Weekly Chasidic Story # 1392 (5784-49 ) 8 Menachem Av 5784 (Aug.12, 2024)

"The Bareheaded Bus Driver's Desire for Shabbat"

His wife was understandably upset. "What! You are not coming home for Shabbat! Everything is all prepared already! I cooked and cleaned! And now you're not coming home?"

Why this week? In this week'sTorah reading there is a review of the Ten Commandments, in which #4 is about the active and the passive observance of Shabbat.

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THE BAREHEADED BUS DRIVER'S DESIRE FOR SHABBAT

This happened relatively recently in Israel, in 2019.

A bus was on its way to Bnei Brak in the late afternoon before Shabbos. Unfortunately, there was terrible traffic, and the clock was moving much faster than the traffic was.

The driver, a man who was not wearing a yarmulka (kipah), called his wife and said to her, "I'm sorry, there is really bad traffic, and I will not be able to make it home to Rishon L'Tzion [southeast of Tel Aviv] for Shabbat. I will need to find a way to spend Shabbat in Bnei Brak [an 'ultra'-religious township bordering Tel Aviv to the northeast]."

His wife was understandably upset with this news. She reacted, "What do you mean you're not coming home for Shabbat? Everything is all prepared already! I cooked and cleaned! And now you're not coming home?"

The driver apologized again to his wife, finished the conversation, and continued driving, not knowing what else to do. A young man who was sitting in the front seat behind the driver heard this conversation. He leaned over to the driver and asked him, "Do you have a microphone on this bus?"

The driver said that he did, and the young man asked to make an announcement. Thanking the driver for the microphone, he addressed the rest of the passengers.

"Dearest Jews, our bus driver has a problem. He won't be able to make it back home on time for Shabbos because of the traffic situation. If you all will agree, I request from everyone, would you please get off at the first stop in Bnei Brak, so we can help him out?"

Every single one of the passengers agreed to do this, each saying he would find his way home from the first stop. The driver, however, said, "Thank you all very much, but you don't have to bother; it won't help me anyway. Even if you all get off at the first stop, I still won't make it back to Rishon L'Tzion with this bus before Shabbos."

Right away, one of the passengers went over to the driver, and made him an offer. He said, "I live right near the first bus stop. Please, come to my house, park your bus there, and take my car [!] to get to Rishon L'Tzion. That way, you will be able to make it home on time for Shabbos."

The bus driver was extremely grateful. He accepted the offer.

And that is what happened. When the bus pulled up at the first stop in Bnei Brak, everyone got off the bus. The driver then parked his bus on the narrow street where the passenger lived, and took the man's car that was offered to him, and he made it home just in time for Shabbat in Rishon L'Tzion.

The parked bus on the narrow street became a topic for conversation that Shabbat, and much more so when the story behind why it was parked there came out. It was a Kiddush Hashem, a true sanctification of G-D's Name [and Torah values], and the news of it spread very quickly.

Mi k'amcha Yisroel -["G-D:] who is like Your nation, the Jewish people!"

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Source: Adapted and supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles from the Parshas Yitro 5780 email of "Torah U'Tefilah" as compiled by Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg and posted on "Shabbos Stories for the Parsha."

Why this week?
1) The Torah reading this week contains a review of the Ten Commandments, of which Shabbat observance is the fourth.
2) Tisha b'Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem, fell on Tuesday of this week. The Second Temple was destroyed, our sages tell us, because of baseless hatred between Jews. In this story we encounter the recommended antidote: baseless love [and kindness] among Jews. A whole busload of Jews, each with a kipah or a hat on his head, inconveniencing themselves for a bareheaded Jew whose name they don't even know, just to help him solve a Jewish difficulty…and the man who lent his car! "Master of the Universe. Please take notice. Isn't it time for the Third and everlasting Temple?"

Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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