by Rabbi Koval
Have you
ever felt time stand still? On Tuesday night, I did! Driving down a
quiet, residential street in Shaker Heights, I stopped at a stop sign
and then kept on driving. Then I noticed headlights coming straight at me.
Oh my gosh, I am about to get smashed, I thought. Time
stood still for me. Literally! In reality, probably no more than three
seconds went by, but in my car, I entered a new dimension of reality.
One in where time stood still. I just froze, unsure if I would survive
as I waited to see and feel how bad the impact would be.
Thank G-d, I am totally fine, but my car sustained quite an impact and needed some serious body work. After the initial shock wore off, I experienced a strange sensation. I felt like I am living in a very fragile world. Not in a morbid, depressing way. Also not in an oh-my-gosh-I-am-so-grateful-to-be-alive way either. More like a reality check. A feeling that life is fragile.
Life is precious. Try and take nothing for granted.
Here's
the moral dilemma that I now face: the gentleman who hit me was a
super-mentch. He apologized, asked me not to file a police report and
offered to pay for my repairs out of pocket. My dilemma is that I don't
feel that he was at fault any more than I was. It was dusk-time,
raining hard and somehow neither one of us noticed each other. So, while
my car definitely sustained greater damages (it was his front bumper
against my door) I just don't feel
comfortable accepting his money because I don't feel that it's possible to determine whose fault it was...
comfortable accepting his money because I don't feel that it's possible to determine whose fault it was...
What do you think, dear readers?
