The Carpool Guys
The Carpool Guys Podcast is where real-life dads — Asher Dworetsky, Jon Ackerman, and Dave “From Flatbush” Tannenbaum — share unfiltered conversations about family, fatherhood, work, and the wild ride of midlife.
They’ve made mistakes, learned lessons (mostly the hard way), and have just enough life experience to be dangerous with advice. From career crossroads to raising kids in a digital world, from marriage moments to dad fails, The Carpool Guys dive into it all with honesty, humor, and heart.
Whether you’re commuting, carpooling, or just catching your breath between responsibilities, this is your front-seat pass to authentic midlife banter, questionable wisdom, and a few laughs along the way.
The Carpool Guys
“‘Never Through Egypt’—Until They Did: Rabbi Hazan & Eli’s Story”
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Leaving Egypt: A Father & Son Take on Coming Home for Pesach
What do you do when your son is in yeshiva in Israel, sirens are going off daily, Pesach is approaching fast, and every flight home keeps getting canceled? You find another way. Even if that way goes through Egypt.
In this episode, Asher and Jon sit down with Rabbi Ouriel Hazan, head of school at HANC West Hempstead, and his son Eli, a student at Mevaseret Yeshiva in Israel, who recently made it home to New York through one of the most memorable journeys you'll hear this year. From Eilat to the Egyption border crossing, through the Sinai Desert in a speeding van during a hailstorm, past a head-on collision, through Sharm el-Sheikh airport, and on to Rome before finally landing at JFK, Eli crossed four continents in 40 hours to be home for Pesach.
But this episode is about a lot more than the travel story. Rabbi Hazan opens up about the emotional weight of parenting from a distance during wartime, the WhatsApp chat chaos that gripped every yeshiva parent group, the moment he flipped from "we are absolutely not sending him through Egypt" to "we are sending him through Egypt," and why he kept the whole plan secret from his own parents, including his Egyptian-born father, who had strong feelings about Egypt.
Eli shares what yeshiva life actually looked like during the Iran war, what it felt like to run to the mamad, what it meant to experience those moments alongside his fellow Jews in Israel, and why — despite everything — he can't wait to get back.
It is funny, honest, a little nerve-wracking, and deeply moving. A story about family, faith, decisive parenting, and one unforgettable ride through the Sinai Desert.
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⏱️ Chapters with Timestamps
00:00 — Welcome to the Carpool Guys Podcast
00:43 — Good Pods Glory: The Guys Hit Number One on Jewish Podcasts
02:30 — Introducing Rabbi Ouriel Hazan and Eli Hazan
04:15 — Rabbi Hazan's Year in Israel and the Original Pesach Plan
07:00 — Life at Mevaseret When the Iran War Broke Out
10:30 — The Rebbe Van Shows Up: Yeshiva Life During Wartime
13:00 — Sleep Deprivation, Sirens, and the Emotional Toll
16:00 — The Parent WhatsApp Chat Chaos Begins
19:30 — When Delta Cancels and Plan B Becomes Necessary
23:00 — "We Are Absolutely Not Sending Him Through Egypt" (or... are we?)
26:30 — The Concierge Service, the Cancellation, and the Last Two Spots
30:00 — Eli Finds Out He's Going to Egypt... Tomorrow
33:00 — The $500 Cash, the Bribes
37:00 — Crossing the Border: Nine Desks, VIP Tours, and Armed Escorts
42:30 — The Sinai Drive: 90 MPH, No Cell Service, Hail, and a Head-On Collision
49:00 — Sharm el-Sheikh Airport: Bag Ransom, Boarding Passes, and a Yankee Hat
55:00 — Rome Layover, Nine Hours, and Crackers for Dinner
57:30 — The Reunion and a Sigh of Relief
59:30 — The Bigger Conversation: Judgment, Social Media, and Choosing Without Guilt
01:02:00 — What This Generation Has Witnessed and What It Means
01:04:00 — Chag Sameach and Closin
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Meanwhile, I've already paid for this ticket through Egypt. My dad was born in Egypt, and he was like, that place is terrible.
SPEAKER_05Don't do it. Send him to every place in the world, but not through Egypt. It's really funny. I'm literally going like, yeah, no, that's good. That's good advice.
SPEAKER_01Hello and welcome to the Carpool Guys Podcast, where three dads just trying their best talk about life, work, family, and all the detours in between. We've made mistakes, lots of mistakes, but we've also learned a few things along the way. We don't have it all figured out, but that's never stopped us from sharing our two cents anyway. The Carpool Guys podcast is hosted by Asher Dwaretsky, John Ackerman, and Dave from Flatbush Tenabom. Buckle up, it's Carpool time. Alright! Boys, we've done it. We have achieved fame and notoriety. We are the number one Jewish podcast on Good Pods. Not totally sure what Good Pods is, but we're number one.
SPEAKER_03What's good pods?
SPEAKER_01Good pods is like a podcast recommending and ranking website, and uh under the category of Judaism, we are the number one ranked podcast right now. So in second place is what?
SPEAKER_00In second place is all the really good pods are on like the amazing pods. Right. This is just we're like we're like the NIT of pods.
SPEAKER_01So number two we're the NIT. Number two is Le Chayot Chasidut. Umre Chasidut is the number two ranked. Uh we're number one. We're number one.
SPEAKER_00Wow. I am impressed. I'll take any number one.
SPEAKER_01We're the one seed. I guess it's good for March Mandis, right?
SPEAKER_03We are the one seed. It's not like we're like number two, we're not number one, and number two is meaningful people.
SPEAKER_00Uh no. They ask Beshefkin and he's like, nah, I'd rather not be in it if I'm not in number one.
SPEAKER_01They're sending this one out. Wow. Okay, fair enough. Hey, we're number one at something. It's good to be one.
SPEAKER_03John, you have some shout-outs you want to give to the world.
SPEAKER_01I do. Mazzletub to friend of the show, Jackie Simon, co-host of the Such a Good Call podcast and friend, real life friend of ours on the birth of a baby girl, Mazletov Jackie. Oh, wow. Very exciting. I mean, I'm looking forward to meeting this Jackie.
SPEAKER_00You can't say a friend of ours.
SPEAKER_03I don't know who I mean I feel like they they did not ask me to guest host the uh Such a Good Call podcast. Yeah. So I don't feel like I know her from all those.
SPEAKER_01Are you guys offering that while Jackie is on maternity leave that we should join in?
SPEAKER_03Why shouldn't we? I mean saying we're number one on the Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01Um according to Good Pods, I think they would suggest that we join any of those shows, meaningful people. We could be the new meaningful people.
SPEAKER_06Meaningfully.
SPEAKER_01Anyway, as we move on to the next part of the pod, um Asher and I had the opportunity to sit down with Rabbi Uriel Hazan, head of school for Hank West Hempstead, along with his son Ellie Hazan, who recently returned from Yeshiva in Israel at Mevazaret. And we're gonna hear a little bit about Ellie's journey back home, what he had to go through, how they brought him back. And I know this is a hot topic right now, people are talking about should kids be coming back, should they be staying in Israel? But we're gonna hear about it both from Ellie's perspective as somebody who wanted to come home and from Rabbi Hazan's perspective of a parent. And what do you do as a parent when your kids are in a situation it's not ideal, it's far from ideal, and you want to bring your kids home. So here's the interview Rabbi Urial Hazan and his son Ellie talking about Ellie's return from Israel back to New York. Right, we are here live. I guess we can say it's live from the Carpool Guys studio. Yeah. This is our new studio. Yeah, our show. This is where the magic happens. It is where the magic happens, also known as my dining room. Um, but uh, we are welcoming two very, very hush of guests. We have Rabbi Uriel Hazan, head of school for Hank, West Hempstead, and his son, Ali Hazan, who is recently returned from Mevaseret, correct? In Israel. And uh I understand you guys have some stories to tell.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm I guess the first question I have is what's the name of this podcast?
