Life in Jerusalem during the Corona Crisis - part 5

March 22, 2020 

The social media is buzzing with humoristic cartoons, puns and things, all related to the virus-crisis.

Sometimes you ‘stumble-upon’ a real gem, like this story:

This is what happened to a woman named Tami in Israel. As the country is on lockdown we are helping each other:

“Had to drive to Jerusalem bring food supplies to my mother. On the way home, on Highway One, I get pulled over by police. Policeman: "Is everything okay? Do you have an emergency or something that makes it urgent for you to drive?"

Me: "I was bringing food to my elderly mother for Shabbat and the coming days."

He reaches into the police car and takes out a bouquet of flowers.

He: "Take. I bought some bouquets of flowers before starting my shift to give to the people I stop who have heartwarming stories of why they're driving."

Me: "What a shame! I already brought the food. I'm on my way home."

He: "OK, so listen to me. Not while you're driving - you hear me: not while you're driving. But when you get home, you call your mom and tell her that Rafi wishes her a Shabbat Shalom."

O.k., we knew it was Sunday because yesterday there were no busses at all and the supermarket was closed, but nowadays I have to check my agenda to remind myself what day of the week it is.

Yesterday was already very strange because I usually spend most of the Shabbat preparing for the Sunday church service, like bulletin, powerpoint and music sheets. Because there is no church, I was ‘free’ and used my time to cook many meals and a Dutch apple cake (which we shared with our downstairs neighbours.)

One German and one Dutch lady are the only
volunteers at the moment. Together with the
staff they work VERY hard to get the
meals ready for distribution. 

So today, instead of going to our congregation, we waited for a phone call from Benjamin Phillip (Hineni) when we could come to pick up the meals and deliver them. 

11.30 a.m. we arrived only to find they were not ready yet, as more orders had come in and they had to cook more food.

We took the first batch of 130 meals to Armon haNatsiv (East-Talpiot) which happened to be two addresses, instead of one. 

The well-known shopping carts arrived with 2 ladies to receive part of the order; the largest batch was picked up by a jolly man who greeted me in Italian. 

He also wanted to practice some other languages, like English and Dutch and asked what “Thank you” meant in Dutch. 

“Do sweedanya! – good-bye!” I said to him in Russian.

“Ah, Russian is EASY!” the man said in English.

Yes, for a Russian, I thought, remembering the frustration I felt trying to learn the language when I was in my twenties... The only things I remember are a few words and at I least I’m able to recognize the different letters and how they are pronounced...  

We drove home to eat our lunch and then returned to Hineni, where the rest of the meals were packed in bags of 10 each, which made it much easier to handle than those big, heavy cardboard boxes.

When we arrived at the first address in Pisgat Zeev, I learned that they didn’t need the 20 meals because the mayor’s office had provided all the senior citizens in that house with a meal. Thanks, but no thanks....

Instead of using the GPS, I thought I knew which address came next, but despite being in touch with my contact, I didn’t see anybody arriving. It so happened that I had been waiting in the wrong building, that had been on the list on Thursday, but not today! Mea Culpa! Waze brought us to the correct address, where I was greeted by an enthusiastic woman named Galina. “Oh, I wish I could give you a hug, but that’s forbidden!” she laughed.

Benjamin called when we were on our way to Ramot, the other neighbourhood. It was getting too late for the largest order of 110 in Kiryat Hayovel. The volunteers were already leaving. Oh, boy! Should we let go of the 10 in Ramot and head straight in the direction of home? He told us to deliver the 10 and then drive back to Hineni to store the meals in the cooler for tomorrow.  

However.... when we arrived in Ramot, the woman in charge asked if we could spare more meals. They needed another 80, because somebody had not delivered that day.

And thus it happened that we were able to bless this home eventually with 140 meals instead of 10.

We were tired after the long day, but I felt elated and happy that we were able to make a difference during these hard times. And that’s why we were called to Israel in the first place: to comfort God’s people!

