בס''ד

Rockets are Raining in the South

I live in Ma’agalim, home to four hundred families. Ma’agalim is an Yishvu [community], in the Southern Negev, just outside of  Netivot, half hour from Beer Sheva and nine kilometers from Gaza.

We had just finished making Havdalah, saying good-bye to Shabbat Parsha Noach for another year. Shabbat had been a nice quiet relaxing day. The first rain of the season had just fallen.

Our 4 month old puppy Patches needed to be taken out and I said that I would walk her.  Patches and I had just gotten down the street when the warning air raid siren went off.  That meant in 20 seconds a grad missile would land.

I started to run home. The puppy was scared and running as fast as her little feet could. Just as I reached my home, I saw two flashes in the sky that looked like lightning and a ball of fire flying over my backyard.

Then boom, boom! The sight is mind boggling. The booms are so loud.

The flashes were not lightning but the iron dome getting ready to take out the rocket. The iron dome is a mobile air defense system.

The boom was the iron dome doing its job and destroying the rocket before it could land.

As I write this piece, rockets have been falling for over five hours. Almost every town and city in the south has been hit. From Beer Sheva to Netivot, to Sedrot to Ashdod to Ashkelon and every little town in between has had a siren.

In Ashdod an apartment building was hit and a car is on fire. In Ashkelon a private home was hit. In Gan Yavneh a schoolyard was hit. A number of the rockets caused extensive damages to buildings.

The IDF is reporting so far twenty rockets have landed in the Southern communities. Pikud HaOref ..our Home Front command has ordered all gatherings of 500 people or more be cancelled until further notice.

People living within forty kilometers of Gaza are to stay close to shelters. School is cancelled for tomorrow [Sunday] for children living more that 7km. up to 40 km. from Gaza. 200,000 children from gan [kindergarten] and up will be home. My grandchildren go to school in Kfar Maimon [borders Gaza] and learn in fortified classrooms. They have school. Instead of fire drills, they have kassem drills. Each and every child knows what to do if the warning siren goes off.

MDA Magan David Adom is reporting three serious injuries, more than 43 people were admitted to the hospital wounded by the rockets and many people are suffering from shock.

The man injured in Ashkelon has now died.

The police have raised the alertness level to second highest in the south.

The IAF is retaliating over Gaza. I can hear the booms.

Epilogue: 8 hours later:

Two grads were sent to Beer Sheva around 3:00 a.m. and at 5:00a.m. a grad was sent to Ashkelon. There is nothing worse than being woken up during the night with an air raid siren. The booming is continuing. I just heard two very loud booms.

The drones and helicopters are out. Egypt supposedly brokers a ‘cease fire’ to start at 6:00 a.m. This was already broken. The IDF is reporting thirty-nine kassamim, mortars or grads landed in Southern Israel.

We have nothing stopping us now. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all the other terrorist groups must be put out of business for once and for all.

Terrorist own video: Shooting into Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Bg5HGW8qY&feature=share

Miriam

בס''ד

Kassams, Grad Missiles and More......

Shalom and welcome back!

A loyal reader suggested that I write a blog about living in an area where kassams and grad missiles are landing. Since it has been very noisy for the past couple of days, I decided to write this blog.

My family & I live in Netivot, a city in the Western Negev. We are located 10kms from Gaza. Our neighboring communities are located within the regional councils of Sedot Negev, Eshkol, and Shaar Ha Negev. The community of Sderot is about 10 minutes from us by car.

We have grandchildren that live in Ma’agalim and go to school in Kfar Maimon, part of the Sedot Negev communities.

Each of the children's classrooms is a fortified bomb proof room with a security door. Before they moved into these classrooms, they had an unprotected classroom.

Children in North America have fire drills, these children have kassam drills. Every child knows that when the alarm goes off, they have to quickly go under their desk and roll up like a ball. They know that they have to stay away from windows and follow the teacher’s instructions. They understand this is not child’s play. With these new classrooms the children have protection from kassams

The army comes to the school to visit, teach and reassure the children. In the playground there are bomb shelters in case the siren rings during recess. Unfortunately, Kfar Maimon is on the receiving end of many Kassams.

