Rav Kav

I had a meeting in Jerusalem yesterday.  But the time overlapped with when we would have to pick up the boys from school.  Since we only have one car, we had to figure out the logistics.  We could have asked a friend to help out, either bringing them home from school or they could have just played at a friends house until I got home closer to dinner time.  But I decided that it was about time I learned how to use the public transportation system.  So Val and I drove to Jerusalem in the morning together, did a bit of shopping, had brunch at a coffee shop in the Hadar Mall, and then she drove back home to Ra’anana, leaving me in Jerusalem alone to attend to my meeting and see if I could get myself home.  

I had read online about the bus system, and that you need what’s called a Rav-Kav smart card to use the buses and trains here.  And I had read that you can add money to your card at certain stores such as pharmacies etc.  So I walked into a Superpharm store and asked in broken Hebrew if I could buy a new Rav Kav card.  She said what I thought was yes and gestured across the aisle at the wall where there were some automatic payment machines.  I said ok thanks and pointed at the machines, thinking they would dispense me a card.  She said no, repeated what she had originally said which i had somehow failed to understand, and pointed again – i picked out the work “higher” this time, so I motioned to the top of the machines, thinking maybe there was some lever on top of the machines that I was missing.  Clearly we weren’t getting anywhere, so she came out from behind the counter, walked right over the machines along the wall, and pointed at the prepackaged cards hanging from the wall above the machines, along with other necessities like chapstick and packs of gum.  Then she asked me if I wanted the plain anonymous one such as these, or my own card with a picture, etc, that would store my transactions and give me discounts when elegible etc.  Having no idea which was better, I hesitated, then chose the regular one from the wall, then changed my mind and asked how you get a personalised one?  She answered in Hebrew what I thought was something like “down” or “below.”  At first I thought she meant hanging below the other cards.  But as i walked back to machines on the wall to check below them, she yelled out, something like, “no, down below!”  At which point I finally figured out she meant downstairs, as in not in this store, but a different store in the lower level of the mall.  I apologised, thanked her, and asked which store in the mall downstairs, at which point she just motioned me away.  She was clearly done with me, and so I acquiesced and left the store.  At least I was one step closer to getting my own card.  

I found the down escalator and to my surprise there were only three stores downstairs.  And one of them, I was able to read the Hebrew, said something about public transportation.  It was a small office with three women sitting behind computers.  I asked about getting a Rav Kav card and one of them said yes, so I walked over to her. She told me to go back and get a number.  Seriously.  The store was completely empty.  So I walked to the number machine.  These aren’t the old style red wheels where you pull off one of those yellow number ticket things from the spool of numbers – its a whole computerised machine with a Hebrew menu system you have to navigate that asks you what you’re there for, then gives you a number in that specific queue.  Anyway, the machine printed out my number and I walked back to the same lady, who after taking my ticket was happy to help me get my Rav Kav card.  She took my picture, printed out the card, which is like a credit card and even has a chip on it like the newer credit cards do. It cost 5 shekels, about $1.50. Then I had to use the other machine at the front of the office to load the card with money.  But in the end I had my public transit card.  

I had some time to kill before my meeting so I walked to the Machane Yehuda Market/Shuk.  (And on the way passed by the OU international headquarters, so if you’re wondering who is putting that OU kosher symptoms on all the kosher food you buy, it’s these guys.)

The shuk wasn’t as busy as normal but was still crowded with people all wearing masks.  And there were police checking everyones’ temperature before they let you inside.  Which was difficult because the shuk takes up several street blocks, so they had to block off those streets entirely with barricades so you could only enter through a narrow passageway where the officer could check you.  Its really an experience if you’ve never been there.  Stores with random stuff, like in an American flea market, spices, fresh fruits and vegetables, coffee shops, bars, and entire sections some with just fish and some with just meat with the butchers actually carving up the animals right there before your eyes.  

After my meeting I used the app Moovit on my phone to get a bus route back to Ra’anana.  I walked outside onto the main street, waited about one minute to a nearby streetcar stop, rode three stops to the central bus station where I looked around for the next bus I would need to get from Jerusalem to Ra’anana.  Luckily I had read online that although bus service was running again, they were limiting the number of passengers allowed on, therefore you needed to buy a ticket in advance.  I waited in line at the window (only one window was open, and the line was only three people deep – not very busy).  Then I walked over to gate 17 and waited another ten minutes for the bus to arrive.  We boarded, only about 10 people on the bus, and pulled out about five minutes later.  We made one other stop in Jerusalem before rolling out onto highway 1 towards Tel Aviv, and three stops after that I exited the bus in Ra’anana.  Pretty easy, and It only took few minutes longer than driving.  So that’s my first experience with Israeli public transit.  Not sure if it actually makes me any more Israeli, but it does sort of feel like it! 😎