I had it on my heart to show our gratitude to our local supermarket, and printed out some big posters which we pasted on the wall of the owner’s office. Nobody saw me doing it, and I wonder if more people will start adding notes to that wall. Hope so. Those hard-working people need all the encouragement they can get!

Life in Jerusalem during the Corona Crisis - part 4

Friday, March 20.

Our new daily rhythm is: firstly, find out what the latest restrictions are. 

There were quite a lot this morning:

The new orders to be signed tonight, March 19, tightening restrictions on movement will reportedly permit citizens to leave their homes for the following activities - for the next 7 days:

1. Going to work and coming back

2. Stocking up on food, medicine, necessary products and to receive essential services

3. Receiving medical treatment

4. Donating blood

5. Participating in demonstrations (when there are too many people they’ll be fined between NIS 500-1000)

6. Going to court for a legal hearing

7. Unorganized sports activity in groups no larger than five people

8. Brief walks for a short time and to a place close to the person’s residence, without coming close to people they don’t live with

9. Going to a wedding, funeral or prayer (while adhering to rules limiting such activities to just 10 people maintaining a distance of at least two meters, or six feet)

10. Helping a person who due to their age, medical conditions or a disability, requires assistance

In addition, no more than two people will be allowed to be in a car at any time, unless they live in the same household. The restriction will not be relevant to cases when there is a necessary reason for more people to travel together or while driving a person to and from a vital workplace.

Because we had to buy medicines in the Old City Pharmacy, we figured it was a ‘legitimate’ reason to be outside.

At “Shachar” our neighborhood supermarket, I asked owner Chaim how they were holding up and praised their dedication and continued service. “Will you be closed as usual during the Pesach holiday?” I asked.

The tired looking man responded they had thought about it, but he decided to stay open. “Otherwise it would be as if we turn our backs on the people needing groceries, especially during this crisis.” I had expected nothing less from this special man whose staff always diligently works to keep the store running.

The streets were deserted – we had to remind ourselves it was Friday, usually a busy morning for Jerusalemites.

Wim stayed in the car while I walked through the Mamilla shopping area towards the Jaffa Gate.

Knowing the bustling pedestrian mall on a regular day, it looked like a shabbat – all the shops were closed and no people in site. 

Mamilla before and during the crisis

Even when the weather is cold and rainy, like today, the plaza in front of the Yaffa Gate is full of people. Now it was deserted and so were the always busy street outside the Old City Walls.

Our pharmacist didn’t have much to do because there are so few people outside. Yes, life definitely has come to a standstill.

The cats like to keep him company and explore
the usually 'forbidden' room

Back home I rearranged one of the guestrooms and turned it into a workplace for Wim. He usually worked at the dining room table, but it would be too cold to sit for a long time without the heating. So, each of us now has a ‘quiet’ place to write.

I’ve decided to collect stories, encouraging quotes and testimonies to put together a weekly online ‘magazine’ to send out to people who are connected to Jerusalem Baptist Church. It’s wonderful that in this day and age we are able to reach out to others via the internet, especially when we can’t meet in person.

Each and everyone of us has to find ways to cope with this crisis. We feel it’s important to keep a steady, daily rhythm and keep order in our days. Even though we still have enough food in the fridge and pantry, but not knowing how long it’s going to be, we’ve also decided to start living more frugally.   

Composing the ‘newsletter’ and starting a regular blog with personal news and updates helps us to use our time in a constructive way and at the same time be an encouragement and blessing to others.

Personally, I try to read the news twice a day, not more and not before we go to bed. It will only create anxiety and we need our sleep. And how grateful we are for our treadmill, which is being used several times a day now.

Because the living room and kitchen are getting colder, tomorrow I'm planning to cook and bake - that definitely will keep me warm. 

The plan is to only write a blogpost when there is something to share, so it's possible the next one will appear on Sunday evening. 

