Divine Intervention Saves Israeli Family
By Tzippe Barrow
CBN News - Jerusalem Bureau
May 30, 2007
CBNNews.com - SDEROT, Israel - Last Friday, while preparing her family's Shabbat (Sabbath) meal, a premonition came over Yehuda Elmakiess' wife. The feeling of impending danger was so strong that she insisted they leave the house immediately.
Loading pots and pans with partially cooked food in the car, they grabbed a few things and set off with their three young children, aged six, four and two, to her parent's home in nearby Ashkelon. They would spend Shabbat there.
It wasn't until after
Havdalah (the service marking the end of
Shabbat) that they received a call from an official in Sderot. A Kassam rocket, launched by Palestinians, had scored a direct hit on their home.
With thankful hearts for the divine warning they'd received, they headed back home to see what happened.
The damage was far more extensive than they'd imagined.
The Kassam demolished the playroom. Had the children been playing there, they probably wouldn't have survived. The door to the kids' bedroom, adjacent to the playroom, was blown out of the frame. Shattered glass and debris was strewn everywhere.
Though thankful to the core for God's protection, the enormity of the damage overwhelmed them.
"I got a little bit emotional," admitted Yehuda. "I'm 32 years old and it feels like I'm 20 and starting all over again," he said.
Like other families in this picturesque community in the western Negev, the Elmakiess family doesn't yet know how they'll afford to repair their home. While the government provides about 30 percent of the bare-bones cost, the family has to make up the difference.
They also lost thousands of shekels worth of their children's clothing. The government's 1,200-shekel ($300) stipend per child won't replace what they've lost.
Another Direct Hit
The Elmakiess home wasn't the only one in Sderot hit by Kassam rockets over the past several days.
Not so long ago, to be on the safe side, David and Shula Hazen moved their bedrooms downstairs. About 9:00 p.m. Sunday evening, they made a bee line for the bomb shelter when the citywide warning system sounded. They just made it into the shelter and closed the door when the explosion shook their home.
The Kassam hit downstairs, destroying everything in two rooms and the patio.
"I've lived in Sderot 45 years," said David, "and for the last seven, we've dealt with Kassam attacks," the agitation and fatigue evident on his face and in his voice.
"The government does nothing," he said. "They sit in their offices in Jerusalem. Today, they're focused on the Labor [Party] primaries. They don't really care about us in Sderot," he said.
The Hazen's oldest son just finished his compulsory army duty. Another son is about to begin his service, while their pregnant married daughter has moved to a nearby village to be out of harm's way.
Their youngest son, 11, who was with them in the bomb shelter, went to stay with his sister.
Asked if he blamed the Israeli government or the Palestinians for the ongoing rocket attacks, David thought a moment before answering.
"The Palestinians," he said finally, "because they've gotten everything they've asked for and nothing is enough for them."
He didn't hesitate for a moment when asked if he'd leave Sderot. "God forbid," he said. "This is our home, and we won't give Hamas the satisfaction."
The Hazan's next door neighbor just finished the repairs on his home from a direct hit three months ago. Sunday's attack just raised a few tiles the new roof.
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