Another Shabbat coming up. It is almost a frenzy surrounding Shabbat. People scurry to get challah,flowers, food cooked by a certain time..everything in a religious household stops on que when the clock hits a certain time. It poured today. We waited to walk to the “downtown” area, Emek Refiam. We got to a favorite cafe for cappachino and croissant
for me. All of a sudden, the skies opened again and it soon flooded the streets, it hailed and thundered. I haven’t seen hail in years. The streets were so flooded in such a short space of time, that the water was up to the hub caps. That did not help
when the cars came rushing down the street and we were waiting to cross. My favorite sneakers got soaked. Forget that the water splashed across the side walk and just missed drenching us. It was all about my Coach sneakers. Once it stopped again, we went to
a book store that sold English and Hebrew books. I bought a novel to keep me company over Shabbat and my daughter bought a kids book to translate from Hebrew into English. After she finishes, she gives them to a friend for her 8 year old Grandson ! I heard
two Israeli stories. Both I can vouch for. One involved my son in law and the other my daughter. First my son in law. A friend who came to Shabbat dinner last week said that she went to the neighborhood liquor store and said that she was invited for Shabbat
dinner and which wine should she buy. The guy there asked who was it for. She gave my son in laws name and the guy said, without hesitation, “ oh he likes this one.” The other story is that my daughter was riding the No. 13 bus that goes past her
apartment. After a few stops, the driver asked if anyone on the bus was familiar with the route. Seems that he was new to the route and wasn’t sure of it. A passenger got out his iphone and using
the GPS, directed him on the route. When that guy got off at his stop, someone else took over. And no one questioned it. Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.