Staying Off Track
Staying Off Track

Israeli actor Alon Neumann appears in a Public Service Announcement for Israel Railways where he plays two parts: himself and another version of himself. The PSA lasts only twenty seconds, but in that time he manages to have a heated argument with his alter-ego.

"Steal!" Alon's alter ego (Alon 2) anxiously urges as he clutches his briefcase, obviously late for work.

"Don't steal!" Alon 1 barks back at him.

"Steal." Alon 2 pleads in a 'come on' manner.

"Don't steal!" Alon 1 stands firm.

"The train surely won't come now," Alon 2 assures him. "You can sneak across (steal) the tracks and cross in time."

"That's it! NO! Alon 1 boldly says as Alon 2 disappears. "Crossing train tracks in a dangerous manner is inviting an accident. Stealing tracks is stealing lives!"

 

I honestly never gave much thought to that ad till last week’s tragedy where an entire family from Beitar Illit was killed when their minibus driver barreled through a train crossing guard barrier and the vehicle was hit by on oncoming train. Seven members of one family, including a pregnant woman and two children, were killed instantly, one family member is in intensive care, but the driver survived with light injuries.

 

The train conductor maintains he saw the minibus approaching the track at an alarming speed with no apparent intention of stopping. The conductor slammed on the emergency break, but the train obviously could not stop in time. The blame here firmly lies on the driver of the minibus, who apparently was distracted while driving and claims he did not see the approaching barrier in time.

 

Without getting into the gory details of this specific accident, something is flawed in this story. It is quite obvious that the driver, who was responsible for his eight passengers, did not have his eyes on the road at all times, and was traveling well over the speed limit as well. I have no doubt that he will be charged with numerous counts of driving violations as well as counts of negligence that led to the deaths of his passengers.

 

But maybe another charge needs to be added: theft. If the PSA's tagline is correct and 'stealing the track is stealing lives', then that's what the driver did. However, in the Hebrew press I read that in initial interviews the driver not only showed terrible remorse, he explained that he was not trying to 'steal the tracks' (lignov 'et ha'pasim) and sneak across them quickly, but rather he was distracted while driving, talking to one of the passengers, and that's why he did not see the barrier in front of him and slam on the breaks until it was too late.

 

I'm sure the driver never saw the Alon Neumann- Israel Railways PSA, but was he trying to say that the message doesn't apply to him? This wasn't the case of someone trying to imitate Superman and be 'faster than a locomotive' by beating the train across the tracks, he simply never saw the train coming. But should the fact that he did not try to 'steal the tracks' be comforting? Isn't there a bigger issue at stake?

 

On the morning after the accident, I watched how quickly the morning shows shifted gears. During the top of the hour news bulletins, a reporter was stationed in Beitar Illit getting reactions from the local residents and friends of the family who were mourning the losses of this tragedy. But in a moment, the news update was over, and as we in Israel tend to do, we moved on to other matters.

 

But the changeover was too quick for me. As the reporter from Beitar Illit threw it back to the chatterbox hosts in the studio, my thoughts still lingered on the train crash. How could they not?

 

"Now we have actress Alma Zak in the studio," the host said. "She is here to talk about her new movie, 'Zohi S'dom."

 

This is her chance, I thought. I knew that Alma Zak's life partner (not married to, but they live and have a kid together) is Alon Neumann. Heck, they star in Israeli ice-cream commercials together. Surely, she'll say something about her partner's starring in the Public Service Announcements about safety at train crossings, right?

 

But she didn't. She just flashed a smile and jumped right into promoting her new movie, in which she and the rest of the cast of the satirical weekly show, Eretz Nehederet, star.

 

I cannot really blame her. Maybe Alon filmed those PSAs months ago. Maybe Alma Zak doesn't watch much TV. Or maybe it just wasn't on her mind.

 

But the irony is that the silly film she was there to promote, 'Zohi S'dom' (This is S'dom), may not have any depth, but the Biblical city they are parodying has serious issues.

I am always struck by the following saying in Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot):

There are four types among people:

He who says, "What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours"- this is the common type, though some say that this is the type of Sodom. He who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine" - he is an ignorant man. He who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is your own" - he is a saintly man. And he who says, "What is yours is mine, and what is mine is mine" - he is a wicked man. -- Avot 5:13

What is so wrong about the 'what's mine is mine, and what's yours is yours' attitude? Why do some say 'this is the type of Sodom'? We know that the residents of Sodom were excessively evil people, but what's so wrong with minding your own business? What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours. End of story.

 

The answer to this question is based on understanding the connection that one Jew has to another.

The Kli Yakir brings a parable. Imagine a man on an ocean voyage. He hears a strange rattling sound in the cabin next to him. As the noise continues, he becomes more and more curious, until finally, he knocks on his neighbor’s door. When the door opens, he sees that his neighbor is drilling a hole in the side of the boat.  

“What are you doing?” the man cries. 

“Oh, I am drilling,” the neighbor answers simply.  

“Drilling?”

“Yes, I’m drilling a hole in my side of the boat.” 

“Stop that,” the man will say.

“But why?” asks the neighbor. “This is my cabin. I paid for it, and I can do what I want here.”  

“No, you can’t,” the man replies. “If you cut a hole in your side, the entire boat will go down.”

Often when we try to intervene in other's lives in Israel we get the standard 'Ma' hechpat le'cha?!" reply. Why do you care? What is it your business.

 

The problem with 'what is mine is mine and what is yours is yours' is that it leads to isolation and apathy. What do you care if I steal (cross over) the train tracks? What do you care if I drive like a maniac? We care because when you do that you are stealing (endangering) lives and it affects us all!

 

In Israel we have a long way to go improve the way drivers drive and decrease road accidents. Why bother? Because we care!

 

After all, this is NOT S'dom.