[Editor’s Note: As hundreds of Hamas rockets fired from the Gaza Strip continue to bombard Israel, where more than half of the population is living in bomb shelters, our correspondent filed a report this morning.]
Dateline Jerusalem —
Shabbat, July 11/12:
The saying “Shabbat Shalom” means “have a peaceful Sabbath.” The sirens began Friday evening during Shabbat dinner. It was quiet for the rest of the night, meaning no sirens in my area. I still could hear the loud booms in nearby cities. Saturday morning at Shabbat lunch I opened my big mouth and mentioned the sirens. Within minutes the Code Red siren began to wail. My neighbors and I had to run into the stairwell in our apartment building for safety. My neighbors think I am a jinx. Sirens and booms blared again in the afternoon even when I kept my mouth shut. Just before Havdalah (the ceremony marking the end of Shabbat), I said we should hurry because I could hear too many booms. Within seconds of finishing Havdalah, the sirens screamed. We all ran into the stairwell again. Eight booms. A boom indicates when a rocket or missile is shot down by the Iron Dome. I learned later that debris from those rockets landed next to a friend's home where she had been standing. It is a simple matter of physics, what goes up must come down. Even though the rockets are being shot out of the air, the debris has to go somewhere. That debris consists of large pieces of the rocket landing all over, which in itself is a danger to civilians.
Sunday, July 13:
I was rudely awakened at 6 a.m. (I didn't get to sleep until 3:30) by the Code Red Alert sirens screaming in my ears. As one of my friends puts it, “Who needs an alarm clock? I rushed into the stairwell and found more neighbors than usual. To my amazement, until now some did not realize the gravity of the attacks on Israel. With the constant barrage of rockets and missiles, they finally are waking up. A neighbor's child was injured running barefoot to the stairwell, which is getting crowded. I was in such a rush to get to safety that I forgot to take my eyeglasses with me. From now on, I will have to wear them to sleep. My hometown used to be one of the safest areas in Israel. No longer. Rocket and missile attacks have shown us just how small Israel is in relation to its enemies. Now with rockets coming at us from Lebanon to our north and Gaza from the south, our tiny nation (we are the size of New Jersey, fitting into California 19 times) has no safe areas.
All was quiet the rest of the day. No more sirens. I still hear booms.
L'hitraot. Shachar
