Dr. Pepper

There are those who say that Yidden are better because we were born that way and there are those who say that we are better because we make ourselves better.

I’d rather not take any side, but how about everyone give one idea how we could make ourselves stand out as role models for the rest of society.

When I take my kids for a walk; if we see a cop sitting in a car I tell my kids to wave. The cops usually smile and wave back. At times they even turn on their light to make the little ones laugh. There’s at least one cop who patrols our neighborhood who recognizes my kids and will wave to them if he notices them first.

Although this hasn’t happened yet but I think that if I returned to our car and was about to get a ticket (for an expired meter or something similar) from a cop who in the past noticed that we took the time to say hello, I would have a high probability of getting a second chance.

When I take the bus or train I always make sure to thank the driver and conductor. (These people hold positions where they are part of the scenery and usually only get noticed when something negative occurs. They appreciate when others acknowledge that they exist and show them some gratitude for their hard work.)

Finally, when I call a customer service and get greeted by “May I have your name and address/ account number …?” I always say, “Hi, How has your day been so far?” they always say something like “good, thanks for asking, how about you?” and then the operator is usually more relaxed and easier to deal with. (This might not be a Kiddush Hashem per se, after all how many representatives out there who never met a Yid would know that Pepper is a Yiddish name?)

Thanks everyone and hopefully after we all accept the wonderful ideas that others are going to suggest we will merit seeing the redemption in our days and then the whole world will know why Yidden are the best!

One night after Maariv some neighbors and I passed a young Chasideshe couple stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire. From the way they were dressed it was obvious that they were on the way to a wedding.

Setting our personal views aside, (we may have different views but at the end of the day we all pray to the same person,) we offered to change his tire for him so that he wouldn’t have to walk into the wedding with dirty hands and full of sweat.

While some of us were changing the tire, others were giving him directions to 24 hour tire repair shops in the surrounding neighborhoods while others waited just to make sure they were able to drive off safely.

After the change was done he asked for our names and asked us to take his name so he can repay us if we ever need help in his neighborhood. We all refused saying that we didn’t want him to feel as if he owed us anything.

He and his wife thanked us over and over again, then they got into the car, he rolled down his window and said, “Mi K’amcha Yisroel”, and drove off.

I think I should mention at this time that while some of the biggest Mitzvos are done anonymously, unfortunately the opposite is also true by aveiros.

Please my dear friends, before posting a vicious attack against anyone online, wait a few seconds and think if you would use the same wording if you had to sign your real name.