I already said I'm not religious, right?
On Passover Eve, in the morning, I left Bratislava for Vienna for some small errands. I used the remaining time for a short walk around the city. It was a day of nice weather, a good time to check out a few more sites ahead of the tourist season.
As I was about to return to the parking lot, the phone rang. My daughter, who is actually religious, called to say 'happy holiday' and to ask how I was spending the holiday. Where I am staying now in Bratislava, I said. No, I don't have any Jewish community or synagogue nearby.
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So where will you get matzah?
I don't have any mitzvahs, I admitted, I don't like mitzvahs. I keep them as best I can, not too easy or too strict, I try, but I don't like mitzvahs. I don't want mitzvahs.
'"Please get matzah from wherever you can," my daughter requested. "It's important, very important to eat matzah on Passover, even one matzah if you can get it.".
I could hear the tremor in her voice, I understood how important it was to her. In situations like this I don't argue. Okay, I promised without knowing if I could keep it, I'll get it.
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Friday, three-thirty in the afternoon, abroad. What had come over me, I thought, what matzah, where would I get matzah now? There are kosher stores in Vienna, but by this time everything was closed of course, except for one store that Google thought was open.
It's started to rain like a European rain, the kind that comes out of nowhere in the middle of a bright day. A cold wind. I'm standing there by Vienna's city park, looking for shelter, navigating my way back to the parking lot with a quick, wet walk and then rushing to the store. Which is open. Everything is closed.
I continued with the car around the corner and stopped, trying to think what to do. I began to get annoyed at the situation that seemed completely illusory to me. Running around Vienna in areas I don't know and have never been to, looking for matzoh.
I drove to Vienna for a completely different purpose, I didn't plan on messing around with matzos now. Two Haredim passed by, I got out of the car and ran after them.
Excuse me, maybe you know where I can get matzah?
They seemed quite surprised.
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One answered in Yiddish and the other translated for me - there's a Chabad house nearby, they told me, try them. They showed me the direction. I rushed there, couldn't find anything among the signs, thought maybe I was on the wrong path and was getting ready to turn back, and then I saw the "Chabad House" sign.
I entered, two people were at the door, one who works there and a Haredi guy who arrived with a trolley suitcase, right at that moment, probably a few seconds before me.
It turned out that he arrived on a flight from Israel that same day.
''Hello, maybe I can get some matzah here?''
'One matzah or three?' the young man asked Chabad.
I didn't know what to answer. I muttered stupidly: "I don't know, Matza." Someone arrived with a delivery truck.
""Jacob!" the boy called from the doorway, "Give him three matzos! Go, go with him, he will give you.".
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The delivery guy opened the packages in the car and tried to find matzah. The first package had only dishes, the second only food portions in plastic boxes, he made an effort, opened another package, opened the car door from the other side. I apologized for the inconvenience I was causing them, we were all standing in the rain, trying to find some matzah for the strange secular person who had landed on them out of nowhere.
Then that Haredi guy who happened to arrive at the same time with me said, "I have some." He took out a package of three preserved matzahs.
""But you probably need it," I said, surprised. "No," he replied, "I brought it in case someone needs it. And here it is, you.".
I was shocked. I didn't know what to say, except thank you and thank you again. I asked his name. Ronen ben Olga. Please, if you can, bless this righteous man, the angel who came my way. He just said: "Be careful with the matzah, so that they don't get wet in the rain.".
Three preserved matzahs. I ran back to the car, crying without knowing why.
Thank you to my wonderful daughter who pressured me so hard to find matzah, thank you to this guy, the angel who was there at that moment. Thank you to the one who, on his way, arranged and put everything together so that on the eve of the holiday I would have three matzahs saved, without even planning or thinking about it.
• From Tal Gilad's Facebook
