Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak - Tel Aviv

Those are my last days before coming back to Paris next Monday.
I feel better, and all the last bad vibes from NY are gone forever.
I feel that a new life will come, and i will have to work hard to get it.

Jews love money, we heard that all the time? Probably or not, Israeli enjoy socializing.
They never asked me for money or what can i do for them, they simply enjoy helping you.
And they enjoy life before money, that's a statement so far.
I enjoy doing things alone, but i never felt alone in Israel like in NY.

On my way to Ramat Gan, bus, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

A cutie, Ramat Gan, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Windy Hasidic, Ramat Gan, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Father and son in the park, Ramat Gan, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

I chose to stay in a place in Ramat Gan to visit Bnei Brak, the Williamsburg of Tel Aviv.
The first afternoon, i have been for a walk around the room i rented to be familiar with the geography of the streets.
Bnei Brak is very close and i saw some peyos men and Lubaba in a park.

I googled the name and found an article about the main street of Bnei Brak which is, what they said,  their Champs-Elysées.
The weather was terrible yesterday: a tempest of sand and rain. But nothing will stop me.

Beautiful shul, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Entry of the shul, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Hobbit entry of the shul, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Motorcycle, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

My host is a secular Jew, he doesn't keep kosher and Shabbat.
He is courteous, and a gentle person.
I told him why i chose his place. He said: "If Israel was populated only by Hasidim, i wouldn't live here." I was not here to argue, and i had no reasons to do it. The importance is to be happy with his/her choices of life.

The husband of my friend in Haifa is a BT. He became a BT at 13 years old.
He said something like: "Hasidim or not, secular Jews or not, whatever how you live your Judaism, you are a Jew." Usually the BTs are not so open-minded.
I always felt that to be a Jew is beyond the religion. It started by the religion indeed, but after those thousand of years, that's a culture and a state of mind.
My friend from high school told me a terrible story which happened to her 20 years ago.
She was pregnant and worked in an office of real estate. Her coworker who was besides her, was a sort of redneck, but she had a very good connection with him, till… that day, when she told him that she was Jewish. The man never talked to her anymore. They all have been awful with her. She quit because they harassed her.
That man forgot that she was a human being, she only was a Jew. For him, a Jew is evil.

Cutie Hasidim crossing the street rascal-ly, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Trying to light his cigarette, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

I walked along the long avenue in Bnei Brak. I tried to find a café. I haven't seen one. I talked with a woman in a jewels store about the different sects which were there. She was adorable.
I went back for a pedicure to relax my feet which work hard since three weeks.

Nanach, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Holding the hood of his son against the wind, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Wind, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Amazing peyots, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

Grunge style for a recycled plastic bag, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein

And then, a sad story.
Outside, there was a man standing up with his umbrella, a Hasidic. A woman besides us fell on the floor.
The man looked at me, and i smiled at him. He was totally surprised. Finally, he smiled back.
And it was like his world has another meaning suddenly.
He followed me. The street had two levels. Each time i stopped, he stopped and looked at me.
Then, the two levels came to one level, and he walked very close to me.
I stopped, and started to talk to him in English. He was only speaking Hebrew.
At that moment, i felt so sorry and mad at myself, not to understand him and Hebrew.
I felt him so desperate that he has no fear to talk to me in the street where anyone could see us.
He said something like: "Many". Later, i understood that he might talk about "money".
I was not naive and knew what were his intentions. He was gentle in his manners. I thought at a moment, of asking him to follow me to my place and ask my host for a translation.
That man needed to talk. Maybe he needed to have sex and thought that i will accept the money. None of them. I don't blame him to see me as a sexual object.
I left him. He didn't move from where he was standing when we talked.
I felt so bad not to be useful. He was probably less than thirty years old.
That's terrible when people decided your life for you. You are in a spiral, and you can't leave because you have too many things to loose.

This morning before leaving for Yaffo, i had my breakfast outside. I took the same road where i met that man. He knew that he won't be there, but i felt sad once again.
What can we do to help people like him?

The lost soul, the man, Bnei Brak, February 2015, ©emmarubinstein