SPEAKER_03We were number one on Good Pod last week. Not that there are any other podcasts on Good Pods, but we were number one on Jewish Good Pods.
SPEAKER_04I did turn down Joe Rogan. Oh. So I just I was told, and then it is, and then I came here and I was like excited for like a profound.
SPEAKER_03I'm not one to make question comments about other people's life decisions, but you probably should have gone on Joe Rogan.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, no, but I mean I but okay, just this one's different, obviously. It's like a different type of style, but in case I need someone to like research, I had that you guys have your own Jamie. Yes, where I could just like say, hey, look that up for us in the podcast.
SPEAKER_01I just want to establish our Jamie is like, I don't even want to serious, I'm saying Siri, hopefully my phone is not like going into Siri mode. Okay, so cool. You have seriously. But it's funny else. Yeah, and we're listed on them like we would be with all these other podcasts. There are, but not, I guess, a lot, because they sent me this really exciting email. Congratulations! You guys are number two in all the Jewish podcasts. We're like, wow, number two, that's pretty good. And then you look at like who's number three, and it's like these things, like no one's ever heard of them before. So it's like, all right.
SPEAKER_04Jamie, pull up number three. Actually, I'd like to see what that is. Um wait, first of all, from a Jewish perspective, being like you want to be able to tell your mom that you did something amazing and impressive if you're only able to say that you're you're listed on good pods.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we're we're only we try to be good enough. Is that enough for you parents?
SPEAKER_04Because that would not be enough for my parents. Like I would have to make it onto excellent pods.
SPEAKER_01Uh thank you. My mother listens, and so does Asher's parents listen to every episode. They should be very proud. Not everyone. They're very good Jewish boys. They're very good Jewish Jewish boys. 96% of our listeners are Doretskys, I believe.
SPEAKER_03Or used to be Doretzkies. So, anyway, the most important thing for us to address at the at the head of this is that this is something that has been talked about a lot on social media. We want to hear just the story. What was your experience like? What was your decision process of going into going through this process of sending Ellie in the way that you did? What was the parenting decision about it? Sure. Um, and what is life going on in Israel? Because the truth is, as much as it's an interesting story, every one of us would have to make a different decision for ourselves. And it's very nice, we all want to, you know, be uh armchair decision makers, but it was your decision to make, so we're just curious about that. I think the spoiler alert is you did go through Egypt. Yes. I imagine that was not your initial decision for Ellie to come back for a pizza in that way. Definitely not.
SPEAKER_04No, we looked at the eye. No, you are smart in. We looked at a lot of different countries. Um Egypt and blood, actually. Yeah, that's true. We actually we are Egyptian. Going to the back. But uh, but no, we looked at a lot of different countries. Rwanda, um Jordan was a guy. Jordan was up there. Um I mean, but not none of the connections really worked. Uh no, this was really not our first choice at all. Um, and I have to say, I I I I will address, I guess, also that you know, we have had many, many conflicting feelings about this. Um and I think our our calculus changed in the middle. But our initial idea, we had ideas about Ellie staying in Israel originally. This was before the war? Yeah, before the war, just like you know, that, but then we were like, you know what? Because again, he was having he's I mean, I'll let you talk about the year you're having um at Mevaceret, but the the it's it was doing great, and like there was no nets not necessarily like, oh, we're we have to be all together. I stayed in Mevacer. Right. I stayed in in Israel, my year in Israel. That was like one of the greatest decisions. What did you do? So I had the best time. We've like just had, you know, I had just learned the Truva of Ravavadi Yosef that if you spend three regalim in Eratisra El that you don't have to keep two days. Wow. And I just was like soaking up the Shabbos Goyom. I was just like, bro, do you need me to turn on your light? He's like, can you please let me sleep? I'm like, but I can turn on your light. Um no, and then we went with some friends and like Natanya.
SPEAKER_03Is that because you're Svarty?
SPEAKER_04Or like you know, I was actually, I was again, I was really enjoying also explaining to people, learning the Thuva together with people. It was actually really interesting. I could totally see you doing that. I was very excited. Okay. And then we went some with some guys down to like Natanya for Holomoed. It was just very spiritual, a lot of fun. It had all the elements, all the elements together. But once we decided that we're going to LA when we looked at the whole schedule, also, by the way, I don't know if you know this, but um we are still in school, still working. We have we have school, our break doesn't start till like you know, we still we're going through till Friday. Right. Um, in yeshiva, they give about four months of pay sales. Right, right. That is true. I don't know. So this was new. So once we realized, wait a second, like we need to come up with a plan for Ellie. Is he gonna go to Poland uh for some kind of like heritage trip, or is he gonna do Sparty heritage for going to Poland? I was like, can we like assign new heritage to him? Like, whatever. Um, in a way. In a way, exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_05Like, okay, let's do the real heritage and get the rebox.
SPEAKER_04That's so funny. Um then, or he's gonna do Yam Le Yam, and because you need to fill up like two weeks before the three weeks of Pesach. So um that's when we're like, okay, that's a lot of time, and maybe we'll just bring him home. Um that was a simple choice at that point. I was looking at, you know, travel velocity, and like, you know, you guys are sponsored, right? Uh we should spend a travelacity. Yeah, they are our sponsor, yeah. Sure. Definitely are thank you to them. Travelocity, and we'll just, you know, just send your travel vouchers here.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, also Apple sponsors us. Apple, yeah. Yeah, wow. Also, same Samsung.
SPEAKER_04The guy at the executives at Samsung were like, get us the number two podcast. The good podcast. Get us the number two, guys. That's the niche we need to break into. Um, no, I I I I went on there and I just was I also we have Delta points and Delta. So I was like, you know what, let's just go. And Delta was like honestly, like two or three hundred dollars cheaper. I I bring all this up because foreshadowing, uh Elal was at some point the only flight in and out. And it was just like, you know, where you start to second and triple guess every decision you make, you know. So it was a simple idea. Here's a direct flight from Tel Aviv to New York, and let's let's you know, let's have a normal pace off. That sounds so boring. Yeah, totally totally so boring, and yeah, so the director's cut is much more extreme.
SPEAKER_03Okay, yeah. So you're in Mivaseret. Yes. How's it going there? It's going great, honestly. Having a great year. And you're happy. Yeah, you love it. You're gonna stay there forever? No. You're welcome, Rabbi, for that. Breaking. You're welcome, you're breaking right here live on this podcast. So you're having a great year, everything is going well, Barkashem, and then we get to this point in the year where the war breaks out. Right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, at some point we were just trying to figure out like which week it was gonna happen because like we knew it was imminent at some point, and it was just like, is it gonna be like today, tomorrow, when's it gonna break out? And I think it it was I think it was a Mote Shabbat, or no, it was a Shabbat. It was Shabbat. Everything happens on Shabbat. Yeah, yeah. Well, good news happens on Shabbat, yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean I think it broke out in the the first siren was the middle of Shaqit, or it was like right that morning for us or something like that. And um and yeah, I mean that whole Shabbat was pretty scary just because like nobody knew anything. Like only the major came with their phones, and they like I don't know, they weren't they weren't showing us anything. Um but I mean it was a lot, we had I think we had like a bunch of sirens that week, and it was really it was really clutch because that was that week was an in-shabbat. Like, thankfully it was like an only only a handful of kids were out. But if it wasn't where everyone's scattered, it would have been crazy for people to get back. And then we actually had like a couple guys were in Tel Aviv where it was really bad in the beginning, and they had a much harder time getting back, and it was a much scarier story for them. But uh thankfully for most of the Shiva was was in. But yeah, that first Shabbat was pretty scary.
