When you live in Manhattan as I have for some years now, you are likely to have seen just about everything. So when something occurs that makes you stop and stare or something you saw lingers with you throughout the rest of your day, it is a rarity. Today I was working at home and after a wrestling match with an ornery computer, I decided it best to take in a walk along the Hudson bedazzled in the spring sunshine. I set off blissfully with iPod on and rounded the corner to Riverside drive, about to cross over to the park when I notice not one cab, not two, but probably 50 or 60 all parked along the side of the street - some 3 or 4 deep- and not a soul in them. I looked to see if I was in front of a building where a concert could be held or some large gathering...no. Where were the cab drivers? I slowed down considerably and rounded another corner where all of a sudden there were nothing but men, all on knees, bowing and praying in unison. They bent over and touched their foreheads to the sidewalk and back up- over and back up- over and back up.
"Wow", I caught myself saying- probably audible to anyone nearby. But my sheer fascination and curiosity went head to head with my utter respect for religious freedom. The latter kept me walking. I only barely hesitated. I mean, surely in New York I had seen this before at Passover? No. I had not. All of these men, all of them cabbies, all of them parked haphazardly to jump out and pray together because their religion said it was to be so.
I love moments when I feel like I am in New York for the first time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
take a picture next time! you need an iphone. :)
That must have been amazing to see! Although, my Southern gentile friend, what you saw had nothing to do with Passover. Those men were praying toward Mecca, they're Muslim.
Post a Comment