Like many Israelis who took advantage of the Passover holidays to travel around the country, actor Aviv Alush took his children for a fun day - but then found himself stuck in the car in a lonely place, when it was 41 degrees outside.
""A story for Shabbat - a family lesson," he opened the post he posted on Saturday evening on his Instagram account.
""We were supposed to go to Jordan for a few days after the holiday and ended up staying home. The kids went a little crazy and yesterday, despite the heat, we said we'd go to some quiet corner by the sea because we need water in this heat and towards the evening we'd have a barbecue in some forest.".
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I prepared the kids in advance that the beaches were packed and the whole world was outside, which meant we might not be able to find a quiet corner and would head straight to the forest. They all told me in unison: Dad, no way, we're going to the beach!
Like a good father, I did what I could and already at the first and quite isolated beaches, the number of vehicles overwhelmed the number of people and we made a U-turn, trying all sorts of roads and side paths to get to the beach but without success. The children did not give up and most of all we did not want to disappoint little Nir David who had already slept for an hour and a half in the car with the floats on him.
""Come on, let's not give up. I try more roads and all kinds of dirt paths until I reached an area of dunes and saw in the way that there was a path that led to the beach. We were already pretty close until we reached an area of really serious sand and I was a little afraid to continue, but I didn't really have a choice because there was nowhere to turn, so I continued a little straight and let's dig in. I tried to dig under the wheels with my hand. It was terribly hot outside. I managed to turn around but dug in even deeper. And in the process, I completely understood that I was in a lesson here, we were all in a lesson and I asked the children to simply pray and say verses of Psalms so that we could get out of here. There were a few more attempts with the car, but for some reason, it wouldn't move.
""The worst-case scenario already comes to mind - we're stuck in a place where a dog wouldn't go with 3 bottles of cold water and soda and it could take a few hours for them to rescue us," he said, "but I immediately strengthened myself with faith and said no way, God is giving us a lesson here and this lesson is a gift for us. Thank you, Dad.
""I got back into the car, sweaty and full of sand, and freed myself from the ordeal and called 'Friends.' Within a second, a lovely man answered me, I sent him pictures and a location and he put out a call for their jeep unit in the area. Friends is a great charity organization!!
""I asked the children and Nofar what they thought the lesson was that the Creator was teaching us and why we got stuck? Each one brought their own argument, and that in itself was amazing and sparked a fascinating conversation. We put on music and I read them the daily passage from the Zohar in 'Give Us Our Portion', which explains that the Creator Himself brought us out of Egypt. And it was so accurate to the situation we were in that it was clear that only He would get us out.".
""Meanwhile, a sweet man calls and informs me that he is on his way and tells me to try letting the air out of the tires first. I let the air out and within seconds we were out of the area. Air is ego (acid) and sometimes to get out of the strait and difficulty you simply have to let go of control and let the air out. When there is no pride, the Creator comes in His own person to help.".
""Shabbat Shalom," the actor wrote, adding: "And you loved me.".