SPEAKER_03So that's the first Shabbat. How does normal yeshiva life then go after it started?
SPEAKER_02I mean, well when we're already when we're already there, everything everything is within walking distance, and then we have like mamads and we have like safe rooms uh in Yeshiva, and then they're they're relatively close. But the bigger problem is the Urbam, and like the question was now if do the Rebecca. Right, because they live off campus. Right, they're in Beit Shemish mostly. Right. We got a couple Ubam on campus, but like it's not a lot. And that was the big question at that point is are the Ubam gonna make the trip over? And I they're a lot less scared than we were. They all basically every single one of them came. They have like a little Rebbe van, they all they all showed up, which was pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_01It's amazing. I mean, it's the resiliency of people who live in Israel to say, oh no problem, we're just gonna all go from waiting.
SPEAKER_02It's like a war, and they're like, Alright, whatever they happened like last week, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_04Right. I am picturing a Rebbe van with all the Rebbe with like pais and like a beard, like a van that has a beard. It's like magic school bus and a novelty school and a novelty horn. Right.
SPEAKER_03I could I mean I could see people like just going and showing up, also like it it also they are your de facto parents when they're when you're there, and they also feel protective of you, even though they have their own children. They also are protective of you. So, how long is like what was life like? Was it more or less normal?
SPEAKER_02To be honest, it like it felt pretty normal. I mean, because the other bam were there, so like we had regular sheer and like I mean the none the none of the major schedule was disrupted. It was just like every once in a while you had to run to the mamada or whatever, but how often is once in a while? I mean, on in the first couple weeks, it was probably like once or twice a day. And they actually they picked rail like rail the similar times pretty much every day. I read it's like once during sheer and then once like right before you go to sleep. So I'm pretty consistent for some reason. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Are you proud of him that he's very scheduled and rigorous lately?
SPEAKER_02I I have to tell you.
SPEAKER_04I'll answer this straight uh like seriously. I'm super proud. I'm super proud of the like perspective, the maturity, and you know, the headstrong because it was a very scary time. I will say this, maybe you can speak to this, but the beginning of the war had certain we our phone calls were more, I guess, in that, like in this kind of vibe, like, oh, it's chill, oh, we'll get to go to the Mahmad. It did change at some point. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_03It seems to be that it's like wearing on you, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, like it was the first free the first week was like bad, and then it kind of slowed down, and then it like picked up up again like. Intensity. I know we all were watching that. I mean, they were like we'd go like days or like very long periods without any signs or anything, and then it just like picked up again, and we would get like two or three a day again.
SPEAKER_01When did you start to realize, uh-oh, we're getting closer to Pesach, and now our plans are really starting to fall into doubt? Meaning, okay, this all happened around program time, and when there's these flares, there's like a sense of alright, it's gonna be short the day after tomorrow. It could all be over and done with, but now it started to drag on.
SPEAKER_02What was it like, and when did you start to realize this might start to bleed into uh we were very hopeful that it was gonna be like the last one, which was like I think 12 days or something like that, and that was like we were we were hoping it was gonna be the same kind of story, and we were we were still like I think two and a half weeks out, two weeks out from from Pesach, and uh we were just we were we were hoping that like it wasn't gonna affect it. Some people were like, Oh my god, everything's over, like we're not going home ever, and then some people were kind of like this will be done like in five days, like it'll be fine. Um, but like like every day when Bayo kind of was more like penting up, like this is getting kind of close. People were kind of like panicking, also. They were like, Oh my god, I need like four backup flights, and I need like I've been hearing that story also, and then flight canceled. Nine flights on different days. Yeah, because everyone was everyone was terrified, and then then people's flights started to get cancelled, and that's when things really started to ramp. People were starting doing the most insane layovers in like nine different countries, like yeah, and like it was it was pretty insane.
SPEAKER_04I'll say that the perspective we had was trying to gauge where Ellie's feelings were, how he was dealing with it. It was a lot of sleepless nights because these sirens were not necessarily during the day, it was two, three hour intervals. So, like that lack of sleep started playing playing into the emotional impact of the world. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Those couple weeks were bad sleep, also, because like just sirens at 2, 3 a.m. and like ended up dominates a bunch because you woke us up around that time.
SPEAKER_04I'll tell you, like, we're on these chats, um, and the just the sheer chaos, panic, and which makes it worse, right? It may but it has a cumulative effect where you know it's it's interesting, it's very innocent. It's very innocent. Parents are just trying to be supportive and helpful and informative, but they're also you know pouring gasoline out there. Yeah, exactly. Where it just becomes it's like, I just booked three tickets on Archaea and two tickets on you know Air Canada. Oh, and then like, oh, Archaea, is that really owned by Palestine? A hundred, a hundred comments every day. You could not you could not refresh fast enough. That's really strange. And you could not keep up with what these parents were doing, and again, there's nothing to stand in the way of a Jewish parent and what they're willing to do to make sure that their child is protected. Um, and again, ironically, I'm not sure, but I would say that when we were calling and trying to get flights, and they were saying, No, that that flight is completely booked, and I just I just got this text coming through as I'm there. I just bought three tickets there. And you're like, oh, maybe it's all booked because our own chat is buying all of these. It's like panic buying, right? It's like accident, like, and we've accidentally like priced ourselves out of any options. These memes are accurate. These memes were like you see, like, I didn't know I would have to become a travel agent. Right, and that literally is true. We were calling, you know, we were also asking travel agents because you know, if you had a travel agent, then you had like a professional in your corner. I I think that the that's where I would say two weeks in where the the the bombing was intense and the um the the airports were closing, and then airlines were and weren't declaring that they were flying in and or not. Right. And there was a lot of validity in the wait and see strategy, you know, of like I do have a valid delta flight. Yeah, and they have not informed me that anything is changing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was the problem, and they canceled only like a day or two before.
SPEAKER_03And there was also this hope, like you were saying, that the war would be relative, not it wouldn't be this long. That was the hope. I think that we were, but I think we're all surprised at how long the war has gone on. But it gets to a point where you're right, there are tremendous stress, especially for you guys, and you get now to this point where your flight probably is now becoming less and less a reality. So, what became plan B?
SPEAKER_04I would say even just the impetus for plan B was because again, I think, like I said, the the good faith effort of we have a flight, they haven't cancelled it, maybe we wait, was also a strategy in terms of like why panic? Why panic? That was our idea for like the first why panic the guy why panic the guy, why panic the but the the situation kept shifting, and this is what I think is what people don't fully understand, you know, about why people make these decisions. The sh the the sand is shifting beneath your feet. So there's a a pan uh a uh a feeling of I need to be decisive here because decisive wins the day that I chose something, that I did something. Yeah, because at the home base where Ellie is, you know, guys are declaring that I'm leaving tomorrow or I got on this rescue mission for like funny questions, like you know, like I'd be I'd be texting with with people, like I don't know what to do, and people are like, Do you know Bruce Blakeman? Like why does why does he fly to Israel? No, no, but he has connections like who can you get to talk to and and it's just it was all about these like get on the rescue mission, the rescue mission.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was also one of the options. Like just fill out as many of these like rescue things as possible and hope that they one of them gets back to you and they're only flying one. The truth is that is that I think is a funny that one I like the words the rescue mission.
SPEAKER_03I could see that as though we applied to like nine different things.
SPEAKER_04We did, we did. And every time I clicked yeah, res rescue my son, I I it was so bizarre that why I would even say that because obviously we're not we don't need to be rescued from Israel. Right. Uh and we don't need your help to rescue my child, right? He's not in a state that he needs to be rescued. I need a flight, bro. That's what I need. Like, can you can you help me with that?
