A Story From the Life of Sheldon L.
Ghostwritten by Jamie S.
Ninety Minutes of Fear
As the sun set, panic began to rise in me. I knew that my surrounding areas were not safe. I knew that not a single person within a 10 mile radius of my family were friends of us or our ancestors. I also knew that within our immediate vicinity, I wasn’t able to communicate with a single individual or, even more importantly, receive help from anyone.
I trusted Ari. I knew he would come back for us or at least I wanted myself to believe that, because the truth of the matter was I had no other plan. No plan B. It was just the natural thing for me to have full belief in plan A.
I was scared. I had never been in a situation like that in my life and, to make matters worse, the people I loved most were with me. We were at a very high risk as the day grew darker and darker. With every step we took we wondered if that step was about to get us killed or if that step was about to get us out of this very fearful dilemma.
My family and I were on a vacation in Israel. I had hired a private tour guide who drove us to many eye openinglocations. The biggest benefit of having our own tour guide was that our trip was 100 percent customized, allowing us to determine where to go and how long we wanted to stay at any given location. With only 10 days in Israel, we were trying to avoid the troubles of being in a large group where everyone’s needs had to be met. However, in that moment of being stranded in a crowded, unfamiliar town, a large group would have been to our advantage.
“Stay calm” I remember saying to my wife and three kids as I was struggling to do so myself.
The day had started out so nicely. Ari, our tour guide picked us up at 8am from our hotel. We all sat together for a nice breakfast as we talked about the day ahead of us. Going into the trip my family had a list of several places we knew we wanted to visit, and Ari made those a priority. However, what made our trip even more over the top, was that Ari added on sites that we weren’t familiar with but were a huge part of the Israeli culture. Our trip wouldn’t have been the same without him.
We started our day at a museum, next we visited many famous landmarks, and we ate an authentic Israeli lunch in a local town. Ari spent a lot of time talking to my kids and getting to know them. He was able to bond with all three of them. We came to know about his personal life, as well. Ari had a son and daughter, both of whom were younger than my kids. Because we had gotten through our day quicker than anticipated, he asked us if we wanted to add on one more site. I, of course, with full trust in Ari, told him that would be great.
As we headed towards the final stop of our day, I realized we were approaching Arab territory. Like myself and my family, our tour guide was Jewish. My wife and I knew from our knowledge of Israel’s history that for us to be entering Arab territory could be rather dangerous. He explained to us that he was very familiar with where he was taking us, and he would never put my family in harm's way.
“As long as there is daylight the area is safe. We just need to leave by sunset,” Ari added.
When we arrived at our destination in Haifa, Ari parked the car and the six of us began to walk down the streets of an Arab neighborhood. Throughout the neighborhood, we saw Israel through a perspective we had not seen previously on our trip. Everyone minded their own business. Like no other place we had previously visited we stood out; our language, clothing and skin color set us apart from the many other families in the overcrowded town. Walking down the poverty stricken streets allowed me to appreciate the way my family lives even more.
The end of daylight was approaching and it became time for us to get back in the car and head out of the town. My kids were tired of walking and began arguing from their exhaustion. Ari decided that it was easiest for him to walk back to the car alone and for us to stay in the location where he would pick us up.
“I’ll be back here in about 15 minutes” Ari instructed before walking all the way back to the car, “Make sure not to go anywhere, you don’t want to get yourself into trouble” he said.
Twenty minutes later I began checking my watch, thirty minutes later I began to worry, an hour later I began to panic.
I thought out loud of all of the possible scenarios, “Did Ari get into trouble? Is he ok? There has to be an explanation for why he is taking this long?” “You don’t think he left us here? Ari wouldn’t do such a thing, right?” I asked my wife.
The trust I had in Ari was the only thing keeping me at all level headed.
The panic. The fear. The darkness. Standing in the pitch-black village of an Arab town not knowing what to do next was frightening. The stale, 64 degree air and hundreds of small pale colored shacks sitting along-side the crowded, narrow, fractured roads were some of the many things standing in between my family and safety. It was my job to protect everyone. In that moment there was nothing I could do to guarantee their safety.
Wiping my sweaty palms on the back of my blue jeans, I saw Ari’s stretch mercedes pull up to the exact location he was supposed to meet us 90 minutes earlier. After what seemed like an eternity Ari stepped out of the front seat sharing in my panic. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t sure if I was too relieved to be upset or too panicked to be happy.
“Mr. and Mrs. Lefkowitz, Michael, Steven and Randi” he said, “I can’t apologize enough for the extreme worry this must have caused. I did not mean to leave you here for this long, but unfortunately my car got a flat tire a distance back and I had to replace the tire which took me a some time.”
After hearing his explanation, there was no way I could manage to be upset with him. I realized that there was nothing I cared more about than knowing my family was safe and out of danger.
All along my gut told me, “he will be back for us.” And the trust that made me believe my gut kept us from wandering ourselves into trouble.
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