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Hadar Sela

A return to ‘normal’ always includes terror in southern Israel

Photo credit: Hadar Sela; Picture of the sky in Ashkelon after a rocket attack

At 11:43 this morning, Tuesday, May 26, 2020, I received a “Red Alert” message on my phone.

Something “was up” in the Sdot HaNegev Region.

According to Adele Raemer, a Negev resident, who is behind a Facebook group called, Life on the border with Gaza – things people may not know (but should):

“reports are saying it was a false alarm – but we all know that there aren’t any false alarms here: only rockets that are shot towards us but fall short of the border. AND there have been many reports of explosives-laden & incendiary balloons in the past few days, as well as today.”

As I have written in a past blog, I was wounded both physically and emotionally by a terrorist rocket attack on November 12, 2018, in Ashkelon. I want to share a personal story that happened last week. I have been sitting on this, contemplating and ruminating, how to deliver this message in the most precise and least preachy manner possible.

I am in no way an influencer. I am a simple human being. It is only recently that I believe I have started to find my “inner voice.” However, I was on a telephone call with an “influencer,” here in Israel, last week. This individual asked me the following question: “Why do you stay in Ashkelon, if you were a victim of a rocket attack? Why don’t you move to Central Israel?”

I was shocked by this question, and with no time to think, my simple and spur of the moment answer was, “this is my home.”

Now that I have had time to contemplate and ruminate, my correct answer is;

“Is Ashkelon or any other part of Southern Israel not a true part of our Country?”

Do you believe you are safer in Tel-Aviv than I am here in Ashkelon?

Do you believe that the terrorists can’t find you where you are?

Is this not similar to the comments of those in Germany at the beginning of the Shoah? Did they not say something similar to, “they won’t come after me since I am more German than Jewish?”

If you live in Central Israel, do you believe you are any safer from those who will stop at nothing to harm us?

This is precisely why every single time there is a Red Alert Siren or an explosive balloon found here in the South, the entire country should be outraged!

As we are returning to our “new normal” why should we accept a return of the Red Alerts to Southern Israel as “normal?”

This week we celebrate Shavuot, the holiday of receiving the Torah, let us remember that the only reason God destroyed His World and His Temple was because of Sinat Chinam, hatred between people.

When God told Noah to build an Ark, he gave him seven days to sit within, before He started the Flood. The number 7 is significant in Judaism. After the rains subsided, the dove was given the honor of bringing back the message via an olive branch, that peace had returned to Earth. I noticed that the word “dove” and “love” are almost identical except for the first letter. If you count how many letters there are between the “d” and the “l” you get the number 7.

God created His world in 6 days and rested on day 7. There are seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, between physical Redemption and spiritual Redemption.

As we approach this holiday of Shavuot, it is my greatest hope that all of Am Yisroel take into their heart Southern Israel, and truly understand that only when we become one people extending a whole lot of love, will the true Redemption be upon us.

About the Author
Hadar Sela, American by birth, Israeli by choice, living in Ashkelon, Southern Israel, survivor of a Hamas terrorist rocket attack, “Living Deliberately” Life Coach, committed to living life consciously each and every day.
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