Lazer Beams

Unconditional Love

Shavuot, this coming Tuesday night, is the holiday of Hashem's unconditional love for His chosen people:

Meron Memories

Here's an inside glimpse of what went on last week when 480,000 people (number issued by Israel Police Dept.) frequented Meron on Lag B'Omer, the yahrtzeit of the holy Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the Zohar:

Gaza and Jewish Unity

I went down to the Gaza border with my fearless photographer Duvid Bader to make this Sefirat HaOmer message:

Unity, Now!

Here's a Memorial Day thought: The bullets and bombs that killed our soldiers did not differentiate between religious and non-religious, between Ashkenazi or Sephardi, or between right wingers or left-wingers. Why should we? Our heroes died together - the least we can do in their holy memories is to live together in unity and mutual respect.

Revival and Survival

Survival is when something already existing continues to exist. Revival is when something about to be destroyed renews itself. The annals of the Jewish People since the Holocaust is a story both of survival and revival. Hashem showed me something out in the field that tells the entire story in one picture. Here it is:

Don't Wait Another 10 Years

Debbie finally arrived in Israel last month, after ten years of longing. She has been corresponding with me for a little over a year, and the first thing she did was to show up at my Wednesday evening weekly Emuna talk and broadcast in English from the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva in Jerusalem. G-d willing, she'll be working in the mornings as an English teacher and spending her afternoons at a women's seminar for Baalot Teshuva.

Debbie wrote a message that we wants me to convey to all of you; it's really profound:

Rabbi Lazer, please tell your readers how I wanted to make Aliya ten years ago when I was 21. I also wanted to learn more about Judaism. I let my mother talk me out of both. During the last ten years, I wish I could say I've been treading water, but it's worse. I floated from job to job, had a miserable relationship with a person outside of our religion who I lived with for four years, and have sacrificed my own aspirations to keep mom happy. I was miserable and lost my self-esteem. You gave me the courage to pack up and do what I really want. Pass the message on to others - don't waste a decade of your own lives to keep others happy. Come to Israel today, and claim your Jewish birthright. Live your own lives. 31 is better late than never...

No, Debbie, don't cry over spilt milk. With Hashem's help, your Emuna will strengthen and you'll meet a good guy very soon. Your message is an important one.

The ingathering of the exiles is just one more sign of the wonderful times that await us in the rebuilt Jerusalem of Eretz Yisroel, amen.

Meir the cabby's story

I'm Meir. I drive a taxi in Ashdod. This is a picture of my rig to the left. Hey don't get me wrong, I'm not religious or anything, and I'm certainly not a Haredi. I enjoy a good soccer match (especially Betar Yerushalayim) on Shabbat. Some people think hackers are dumb, but not us Israelis. I can speak 4 languages - Hebrew, French, Arabic, and English. Rav Lazer said I could write whatever I want, and that he'd only correct spelling mistakes, so he can't sell me down the river.

The truth is, that before I met Rav Lazer, I used to work like a dog for 7 seven days a week. In case you're wondering about moving here, life ain't easy with 4 kids and a wife that likes to serve meat or chicken every day and to get her hair done once a week.

Once, I drove Rav Lazer to a lecture of his in Ashkelon. Even though he's a Haredi, we hit it off great. He didn't nag me about religion, just took an interest about my family and me. I told him I was in debt up to the nose. He asked me if I worked on Shabbat. I said yes. He said let the rig rest on Shabbat, have a nice meal with the family, and take a walk on the beach with the wife and kids, and he promises I'll get out of debt. I said, "Rabbi, with all due respect, you're nuts. How can I work less hours, and forfeit Saturday doubletime tariffs, and make more money? Where the heck did you learn math?"

He only smiled. He said that I'll save the money on tires and repairs. I didn't believe him.

The following Saturday, I got a great fare from a French tourist who wanted to go from Ashdod to Tzfat via the Kinneret. Fat city! The fare was 1850 shekels round trip and the madamoiselle gave me a 250-shekel tip and payed for lunch. I laughed all the way home with 2100 shekels in my pocket...until Sunday morning.

The next morning, a cop pulled me over and claimed that I crossed a solid white line: 4 points and 600 shekels down the drain. The points on my license hurt more than the dough. An hour later, I passed a construction site and got two flat tires from nails on the road. The tires were shot, another 900 shekels. Then, I had engine trouble. Diesel engines use cheap fuel, but their maintenance is more expensive. Another 800 shekels. I made a lousy 200 shekels that day, but lost 6 hours and 2300 shekels, all the money I made the day before and the few fares that I made before the day was up.

At 7 pm, exhausted, I got a call from guess who - Rav Lazer. He wanted me to take him to one of the moshavim in the area for another of his gigs. To make a long story short, I put 2 and 2 together and figured that you can't fight city hall, especially when Hashem is the mayor.

Hey, that was 18 months ago. I'm not gonna tell you I'm religious or anything, but I don't work on Shabbat anymore. I've repaid 80% of my debts, and my home life is a zillion times better. So do yourself a favor - don't work on Shabbat. Take it from me, Meir the cabby from Ashdod.

Rav Lazer gave me one more piece of advice - buy gas from a station that closes on Shabbat. I do; here's proof:

Ashdod gas station, near the port: The neon sign says, "Open 24 hours, station observes the Sabbath".

This is really cool being on the web like this. I guess if I ever retire, I'll start a blog. You can't imagine how many juicy stories Israeli cabbies can tell. And I mean juicy...

When you come to Ashdod, look me up. L'hitraot from your friend Meir the cabby from Ashdod. Hey, how do you like my English?