by Rachel Saperstein, Neve Dekalim/Nitzan
This is our second visit to Sderot. After weeks of continuous rocket attacks the town appeared to revive. There had been only one attack the previous night. The ensuing quiet sparked courage. People went out to do some quick shopping. Events could quickly change.
Once again I joined Noam Bedein of the Western Negev Information Center on a tour of Sderot.
We stopped in front of a badly damaged synagogue. “I was here when it was bombed,” Noam began. “A new Torah scroll, accompanied by music and dancing, was being brought into its new home – this synagogue. Crowds had come to join the festivities. They stood in the courtyard and in the main synagogue. Refreshments had been laid on the study hall tables. The people who had been setting the tables were shooed out of the room and the door locked. Seconds later the Kassam rocket slammed on to the roof of the just-emptied hall. The noise, the smoke, the shock was horrific. Young women, children, older men screamed and cried. Many fainted. Terrified parents tried to collect their children. Miraculously no one was injured. The mental damage is another matter. The media reported the event: ‘little damage… no injuries’.”
Mangled furniture and bits of glass still lay on the floor. The glass enclosed bookcases containing copies of holy books had remained intact. Two pictures of rabbis hung untouched.
We said Shalom to Naphtalie, the sexton, who was packing dusty prayer books into cartons. He sighed and shook his head in despair. “This was one of the most crowded synagogues in Sderot. Now we barely have a ‘minyan’.” The synagogue itself had suffered damage to its roof. The holy ark was unharmed.
I recalled the wanton destruction of our synagogues in Gush Katif after our expulsion. Was this Hashem’s message – If you were prepared to allow the destruction of my holy places in Gush Katif, no holy place is sacred.
We drove to the supermarket. Although well stocked and built underground the store was practically deserted. A few brave souls quickly packed food into shopping carts. The young man laying out fruit and vegetable told us his story. “This is crowded,” he assured us. “People are afraid to come out of their homes even to shop for food. At night we leave cartons of food at apartment buildings for people to collect. We donate cake to the soldiers. Volunteers come to buy food for the elderly. The Tnuva truckers were afraid to deliver dairy products. The IDF put the truckers into the army reserves. Then they showed up. Me? Oh, I’ll hang around for awhile then I’ll leave Sderot. No future here. You can’t live like this forever. The government? They’re not going to stop the rockets. They’re hopeless.”
We stopped at a mobile bomb shelter. The shelters, called ‘Lifeshields’, are being placed in strategic public areas, near parks and bus stops. There were no children in the parks. There were few people on the buses. Stepping into the shelter gave one the sense of claustrophobia. The electric light did not work. I couldn’t judge how quickly the elderly would be able to sprint to the shelter after hearing a Red Alert signal.
Our last stop was the headquarters of Lev Echad [One Heart]. The brainchild of Russian-Israeli millionaire Lev Levayev, Lev Echad recruits volunteers to work with families in distressed areas. I recall their help to Gush Katif expellees when they arrived tired and hungry to the refugee camps. Last summer Lev Echad went up north to deliver food and games to those in shelters. Now they are in Sderot. Smiling young people stood about waiting for their instructions.
David offered me a glass of water. He was manning the telephones. “We get calls from families in need,” he explained. “We send out volunteers to help children with homework and to play with them. We try to relieve stressed-out parents. We shop, buy medicine, clean houses and just listen to the people. No job is too difficult.”
A group of new volunteers sat together as they received information about Lev Echad. The young people, religious and non-religious, were working together. This is Israel at its best. Seeing these brave young people ready to help their brothers and sisters gave me a much-needed lift.
I was assured that people of all ages are welcome to volunteer. Call Lev Echad, 0528-226869.
Returning to the Information Center, Noam and I talked of the work we needed to do to get the Sderot story out to the media and to the people of the world. Noam’s email is Noam@SderotMedia.com
At 5:45pm the Red Alert brought Sderot to a halt.
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