Only in Israel!

I just had the most marvelous experience of the week - in the grocery store checkout line! I was third in line, and the person who was first was arguing strenuously with the woman at the checkout counter. The man immediately in front of me was American-born, and we got into a conversation. This is normal (for me at least). What *isn't* normal is what we talked about - after the first few minutes of small talk, we got onto the divisive nature of religious denominations, the idea of God throughout history, my and Jonathan's plans for kids, his daughter's relationship with a much older man, and more. After 15 minutes both of us had paid for our groceries, so naturally, we exchanged emails, and we're going over to their house next week for Shabbat dinner. I love Israel! Small talk is kept to a minimum, Judaism bonds everyone, and friendship can be found anywhere.