The Shlesinger family from Alon Shvut was vacationing in Northern Israel. Their 28-year old son, Elisha, was driving up to be with them for Shabbat. He needed to refuel, but kept missing the turn offs as he sped toward his destination. After passing five gas stations, he finally decided to pull into the next one. He looked at his watch. It was 3 hours before Shabbat, and he was an hour from his destination. All in all, the timing was good.As he filled his car, he noticed a woman with children standing next to their car, noticeably upset. He approached her and asked if he could help.“I accidentally filled my car with diesel fuel instead of regular, and now it won’t start!”Elisha listened to her predicament, and furrowed his brow. There was no way to remove the fuel. It needed professional attention and there were no mechanics on duty at the station.“Where were you headed?” he asked the woman.“To Alei Zahav in the Shomron,” she said, anxiety filling her voice.Elisha knew exactly where that was … almost 3 hours away, and there were only 3 hours till Shabbat! She clearly needed to get there, but how? No wonder she was frantic. It seemed impossible.But not to Elisha. He didn’t think twice, he held out his car keys to the astounded woman.“Here, take my keys and start driving to Alei Zahav! I filled up so you have plenty of gas. You’ll just make it in time! Here’s my cell phone number. Let’s be in touch after Shabbat and we can figure out how to get the car back to me.”The woman was flabbergasted. A young man, a total stranger, giving her his car?!She thanked him profusely and took off for Alei Zahav. Meanwhile, Elisha called his father and explained the situation. His father promptly came to pick him up, and everyone made it to their respective destinations in time for Shabbat.On Sunday, the woman returned with the car. She met Elisha’s mother and told her how amazed she was by Elisha’s kindness and generosity. Elisha’s mother beamed with pride in her son’s gracious nature.“How can I thank him? What present can I give him?” asked the woman.“He doesn’t need presents; he needs a wife!” Elisha’s mother exclaimed.When the woman got home she wrote up the encounter and posted it on Facebook, adding that Elisha was seeking a wife. Ideas came pouring in. One of the first suggestions was a woman named Naomi. I am happy to tell you that with God’s help, Naomi and Elisha recently married!
Let's think about the first half of the story. A man without hesitation offers his car to a complete stranger.
Where else would that happen? Can you imagine even the most wonderful person, a cleric for example, doing something like this in upstate New York, Oregon or Italy? It would be regarded as foolhardy at best, dangerous at worst.
Now, imagine the scenario outside Israel a little differently. The young man asks the woman her name, and then realizes that she is a distant relative. Suddenly, the story makes sense - even if they had never met before, they are relatives and therefore the bond is that much stronger. Of course you help out your family!
That's what people don't understand about Israel. For Jews, it is not merely a nation - it is a family. It is a tribe. And it is on our historic homeland.
Paradoxically, this is why Israelis come off as so impolite. You don't have to have your guard up around family - you can relax and say what you want to say, because they aren't going to pull out a gun and shoot you if they don't like your opinion. There is a non-zero chance of that happening in American cities.
This dynamic was captured in the 1960s Israeli musical Kazablan, which is about discrimination against Mizrahi Jews by the Ashkenazim. The song "Kulanu Yehudim" - here translated as "We are all Jews, everyone" in the English version of the movie - shows the friction as well as the unity between subgroups.
If you don't understand this, you don't understand Israel.
This underlying feeling of literal brotherhood is necessary to understand Israel's conduct in Gaza and Lebanon.
10/7 wasn't merely an attack on Israel. It was an attack on everyone's family. Defending your family is much more imperative than defending your nation. It is as impossible to imagine telling Jews in the South and North to just accept occasional deadly attacks as it would be to tell your cousins not to overreact about the murderers next door who already killed one of them.
When you belong to a tiny minority that has been persecuted for no logical reason for millennia, normal members look out for each other. And that means risking your lives to ensure everyone is safe.
Living without security is intolerable. And just as a family would not accept an authority telling them not to care so much about their members, Israel isn't going to listen to a world that tells them not to care so much about Jews.
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