49: The Worst Day Ever

[Music] hi this is Deborah Orlowski and welcome to the special betas meinem edition of the rabbi Olaf ski show and whether you're listening on Terra anytime or wherever you listen or watch your podcast we're so excited to have you on board and in honor of a is mine and I once again the the only person who has been on the raviolo Z podcast three times except for myself I've been here even more and I brought back my son Yakov because we're going to be discussing the experience of Banias meinem from the perspective of a yeshiva buffer and you have intimate information about your Shiva buckram this is correct well first thank you so much for having me it's great to be back on a special bonus money magician Oh indeed I I think I have more information that should be shared on this country look is you working at Yeshiva I do and I have been any Sheila since I was 13 right twenty years coming up on 20 years so uh Bane huzi being a CB so what happens what's the experience when people decide like you know wow that's being his vana who this this this different I gotta tell you I throw it Derek what's about a time and I had the sheer of guys who will like like I would open the shear door at nine o'clock and when I got there everybody was waiting outside the door you know so we had a few days off Konica time was something you know so I said that everybody have a good time so I said yeah I guess so I asked one guy I said what did you do he says well it gave me an opportunity to listen to my victim militate some people really know how to party yeah so but you've had different experiences with buckram [Laughter] well I'll tell you it really it really differs in between American and Israeli issue how's that well a lot of the American you should've bought more at least those who do they go to camp or they do different camps either here or back in that back home not so much in the in the Israeli world there's not some there are so many Israeli camps and so that may be in today's it back in my day the one maybe it was one most the majority of the guys didn't do that some you Shiva's had what they call the camp where they go away for a few days and they do go home and stuff and no good the camp Harvard does these would camp said yes she BZ the way cover time at a camp dance went to the mountains yeah there was one here name is picture with Russia fine steam you know and this leaves out in the in the mountains there's one year you took us with when no we did the bungalows and no the camp sir what a dog no I my wife grew up going to bungalow condo and we also used to rough it we would go away to Grossinger's which was a resort hotel in a town called groceries they made me tell you had its own post office and there were times we couldn't get into the Paul G we had to go into like you know I mean ever the Eiffel Jenny G but one of the other divisions that were in the top division you know and it was very rough you know they gave you in the restaurant deal of three meals a day you know and yeah an ice-skating rink and you know and I'm gonna try golf course and and it was so but to go to a bundle colony and and like somebody sleeps in the kitchen you know and it's like it's like basically being a refugee you know one of the things but they say it's great because the kids get to go outside it cetera so I had never had this experience because my parents you know wouldn't let me but so we had friends of ours and when they gave us their bungalow and we went away to a bungalow colony and it was quite an experience I called up my brother buggalo cody's is what are you doing is it I'm sitting on the front porch listening to myself sweating so the women all form this circle they have to sit in the circle all day I don't think there to leave except they go to their bungalow to make pasta come back the pool is open all the time and they can't get out and it's it's a whole different experience so you had that I I would say I did not have yes our experience was different because we actually stayed in camp still her dad's I'm gonna deal with you know but we went to work with us with a bungalow I I got in trouble with the army and I couldn't leave it was punished you guys all left you left me here for a month and a half right but you gotta get out whenever you want that's why but yeah well that was the summer year we were we were in but we did earlier chem survey I was locked in the regular long time but yeah cope was young Korean man and eight daughters and Jakob and so we went to stay at stake camp Sternberg was our base of speaking around the mountains and and Yaakov I think he actually snuck out with to play basketball and and she caught me they caught him anyway but yeah so we went we did the bungalow colony is a lot of what they do which is a lot of fun Oh fun everybody goes and waits online in Walmart like they go at night there's only one cage and you're open and there was 6,000 Jews lined up so they can buy something of Wilma that even that they need anything but that's like that is the night activity up in the mountains go out and but that was a fun summer you took us to LA and we did Disneyland and stuff and went off to Baltimore and yeah well yeah that's not so the average American but I don't they do Ben is when I show up to the mountains huh well well a lot of them do Kansas I'm not saying they all do some of them just do whatever they do but when it comes to there's really guys it really it really splits splits into two there's the ones who want to just chill out you know they had long long year and they're just gonna chill out that means you get up early child raised you have a penis mounted breakfast