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.
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| 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!”
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| 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.
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| 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.
