About a month ago my good friend Ayal invited me to travel to London to a David Gilmore and Pink Floyd concert.  His wife couldn't join him, and, to my surprise, my wife agreed to my making the trip.  There was only one hitch, Ayal had only one ticket to the concert, and the chances at this late date of acquiring a second ticket were slim, to say the least.

It was a long shot, but Ayal entered a website devoted to fans of the rock group that were discussing the upcoming event.  He actually found someone from Norway on the site who had an extra ticket to give away.  The virtual "matchmaking" began, with Ayal telling the story about how we were traveling from Israel to London to see the performance, but were short one ticket. 

The Norwegian, J.T. Larsen by name, responded:  "If you are coming all the way from Israel to London, I'd be delighted to give you the ticket!"  Ayal asked him the price of the ticket, and J.T.'s response was:  "Give the money for the cost of the ticket to charity."  Ayal then set up a meeting place with J.T. in London, at the Queen's Arms Pub near Royal Albert Hall, and prayed for the best.  One never knows whether people you meet in cyberspace are reliable and true to their word, so I made alternative plans for the evening of the concert just in case. 

We arrived at the pub in plenty of time, and I sat down outside to wait in suspense while Ayal entered the pub to search out the "virtual group" from the Internet.  Did they really exist?  That was the question.  You can imagine my amazement when he came out grinning ear to ear, accompanied by J.T. Larsen,  and holding out the coveted ticket for me.  "I bet you didn't believe me, right?" he said.

When I asked J.T. Larsen how much I owed him for the ticket, he requested that I donate the money to an organization that helps people in need of assistance.

We could not get over the kindness of this man and his readiness to contribute to people he would never see again.  It reminded us of the words of the Naomi Shemer song, "Good people in the middle of your path, very good people."  We found ourselves drinking "L'Chaim" with J.T. Larsen and his whole group and spending the entire evening together with them until after the end of the concert, when we parted ways.

Back in Israel, I sent J.T. the web address for Yad Sarah and he responded that he would be pleased if we would transfer the donation to the organization, which I immediately did. 

And, you ask, how was the concert?  It was amazing and I enjoyed every moment of it! But because of J. T. Larsen's good deed, someone in need will receive help.

Attached is a photo of me (second from right) and J.T. Larsen (second from left), Queen's Arms Pub