Just a traveler's prayer

1

It was two months ago, after a truck unexpectedly tried to pass without signaling and without even looking to see that I was on his left in the fast lane. It was a one of those semi trailer trucks, long and heavy and if it would have hit my car, extensive damage would have been caused, the kind that would have changed my life. It was a miracle I was able to slow down and allow the truck into the lane. When my breathing returned to normal, to my surprise I was reciting the Travelers Prayer, something I hadn’t done in years.

2

About a month ago, Rabbi Avi Cohen Or and his wife Simcha were killed when their car hit a bus. They have eight children who are left without a father and mother. Eight good souls who will need to make due with the love of uncles and aunts, friends, relatives and grandmothers. They will never be able to ask their father to pick them up because their legs hurt. They will never be able to ask their mother to hug them because they are cold. Unlike other accidents where the sounds of the crash can be heard in the far distance, I remember the sounds of this one. It took place just south of Kiryat Arba, close to my neighborhood.

3

Just two weeks ago, Zvi and Hadassah Stiskin, a couple in their twenties, recently married, were driving. Suddenly, their car hit a truck and again I would not have known about the incident if it too had not occurred south of Kiryat Arba, not far from the settlement where I am spending the rest of my life. It is shocking but this is how the accident ended: the car was so crushed from impact that the rescue forces did not know there was a woman in the car until they flipped over what was left of the vehicle. It only took a second to sever a bright future forever.

4

Two weeks ago, a resident of Moshav Elezar in Gush Etzion drove the short distance to Efrat. At the intersection, a place where there should be a traffic circle, he crashed into an oncoming vehicle and was killed instantly. There is a kind of optical illusion on the road that misleads drivers but the illusion is irrelevant. What is important is the life that has been lost; the children left without a father; the injured mother for whom this, a second marriage was nipped too soon in the bud. This is another incident I would not have known about since the report was part of an endlessly dull chain of items about disasters, but it happened near my home.

5

There are many reasons for road accidents and each must be thoroughly examined. The authorities must do what is expected of them. The flashing traffic light tempts people to just drive through. The narrow roads that God knows how they can be considered two way, lead to many head-on collisions. There are places where there are no safety rails. There are drivers who after killing innocent people are found to be in possession of hundreds of prior violations. Penalties for violations on decent roads are outrageous while there’s a lack of enforcement in those places, which are really dangerous. All the problems require attention. Answers are imperative but maybe the system needs a new dimension. Maybe one link is missing, maybe we could benefit from one additional activity: maybe we need prayer.

6

When I was a child, my father would stop the car at the beginning of any long journey, always at the same spot, (Pick Junction, as you come down from the Golan in the direction of the Sea of Galilee). He would devote a moment to the Travelers Prayer. It was a special family moment when everyone in the car would pray and ask that our journey end peacefully. In the past I have maintained that there is something stress provoking in the prayer, something that is a little over the top. Today I believe that there is something in the moment that is exactly right, reasonable and responsible.

7

This needs to be said: Even if it produces stress, there is nothing wrong with the prayer as long as it also produces the same amount of caution.

8

Maybe the Travelers Prayer needs to be rewritten, fewer pleas for rescue from fierce animals (can’t say as I’ve met any in the last few years) and more emphasis on the real dangers: tired drivers, people who irresponsibly try passing, vehicles that don’t yield the right of way to anyone and roads that make one feel he is part of a chase.

9

The Travelers Prayer was written during different times, for people who used donkeys on long trips when what they feared were marauders, thieves and wild animals. The modern marauders are the drivers who are drunk; the fierce animals are the trucks who fail to signal at lights, the real enemy of the driver is himself and sometimes his cellphone.

10

Until the right version is found, here is an interim version I have created for my own use: May it be your will Lord, my God and God of our fathers, that I reach my destination in peace and not bring harm to others and others do not harm me. I will drive cautiously. Keep me far from all manner of problems along the way; out of control drivers, distraction and fatigue. Keep me from overtaking another vehicle irresponsibly, speeding or gambling with life. I will be a courteous and patient driver out of respect for life because you are the Lord who hears this prayer. Blessed art thou who hears our prayers.

Good God

Who said that Amir Peretz doesn’t keep his promises? The US dollar has fallen to four shekels and with another small push young Mr. Daum, minimum wage will reach $1,000 dollars. The mountain did not come to Mohammad, but it seems that Mohammed has come to the mountain.