Lost in Budapest

My husband and I just got back from Budapest. We spent a few days there on business but still managed to find time to relax, Baruch Hashem.

 

It’s an interesting place, Budapest. The buildings are tall, old and colorful and several of them have statues attached to them. “Artistic” sculptures of naked men and women perch on hotel awnings and in parks around the area. To me these statues seem bizarre, but that’s Eastern Europe. Bizarre doesn’t begin to describe the place where millions of the best people any country could have were systematically murdered.

 

Our small hotel was called the Queen Mary, located in the area that had been the Jewish ghetto during the war. The walls that surrounded the ghetto are gone now but the old streets are still there, narrow, dark and gloomy.

 

As we strolled towards the kosher pizza place (the Tel Aviv Cafe) I imagined the Jews being trapped there, without food, without heat and living in constant fear. What things did they do to survive the harsh conditions, how many prayers came out of this wretched city, how many people died on these streets, sick, hungry and brokenhearted?

 

Yet here we were, relaxed, happy and on our way to a fine meal and with nary a Nazi in sight. In fact, Budapest is nearly Muslim-free (an Amalek by any other name kills as savagely…)

 

Hungarians don’t want Muslims after witnessing the carnage in England, Germany, and France, caused by the very refugees they accepted so self-righteously. I could feel sorry for those countries but I don’t. They never felt sorry for us.

 

On our second day there, my husband and I went to the new kosher supermarket, which is stocked with Israeli products. We bought some drinks and headed back to the hotel, which was about fifteen minutes away.

 

My husband suddenly decided to pray mincha at the local synagogue so I took the drinks and headed back to the Queen Mary. I told my husband I’d see him back at the hotel. Famous last words…

 

For some reason I became disoriented. I walked and walked but couldn’t find our hotel. It was getting dark and I began asking people for directions. Most did not speak English. Others were tourists, just like me. No one had a clue where my hotel was.

 

I started feeling anxious. This made no sense. I knew my way around, this wasn’t my first time here. Could this be how it feels to have Alzheimer’s? Maybe this was early onset! I just couldn’t get my bearings straight.

 

Finally I decided to go back to the Jewish area, where my husband had prayed and where there are three kosher restaurants and a gift shop. I would be safe there and someone was sure to help me. I could use somebody’s phone; I had left mine charging in the hotel.

 

I opened the door to the Carmel, where we had eaten a delicious dinner the night before. It was so warm and cozy I immediately relaxed and the sound of Hebrew being spoken soothed my frazzled nerves. Approaching a waiter who was shmoozing with another young man, I told them I was lost and they started giving me directions back to the hotel. Then the waiter’s friend, David, offered to walk me back, he insisted he was leaving anyway. I was very grateful and we left right away. I was a little embarrassed but mainly worried that my husband must be really worried.

 

After walking for just a few minutes I saw my husband heading towards us, he had been looking for me. “There’s my husband!” I told David and after introducing them to each other and extending our heartfelt thanks, David turned right and we headed back to the Queen Mary. My husband’s relief was evident and we had a good laugh at my expense. But I was still mystified as to how I could have become so confused in such a small area, wandering around in circles for almost an hour. Thank God I had known how to get back to the Jewish area! And then I remembered something I read in one of Dr. Ballen’s articles.

 

When trying to determine if the seal is a land or sea animal (for purposes having to do with using its hide), the sages ultimately determined that it was a creature of the sea. What criteria did they use? After all, the seal spends half of its time on the land, it’s just as comfortable there as it is in the water. So why is it defined as a creature of the sea? The answer is that an animal’s natural habitat is determined by where it goes when it feels threatened. A seal will always return to the water when it is frightened or confused and that’s the proof. When I was lost in Budapest, it made sense for me to return to the Jewish section where I knew I would be safe. I knew that another Jew would help me, and so it was.

 

Lost in Budapest, I instinctively went back to my people, who despite so much suffering and so much dispersion, are productive and protective and able to show me the way back home.