SPEAKER_03What you're trying to do is you're trying to put your son in a situation where he could be with his family, just like anybody would want to be on Pesach. And it's not about this bigger conversation, which maybe some people could have, and you want to talk about the clowl. We're not having that conversation necessarily.
SPEAKER_04You nailed it on the head. I I am not looking to make giant sweeping declarations of my Amuna or like ratifying my position on Israel. I just am trying to get him home. And the reason I'm trying to get him home, not home, like the concept, but to his family from Hashisra, but right home is Israel for all of us is because the calculus changed, you know, when Ellie told us like this is starting to wear on me.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_04Like I'm facing the possibility of being alone without my family in this time where I'm also getting kind of tapped out from running to the mama. Absolutely tapped out from the possibility that I could. And then again, the decisive nature of like what the situation needs, like do something. Right.
SPEAKER_01And this is where it really changes, you know, and where where I think kind of the road splits a little bit, where for some people it's it's the notion of I have to make a statement. And I have to, whatever I decide is gonna be my statement about what is right and what is wrong. And I feel like for most of us in these situations, it's not a statement, it's this is what I'm doing for my family, this is what's right for me, it's what's right for my my son, and I'm not telling everybody else, the rest of the world, what you guys should do.
SPEAKER_02We're just doing this. This was the original plan, also. I was gonna, I was always gonna come back for Pesa. Like, you know, and also I like people a lot of people in Shiva like to use like, oh, like I gotta escape, I gotta like get out. Like I was saying before, like that's the complete wrong way to look at it. We're not trying to get out, we're not trying to like leave like this is Israel's home.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the idea is to also the second he can get a flight back is to go back and hopefully ride out the rest of the year under the greatest of circumstances that you know Israel's more secure than it was, and the people of Israel can finally rest and and and and get some just comfort from from what has been a tumultuous period of time.
SPEAKER_03So, at what point do you make the decision to say, okay, we're gonna go through Egypt? Like, how do you get to that point?
SPEAKER_04Okay, so I will say I was very clear that I did not want to go through Egypt.
SPEAKER_02Okay, when we were talking like a couple weeks a couple of days or weeks weeks before, it was like all these parents are crazy, we're gonna send their kids through Egypt. So you were very disciplined.
SPEAKER_04I was so judgmental. I was like, these parents are nuts, it's so dangerous. Do you know what kind of country Egypt is? How are they putting their kids in such a like crack crazy situation? And then um, and I was like, we're not sending them through Egypt. And my wife was like, I think we need to send them through Egypt, and I was like, Yes, we're gonna send them through that.
SPEAKER_01I mean, they just we have a we have a good track record at this time of year of leaving Egypt, so I feel like that jives a little bit.
SPEAKER_04So, how did that happen? Funny enough, the yeshiva pivoted from this week of like this is supposed to be Poland week, this is supposed to be Yamli Yam week. Yeah, and they were getting advice from you know the Central Command in Israel that don't do the Yamliyam, you can't, we can't, you know, whatever, stay next to the Ma'amad, or you can go to a lot where it's relatively quiet.
SPEAKER_02So they did, right? Yeah, we're in a lot for a couple days. It was really nice, actually.
SPEAKER_03It sounds like that helped you, you know, get closer to Shar Mal Sheikh.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so that's why we brought him back to Mebasarek.
SPEAKER_01It's again, it's the Jews in the desert going in circles.
SPEAKER_02Like, oh yeah, go for it. It was really crazy. I mean, because I was in a lot, I was literally my five, ten minutes from the border from the hotel I was at, and then drove five hours back to yeshiva, and then get a call an hour later that I have to pack my bag because I'm going to Egypt the next day, and that's where Oh, you found out you're going the next day.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04That was a little part of the craziness. I'll say this that again, it's super again. I I have to start with this. Now that you've heard like what we what we got to to get to this point, I really can't judge anybody for what they do or don't do. And yes, our my thought process was to be decisive. Um, I would not judge anyone or fault anyone for not being decisive. Um but I was in touch with once my wife said we're gonna send them through Egypt, I started looking at a couple places. Um there's these services that I guess people talk about, these concierge type services that like take you through and escort you through, and it's you know, but it is so uh expensive. Right. It is incredibly expensive. Um but again, once we just had uh decided that we are doing this for Ellie's spirit, for his you know, for his mental health, for you know, the the just that good feeling that we'll all have when we're together, um, and that's the goal for right now. So it really became about where do we get a spot.
SPEAKER_03And that was not simply either.
SPEAKER_04And the truth is, after finding out that it was full, the flight was full, there are no more spots, and maybe next week check back. I just decided to like text one of these um WhatsApp Bruce Blakeman, didn't you? Yeah, well Bruce got me. Yeah, Bruce and I were on first name basis. Harlow um no, I I I literally texted one of the organizers of these trips and he said, We just got two cancellations. So if you want this, then you know, get on this. There's only two times in my life where it was like that. It was getting him these uh getting him on to a trip to Israel, uh, from Israel to through to America, and um when Mordehai ben David tickets opened up in the senior, you know, uh he's the only two times that I've ever had to act that fast. Uh-huh. So once that was the case, it was really like contacting Ellie and going, You got a pack, and you're uh in for a really trying journey.
SPEAKER_02To be honest, I didn't even know Egypt was still on the was on the table at all when they called me. I thought they had found like I got they got me on one of these rescue planes or whatever, and then I heard I was going to Egypt the next day. So I was yeah.
SPEAKER_01So how does this unfold? So you go to Egypt, and like presumably you guys are in touch, you're on the phone, you're probably tracking. I mean, like, you just don't go to Egypt.
SPEAKER_03No, you don't feel like there is like a process of getting to Egypt.
SPEAKER_01One does not simply go to Egypt. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02So we're gonna talk about how yeah, so I mean so I mean I packed, I was up late, not that late, but I was up late that night packing and getting ready and putting all my stuff together.
SPEAKER_04Oh, someone mentions, someone mentions, by the way, your son's going to Egypt. Make sure he has like$500 American cash on it. Oh, wow. Like, I don't know, there's no money left from what we just said.
SPEAKER_05Wait, they didn't say he's going to Egypt? I have an Amazon package to give you to go to Egypt for my gold package. Just squeeze in. It's Ahava, brother. It's just Dead Sea mud. Okay.
SPEAKER_04Um, no, I I I I was like, why? They're like, well, you know, he's gonna have to bribe people. Oh. Like, this was not in the flyer. Do you know how to bribe people? I don't.
SPEAKER_02Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with that because I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_04I also think it's incredibly difficult at 11 o'clock at night Israel time to get him, you know, and I've heard that the banks are open for like 9, 2, 10 o'clock in the morning in Israel. So shout out to my best friend Yermoskowitz. He went out in the middle of the night, drove out through the war to drop off like$200.
SPEAKER_01So this is not like when you're signing your kid up for camp, you know, would you like to put$300 in their campaign? For each bribery.
SPEAKER_00Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_05Can you bribe your counselors to treat you nicer? Ellie, whatever you don't use, you must bring back to me.
SPEAKER_04It's terrifying. It's terrifying. I mean, it really is such a terrifying thing, but the the the mandate was get to Yerushalaim by 9 a.m.
SPEAKER_02No, it was earlier. I had to get I was supposed to be there, we were leaving at 8, I think. 8 30 or whatever.
SPEAKER_04So we have to be at in front of Magenda Vida Dome. Ominous.
SPEAKER_03This is gonna have to get cut out of the podcast because it's really controversial. But at what point do you sign up as a Mossad agent? Right, because he's going through all these kinds of things. Right. I'm saying you're you might as well collect intelligence while you're going through real quick picture. Right.
SPEAKER_01Just like intelligence.
SPEAKER_04Like while you're there, could you like they briefed you before you went? Like you can't do no pictures. No pictures. You want to talk about that?
