Wartime Diaries: A Tale of Two Bus Stops

Stations in two neighboring towns capture how war can unify and how it can divide

Today’s episode is a bit different: it’s a story not of a person, but rather of a bus stop. Or really, more accurately, a story of two bus stops.

Though Tzur Hadassah and Beitar Illit are geographically close to one other, they might as well be in two different worlds. It’s not just the fact that they are on opposite sides of the Green Line. It’s that Tzur Hadassah has a mixed population of secular and religious Jews, while Beitar Illit is almost entirely Haredi.

Seven-and-a-half years ago, Zev Levi joined our Israel Story team as an intern. Today, he’s Israel Story’s COO. But still — just like Benny Begin and Dov Khenin back in the day — he takes the bus to work every morning. Zev, his wife and their three kids live in Tzur Hadassah, a small town 12 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. The first bus he takes stops right across the street from his house. He then switches to another bus at the entrance to the nearby city of Beitar Illit. And since the bus system in Israel isn’t known for its punctuality, Zev spends quite a bit of time waiting around at these two stops, contemplating their respective merits.

The end song is Autobus Mispar Echad (“Bus Number One”) by Shlomo Artzi. (Licensed by Israel Story through Acum)