off the ground, I could not help but wonder how Pnina would be able to engage in other necessary activities on a 12-hour flight, like using the restroom.

When the time came, three young men, cabin crew members (including the crew chief), swiftly and gently helped this Jewish mama, precious and slightly plump, who could not take even one step on her own. When she was unable to close the door of the tiny bathroom, they held up a large blanket, preserving her dignity.

This woman – who for many years has visited wounded soldiers – was now on the receiving end of special care and we made it safely all the way to Pnina’s daughter in Minnesota.

You know who you are! Thank you from us – Pnina, her family and me – for all you did for her. What more can be said to describe a glimpse of the divine in real time on the eighth day of Hanukka? PATRICIA SOLVESON Spooner, Wisconsin