SPEAKER_02I mean, they honestly didn't say anything about pictures, they said don't do other things, but I don't know. I I I have a bunch of pictures and videos. Okay. I'm having a great time.
SPEAKER_04And here you have it, folks. That's right.
SPEAKER_02Okay, anyway.
SPEAKER_04We don't follow rules.
SPEAKER_03We will post that on our Instagram, all your pictures.
SPEAKER_02Although I did see people get in trouble for trying to like take pictures and videos while they're in the world. When you say trouble, do you mean they were arrested and thrown in a channel? It was more like some scary-looking Egyptian dude came over and said, delete that now. Wow. That's scary. Okay. That's scary enough. I'll take that. There it is. That's the PSA.
SPEAKER_03So you then you bribed him, and then you're five dollars. So you get you get to your ship at nine o'clock, then what happens?
SPEAKER_02Food. Um yeah, so the dude uh what was Shimshi? Shimshi. Shimshi. Shout out Shimshi. He was awesome. Shimshi, sorry. Shimi. He was really great. Um, he like was very nice, very comfortable with the whole thing, and he gave us a lot of food, a lot of like pastries and stuff, and we got sandwiches also, which is good. Um, I had brought food also, but whatever, it wasn't a lot, so the sandwiches were nice. Um this is a typical Yishi put the food in there, by the way. Like, good food. Good food on our rescue mission to Israel. Did the bread have time to rise? Oh keep going. Yeah. Um, and then we started the five-hour, four and a half hour drive to a lot. We stopped once on long the way, just like a stopover, and then we got to the border. Finally got to the border. We got out, had to walk to it. It wasn't that far, it was like a couple minutes.
SPEAKER_04And then But that's that's something that like again starts to start, it starts to set in the severity of what's happening here. Isra, Israeli vans that are driven by Israeli drivers are not allowed to cross through the border in the car. You've got to get out, take your bag, and walk through the border. Wow. Now, the whole time John was saying I was tracking, I was, I was tracking Ellie and watching his like you know, face, you know, on the Find My App. Like just progress. Yeah, right. Um just like moving incrementally. And according to the schedule, it's supposed to take an hour, but they budget two hours per max to cross the border.
SPEAKER_02I think it took two and a half hours totally to get moving from the border. It was what took so long. So I actually I have no idea because I wasn't, we were I was with two like pos like ex-IDF or maybe IDF sold um soldier or ex-soldiers that were they were armed, and they had like ends with literally every single person working there. And it was crazy because there's like nine different desks. I don't know what's happening at each one, but it didn't matter because the the guards would go up, pay them five dollars, and we'd all walk through no problem. Wow. Um, which was crazy. Like you really like you we that's that's what we're paying for, basically. It's uh I would not have been able to do this myself at all. Or wow. It was that that's what it was.
SPEAKER_04The way from bureau to bureau to bureau, advancing slowly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and like because every for some reason they like also it felt so unofficial. I don't know why, maybe because we were bribing them, but like it was just like nothing, nothing felt like actually was happening. You don't usually do an official sign that said bribes here, right? You don't record department of bribes. Okay, yeah. I mean, like there was uh there was a dude that like wrote and like highlighter on a piece of like lined paper, like our we were it was VIP tours, and he was holding up VIP tours, VIP tours. Like he was waiting for us to get his bribe and then we were gonna go through. Okay. I don't know, whatever. Like they were scanning our passports or something like that at every station, so like that took a little bit. But um how many people were with you? It was oh, so we I had like there were we had like two vans that were that were with us, like the Mercedes, not that big vans, and um answered? Yeah. It was like 12 people in one, and then like I think it was like a family of like 15 in the other.
SPEAKER_0430 something people.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_04Being smuggled over the again, that's the whole thing, like all this language of like, is it smuggling, is it bribing, is it official, is it not official, is it VIP, is it non-VIP, concierge? All these things are like part of the calculus that makes all of this super confusing and super scary to parents. And again, like if a parent is not willing to go through this, there's no judgment. It's terrifying. I wouldn't recommend. I still won't recommend. I think it was that that half hour that he mentions that like that was it was supposed to take one hour, and they budgeted two, but it took two and a half. Right. For that half hour, I was not like a human being. I was a mess. I was a mess pacing back and forth.
SPEAKER_03Well, could this be that explains that meaning that you mean that you had and you were being really weird. You were really weird.
SPEAKER_04Bad human being for 30 minutes. Okay, but like on a real level, it's like, wait, like, what are we what are the possibilities of the thing? Well, would you like being a little bit more than a few years? Yeah, correct. What could I be possibly confronting right now? Could I be the parent of somebody whose child is not getting through? Is he able to get back?
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_04Okay, if he's able to get back, fine, I'd be fine with that. If he's able to, if he's not able to, is he being detained? Do we have an international incident? Is it a hostage situation? Like, all of those questions are like most of them are not rational because again, like, no, but that's anxiety. They've done this 200 other times, right, and they've done this successfully. Well, why isn't this one going smoothly though?
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_04So, you know, I guess back to the Amuna and Bitahon, you know, question. Um, you do you you put everything in God and you go, This this is my effort. I'm I'm meant to do my effort. So, God, you please do the rest. You know, we're looking at the timetable of like you're at the Taba border for half an hour longer than you're supposed to. We still have a three-hour drive through the Sinai Desert to get to Sharam El Shech. And then who knows what security there is like, but he's got to get to this flight. Right now, he's scheduled to be there three hours before, just eight half an hour. You know, do they stop him from taking his flight at that point? Is he too deep into Egypt? Right.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Is your phone working the entire time? So my phone was working through the border, which was nice. Okay, and then it the service cut out for the three-hour drive, which was such a great time. So much fun, guys. Yeah, going as each now.
SPEAKER_04My beautiful boy's face is just stopped in the middle of the Sinai desert, surrounded by, I want to say, lots of Arabic. So I understand on the map.
SPEAKER_03I understand your anxiety, but the more important question is like, what do you do without YouTube for three hours? Right.
SPEAKER_04And Rabbi, I feel like you're making this a lot about him, but there's like there's a story here to tell about my pain. Um, no, it was just I I said it. That's the part I would say is like you're just you're just full of anxiety at that point. Why? Why am I doing this? Like, was this necessary? Like oh, oh, and by the way, this chat does not stop. So we're still getting like minute by minute pings of like, my son just got a direct flight to JFK to network. Like, oh, direct flight. That's that's cool.
SPEAKER_01That's that's so okay. So you so you crossed the border and you're on the road and you have no cell phone reception. What was that drive like?
SPEAKER_02The drive was really crazy. So I was crazy because the border took so long, the my flight was I think at nine o'clock, and at this point, when they left it, like we only got to leave at like four o'clock, which was a lot later than we were supposed to, and it was supposed to be like a three-hour drive. So I don't know how long this airport takes, I don't know what the processes are. If there's another 20 stations for no reason, like I I mean I was worried I was gonna miss my plane. And I didn't want to deal with that reality of waiting in Sham al-Sheikh for however long until we can get another flight. Um, so that was pretty nerve-wracking. And the driver knew that he at this point the guards have left, by the way. So I'm just it's just completely. There are no Israeli guards with the city. It's just you at this point. It's me, a couple, a few of the guys in the in the car that we moved into, and then the Egyptian driver.
SPEAKER_01And who even knows, you know, you're getting to an airport, like we're taking for granted that this is a normal airport. Right. Like here, everybody fetches like have you seen Newark?
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01It's such a it's such a max. Right.