which is something you can't always have time for I can't really you know spend the time making it we always end up with you our business boner breakfast that we used to cover the medic over here at my immediate neighborhood seems to be they would like to sit down in the mir pass at about two o'clock in the morning and screaming at each other so that like when you're like if you try to like leave a window open because it's so hot you know I mean you know guys you see you always hear like something shh shh but nobody can hear it anyway so yeah so there's the chillers and then there's that there's the hikers the campers the hikers those who want to go and you know find some mountain and climb literally climb down to seed maybe sometimes some water maybe sometimes not and then climb it literally goes from 6 to 11 hour hikes now we talked about this during Pesach home yes about that but when homo it it's more like family tree right but biggest item in the summertime is the buckram are out there running wild on their own definitely legally unsupervised right each one every day knows my name never you hear about terrible things people people get hurt people that killed terrible things happen people go and get dehydrated even even when I was younger and stuff every I can't remember one time that we went as group to any of these kind of Heights and stuff and there wasn't at least one one kid at least one kid or one about whatever was even Wilder we had a broken leg broke her hand got dehydrated I can't remember once I literally can't remember once I and that that's why I never do hikes anymore just sit in a big air conditioning room ice cream oh you one day took it to you you took your brother's here to the Ben & Jerry's store that was that's that's the coccyx Ben let's go get some people going we started dating well I first went to buy falafel and then we bought some drinks and chocolate for the car we drove very good we bought some veterinary probably Halle be strong I'm not sure and then uh yeah then we came back we had pizza for supper and that that was it was a fine day I thought it was a fine day I think those other days you're hiking the last 4 hours and you're just it's it doesn't end and you look in and I just it does just doesn't end and what's interesting is what officials realize this because you reach the Lyme is dry you become dehydrated without realizing it yeah people don't even realize that they're getting dehydrated and romesha Shapiro once pointed out that the lush in Shutts liebe is the decision of your heart the choice if I says steer is related to that because you can keep drinking all day by eating this encoder kills Gaza I can't eat anymore physically can't eat if I eat I'm gonna throw up drinking you could keep drinking all day yeah and you can forget to drink and end up dying of thirst without realizing it you can never starve to death without realizing it so that drinking you have to really they tell you to take these bottles and tend to drink it and people have to be very careful and just we gotta take a lot of water all the time people come to your Shiva seminary and in the beginning of the new year they read way start getting these terrible headaches they don't realize why cuz they're getting dehydrated mm-hmm they don't know it so that's why I'm wearing my cap remind people where that cap is the only cap I was able to find here this is not a statement I'm I'm not going to Chicago in the middle of the night to beat up gel just his clothes but anyway you know if you did would be the only one so the first time ever I'm gonna go get a rope and a Subway sandwich but anyway so they'd have to remember to wear hats in to drink and to take precautions people go out swimming they don't realize the riptides and yeah you know that and now I hear nights are we having the jellyfish on the beaches attacking and stuff yeah but I asked you to come specifically to share a particularly because this was a story that took place when I was in America because if I was here I'd like to believe I'm like at least believe that I would have tried to have had some kind of you know in Puerto ashleeta etc but I was not here and you decided wouldn't it be nice to go and see the smell the snow on the commode now for those who who come to America to come from other places yeah in Israel it's considered very exciting when it snows here in your Mitchell I am it is essentially me might feel us against thousands of children all the wood that means the snow and I think please God no no because the snow removal that they have here basically brooms that's all they have try to brush it off they know what it means one thing we had a big snowstorm the city was closed month it was just unbelievable they didn't know what to do with it and you know it's know so now this happened when I lived in LA also people went up to the Big Bear mountains because there'd be snow yeah whereas me I moved to LA so there would not be any snow I grew up in New York and it was a snowstorm if the snowstorm you went there once after my heart attack yeah and you just kept digging at you over time if the storm and so but here it's very exciting so you decided wouldn't it be nice to go there pheromone yeah in my defense I was 18 years old and it was it was in the middle of the winter sometime around Hanukkah time and for whatever reasons we have vacationed or not I can't remember but and so it's a Jersey you should know there's one time that Yaakov asked me for something and I said I don't think so and he says listen you could even say yes yeah so I was 18 it was in the winter winter I I've never gone to the home on and we said you know what