A day spent on Planet Sderot

DAVID. J. LITVAK

Tzeva adom, tzeva adom – that was the muffled cry from the loudspeaker warning us that a Kassam rocket was about to land in Sderot, the besieged Israeli town that my friend Alissa and I had been visiting for the day.

We knew from the announcement (tzeva adom means code red) and from the wailing of the siren that we had 15 seconds to find shelter or lie flat on the ground near a fence. As we scrambled to safety, we heard a resounding thud and felt the ground shake as a Kassam from nearby Gaza landed somewhere in town. Our little group of day-trippers from Jerusalem waited out the rocket attack huddled together in the town's psychological trauma centre. This was just one of the many rockets that had fallen on Sderot that day – and the second rocket that fell while we were there, which also happened to be Chanukah.

In the trauma centre, a young Sderot resident was being treated for shock. It was disconcerting to see, but this is the reality of daily life in Sderot, a town on the front lines of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. In fact, as we toured the surprisingly beautiful little town, I thought to myself that living in Sderot – which has bomb shelters instead of bus shelters and reinforced schools with no open playgrounds – would be like living on a different planet.

Our group was brought to town for the day by a nonprofit organization called Connections Israel and, for most of us, experiencing a rocket attack was a new experience. Unfortunately for the town's 27,000 residents, for the last eight years, this has been an all too common occurrence.

In between rocket attacks, our guide, Mordechai Cohen, the executive director of Connections Israel (whose mandate is to strengthen Jewish identity and forge relationships between Israelis and Diaspora Jews) took us on a city tour and introduced us to some of Sderot's resilient residents and leaders who, despite the constant attacks, attempt to live a normal life.

As part of the tour, we were taken to a small viewpoint that overlooked the Gaza Strip. At the top of the summit, we could catch a glimpse of Gaza City. We could see that Gaza was essentially in Sderot's backyard and we now understood why Sderot's residents only have 15 seconds to find shelter when a rocket is launched.

We were shown a collection of Kassam rockets that was stored behind the city's police station. We also saw exploded Kassams and fragments of rockets displayed in the homes and backyards of Sderot residents, which they collect instead of stamps or coins. In addition, we saw rows of old bus shelters behind the police station that could no longer be used because they were replaced by bomb shelters. It was a surreal sight.

A memorial for a young Sderot resident who was killed in an earlier rocket attack while playing outside brought tears to our eyes. It was a reminder that, despite the fact that many missiles often miss their targets, people have been killed in Sderot. In addition, because of the constant barrage, Sderot's children are not allowed to play in open playgrounds. In fact, these constant attacks take an extreme psychological toll on the residents and, over the past few years, several thousand Sderot residents have reluctantly chosen to move from their longtime homes and relocate elsewhere in Israel.

Prior to leaving town ourselves, we had a chance to assess the damage that was done by one of the rockets that had fallen earlier that day. It had landed close to the centre of town and shattered the windows of several businesses, but thankfully no one was hurt. However, as we toured Sderot's city hall, we saw a memorial to the dozens of Sderot residents who have been killed by Kassam rockets in the past.

Before we left, Cohen handed us colorful Chanukah baskets and we happily wandered around giving out our holiday goodies to unsuspecting but grateful Sderot citizens. (Connections Israel also distributes Chanukah, Passover and Purim baskets to Israeli soldiers on army bases.) Hopefully, it brightened their day a little. We were grateful to our guide for giving us the opportunity to show our support and bring a little light to our fellow Jews in Sderot during the Festival of Lights.

Several days after my trip to Sderot, Israel launched an attack on Hamas in the Gaza Strip in an effort to prevent the rockets from raining down on southern Israeli towns like Sderot. The action took place on the seventh day of Chanukah, while I was spending a Shabbat weekend in the holy city of Jerusalem. It was the day before I was scheduled to volunteer with Sar-El, a program that allows civilians from around the world to volunteer with the Israeli army on Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv.

I arrived at Tel Hashomer on the eighth day of Chanukah and spent three weeks on the base, packing medical supplies that were being shipped to Gaza. Even though I didn't want to see civilians in Gaza being killed, I hoped that Israel's actions would prevent more rockets and more tzeva adom alerts.

By the time I was ready to leave Israel, the conflict with Hamas was almost over. Strangely enough, being in Sderot during a rocket attack and being in Israel during a time of war only deepened my connection with the country, increasing my desire to make aliyah in the future.

For more information on volunteering in Israel, visit www.connectionsisrael.com and www.sar-el.org.

David J. Litvak is a freelance writer and publicist living in Vancouver.

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