SPEAKER_04No, this is not even that at all. Yeah, that's not even the issue. It's more just like, like you said, he the there isn't any more, like the I guess the escort is the people that the company is to bring you to the city. And they they work with these people and they they you know they have established a relationship and trust them, you know, over the course of like again, 200 of these runs, right? They've successfully gotten them to Sharam Al-Shaikh. But like there isn't like an Israeli escort at that point. So that's important to just say. It's scary. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And yeah, and so I was also not aware of that. So when the guard when I was like when I found out the guards were not coming with us, I was like, oh, right, okay, now I have to fight for myself. I have to bribe people myself with right, maybe or maybe not.
SPEAKER_04$200. I've left. Um, and then and then the the driver understood the assignment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so he he knew we were he would like he asked he asked like what time our flight was, and then he started driving 90 miles per hour non-stop. That's fine. In English. He spoke English. He's a couple words, like I think he knew exactly the words for the situation. Was he Egyptian? Or full on.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Apparently he was reliable. So they told us it didn't make me feel better.
SPEAKER_04But then you saw the accident.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So I mean, first of all, he was also like just weaving in and out of traffic, cutting up every it looked like these like roads in like I don't know, where it's the van wicks. It looked like the van wicks. Just like just light. Okay. It's just like empty, empty roads, and it's like there's two lanes. Yeah, it's two lanes of traffic, one this way, one that way. And he was I couldn't tell which I thought they were both going straight at some point. He had rights to both. Yeah, he was driving literally all over the place. And like every couple every 30 minutes or so, there'd be another like security terminal, and he would just stop, like, say a couple words to them, and then we'd be off. So that wasn't too bad. Each one of those is like again, like, I don't know what's happening. Take my passport, I don't know what's happening. Um, and then we like slowed down, and there's this like like literally happened two minutes before we got there, it looked like this really crazy, terrible crash. Not with any people from our group, but like two random Egyptians, like it was a head-on collision. Oh my god, really bad. And like, I don't know what graphic I'm allowed to get, but like they were it was it look, it didn't look good. It didn't look good. Tell us afterwards, yeah. And um, I mean, I did I'm like so like out of it, I'm like, oh okay. And like you literally, he literally like our driver just started honking a little bit, and like we one of the cars moved out of the way, and then we just like kept it going, and like that was one of the cars that had gotten in the accident moved out of the way.
SPEAKER_03I don't know.
SPEAKER_02Those people it was like it was like I think it was like a cop car or something like that that was okay moved slightly out of the way so we could get by.
SPEAKER_03You honk at police in Egypt. Okay. Yeah, I didn't ask questions.
SPEAKER_04Uh also set the scene. Is it it was raining hailing? Yeah, so then there was like hailing in Egypt. In Egypt? Okay.
SPEAKER_02Remember the craziest thing? Throwback. It was literally the craziest thing. Retro. As you were going through the border, it was like drizzling a little bit.
SPEAKER_03Okay, one second.
SPEAKER_02Was the fire inside the hail? Please take it. On the outside of the hail. There's a lack of machokis about this. It did sound like it was huge, though. We were getting like the car was getting, it sounded like the car was like the windows were gonna take. Like, it was it was crazy. And like, yes, it was drizzling before, and then the rain slowly got heavier and heavier and heavier. And then like it was also getting like darker, like it's nighttime now. So, like Khoshek is. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01You just get before it actually. No, death of the report.
SPEAKER_03You just experienced that.
SPEAKER_04Driving through, it's hailing, and that's when the Hans Zimmer soundtrack started. He knew that stuff was happening. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um like, yeah, it was poor. You went through Yamsuf already? Or no, we're getting to that. We're getting to that. Hail, and like it was, it was insane. So I I can barely see, it's just the driver's lights. Right. And he's still driving nine, and he's still he didn't learn anything from the car accident. He's still driving as fast as he wants, and both balanes are his, and whatever else is great. Um, and it was just like I was just so I was also exhausted at that point because like it was a long day. I woke up early, I went to sleep late, and like I barely slept.
SPEAKER_04You got there at 8:30, and it's already seven. Yeah, I woke up early to Dobbin and like.
SPEAKER_03You had good food, apparently. You told us that before. But it's probably running out at this point. Yeah, that's the other part.
SPEAKER_04There's no other there's no other station at this point.
SPEAKER_03And you have no idea where he is at this point, no clue. None. And you're just whatever, going. Okay.
SPEAKER_02And um, I mean, finally, we it felt like five years the drive, to be honest. That was that was probably the craziest part of the trip because I was just like, like of the the the scariest part that I've been through of all like the border and seeing everything was probably just the drive. Like, I was worried I wasn't gonna survive this drive. And um, and finally, finally, after what felt like yeah, like five years, we got there. And I I don't know how long this is gonna take. So I'm I'm in like rush mode right now. And they warned uh Shimmy, Shimmy warned us before that like the people that like in Egypt at the at the airport are gonna try and like you know, take your bags, gonna try and ransom you, or gonna like do things for you and like bit demand tips afterward. So we get there at the wrong terminal, and the that always has to happen. I'm saying no matter what country is. No. And the trunk, he opens up the trunk like normal driver, right? And these two people are waiting with like the luggage carts and they're unloading our stuff onto these luggage carts, right? And you're sitting there like randomly. Like I'm like getting a little uncomfortable. So I go there and one of my luggages was still in the car. So I grabbed that, and then he's like holding my bag. So I just like so I'm grabbing it from him. And he's like, he starts, I mean, obviously he starts getting a little upset because like he's trying to what they do is they this happened, they they got some of the other people on our trip. They like took their bags on the cart and they literally start running with it. They like they're like, they're helping you, but they're running with your bag, and they're gonna demand money afterward. And like American cash is like gold for them, like it's worth like truckloads of whatever currency there is. Um and they I was literally just like a little tug-of-war match with my bag with this guy, and there were two of them, and so like they were just like the only English word they know is money. So they were just like money, money, money. And he was literally he was literally poking my stomach. He was just like trying to get anything, and I was like, I at this point I was like so fed up, I was just like, I had no problem grabbing it from him. Um, but I mean they got some of the other people on our trip, and they had to and they got upset with them, and it's weird because everybody knows everybody in the airport, so like once they had like I think they paid him like not only like five dollars or whatever, and they were expecting a lot more for carrying all their bags to the other terminal, and he literally he went to the security desk and like whispered and like pointed at them. So I don't know if that means that their bag is getting blown up or something like that, but oh my god, whatever. It's just all nerve-wracking. And so, I mean, everyone seemed to be a lot more chill than I was at this point because like everyone's like, alright, whatever, this is so nice, we're here. I'm like, we need to get on this plane right now. And I was with they also they told us not to dress so religiously, which is yeah, which makes a lot of sense. I was thinking about that about wearing a tube or a hat. So whatever. I I wore like uh like sweatpants and a hoodie and like a baseball hat. And like everyone else on our trip. There's no way he's Jewish. I'm gonna get this all the way down to the floor, because you know, nobody got nobody else got that text message because like everyone else was like everyone else is like four years old and me if like in the mirror, like some other enemy sheavish places, and everyone was wearing like black suit, white shirt, with a Yankee tat, right? With a callboy face off. I think like the Yankee hat makes it so that they're not Jewish anymore. Like everybody can tell. It's so funny. Could you just make the hanky hat off?
SPEAKER_03Where's the Jew? In my eyes, it's a bit of a hanky hat off I see. That's the jar can be. I'm about to say that clerk is that's what it is. In my eyes, as a med fan, it's true. Anyway, so you're wearing your Los Angeles Dodgers hat where you got Joey O'Tane and What is it? Thanks so much, whatever. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, but yeah, I mean, I was like, whatever. They were they're very obviously funny.
SPEAKER_04It is funny, like to wear you're trying to do whatever it is to like be low-key and your friend is is wearing a na na Nachman keyboard and dancing on the baggage clip.
