Did you ever wonder what it would be like if Sunday was not a day off, as it is in most of the world, or if Saturday was not the day of rest, as we Jews celebrate it? Well, you don’t have to imagine too much, because on this island of Bocas del Toro the slow workday is Monday. You might say it’s too bad we weren’t privy to this information in advance, but the truth is that G‑d runs the world and everything is for the best.
We woke up early Monday morning, prayed, and checked out of our hotel room. Making our way over to the ferry terminal so that we could get to our next city on our itinerary, we found out that there are no ferries on Monday—it’s their day of rest! Oh boy, what now? So we decided to spend the time sleuthing for more Jews, and it’s a good thing we did (but that is a post all for itself).
That night, it took more time than anticipated for us to find a water taxi to take us to our new accommodations. “Let’s check one more place,” suggested Lipa, and just as we were about to get into the boat, we heard some women calling us: “Rabbis! Where is Chabad?” We put down our things and went over to them. It turned out that they had just arrived on the island as tourists, and the first thing they set out to look for was Chabad. We told them that we were on our way out, but we did share some unopened kosher meat packages with them. They were so happy. “We haven't had kosher meat—or any meat for that matter—since we began our trip,” they told us. “This means so much to us, thanks.”
We had to be on that island one more day, even if it was just for them. And the next time you have trouble finding a taxi—well, maybe there is a reason for that too.
