Paying it forward
After leaving the Beersheba Moishe House, a situation swiftly and aptly presented itself in which I would encounter those Jewish values I’d discussed with the residents and members of the community.
Hitting the road back to Tel Aviv, it dawned on me that I’d forgotten to transfer my wallet from my regular bag to the laptop bag I’d brought with me – not a comfortable realization when the dial on the fuel gauge was dangerously close to empty.
I typed “gas station” into Waze and stopped at the closest one, hoping to find a solution to my lack of cash and cards. The cashier was sympathetic but said it wouldn’t be possible to pay for gas solely by providing details of my credit card.
A young lady who overheard the conversation immediately came to the rescue. Scurrying to her car to see how much cash she had, she planted NIS 60 in my hands, refusing to divulge any personal information that would allow me to return the money later.
“I’m sure you would do the same for someone else,” she replied. “It could have happened to me too.”
Her good deed was an immediate source of inspiration to continue the wave of kindness by helping someone else – to pay it forward.
A brief account of the experience posted on my Facebook page seemed to resonate with a lot of friends and acquaintances around the world. Some responded by sharing similar experiences, while one commented that the act encapsulated a fundamental Jewish ethic: Love your neighbor as yourself.
One Israeli friend was more skeptical, attributing the woman’s willingness to help to my foreign accent, and opining that such kindness wouldn’t happen between two native Israelis. Contrarily, another friend, an American, had an entirely different perspective, reacting: “#onlyinIsrael.”
I can only draw from my own personal experience, which is that in eight years of living in Israel, I have encountered more unsolicited acts of kindness than I can count on two hands. From the man who changed my tire, to the one who helped remove a giant piece of plastic that had attached itself to my exhaust pipe; from the woman who found my credit card and called the bank to track me down, to the man who did the same with my license – that’s just to name but a few.
I don’t believe it’s #onlyinIsrael, but it’s possible that it happens more here than in other countries. Either way, one good deed can cause a chain of good deeds. Hopefully, one day it will make its way back to my gas station savior.