it wasn't it wasn't looking like was gonna snow by us here at the time I did have a few snow source throughout the years but it wasn't it wasn't snowing here and we said you know what let's go up one time and see see the come on now being being a bunch of young kids you gotta you gotta get prepared equally so the first thing you gotta do is you gotta bring at least five guys because no one has money and you got to try to fill up the car so your expenses are lower so we got two friends there were my age and two guys who were learning with us that were a year younger only one of us haven't had a license he was only one who could drive the reason I didn't get license was because a bit of you said if you friends let you drive your car around maybe when you're 40 I'll let you my car I told you I said you drove with me for so many years you never had a role model [Laughter] yeah so only one of us have it and when you're young you can't rent cars almost anywhere so you gotta go to these you know private people who are gonna take these ready to go yeah exactly it works out of his back yard do you know you gotta pay cash at the time it seemed very normal so uh we got we got the five guys together we went to get a car now he could rent the car and of course the ripped is over that whatever was N you have to put down $1,000 deposit cash so who's gonna find it you're in America I went to pop me and I said I say me don't worry we'll give it back right away it's just borrowing it for the two days that we're going we'll bring it right back so we give him the cash we get our stuff with backup now the one thing you do different when you're when you're a younger guy is that if you have a car you fill it up with all the nonsense you don't need because if you're going around the buses or whatever it's just as much as you could go on your back you're not gonna start slipping around suitcases but as soon as you can fill up a car as much as fits in there you're gonna put stuff you're like oh maybe I need a some kind of - for the pool yeah just just in case and you're gonna fill up the car with so much you know baloney and we did it so we have we have a full car we start driving up now we had this great plan so we were gonna get up four o'clock in the morning - very I leave the area go up to the hormone to see the Sun Rise and we thought that was the best the best plan in the world so we drove up to the area so far so good we grab something to eat we went to some motel where there was all five of us in a room for like 60 seconds I mean it was it was us and some you know rats and roaches in some it was we all shared a little share these mattresses conversation it was fine it was fine at the time and sure enough I'm skipping to get to the main parts we get this morning we fill up the car you know we didn't get much sleep that night we start driving up now this is not like today today when you go up north I mean everything's two lanes there's all these new streets big streets you could drive the great back then was you have a few streets and was one lane each way and it was broken down we start driving up to go up to the cremone and all of a sudden the gear starts jumping and stuff so we we pulled we pull aside and we closed the car and we try to restart it the car can start of course this thing came with 24-hour number it was like mushy you know call a number what anyone cell phone it was some house number obviously no one answered the numbers oh we're stuck there at about 4:30 in the morning in middle of some highway with nothing around and the car just broke down so we're getting pretty frustrated and shockingly almost said a lot of people started stopping on the side that way you know this is up north people are nice it's not like living down here I mean everyone was stopping Jews non-jews there was even this truck with a couple Arabs came down and I'm pretty sure they were trying to steal batteries on them because they they took out a battery put another one like oh oh children let me just check that the battery works I just leave everything in the car just in case you know so and a lot of people try to help us and and nothing's gonna happen for a little bit because this was till about a quarter to 10:00 in the morning so we're sitting there for hours and hours and hours we took turns you know sleeping in the backseat so we're all having stiff necks we're all starving we had no food we're just it was just it was terrible all right fine the guy answers all so all of a sudden everyone got on the phone in their turn to give a piece of their mind that exactly how they felt about how about his policies and stuff and anyway he says okay listen I found you there's 50 minutes away there's a thing uh yeah but somebody's gonna come and jump you guys you got to go to this whatever and he's gonna fix your car and you know you'll be fine all right we go to some of our village the guy here the guy after some negotiation with the guy and the phone fine he fixed our thing all right it works so we're on our way we go back we can just start driving back up we get to I'm skipping parts there from home because this parts are less dramatic now even you don't have a lot of money if you go to the hormone there's there's not much to do because it's just a big mountain with snow you played mr. right but it's not that fun snow when it just comes down that soft snow that you want to be in it's it's hard it's icy you know a hundred people ready walk for you walked and so you climb all the way up top top of the mountain you rolled down was very cold and yeah how much you can hang out there after after an hour you're like alright let's go eat you