On Buses and Coffee

We always knew how to honor fallen soldiers. They were killed for our sake, they went out on our mission. But how are we to mourn a random man killed in a terrorist attack while sitting in a cafe? How do you mourn a housewife who got on a bus and never returned?
―A. B. Yehoshua

Travelling shouldn't be just a tour, it should be a tale.
― Amit Kalantri

If it weren’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever.
―David Letterman

A few short years ago, when I was a teenager, I asked my mother for bus money. To be perfectly frank, as a kid, I did not travel by bus with any regularity. We had a carpool to go to school and back, and I was chauffeured to most of the extracurricular activities I pursued. I was usually able to walk to friends' houses.  But occasionally, I did need to travel by bus, and I was given money accordingly. 

Each time I asked, my mother always had the same question: "how much is a bus ride these days?", as she forked over a handful of change.  
I thought it hilarious that my mother had no idea how much a bus ride cost. My mother hadn't taken a bus for as long as I had known her, which, at that point, was pretty much my whole life. My mother, to my knowledge, had never taken a bus since she and my father had bought their first car, years before I was born. (This is not completely accurate - my parents travelled across country on Greyhound buses seeing the sights, but a city bus was a different story.) In any case, not only did I find my mother's ignorance as to the price of a bus ride hilarious (in addition to not knowing where to get on and off, and which bus went where, but hey), I also thought she was a touch spoiled. She never had to ride a bus. 

I'm all grown up now, and the truth is, I seldom ride buses either. I also own a car. But I have been known to ride a bus, and I do know several routes and where the stops are. But, I must admit, I never enjoy riding a bus. At one period, during the Covid crisis, I rode a bus almost daily, double masking, and feeling appalled at the selfishness of the other passengers who seldom masked up to my liking. Therefore, it's been a while since I have ventured forth and joined the masses. 

But when the husband told me he was taking the car this morning, I knew I had a choice: stay home, or take a bus and meet up with friends for coffee. I had been looking forward to going out this morning, so I took a deep breath, decided that I was not a touch spoiled, and I could go by bus. I knew it was an easy bus ride; a two-minute walk on each side to and from the bus stop, and a six-minute ride. Easy peasy. I armed myself with my bus card and a bottle of water, and I was set for my great adventure. 

But this is Israel. 

Just before I left, I check the news and discovered that just before I was to leave, there had been a terrorist attack at the bus station. I'm not sure what the terrorist was thinking – sure, if soldiers were his target, Sunday morning at Beer Sheva Central Bus Station is the place to be. Hundreds of soldiers, returning to their bases after a weekend at home, can be found there all morning long. On the other hand, there are hundreds of soldiers at the Beer Sheva Central Bus Station on a Sunday morning—all armed. Indeed, within moments, the terrorist was 'neutralized'. 

Nonetheless, getting on a bus suddenly lost its appeal. The bus station was nowhere near where I needed to go, but the incident did take the wind out of my sails, so to speak. 
I thought of the 'person' who had committed this attack. What was the point? What did he think he would accomplish? 

The point, of course, was: 1. to create terror; 2. to disrupt lives; and 3. (and most important) to kill Jews. This particular terrorist was not, thank God, successful in the third point, and I was not going to allow him to be successful in his first two.

There have been hundreds of such incidents since October 7th throughout the country (and thousands upon thousands before), and there seems to be no end in sight. 

But nobody, I decided, as I hefted my bus card, was going to stop me from having coffee with my friends. 
From the River to the Sea, I am going to drink my coffee.

I got on the bus, and ten minutes later, I had reached my destination. Easy peasy. I drank coffee and my friends and I solved the world's problems AND oohed and ahhed over pictures of soldier sons and grandkid's Purim costumes. Along with the caffeine, I soaked up some much-needed Vitamin D. 

I may not be completely spoiled, but I actually don't know how much a local bus ride in Beer Sheva costs, as no cash ever changes hands on a ride these days. Instead, it's all done with cards and apps and machines that go ping. 

It doesn't matter how much they cost though, when the need arises, I will keep riding the buses, and drinking coffee, and seeing friends and living my life, because we have nowhere else to go. 

He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces, who stand guard over our land and the cities of our God, from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.

May the Almighty cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.

May He lead our enemies under our soldiers’ sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is the Lord your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you.

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אֶת חַיָּלֵי צְבָא הֲגַנָּה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, הָעוֹמְדִים עַל מִשְׁמַר אַרְצֵנוּ וְעָרֵי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מִגְּבוּל הַלְּבָנוֹן וְעַד מִדְבַּר מִצְרַיִם וּמִן הַיָּם הַגָּדוֹל עַד לְבוֹא הָעֲרָבָה בַּיַּבָּשָׁה בָּאֲוִיר וּבַיָּם. יִתֵּן ה’ אֶת אוֹיְבֵינוּ הַקָּמִים עָלֵינוּ נִגָּפִים לִפְנֵיהֶם. הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִשְׁמֹר וְיַצִּיל אֶת חַיָלֵינוּ מִכָּל צָרָה וְצוּקָה וּמִכָּל נֶגַע וּמַחֲלָה וְיִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה וְהַצְלָחָה בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם. יַדְבֵּר שׂוֹנְאֵינוּ תַּחְתֵּיהֶם וִיעַטְרֵם בְּכֶתֶר יְשׁוּעָה וּבַעֲטֶרֶת נִצָּחון. וִיקֻיַּם בָּהֶם הַכָּתוּב: כִּי ה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם לָכֶם עִם אֹיְבֵיכֶם לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם: וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן: