An appalling reality

I was actually starting to believe that I was the lucky charm of Sderot. Over the past eight months I have been to Sderot on business nearly every other week, and each time that I traveled down from Jerusalem, things were quiet. No Kassam rockets, no "red color" warnings, no Israelis fleeing for their lives. While in town I had made a point to set aside time to visit the countless Sderot natives whose homes had been destroyed and lives shattered in the attacks, but until this past Monday I had really never quite grasped what it all meant.

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Another day, another Kassam

While volunteering with special needs kids on Thursday, "Tzevah Adom" sounded. Because it was during a repelling activity, I was hanging from the top of a tree when the alert sounded. So the dude in charge got me down as fast as he could.

Then I took the safety thing off and ran into the shelter outside (pictured below), relieved I made it in time before the boom.

As soon as I entered I said, "I knew the Tzevah Adom was going to go off while I was up there", not thinking the Kassam was going to land near us. I smiled in relief, and began fixing my glasses as they appeared broken. Ten seconds later...the loudest boom of my life! I've never heard such a sound. It was crazy. How does the city endure these attacks everyday?

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The depths of anxiety

I always get a little shaken up when I visit a family traumatized by a rocket attack. Today is no different, as I visit the Amar family, whose home was hit last Thursday. The first thing I see when I visit their home is Aliza Amar, the owner, sitting in a wheelchair at the entrance. Aliza looks sad and forlorn, even as neighbors come by to wish her a quick recovery.

Aliza was hospitalized for almost four days for injury and shock. She explains to me that because she is physically handicapped, she has difficulty escaping to the bomb shelter when the siren sounds. So when a rocket hit the Amar home on Thursday afternoon, December 13, Aliza, in her wheelchair could not reach the shelter in time. "The force of the rocket fall blew me off the chair, into that kitchen wall", says Aliza, as I walk into their home.

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