know so we spend whatever time we're gonna spend we started driving back we stopped into very on the way back down we grabs whatever it is to eat and then we got in the car to go back home now is about I don't know 1:30 in the afternoon so it wasn't a full pack trip well we got to see the hormone we took some pictures you know you got to say you were there and I'm gonna be beautiful you made some big mountain you see all the views around it's it really beautiful but that's not this story so we start we start coming down now for this part you'll need a little a little geography of Israel to know so if you know there's what's called Kadesh team kaliesha BK which basically goes from the hormone all the way down to a lot deeper yeah well yeah but also all the way down and once once you pass some atomic semuc then there's you have a short while to drive till you get to Beit Shean and right after and you have some checkpoint once you pass that checkpoint that's in like no-man's land that's where you come ready to what's called there's no fear in there you could come to all the issue beam Israeli tritium and there are we shooting so there's there's a checkpoint yell over there we started driving now before we hit and even all of a sudden the whole car starts smoking OH so right away I told you pull over pull over to the side this is this little digital design we pulled over and everyone just jumped out of the car literally just jumped in so I ruin on the floor just in case I was sure the whole cars don't explode and I close the car but you know sure enough nothing the cars fine but now we're scared with children again it's smoking again so we're back on the phone with the guy yeah it took us a couple hours to take it to reach him but finally after the answer is Oh what am I going to tell you guys I don't know what to do oh man maybe you guys did it and stuff I was like listen you know me I told him I'm not happy with you believe me I'm not happy with you and I want to come back and we're gonna sort this all out right now I'm leaving the car here you call your pickup truck or whatever there's nothing we could do with it we're gonna have to figure ourselves out and I'm gonna see you tomorrow you know back back home alright he tells me how the keys somewhere whatever it was he called this thing to come and now we start standing on the side of this other road literally in the middle of nowhere literally with nothing nothing to see anywhere around and we have to start hitchhiking now you did not raise us to the hitchhiker's I mean kids don't take a bus you know take a cab figure out the money let em just wait we just it's not it's not for - showmen el yeshiva guys this is apparently very common today in back then and we even have a cousin your your nephew went all the way up to that I'm going back and forth and hitchhike in and that was part of the fun for him now now just brother we attract to Alaska from where New York really and back wow yeah well he'll get himself killed I don't want to mention his name I don't know if he wants his publicized he sort of boxed himself in it was it anyways that's an interesting story on itself but when you're going through the Northwest Territories in Canada and some of the guy says I'm sorry the truck won't take you up the hill anyway so you get a little idea what we're talking about here anyway yeah now remember we packed the car with everything we didn't need so we literally have bags and bags and bags and knapsacks and stuff and it's five guys so you're never gonna get into one car right now I always have these two younger guys well you're younger than I felt you know we have responsibility for them so these cars started stopped in on the way and and I have to say they very very nice people so one guy had a car full of fruit so room to take you but he gave us fruit if you want a fruit and and then slowly slowly you know it was 15-minute or net so I don't know from from bitching on so slowly saw you started piling the guys onto the car one one one by one two by two and eventually we all got to beat you on to the main more than on it's about 7:15 720 at nighttime so most of this day we were spending on the side of the road correct yeah okay guys could get very creative when you only have rocks to kick around I mean I mean it was getting intense but it that's all we got so 720 we get we get to that the thing we're looking around no the last boss left at 7:15 mmm when I say last bus I don't mean last bus to you shall I mean last bus out of Beit Shean right no more buses til tomorrow that's it all right no you could imagine I I was not happy I was not happy and we're sitting there I was although I had money in my pocket at 200 check in my pocket everyone else that maybe some change you know we spend the money we throw around the way home so it didn't occur to you to like maybe get a hotel room in Beit Shean for the night right yeah the problem was is we had to pay for it so and then we had to figure out tomorrow now I I didn't have I think my cell phone died already at the time and everybody else I think it was two more who had a little bit cell phone laughs now this is 15 years ago I'm saying there was it was different phones it wasn't like today and I don't think me a car chargers or anything it was like that's it that's what you had your phone and and when it dies it dies and hi so we started walking towards the entrance of Beit Shean like then the Beit Shean where where the 90 passes through it that's a big what well it was we didn't get all the way there so and then on the way you know some of the guys started putting out their their fingers hitchhike inland maybes almost