I started conversing with them, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my formerly agitated seatmate now leaning forward, interested in my exchange with the couple.
At one point Dovid, the young husband, asked me where Meira’s husband works. I told him that he works in a school for children with multiple handicaps.
The woman next to me leaned even further forward, and soon started to interject comments as I spoke to the couple.
At some point, the bus started to empty out. Dovid and his wife slowly made their way over to where my daughter stood with one hand on the baby carriage. Meira and the young woman hugged, and Dovid beamed. My seatmate could not contain herself any longer. In answer to her query, I told her of my daughter’s history with the young couple. I also threw in the fact that Meira had trained in a field where she could help young children with special needs, and was now doing that in a professional capacity. I further mentioned how Meira had sought out potential husbands among men who worked in similar fields of caring for others less fortunate. Today, my daughter’s home is one where children and young adults with special needs find a welcome smile, and an outstretched hand.
After some moments of silence, the by-now subdued woman turned to me with a gentle smile. I almost did not recognize her. As she got up to get off at the next stop, she gave me and my family a brachah for a good life. She added how she had learned something important on this ride, and that was not to rush to judge people harshly.
I was left sitting there, thinking about how important it is for one Jew to get to know another from the inside, not to make assumptions on the surface things they see. I felt like I had contributed a small bit in improving one person’s attitude towards someone different than they. I also couldn’t help thinking that I wished I had had the time to get to know the woman whose path I had just crossed, and be able to understand that there was more to her than her belligerence. In the end, I did have a glimpse of who she might be.
May we all join in true brotherhood, getting beyond the baseless hatred which had brought about the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash.