A Feeling of Community

Something super interesting happened last night. I was in a bar at 4:30 in the morning watching the super bowl and was ready to pass out on the stool I was sitting on. I decided that I needed some caffeine so I went to the bar and asked for a coke. Bartender told me it was 15 shekels. That's absurd. That's like 4 bucks for a soda. I decided to just push through. When I told my roommate what the cost of it was, he agreed at the ridiculous cost. But then something happened… a man that I had just met that night said that he would cover it. I told him it was okay, but he insisted and gave me a ten shekel coin. When I got to the bar to ask the bartender, another man, an American, said that he would cover it as well saying "It's the Super Bowl man. I got you." I thought it was super interesting that two people, who had no idea who I was or had met just that night were willing to do that. And I believe it has something to do with being Israel. More importantly, being around Jews. I don't know if not two, but even one person would offer a stranger to pay for a drink, even a cheap one. This isn't just about the drink, but the overall sense of helping one out. Growing up in a Jewish community, jewish youth groups, hebrew school, jewish summer camp, etc. the community really takes care of its own. Everyone wants to help when they can. If it's something big like helping a person out personally or financially, to something as small as offering to pay for one's drink. Being in Israel is like one big Jewish community. Obviously, not everyone is going to be chassidic or secular, but the one commonality is that we're all Jewish on some level and therefore connected in some way without even having to ask or ponder. In America, doing something Jewish or being in a group of all Jews is something special because it doesn't happen often. You go to school where most of the people are not Jewish. But then going to a youth group program is exciting because you'll be with people who are all Jewish. Going to Jewish summer camp is the same way. Even just going to Chabad on a Friday night is something special for most people since they spend the majority of their time with non Jews. That isn't an issue here. I look around at everyone and every now and then do I realize: "Wow I literally go to school with all Jews (except a few here and there." And when I look around at the bar and see a chassidic Jew (Beard, kippah, tzi tzi, and all) and no one sees something strange, that in itself is strange to me. I look around and there's just one big Jewish community. Now this could be taken two ways. One is that it decreases the specialness of doing something Jewish irregularly, which is 100% true. But on the other hand, it's an amazing feeling. I know that just about everyone, probably 95% if not more, have Bar/Bat Mitzvahed, gone to Hebrew school, maybe went to a summer camp, maybe did a youth group, or maybe their just Jewish. The point is, I'm not the minority in my program nor even in the country. Nowhere else can a Jew say that she/he is not in the minority. That's what makes this place so special.