Tamar was born in Casablanca, Morocco in 1925. At the age of 14 her parents gave her hand in marriage to a 75 year old man. “In those days as a child and even more so as a girl, you didn’t have much say in whom your parents gave your hand in marriage.”

When she was thirty, Tamar, her husband and now four daughters moved to Sderot Israel to live close to her husband’s brother. When they first arrived in Sderot there were no paved roads, no running water, no electricity and no stores. In fact there were no houses, just tents. The Israeli government would distribute food once a week, like Hope For Sderot does today.

About 5 miles away there was electricity and an Ice House. Ice was delivered on a donkey drawn cart to the residents of Sderot. You could also go on horse back to pick up food or supplies if you needed. It would not be until 1968 until electricity would make its way down to Sderot. Until then you cooked on wood, pumped water by hand, carried it in buckets and lit your home with oil.

In 1969, at the age of 44, Tamar, gave birth to their last of six daughters. Her Husband was 105 by this time. At the age of 116 Tamar’s husband died and she never remarried. At 84 she comes to the moxson every now and then to help as she can. The last time she came by she brought enough couscous not only for all the volunteers but for half of the city as well!

When she reminisces about Sderot it goes way back to a time when life was hard but simple, way beyond the days of Kassams, Hamas and Tseva Adom.