I like this post from last summer that just came to my attention. The Israeli author, Ralph Dobrin, says of himself that “nationalistically I have views that place me more Right Wing than Avigdor Lieberman.” Still, he got into conversation with the Arab workmen whom he hired to renovate his bathroom. Having done a few of those myself I know how nicely the tea and lunch breaks can develop into deep talk with the client.

So Dobrin objects to the Arab workmen about Muslim jihadists attacking Israel, and the workmen explain the true spiritual meaning of jihad. This may not be news to most Tikkun Daily readers as it was not to me, but I really enjoyed the description of these lunchbreak conversations, and the way the author feels he has learned something so new he must blog about it.

That the workmen were doing such a good job is critical to the story. Their work had gained their client’s respect, and so he was more open to hearing their opinions. This is something social change activists don’t always appreciate about the ordinary interactions of trade: that they promote trust across the boundaries as people do mutually profitable things for each other. And so, starting with purely materialistic or monetary motives, people nonetheless are drawn into relationship. Ideology and mistrust so often overwhelm these fragile feelers that people put out to each other, that we become prone to expect that they always will. So I love stories like this, of people hearing each other in mundane situation like a bathroom renovation.