The rain had stopped for a few minutes and we took advantage to get Patches, our Jac a Bee puppy, out to do her business.
It was 11:30a.m. Shabbat morning, Avraham had just come in, and we were going to sit down for our Shabbat lunch, when the warning grad missile siren blared…we have fifteen seconds to go to our safe spot in the house.
The siren was unseemly long and we suspected it was headed for Beer Sheva. We then heard a loud boom! The grad missile landed in the fields of Moshav Sharsheret. Two more missiles landed outside of Beer Sheva. Hamas had once again disturbed our Shabbat.
In the south we are very fortunate to have a silent Shabbat Station. Radio Darom 101.5 FM. Every Friday at 4:05 the radio announcer says Shabbat Shalom and then the station goes off..complete silence. It goes back on a few minutes after Shabbat, Beer Sheva time.
If there are incoming missiles, the station goes on with a siren and announces where the kassams and grad missiles are headed. This time the announcement was Moshav Sharsheret, Netivot and Beer Sheva.
We live in Ma’agalim, a minute from Moshav Sharsheret and 9 kms. from Gaza. Our yishuv was started by many of the children of the moshav. Many families here have parents who still live on the moshav.
My son-in-law is from the moshav.
The media reported no damage or injuries but this is not quite true. Yes, there weren’t any physical injuries, but what about the emotional injuries that a siren causes. And the boom…children and the elderly are terrified.
What people who don’t live in the south fail to understand, is that a kassam or grad missile is not just a firecracker being thrown that lands with a boom, it is a deadly weapon that can maime and kill.
Hamas wants to kill each and every man, woman and child. Why you ask? Because we are Jews and live in Israel. They don’t want peace. They don’t really even want a state. They want the glory of being able to say, we defeated and threw the Jews out of their homeland.
If G-D forbid this would happen, the land of Israel would become another terror state.
Just look what Hamas did with Gush Katif. Thirty odd years ago, this piece of barren land was settled by Israeli citizens who loved the land. They cultivated the land with loving care, built communities, homes, businesses, schools. The Gush was blooming.
Five years ago, close to ten thousand Jews were forcibly removed from their homes and land. We left all the community centers, schools, buildings, and greenhouses. Beautiful and well equipped parks were also left.
The government insisted this action was necessary because it would bring quiet and peace to the south.
Did Hamas take all that they were given and make the lives of their fellow arabs better? Did they stop the terror of shooting rockets? No they turned each and every inch of land into a terror camp.
Us citizens in the South, faced a barrage of rockets. Thousands and thousands of rockets have been aimed and sent to the south.
Hamas terror reigns in the area. As I write this blog early Monday morning, two more grads have landed in Sdot Negev, my regional council.
Israel and the Negev is our home. Nothing will ever make me pick up and move to a safer area….because no area in Israel is truly safe.
It is the government and IDF’s job to take military action against Hamas and stop the terror once and for all. All we can do is pray that The Hand of Hashem will watch over us and keep us safe.
Until next time. Please feel free to comment and share.
Miriam
