A true story from Tzfat!

Dearest Family and Friends,

By now, we've all heard the sad news of what has been happening here in
Israel. As an eye witness, I must tell you the devastation to the north is
heartbreaking, what remains are ghost towns with dilapidated buildings
beneath an ominous black smokey sky.

I was in Tzfat for the last five days . . . and I know now more than ever
before how closely HaShem guides our lives. There were countless miracles
for the people in my community, myself included.

Thursday morning, we had no idea what was about to happened. Since it was a
fast day, we decided to go the the cemetery to daven for the Jewish People
and our speedy redemption. I stuck around for a while after the girls had
left. I wanted some time to reflect on what the
fast means. Then the missiles started . . . I ducked behind the nearest
grave. It must have felt like hours passed in just those few moments. There
happened to be someone working in the graveyard that offered to give me a
ride back to school. As it turned out, he was a high ranking army
official, who explained to me what was happening and why they so desperately
wanted to hit Tzfat. There is a very important military base there, that
has an underground storehouse of much of Israel's
ammunition. He made a few phone calls and quickly found out where the other
missiles had hit, and then devised our escape route.

For the amount of missiles that fell, statistically so many more people
should have been hurt. In the first round of missiles that hit Tzfat, the
park of the local college was hit, but since strangely enough, it was cold
and very windy weather that day, the park was empty. Another
missile fell right outside of a crowded hotel. Thank G-d it wasn't six feet
closer to the hotel. Eight missiles fell in that round. I went back to
school. Most of us, were in shock from what was happening. The school
wasn't very secure with glass everywhere, nevertheless those that
were there, stayed put for the rest of the day. We must have gone through
the entire book of Tehillim 25 times!!

When the military announced that things had simmered down, I decided it was
better for me to spend the night in the school building than alone in my
apartment ("coincidently," my apartment mates had left the day before), and
that I would go home to pick up some overnight necessities.
I happened to overhear another woman, who wanted to leave the building. She
had her child with her and her arms full of bags, so my friend and I decided
we would accompany her to where she wanted to go, and then we would carry on
to my apartment. We did! She arrived safely, and then we left towards my
apartment.

About 150 feet into our journey, the missiles started again. We were at the
edge of the city, with only Meron in our view. The first missile hit about
50 feet in front of us. Noise, fire . . .We dove to the ground with only
two foot wall to shield us. A few moments later, I overheard a women
screaming frantically for her child. I called out to her. She found her
child, and then ushered us inside. We sat with her and her 5 children while
the missiles fell and the fast day ended. We
tried to distract the kids by singing songs and playing games. A couple
hours later when her husband got home, we made a mad dash, back to school in
the dark.

We made it back safely. . . and then a few hours late, I found out the news.
In the round of missiles that fell when I left the school, my apartment
was hit, a direct hit. I was on my way to the apartment. The only reason I
wasn't there WHEN the missiles fell, was because I had done a mitzvah and
accompanied someone else. She needed help and I was there for her.

The last I heard was that over three hundred missiles fell on the small town
of Tsfat while I was there. After a while, we got used to the sounds.
Imagine, singing Lecha Dodi at shul with missiles falling nearby. Imagine,
eating your Shabbos meal with smoke in the air. That was life for us this
past week.

Please daven for us! Gush Katif isn't our front line anymore . . . it's in
every Jewish home today! Be proud to be Jewish! Be proud that our G-d is
stronger than any fear or enemy we might have. Do an extra mitzvah, it may
just safe your life, or someone else's.

Your sister from Israel, Miriam