We Israelis can really get on each other’s nerves. Too loud, too curious, too direct, and always ready to interfere. We sometimes call it, with a touch of self-irony, our great Israeli Shechuna, our neighborhood. But when things get serious, something remarkable happens: interference becomes responsibility, chutzpah becomes courage, and strangers become brothers and sisters within seconds. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Shechuna – neighborhood – and Shechina – God’s presence – come from the same Hebrew root. On the Flydubai flight, one could witness what that truly means.
We say this about ourselves quite often, and not without criticism. And one can understand why. We meddle in other people’s lives, ask questions nobody asked us to ask, offer advice even when no one requested it, and strike up a conversation with someone we met just three minutes ago, already knowing where they live, what they do for a living, how many children they have, and what they think about the current situation. There is not much distance between us, nor much formality. The boundaries are fluid. Very quickly...
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