Life in Jerusalem during the Corona Crisis - part 3

Thursday, March 19, 2020

“We have three addresses for you,” Benjamin texted me.  “What time can you be at Hineni?”

Because traffic was so light, in record time we reached the center of town. The streets were deserted and also the usually bustling restaurant was empty of people except the workers and a volunteer.

each box contained 50 warm meals

Now we heard that we had to deliver 220 meals to five addresses.

Benjamin received a call for help from the office of the deputy mayor. Due to the restrictions, caregivers no longer were permitted to cook for the elderly people in their care. “Of course we’ll do our best to help you!” Benjamin promised.

Via whatsapp the coordinator sent me the list and contact persons. 

Kochava, who works at the Hineni office, had been working since 7 a.m.  When she called someone on the list to verify the address, Marina profusely thanked her for the great help. “You have to send us the names of those people,” she said. “We want to thank each one of them!”

a challenge to walk backwards
 without being run over by a trolley with food. 

With great difficulty Mohammed and a collegue manage to ‘bump’ two trolleys with 100 meals each down the stairs. Then they traversed the steep pavement backwards to the bumpy, uneven parking garage floor. I was awed those guys managed to stay on their feet and we safely reached the car. The big boxes were stuffed in our car and we were on our way.

The Diplomat Hotel is in East Talpiot, not far from the new American Embassy. The hotel guard refused to open the gate. 

“Shall I call Irene?” 

He thought that was a good idea. An icy wind blew around the building and I had a hard time calling the number. By then the guard was convinced I came with good intentions, and we were waved through. When an elderly lady (Irene) appeared with a rickety trolley, I ‘shlepped’ the heavy box from the car and helped her back to the hotel lobby.

 “Oh, are you from a catering service?” a passerby asked. “Can I order meals through you?”

Well, a flying bird always catches something.

How grateful we were for the ‘quiet’ roads and that we had ‘Waze’ (GPS) to show us the way. Otherwise it would have been a stressful trip, having to find all those addresses.

At Hotel Tunik, an senior citizen home in Pisgat Zeev, two elderly Russian ladies came to ‘help’ us with two shopping carts. The box was too heavy to lift that high, therefore we stacked the 50 meals in the cart.

“Spaseebah! Bolshoye spaseebah! Toda rabba! – thank yo uso very much!”

Hostel Moshe Dayan, also in Pisgat Zeev, was hard to find because there were no house numbers on the street with a lot of shops. Thankfully, we had those contact numbers! Handyman Alexander had no trouble lifting the heavy box out of our car and put the 50 meals in his shopping cart. Number three was ready – two more to go!

We realized that we had passed the fourth address on our way to the previous one. But even though we had the correct number, the building could not be found. An icy wind blew over the open spaces of the Pisgat Zeev neighbourhoud that was built on hills.

Galina sent an elderly man from hostel Golden Colony to the car to receive their 20 meals. The plastic bags had fallen over during the drive causing some of the meals to spill gravy.

In a car that smelled like a restaurant we drove to the last address. 

House "Golden Age" Ramot

Hostel Ramot, a neigbourhood on the other side of the Begin highway, was situated in a street that teemed with ultra-orthodox people who clearly didn’t keep the tightened restrictions. 

We carried the heavy box to a large room of the senior citizen’s home from where the meals would be distributed. Ilana, wearing a face protection, thanked us warmly for the 50 meals.

No rain had fallen during the three hours it had taken us to deliver the meals, but when we arrived home, the darkened sky began to drop its wet load. Warm and dry, with grateful hearts we enjoyed a bowl or warm soup.

Benjamin, who had coordinated everything from his home in Ashdod, was grateful everything had gone well. We offered our help for future needs. “Thanks, but we have to wait and see what the government is going to decide.”

“I read in the paper that essential services will continue,” I told him.

“Ah yes, and Hineni is also an essential service,” Benjamin reiterated.

Thus, we’ll expect a call Sunday morning if we are available to make another run.

 ‘Hineni!’- here we are, Lord.