In no way do I want to diminish the trauma my friends in Hawaii have just gone through when they read the alert on their tv, heard the siren whale or their cell phones went off with the message of an incoming ballistic missiles.

As the adrenalin rushed through their bodies as they wondered if “am I and my family going to die, what do I do now, where do I go to hide, how much time do I have before the boom?” As they started to run to who knows where, in panic, as the safety of their spouse, their children , family members and friends ran through their minds and they were gripped with helpless fear.

They only had in reality 15 minutes to get their loved one’s to safety; the first five minutes were eaten up in the attack being detected. It is an experience that I wouldn’t want anyone to have to go through and only those who went through it know what I am talking about, it is something they will NEVER forget.

Thank GOD it was a “false alarm”, a mistake, a “wrong button pushed”. It has filled the news show, politicians on both sides of the aisle are weighing in on what happened and the whole world is talking about it.

Now take this tragic “mistake” , these fifteen minutes of excruciating agony for all involved and multiply it by 7000 times and for most of those 7000 times add a “BOOM” of an explosion to it, and now spread it over seventeen years and no one talks about it. That’s the reality of life in Sderot

“The adrenalin rushed through your body as you wonder “am I and my family going to die, where do I go to hide, where are my kids…”

Here in Sderot, Israel we know firsthand what the people of Hawaii just experienced. Oh a Kassam rocket is not the same as a ballistic missile, I know that (although we have those pointed at us as well) that’s why I said “In no way do I want to diminish the trauma my friends in Hawaii have just gone through”.

It is however that same fear that grips you as the adrenalin rushed through your body as you wonder “am I and my family going to die, where do I go to hide, where are my kids.

As you started to run in panic, the safety of your spouse, your children ,family members and friends ran through your mind.

You wondering if this rocket will be going through my roof or maybe my Living room wall, maybe through the top of my car I’m driving, or maybe through where I’m sheltering or even worst, my child’s school; ALL of which have happened to us.