רבי יוסי אומר:
שכן טוב.
רבי שמעון אומר:
הרואה את הנולד.
אבות ב:י"ב

I had a choice of locations in which to live when I moved to Israel. I knew that I wanted to live in Jerusalem, and the authorities offered me a home in my choice of the available new suburban developments: Ramot, Neve Yaakov, Gilo, and (subsequently) East Talpiot.

The government was developing these areas for political reasons, following the victory of the Six Day War. At that time, they wanted to assure that established areas could never be given away. This article will not discuss the contradictory issues that were raised by subsequent politicians.

Our selected neighborhood turned out to be the best - by far. But how did we "happen" to win that lottery?

During the course of our travels by Egged bus, we befriended the driver, Uri. We chatted about his job, about his work, and about driving buses, as he took us on his route. We also asked him what kind of people visited or moved into the various Jerusalem neighborhoods.

His descriptions made it clear that our future neighbors would have to be in Ramot. We were less interested in the building construction or layout, the relative distance from Jerusalem, and the view. We wanted to make sure that we would have good neighbors. Uri gave us the assistance that we needed, when we needed it. As we discovered later, the construction, view, distance, and layout were also better in Ramot.

Over the years, Uri's advice has proved to be more valuable than what we could have received from any real estate agent or government official.

We went to the top expert. We went to the bus driver. We also thanked him many times – even after he left the Egged bus cooperative and started driving a taxi. Uri offered us real protektzia, with the best and most reliable information.

Uri also taught us that we don't necessarily have to listen to the top people in order to be able to get the best referrals. Very often the person in a more humble position is far more useful.

That's right - we won that lottery because we had met Uri by chance.

Or was it "chance?"