A Hitch To Yerushalayim

His eyes were arched hopefully in the vague general direction of Chicago, but his eyes were clouded with pessimism and defeat. The young hitchhiker standing on that dusty road in 1984 had lost his faith not only in his chances of catching a ride but had also lost his faith in life itself.

A man in a battered Chevy waved warmly and offered him a ride. "Where ya headed" the hitchhiker asked. "Boulder, Colorado to a New Age conference. Wanna come??"

"Why not?" the young man shrugged. He was so exhausted from standing in the sun, he was willing to go anywhere.

At the New Age conference he thought he heard someone singing in Hebrew. He had picked up a little bit of Hebrew during Bar Mitzvah lessons six years before so he recognized the language when he heard it. But Hebrew at a New Age conference in Boulder?? Impossible!

"Hey", he grabbed a man's shoulder. "Do you know... Are there any Jews on this retreat??"

The man laughed "Jews at a New Age retreat? This place is crawling with Jews. I'm Jewish myself. Why do you ask??"

"I thought I heard a Jewish melody a few minutes ago and it made me so happy but I must be imagining."

"No, you are right. Somebody is singing Jewish songs and I think you should meet him."

He went to a grassy knoll where Rav Shlomo Carlebach was playing guitar. As he stood listening to him telling stories, teach Torah and singing, he knew that his trip had been preordained.

He spent the entire week at Shlomo's side, basking in his life, spiritually uplifted, in love with life. But many of his most rapturous moments were pierced by self doubts and gloom as he wondered where he would go when the conference was over.

On the last day of the conference, Shlomo called him aside and handed him a plane ticket to Israel. "The next stop", he murmured, "the final destination".

Overcome by gratitude and relief, the young man turned to embrace Shlomo with tears in his eyes.

Shlomo kissed him tenderly on the cheek and said: "Sometimes, my sweetest friend, God's plan isn't immediately apparent. You didn't hitch a ride to Boulder. You hitched a ride to ... Yerushalayim".

[Holy Brother P. 56-57]