Children of Avraham know to obey without asking
It is one of those initiations that every new immigrant to Israel must endure.
It’s a short conversation that repeats itself numerous times in the first weeks and months. For those really slow and stubborn Americans, the conversation continues even years after aliyah. It occurs when one applies his or her rational, logical, and Western mindset to a situation that doesn’t accept those basic rules.
For instance, you turn to the man in the government office (who is being paid by your tax money), or the store owner (who should be interested enough in your business to understand basic customer service), or the bank teller (who should want you to deposit your money in that bank), or the phone company (or any utility company for that matter) and ask why they never seem to be open, or why they seem generally not so interested in explaining any of their policies, or what all those papers you are signing actually say.
Always priding yourself on being an educated consumer, you ask the simple question: “Lamah? Why?” “Why are you never open?” “Why can’t this be processed?” “Why am I being charged these fees?” “Why does it say one thing here and another thing there?” “Why is everyone else in this office being helped and I am not?” Lamah? Lamah? Lamah?
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