Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem: A Tale of Two Cities

I got up early Friday morning, attended the local Chabad morning prayers, and took bus 75 to the central bus station in Jerusalem.

I hurried to find my way. I’d been here many times before, and the Friday morning hustle was nothing new to me. I encountered a few beggars on the way. Jerusalem is host to an array of both needy people and those pretending to be poor and spending their time benefiting from the locals’ generosity.

There’s a wide range of stores, pharmacies, cafes, restaurants, and even a place to donate blood at the central bus station. At this particular time of the year, it’s teaming with tourists from all over the world. Many are Christian pilgrims who’ve come to Israel for Christmas. Some continue on a tour of the Middle East, while others prefer to stay in Israel and remain shielded from the perils of our neighbors to the East.

For All We Do

For all we do, for all we say,

A price is surely to be paid.

A humble servant of man’s fate,

That is not me,

I’ve come too late.

 

Look here,

I’m not special, different, better than anybody else,

I’m simply me,

At any rate,

I’d like you, if it’s possible, to relate,

To my life’s journey,

A work of passion, loss, adjustment, disarray,

A cycle with an end,

A trendy way of living-with no real trend.

 

Brought here on a mission,

Clear that height!

I see my elders take to flight,

They do not know, do not see,

The person buried deep in me.

 

Felt hardships, done what’s wrong,

I know this,

The notes to a different song,

Will express my thanks,

To those who’ve believed and never shouted,

To those who’ve helped and never doubted.

 

I will escape,

Tear down the iron gates,

I will be free one day,

I will enjoy my life,

Is what you too should say.

 

Listen, fellow sufferers,

Hearken to my words,

Believe me, I have been hurt as well.

Two things that you must never lose, lest you lose yourselves:

Your hope, your resolve to make it no matter what the odds,

And your sense of humor, your smile,

What you do from here isn’t up to me,

Keep working always,

You too will go free.

Dedicated to all those trying so hard to get out of whatever predicament they've found themselves in for their own good and the good of the world.