It’s the fourth night of Hanukah and Christmas Eve. Some of you are preparing to celebrate while others are praying to G-D for protection and safety.  Some sixty rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaze today… Terrorist don’t take days off.  Here in Sderot, we once again experienced the terror that comes with “Tseva Adom”. People may not have been blown apart by the Kassams but nerves are a bit more frayed tonight then this morning.

The edge of the chair is getting a bit closer and the churning in the gut is churning longer tonight. Noises tonight are a bit more

startling as you feel like a sitting duck, even in your own home. You start to realize that you have very little, if any control over your life, and there is no place to go.

After the “boom”, you are waiting a bit longer in your safe room if you are fortunate enough to have one. If you don’t have a safe room, you pick the smallest room farthest from the west. For those who live on the top floor or have tile roofs and have no safe room, a bathroom or a laundry room will have to do. In some cases you can leave your apartment and go down one flight of stairs and stand in the hallway between floors.
The government makes more threats about stopping the terrorists with military action but so far it seems to just be talk. Cities within a thirty kilometer radius from the Gaza strip have been put on the “Tseva Adom” warning system. That puts Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beer Sheva, Kiryat Gat and Bat Yam all in range

This has been anything but a silent night and all is not calm; and yet tonight, young people from Tel Aviv came to Sderot in spite of the Kassams to bring Hanukah joy. Going door to door, offering to light Hanukah candles with those they met and bring the traditional Jelly donut.

As you celebrate tonight, whether Jew or Gentile, before you light that candle or unwrap that package, please take a few seconds and say a prayer.