A time to bless and a time to give

I wanted to share with you a couple of incidents that happened to me the last couple of days that are very simple and seem to be insignificant, however if you think about it they are so special and they are the little things that make Israel so special.

Scene 1:
Last Sunday on the way to Herzliya I stopped at a red light. A peculiar happy jumping bearded guy, dressed in white with a large white knitted kipah (skullcap) carrying a big Tehilim (Psalms book) stopped by my window, he wished me for a good day and a good month (it was Rosh Hodesh). I’m not sure why but he sounded as a California surfer who just returned from an awesome day at the beach. He gave me as a gift a miniature Tehilim (Psalms book) and a CD with pictures of many white bearded Rabbis (no, I’m sure it was not a ZZ top CD), then asked for some charity. As I looked for some coins to give I realized the only thing I had was bills for more than what I wanted to give so I asked for change, he said he didn’t have, the light turned green and he then wished me again a good day. I did listen to part of the CD on my way back home, I reserve my comments… Hey it was a freebee….

On Monday morning I decided to put some coins in the car so that I have for parking meters (which I did not have that Sunday and had to ask at a store) and in case I encounter any other person that might ask for charity.

Scene 2:
Today on my way home I stopped at a red light. A man dressed in a black coat with a large black kipah (skullcap) and long beard was walking from window to window and sweating in the warm weather. I was glad I had some coins to give this time. I opened the window and gave him charity wishing him a good day and a good month. He smiled at me and asked if I had a cigarette. I replied I did not have one and mentioned they are not really healthy. He reached out to grab my hand and asked me to give him a blessing so that he leaves the cigarette addiction mentioning his complete Hebrew name (Pluni ben Pluni), the light turned green and I didn’t really have time to put together a coherent blessing for him so as we shook hands I told him (in Hebrew of course) “May all your problems be solved soon”…
Maybe in the end I blessed him for something higher than what he requested.

I guess one day you can get a blessing in return for nothing and another time it’s your time to bless and give.

The End.

From Other