Shomer Yisrael Part 2

Last night was my second installment of shmira. Instead of the "glory" of standing outside the shul and greeting everyone on their way into shul I received the glorious 2am to 4:30 shift.

Yarden (an oleh from the US who arrived the same day as us) picked me up in the security truck at 2am sharp and we began our explore. Yarden drove and I was riding shotgun - or I guess I was riding M16. This shift consists of driving around the yishuv looking for anyone out and about and looking for donut shops but they were all closed. Jordan and I are both the adventurous so we decided to go on some of the unpaved roads along the fence which surrounds the yishuv. It quickly became clear that most people don't do too much of this type of off-roading as I had to move small boulders out of our path so we wouldn't damage the truck. At one point we made a sharp left and starting driving up a very steep hill. After a bit the truck started going slower and slower until we came to a stop about halfway up the hill with no place to turn around. I thought we were going to have to back down the hill somehow but luckily Yarden realized the vehicle had a shifter to turn on the 4 wheel drive. Once we made the shift the truck made it up the rest of the hill without a problem.

Around 3:15 we stopped by the water tower and got out of the truck to enjoy the view. By this time I was driving the truck and I turned it off when we got off the vehicle. (Now don't go thinking I locked the keys in the truck - that would be dumb) After a few minutes we go back to the truck so I could drop off Yarden at 3:30 and pick up the next guy on duty. I put the key in the ignition and turn the key but the engine does not make any noise. Hey Chaim I bet this thing has an immobilizer. Sure enough I see the glowing key pad on the dashboard. Mild panic sets in as we don't know the code to push to unimmobilize the car. I ask Yarden to pass me the paperwork that gives all the rules and instructions for shmira thinking the code must be in there. Of course it is dark and everything is written in Hebrew and I'm worried that the other guy is going to wonder why we didn't pick him up yet. But I have Yarden to help me out, right? No I don't - He chooses this point in time to realize he doesn't know where his new hat is. So instead of helping me deal with this conundrum, he starts nattering about his lost hat and climbing all over the vehicle to look for the darn thing. Not panicing yet, but then , the car alarm starts blaring, but after a few seconds I push a button on the remote on the key chain and the alarm stops. Yarden finds his hat so I send him to walk the several hundred meters to get the reliever to come and help us. I have visions of the whole yishuv finding out that we had to leave the truck stranded by the water tower and my brave career ending in ignominy. But then a brainstorm hits- I look on the visor to see if the code is written there- sure enough I see some numbers typed there but it only says Visor #7584. Then another brainstorm- I check the key ring and sure enough it has a little piece of plastic with a paper insert with the code printed on it. I punch in the code as the clock ticks down to zero hour and the truck starts. I drop off Yarden and his hat and make my way over to pick up the next partner, Hillel.

Among other jobs, Hillel is our postmaster. He takes all the incoming mail and sorts it and puts it into the individual mailboxes, etc. Hillel made aliyah from Russia 17 years ago and has lived in Neve Daniel with his wife and 6 children for the last 14 years. We spend the hour talking in Hebrew and at 4:30 am he drops me off for a couple of hours of sleep before the next day begins. Thank God we all survived.