stop and sure enough after five five minutes this this mini bus stops and he says what do you guys need he says we need you potential I'm he says oh I'm going to your shall I'm come in we get in there was a minibus filled of Arab workers who were going to East Jerusalem now today maybe people feel safe but back then it wasn't necessarily the safest feeling in the country at the time 15 years ago I don't think it's so safe today let's go on record with this don't get into a minivan children have workers but we all got on all five of us we sat we sat in the back and they started going and then there was we were split in between everyone there on the on the on the minibus some said let's just continue with him I'll take us all the way home this is you know just my luck right away we got in you know a Shem sent this guy where five guys were they gonna do kill all five of us you know these guys just work they go every day from wherever they work there and they go back to T's Jerusalem you know what I mean let's stay and hope people said they're scared and it was really split but at the end the majority said let's go let's go off so fine what does he came to the checkpoint we said from here is this is no-man's land so we get off we get off here so he told them you know stop ProSeries like no what are you scared about don't worry we're good people and I was like no no we we have to get somebody else you were just gonna come down and so we're standing there just at this checkpoint you know right before you know the be cut a whole area now the soldiers over there didn't let us stand with them because they said for security reasons in case someone comes by shooting or whatever so you have to stand on the other side of the street where it just opened there's nothing there um so we're standing there with all the stuff by now all the phones are dead and we just we're just standing there all five of us now from here we split up some people had it better than others and I want to start with them the first two came right away this this religious family came they said they were going to remote or whatever these guys needed too much limo the breakfast it's very close and they had exactly two two seats so with it you know they stopped for us what you need we told them we got stuck we broke down with the car they took the mini they drove them there they dropped them off they lived at the hitchhike bed they got home after couple hours was fine the next one we're standing there and this guy who has this this truck with like this little trailer stops for us and he says he's a Dutchman and he drove here all the way from Holland that's that's that's what he said he only spoke broken English and he said he drove through Old Europe and through Turkey and I don't even know how he got in but he says I'm driving I'm trying to drive down to Africa as I don't know so this day I cannot know confirm it or not I don't know but he says because of the bed in the back is only one seat I could take one of you guys III I strongly advise somebody to go on and I said this sounds to me crazy but the other guy said you know forget it I I can't say I'm just gonna go so he went in and he was a really nice guy he drove him he was also living in our nofe at the time and he drove him out of his way into her and off and he just took him right away home and boom a guy in an hour and the little was home elio enough yeah maybe I I i still don't believe it was a guy who drove the whole world and his car so me there with you and my friends yeah we're sitting there and nobody stopped it literally nobody stopped it all right it started to get dark and yeah yeah we went to the soldiers a few times and a tip nothing's nothing's happening so I'm gonna fast forward at about I don't know 11 o'clock 11:30 at night this this old automobile kind of big car stops by us I am not sure I don't know it was just this old car and the guy opens the window and I was like a bunch of smoke comes out like and and he's like what do you need and he has an Arab accent so right away I'm gonna walk dinner like I need to go to your salon me says I'm not going on with you shall are you but I'm going at summit Adam which is a little bit before the turn onto the street glad that would take you you know to like male Adomian that we enter into India line so we start hesitating again with with my friend I was like let's just do it he's like I don't know if I should do it I was a and hit the guys see us was three guys in the car two up front one in the back and he tells us oh no don't don't be scared we're weirdos him we're not regular Arabs so don't worry we also don't like the Arabs you could trust us don't worry come in we're not gonna kill you expect then getting into a car with people say don't worry we won't tell you now it was a long day we were tired and hungry and fine we got in the car and and he starts going and they had this it's like heavy metal music in the car and the bus II more so loud and literally every drum who like the whole car was shaking and it's just not my kind of thing you know but people people like that these guys did so what we're driving in in the middle one of them's over sunder never big screens his friend that took a bag away I was like what's going on you know I know karate but he's like no no mommy I lost my lighter I was like alright fine fine long story short he gets it subdued summit on them he lets us out fine we're over there now they go well sure everything was fine we're stuck there what do you do you're again in the middle nowhere all of a sudden I see a cab just came out of one of the one of these she was on Ben over there it's it's it's