BortmanBlog: A stop on the road for tzedakah

Evidently, there is a custom that when you hear that a friend is going to Israel you give him 2 dollars. No this is not some weird derivative of the movie Better Off Dead (get it on Netflix if you haven't seen it/don't remember it). It is based on the belief that if you are doing tzedakah (charity), you will be assured a safe trip. So you get 2 dollars so you can give one to a charity in your destination and one to a charity upon your return. We learned of this custom from Carrie who also has her own tradition of including a tzedakah project in each of the Israel trips she's coordinated.

As many of you are aware, just a few weeks before we left, there was a big forest fire in Israel (maybe not big compared to the wild fires of the western US, but by far the biggest ever in Israel -- remember, this country used to be all desert not very long ago). With Carrie's quick action and an impressive response from the Kol Emet community, we were able to procure a good supply of hoods and gloves for the firefighters of Israel and money for JNF, the Jewish National Fund -- the group that has planted hundred of millions of trees in Israel. Carrie (I think with the assistance of her cousins and the JNF) was able to arrange for us to visit the main firehouse in Rishon Le'Zion, a small city outside of Tel Aviv, to donate these supplies.

After leaving the Ayalon Institute, we headed over to the firehouse. Well, the whole fire crew was waiting for us with eager anticipation. They had the fire trucks lined up in front of the firehouse and a generous spread of snacks and drinks laid on for us. We spent a couple minutes munching and schmoozing with all the firemen (there were about 25 of them), then their captain gave a little talk about the fire -- every fire company in Israel sent people to help fight the forest fire -- then they were on to their demonstrations. They had a smashed up car behind the station which they quickly tore into with their "jaws of life." Then they simulated the containment of a hazardous materials spill, complete with their big yellow Bio-Hazard Protection Suits. After that, they got the kids involved. They lit a fire in a fire pit, had the kids put on the fireman's coat and helmet and put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. As a finale, they had their rescue team repel 100 feet down from the top of the extended ladder their hook and ladder truck. The fireman really pulled out all the stops to make us feel welcome and show their appreciation

It was a great chance to mix with the locals and learn a little more about life in today's Israel -- something that you don't usually get the chance to do on a regular tourist trip. Moreover, it was clear that the firemen really appreciated the donation and the fact that we took time out of our touring to stop and visit them. And those of us on the trip really enjoyed the stop.