SPEAKER_05And like, but could you just could you not? It's not the time. It's like, have you put on Twilin today? Not here though.
SPEAKER_02Not here though. Okay. It was nuts. So I was I was like booking it to the thing. Oh, this was also part of the problem. Because they all had like kosher phones or whatever, nobody had WhatsApp or Gmail, which was a big problem because they had no way of getting their boarding passes. Oh my god, which is sponsored by kosher phones so many. Yeah, we love kosher phones. But without like we'll take everybody's money. Yeah, yeah. Boarding passes are pretty important, and I was the WhatsApp guy because I was the only one who had a normal phone. Oh.
SPEAKER_04So I mean he's not Jewish, he's wearing the hat.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03I mean, he went through Egypt and abandoned Israel. He's not Jewish. It's fine. Okay. He's the uh he's the shimmy of the beer guys. Like, oh, we got Ellie. Ellie's our shimmy. I mean, it was because Nefish, you could use a WhatsApp, it's okay, whatever. Maybe, maybe, maybe. With the Shino, very Shino.
SPEAKER_02Um, but yeah, I was basically I was holding three people's boarding passes, which was really annoying because I at the one on the one hand I had I wanted to like rush as fast as I can through it. The other hand, I had to wait for these people because they needed me to actually get through, and I wasn't gonna abandon them. So that was just another stress. And like for some reason, there's like two different securities at Jamal Sheikh, and it's like you get in, and there's like a big security with all your big bags before you even check in, and like it's just unnecessary. Like, there's like nine different steps that like a ton of different stations, and it's just like it's just like we're just filling jobs or something. I don't know why.
SPEAKER_04There doesn't need to be this many steps, like a redundancy just to employ more people in the airport. I will say at this point, he does come back online once he's at the airport and like a series of texts trying not to worry him or whatever.
SPEAKER_02I was very surprised I didn't have like 20 misscalls.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but his I was really trying. I was really trying, but like he was saying, like, not through security yet, you know, not sure, not sure it's gonna still worried about my flight. Kind of like I was like, okay, you know, putting on the brave face, you'll be fine. Right. Um, meanwhile, what's echoing in my mind is that, you know, the night before, we didn't tell my parents, we didn't tell my in-laws, we didn't want to worry them unnecessarily. We just it's it's enough that the two of us are burdening. We didn't even tell our other children. You didn't even tell me. And I didn't tell you. I was really trying to be selfish. But what was funny was the night before, my mom is like she calls me and she's like, I'm so worried about Ellie and how is he gonna be bad?
SPEAKER_05Like, we have to do something, we have to do something.
SPEAKER_04And uh, she's like, Some people are are are are getting through Europe and doing all kinds of connections. Can you do that for him? And we're like, we're trying, we're trying, and meanwhile, I've already paid for this ticket through Egypt. And my dad, off off camera, whatever you do, don't go through Egypt! Literally, that's literally what he says because my dad was born in Egypt, and he was like, That place is terrible, don't do it. Send him to every place in the world, but not through Egypt. It's really funny. I'm literally going like, okay, thank you. Uh, yeah, no, that's good. That's good advice. Uh, and I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_05He's like, they're so corrupt, they'll do terrible things to anybody if you don't give it to the money.
SPEAKER_04I'm like, yeah, yeah, no, that sounds bad. I'm gonna get off the phone now. Um, I love you both very much. I really, I was like, and the whole time, like that I can't talk to him, that that's that that voice, my dad's voice is just echoing in my head. Um, but he made it through the two sets of security. Yeah, finally. And sent us this beautiful picture of him and his friend sitting at the at the terminal.
SPEAKER_03So after that, he got arrested because he took a picture.
SPEAKER_04Exactly. By the way, that's like, oh, this is so relief. Oh my god. You took a picture. Yeah, like Hudson News in Egypt. So he uh then he had like another, it was not, I mean, again, it's not again, yes, there's a temporary relief, but he still has to get through Rome. Right. He's getting to Rome in the middle of the night, you know, and that's like a it was a full.
SPEAKER_03You went through all the stages of Gullus of his father. So think about that. Yeah, Gull at Rome also. He went to go to Rome.
SPEAKER_04Rome, right, exactly. He had a layover in Pompadita. Um and then, and then it was just, I mean, again, like the the when when he gets to Rome, there's a full night of you know that was also a really annoying part.
SPEAKER_02It was you met with the Pope? No, no, he had landed at 12.40. My flight was at 10.15, so I had like literally nine hours of dead time. I had like some like whatever, literally whatever the mock had, like cookies or crackers or something like that. Crackers. Yeah, basically nothing. There was like one store open that sold drinks. Friday crackers are laffa. That's what I've heard.
SPEAKER_04Okay. It was amazing. Literally, again, as as as I'm still waiting for him to get back from Rome, and like somebody in school is like, you know, Europe might be more dangerous than Egypt. People hate Jews in Europe. I'm like, yeah, I've heard that. That's hopeful. I feel like I might have said that. I'm sorry. Guys, I didn't know. I had no idea. It's so funny. Again, people are so well meaning. I mean they don't know that you don't know what your your the person you're doing.
SPEAKER_03Your father talked about Egypt that way. That's how my grandparents talked about Europe. 100%.
SPEAKER_04So um, and then even then it was like another 10 and a half hour flight from Rome. I think the first thing you said to me, which was, I think, I mean, was an incredible revelation, was when he finally landed at JFK, he's like, that was four continents in 30 hours. It was cool. That is four continents.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I knew you were gonna say cool. For some reason, you think it's cool about us all these things. 40-year-olds, right, and John, who's whatever age John is. Yeah. Um advanced. Advanced. Uh you think it's cool for us. It's I'm hearing the anxiety from your father. I'm very impressed because, as again, as Svardi Jew, the anxiety is not really your thing. That's our thing. But you seem to be culturally appropriating it from.
SPEAKER_04I am culturally appropriating everything. Um I I I just again was just there was something about this that felt different and nerve-wracking. Nerve wracking. But again, it was an incredible thing to hear that it was, yes, it's Asia, Africa, Europe, and then North America on a 30-hour journey, you know. 40 hours. 40 hours, 40. Okay, four continents in 40 hours. That's that's the name of the podcast now. Um, and you know, renaming our podcast? No, just the episode. We're selling the.
SPEAKER_01Although I do like that as an episode time.
SPEAKER_03Just sponsored. Um were you on the Titanic also? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We were just trying to hit that. That was a layover option, actually. That was a lay over option.
SPEAKER_04I will say this. Um having gone through the entirety of the experience, and you know, again, just having Ellie with us, yeah, seeing the reaction of the reunion with his siblings and what it did for us, you know, as the parents, just to like, you know, breathe a sigh of relief. I think we could have breathed that same relief if he was okay with going to friends of ours in Israel or whatever, just to know that he was taken care of. Right.
SPEAKER_03I think that, like we talked about that in the beginning, is that when you were in a regular program in Israel, right? You're going through the regular day-to-day, and you're confident that the yeshiva is taking it seriously and taking care of them. And now when people are off from yeshiva, I'm sure that yeshiva is taking care of those kids, but you're still worried about them, and they're boys, and they, you know, act like boys sometimes, you're concerned. And here, your relief is he's with you. It doesn't mean that he's not in his homeland, but it's this is what you wanted to be together as a family.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. I I guess I would just encourage people as har as much as possible. You don't know what that person next to you in Shul is going through, and the conflicts and like what the discrepancies between what the what the spouse wants and what they want, and you don't know whose you know, feelings are like completely inflamed by what is happening or not happening, decisive, not decisive. And while you're well-intentioned and you find out that the the you know the the son or the daughter is is at home in seminary or not not home here in New York for Pesach, you know, the questions have to be done with the most utmost sensitivity. And maybe I would just suggest not let them talk about it if they want to. But oh, so they're stuck in Israel, right? Let's just get rid of that language. Um, you didn't want to try to bring them home. Like, why didn't you know? Oh, they must be really lonely. Or it's it's well intentioned, but it you don't know what kind of like pain you're opening up and what kind of anxiety you're triggering. Um so again, really, there's no judgment. Whatever anybody decides to do is whatever they decide to do. Uh, this was what we thought maybe.