We, in Netivot, have had over the past couple of years several grad missiles fall. Kassams can’t reach us, as they can not be aimed and can only go a few kms. Grads on the other hand are directed and can go 20kms. They usually land in or near the cemetery of the Baba Sali which is on the perimeter of the city.

We have had grads land in the center of town, near a gas station, in the shuk [market] and two have landed not far from our apartment. One was in a farmer’s field. We could see the smoke rising from our balcony. The other was a little to close for comfort. It landed in a construction site in back of our apartment. Fortunately, there were no injuries or damage from these attacks.

Netivot, as with other communities, is hooked up to a warning air raid siren. When the siren rings, you have 40 seconds to go into your safe room or a public bomb shelter.

When the kassam or grad missile lands it makes a very loud boom and the windows and sometimes the floor vibrates. The hole in the ground is deep and black.

Life goes on. We are not afraid to leave our apartment. We take buses, go where we have to go and do whatever we need to get done.

Living in this area, you get used to the different sounds. We sometimes have helicopters hovering and circling over our neighborhood for hours, waiting for orders. You learn the sounds of booming in the distance, which are the terrorists and which is the army responding.

By far, Sderot and the moshavim and kibbutzim close by, have had the most attacks. Sderot can be targeted up to 30 to 40 times a day. It is only 2kms from Gaza. The property damage is extensive. Many residents have been seriously injured. One child lost his leg. Children and adults are suffering from mental anguish. There have been deaths to both children and adults. Parents are afraid to send their children to school as the schools are not fortified. Kassams have landed near kindergartens and day cares. One kassam landed in a shul, beside the Aron HaKodesh, five minutes after a dedication of a new Sefer Torah and everyone had left. Unemployment is very high and dispair is everywhere.

But with every tragedy there is sunshine. Mitzvot are happening all the time.Everyone cares.

In Beer Sheva there is a Challah project where you can order your Shabbos challahs from Sderot. This past Pesach, buses filled with women from Jerusalem and area came to Sderot to do their Pesach shopping. During the summer, a convoy of cars from the North came to visit the residents and shop.

The Sderot Online Mall [link on side of blog] is a private initiative of people from the center of the country, trying to give new business opportunities to the citizens of Sderot & all the other moshavim and kibbutzim that are close to and surrounds the Gaza strip. The residents of Sderot have to know that they are not alone.

As I sit at my computer typing this blog, I hear a very loud boom in the distance. When will it end.....nobody knows.

May the Hand of Hashem protect us all.

Here is picture of a kassam.

Several months ago I wrote a poem about Sderot.

Sderot's Pain

The siren is blaring

people are shouting

red alert, red alert

kassams are coming!

Mothers and fathers

Hold on to their precious children

run to the shelters

Saying Tehillim, that all will be well.

The children are screaming.

The noise is deafening.

Their parents want to know

When will this all stop.

Suddenly, there is aloud boom!

Residents, still shaking

look for the injured and the damage.

B"H, this time there were no deaths.

Where is the government?

Why aren't they doing anything?

These are the questions on everyone's tongue.

Oh, why has our government abandoned us?

Hashem, Sderot is in Your Hands.

I pray the day will come

when our army

will be sent to do its job.

And Sderot will be once again QUIET!

I hope that you found this blog to be informative. Please feel free to pass it along.

Epilogue:-

It all started around 8:05 in the morning, the third day of Chanukah, Dec. 24th, when the first siren went off. We went to our safe room, my husband closed the metal window & then boom..... 10 minutes later we were in our safe room again.

This repeated 5 or 6 more times. In between, we could hear the siren from a distance goings off in other yishuvim.

My daughters live in Ma'agalim 5 minutes from me......She also had many trips to the basement of their house. Devorah spoke to the kids and told the 3 golder kids [11,7,6] that when they go downstairs they must bring one of the younger children with them. [2,3,4]

The 3 older kids are used to the siren going off because they go to school in Kfar Maimon, that borders Gaza and have sirens 3 /4 times a day. Even still Adi who is 7 was very upset. Home is supposed to be a safe place.

We are not leaving Netivot. The attacks are annoying, but I will never allow arabs to scare and make me run from our home. That's what they want. To rid Jews from the Negev.

I hope today will be quieter......but if we don't go and clean up Gaza this will be a rewinding story.