Monday, July 31, 2006

Eliyahu Hanavi Story

Have you ever heard those Eliyahu Hanavi (Elijah the Prophet) stories where someone showed up at exactly the right time and helped out and then disappeared?

One of those stories happened to me today and I'm waiting to read it in a religious newspaper or parsha pamphlet. I was walking down Jaffa Road in the direction of the Old City of Jerusalem. I had just been out for a walk to refill my Easy Park device so I wouldn't have to find change for the meters. Suddenly a car full of religious Jews honks and asks me how to get to the Western Wall. I walked into the street and explained it to them. They were refugees from the north and didn't know Jerusalem at all, they explained. I smiled at them and said I was also from the north. They had a full car, so I didn't ask for a lift, even though I was going in the same direction. I continued walking and noticed there was a lot of traffic in the direction I sent them. I walked into the old city through Jaffa Gate at the same time as they did and they again honked and asked how to get to the Western Wall. I told them where to go and where to park and how to get to the wall. The woman looks at me and said, didn't you just give us directions over there? I replied yes. She asked, how did I get here so quickly. I smiled and disappeared around the corner.

6 comments:

Just Shu said...

so in this story you are eliyahu hanvi?

Anonymous said...

yeah, I was confused. I dont think you can think you are someone else.

Its more like you caused one of those stories to happen, as opposed to one happening to you.

2R said...

This is commonly referred to as Jerusalem syndrome. It is known to affect individuals who are recent residents of Jerusalem. They begin to see themselves as religious famous people from the past. Most common charactors include King David & Jesus.

rockofgalilee said...

I'm just saying that sometimes these stories end up in religious newspapers or rebbe books and they aren't always what they seem to be.

Anonymous said...

he said that there was a lot of traffic and he took a shortcut throught the old city. it was like a joke he played on them

Anonymous said...

I think the point of the story was to show that anybody can help anybody else. sometimes the person helped so much that it seams as though he is elijah the prophet. Lesson: help those in need.