SPEAKER_03It sounds like whatever they decide to do, their and their wife changes that decision. Yes, they do that. Right. Yeah, do that. But you're I think it's an individual decision. You're addressing the bigger question, and that is this thing that is like taking over social media because we have nothing else to talk about right now, not like anti-Semitism and all the other things, is like or the war.
SPEAKER_04Or the war.
SPEAKER_03But we are Jews, we like to to focus on some on the you know the the keys that are dangling. What do you think about that when you're seeing all of this big talk on social media and even the podcasts that are addressing it and are like saying, It's so terrible? Like, I we're talking it about it as an individual family decision, not about I'm leaving Israel, I'm it's about I want to be with my child on Pesach, and this is the way we are going about doing it. It wasn't our plan A, we're not escaping Israel, that's not how we're gonna verbalize it.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03You know, how do you address how do you think about those things?
SPEAKER_04It's the same way I feel about why am I still not why haven't I made LEA? Why am I why aren't we living in Israel? It's the same exact thing. That's the same guilt.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_04Um, in terms of why am why are we not there? You know, how many of our ancestors wished they had the option to just drive 15 minutes to JFK and get on a on a plane? How easy it is. It's the same for me. The only difference here is that once the the once the the option of getting him home became an imperative in terms of just Ellie's well-being, that was it. But I completely feel like I I feel so much pain and guilt about all the people who don't have this. Not that they don't have it as an option, they could, but it's that's not they're they're living in Israel, that's their reality, and their kids have no choice but to respond to the Mahmad and the Right.
SPEAKER_03It is, I will tell you, and the trauma. We've talked to our families in Israel, even though we use that word trauma, I think they are living this experience with meaning and purpose. We spoke to my my sister and my nephew a few weeks ago, and there's an amuna, there's this incredible be talking that we are lacking here in the states. Um, and it's it's an incredible thing. Uh, this maybe you could speak to in the beginning of the war. It's like it feels like a messianic situation.
SPEAKER_02It's a difference for me experiencing the wars in Israel before, like October 7th and after, and um and like experiencing it in Israel now, it's it's a completely different world. I mean, like from seeing, I mean, I was on these news channels, like seeing these terr these crazy videos of like literally like things going through the air and like things getting shot up, and seeing things in a serial over my like in real time, seeing like red dots over my head, like it feels so much more real, and having to actually go to the Mamad yourself, it's a completely different feeling, and like it grew it gave me like a much new perspective on it that like like this is real, and like it really is like the I like the iron dome is like a crazy thing. Like, how on earth does this actually intercept missiles? And like, like the considering how much we get barraged every single day, like to have one only like have days days go by without anything actually landing, and then having like one or two here and there, it's just like it's really really crazy.
SPEAKER_04We uh we had a pretty amazing conversation before you left, even just that while you were experiencing going running to the Mamad and the siren, that that low, terrifying drone of like the siren kicking up and running and knowing you have this much time to run, you have the ability to say Imo anochi betsara. You understand what it's like to lift the burden that your fellow Jew has had to lift, and you forever you're going to have this. You know what it feels like. That's like, yeah, like that was a terrifying but like also meaningful time that I was there with my fellow Jews in Israel experiencing this. I remember like growing up hearing stories about like the Iraq-Kawait conflict and going like you know, scud missiles and patriot missiles and like gas masks. What is gas masks? I got a gas mask and really we never never had to use it, but yeah. Yeah, just like to understand like that that that was I was very removed from it. Terrifying, it's had to terrify. Yeah, um, you know, but for him to actually be there and experience it and be able to rest, it's it is an interesting point that that people made that this generation, this specific generation, went through COVID, um, you know, survived went through that, made it through, you know, hearing about October 7th and like what how that changed the world, and then this experience.
SPEAKER_03And it's interesting, and boys only slightly older than him are taking on the massive burden of defending Amish in Israel and flying these incredible missions day after day after day with incredible pres precision. It's really remarkable, and it's this resilience that really builds it up.
SPEAKER_04And I'll say this I only had the experience for you know, whatever, hours of like tracking my son, no, not knowing where he is, what is exactly his well-being. But you said it perfectly. There's 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds that are flying F-35s through the sky in Tehran. Right. Yeah. And there is no tracking for that. And they are. So what are the mothers of those parents? Yeah, what are the what are those parents feeling? Like, you know, it's all such a relative speck on these, you know, in the in the range of emotions that we we can feel. What we have to feel is compassion. What we have to feel is as much as we can experience and maybe podcasts like this help also to like just emo and ohi bitsara. What it what what can I do to actually put myself in that fee in that place of feeling what my what my you know brothers and sisters are feeling. And you know, again, anything that you could do to reach out without you know badgering questions and pastoring and whining.
SPEAKER_03My younger sister's at a best, curiosity. Like just there, just how's your day? What's it going on? Things like that is the thinking about you.
SPEAKER_04Right. Um, you know, I I I I was just you know, wondering how you're doing, and you know, just wish we could be there with you. Right. That's a that's that's what we that's our work that we can do to just reach out with kindness and curiosity and and support.
SPEAKER_03I imagine you're itching to get back, and when I say back, not to Egypt, right? Back to Mivasa, right? Yeah, I really hope so.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I I I know American has already canceled flights through June and Delta, maybe also the same, but hopefully hopefully things calm down, or hopefully that I don't know, something's able to fly through. I'm definitely not going back through Egypt.
SPEAKER_01I heard you can uh get a flight view sneaky through Mexico through Carter and then like fly through it.
SPEAKER_04I think he's just trying to get to every continent.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Would you go to China? Or North Korea next time, maybe. I hear it's nice. Yeah, I don't have any of this I've heard North Korea your cell phone turns off the ever turns.
SPEAKER_01All right, you guys, this has been amazing. Thank you so much for spending time with us and taking the time and for telling the story. Yeah, absolutely. And we look forward to hearing you know what happens and if you're able to go back and how that how that ends up uh working out. But uh for the time being, we're happy to have you here. I'm sure your parents and your sisters are happy to have you here as well.
SPEAKER_02Like every office person in Hank is also very happy to have you. That's true.
SPEAKER_03Uh yes, yes, you've definitely lowered the uh anxiety level. It's mostly because now Rabbi Hazan can actually do his job.
SPEAKER_04Exactly, exactly. There is there is work to do.
SPEAKER_01All right. Well, guys, thank you very much and wishing you a uh kash of sameach and uh hopefully we'll Rabbi Hazan will have you again soon for hopefully um we want to talk about education. I would love to all right. I hope you enjoyed that interview with Rabbi Uri Hazan and his son Ellie. I thought it was informative uh and really interesting to hear their points of view, their takes. We understand that not everybody agrees, and uh and that's okay. It's okay for this to be a debate, a conversation, and something that we can all uh spend some time as uh Pesach approaches rapidly. So I'm gonna take this opportunity to remind everybody to like and subscribe to our podcast. You can follow us on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at CarpalGuyspod and send us an email, carpalguyspod at gmail.com if you have a topic you'd like us to talk about or an idea for Dave's question of the week. With that, from Asher Goretsky, Dave from Flappers Tanabomb, and me, John Ackerman, wishing you a pogsameah, a good yuntiv, and uh wishing you all the best. Talk to you soon.