Joe Settler writes about an experience he had giving a ride to a hitchhiker who was dressed like a frum woman, but ended up being an Arab (she lied about her ethnicity and destination at first).
In the wake of events like what happened last week, stories like this make me even more wary.
I want to help people out. Giving a ride to a hitchhiker here is an opportunity to perform the mitzvah of hachnassat orchim (hospitality to guests), it is a chessed that helps people out. Yet it can also be very dangerous.
I think that for the immediate future, I will only pick up people who originate from within my yishuv. Anyone else, no matter how nice they look, will have to get a ride with someone else. Sorry, nothing personal…
April 8th, 2006 at 21:53
As someone who has picked up alot of hitchhikers in Israel, I feel the same way. Unless I know the person or his/her conection or can obtain independent verification of identity or Jewishness, how can we take a chance given what happened.
May 8th, 2006 at 0:24
Wasn’t me. It was a friend of mine.