this Arab guy and he has another friend up front I had the two hundred check in my pocket I said how much we need to go to stop so you schleier my friend Liz and remain area and I've been hard off he told us what I was 150 check order I said fine I have the money fine we're gonna go in so we go we get in the car now he says just my friend here do you mind if I just drop them off any sweet it's right over here it's in the hacker village so on the way do you mind if we drive them off so I was like okay fine you know just you know whatever okay fine so we started we start driving he goes in there and right away in the entrance of a shoe it was probably 20 or 30 guys Arab guys standing there and there was this big bonfire they were burning tires and whatever now it could be they were doing this for fun again this is probably now maybe 12:30 in the morning or whatever like it didn't seem normal to me but now we go in there and the guys see us and stuff and all of a sudden they start screaming whatever anyway the cab driver gets all nervous he says just put your heads down so they don't see you guys and so he stops for the guy in the mommies in the middle of the village where all the way up to whatever was he dropped the guy off and he start to turn around and all of a sudden there's all these guys and now that I didn't play the karate card as well the last time I said now I put I was scared I don't know the guy's gonna do and I said listen to me I'm a black belt in this and I know all the jujitsu zin well every name I said I said if you play anything I mean I I'm gonna you know Gilley I was like you watch out he's like no no no I don't want to get stuck here either let's just go and we left we got out of there we start driving home and he turns on the radio and on the radio is one of these late night shows they had here at the time and these callers call up and this guy calls up it was a it was a show about addictions and this guy called up about addiction something like that and I was just were just sitting there silent after after a long day and I thought was in deserves very sad addiction whatever and then he tells me yeah you don't have to tell me my brother he was addicted to drugs and gambling and hey and he starts telling me his whole life story and he starts telling me he lost his his house he got divorced his kids don't talk to him it's eventually he OD them died and this is funny but I mean this is the guy just opened up I I wasn't even talking most the time it was just he literally opened up and then he starts crying and and he starts telling me the whole family fell apart it was him it was terrible but I was just listening to him I was listening if when we got home he dropped off my friend and then we dropped off when I came to no no no I don't think money was just that kids I'm talking to you and so two or three o'clock in the morning I get I get home after a day like this so I go to sleep and in the morning I call up the guy with the car and he tells me listen there's I have some kind insurance here but you guys have to pay and so the thousand dollars you gave me that's payment towards the car so I told him listen I didn't find out about this for months I've got a month later I told him listen buddy listen I know where you live I said I'm gonna come over right now I didn't have to use that I said oh you're gonna you're gonna give me all my money now before I sue you for everything that you whatever and and he did he gave me back the money he charged us and I said fine we just paid for the car even though we didn't really use the car and I came back and gave my money and I said no no needs to know oh and uh that was probably I think the only time I hitchhiked in my life or yeah ever for sure the last time and what is it take away oh yeah oh my god what do we learn from this I mean so many times I thought throughout my life if how I would do things different you know today and I I don't know I don't know if there was anything to do different you know but sometimes you plan the trip and you you you just you come prepared all over and then your car falls apart and you have to start hitchhiking you know it through our villages I had what are you gonna do you know what are you gonna do I'm just my story has has a happy ending unfortunately their stories that have you know less less happy endings and this is just for people to you know be careful watch out be careful you know make sure you you try to plan yourself as much as you can and the rest is in God's ends you know you just you could do what you do there you have it friends the moral of the story is with Venus man upon us get the militates listen to them sit in an air-conditioned room free kick or they attend if you feel like you need to go out go to the Ben & Jerry's store and by all means avoid the Bekaa Valley and don't rent from my seat and there's a few banners bottom safety tips I heard this story and the first time years ago and I was cruelly horrified and I hope you're as horrified as I am and mothers tell you children not to do what I had done yeah and be careful be careful when these things come safety first and that's it for this week I hope you have a wonderful man is madam find out more about the show go to my website liberal ASCII combo you can add comments see my upcoming event schedule contact me directly and if you want to sponsor an episode towards the next thousand dollars for the deposit of a rental car yeah you got it back this time do crowdfunding anyway podcast click on sponsor an episode I'm Deborah Orlowski I'm Yahoo I'll ski thank you so much for having me it's been great and this is the raviolo ski show you [Music]