15 March, 2024 14:35

This Was Written Circa May 2022

Today, I got off my lazy butt and went out for a walk in Holon. Ended up getting new kippas. The store owner was from Damascus originally ; in the store was another very old man, who turned out was from another Syrian city (previously with jews) called Halabi.

An Elderly man and shop guy started asking where I was from due to my hebrew…. first they guessed — Russia !! Then, NY, then NJ, then Miami. Hahahah. I told them I was born in Texas. "Oh, Texas, yafeh!". "Are you a tourist"? "No, I live here". Then the old man started blessing me with parnasa ; children ; long life … every time he said a new item the shop keeper said "amen!".

The old man left the store. The shop keeper told me a little about the Jews of Syria ; how there are none left. "Many in New Jersey…". I said "yes, I have heard".. I told him "I think America is changing — for the worse." He said "it is time to end the galut and jews need to come home". Gave more blessings and on the strength of Rabbi Shimon (bar Yochi) the Moshiach will come.

About 10 minutes later, I ran into the elderly man again at a different store. I offered to buy him some coffee and sit with him.

He told me he is diabetic and does not drink coffee. So I bought him a small sandwich and a bottle of water. We sat and talked.

Elderly man told me he was in the Israeli army at the same time as Moshe Dayan. He claimed to have met Moshe Dayan and talked with him and how all the Arabs feared Dayan at that time. I replied "wow. But Dayan gave the Arabs Har Habayit and wanted to give Hebron". "Yes, and that was a terrible error and he suffered the rest his life and died of a heart attack "…. then he proceeded to tell me… "if you want a long life, only say good words. Never yell or scream or curse and God will give you a long life.".