Smolensky's daily log -- Wednesday

b"h
Wednesday was much quieter in Tsfas, Baruch Hashem. Just a few sirens and I didn't hear any close ones.--chana**************************************************************Tuesday was a very busy day. We spent a lot of time in our "safe room" for eleven separate alarms over about 4 hours. However, just like the mail in the US, the food deliveries took place with Faga "riding shotgun," just like in the old Western movies. Levi is owns one of the three small private stores in our area. She and Levi's 18 year old son began delivering food boxes about 10:30 AM. Shortly after they began the sirens wailed. They were in the southern part of Tzfat which has been hit repeatedly because it is close to our hospital. The hospital is a designated target. A few buildings in that area have sustained some minor damage recently and many families live in shelters; returning to their apartments in the tall buildings only to shower, cook, change clothes, etc. The surrounding area, including the valley between Tzfat and Meron is blackened in many areas from multiple rockets landing, exploding and causing fires.Faga asked Levi's son if he was going to stop the car because rockets started falling. He asked her just where she wanted him to stop. No answer; he kept driving. A rocket whizzed very close over the road and Faga exclaimed, "That as a close one!" Levi's son replied, "No it wasn't; see, it went over the hill" and he kept driving. Grateful families received their food boxes and Faga and her stalwart driver were grateful to return home. Levi did not charge Lev U'Neshama for having his son help with delivering the food boxes. He said it was his Mitzvah.Lev U'Neshama is desperately trying to keep at least three small stores open by having them deliver food boxes to as many families as we can service with available funds. Some families are running up large credit bills and it is uncertain as to how they will pay.The City of Tzfat was delivering food to some neighborhoods and the workers were dropping off boxes in parking lots or on the street. Fights actually broke out between families vying for the food. Felicia, a friend of mine, needed protection by her older son and a friend of her son, to get food boxes delivered from Lev U'Neshama into the shelter where she and four other families have been living for almost a month. Food for four families was portioned out to help nine families.The Army is now in charge of delivering food directly to people's homes who are listed on a city roster. They take photos of people to verify who got before, etc. This should help the situation.Batya, an 80 plus year old widow, living with her two little dogs, is a neighbor. Two windows were shattered from a nearby explosion and I called our contractor to fix the windows, screens and shutters. Meir set a price to only cover costs and neighbors contributed. However, days passed and he did not come. Yesterday he called from Jerusalem and told me that he was at a hospital there because his nephew was wounded in Lebanon. I told him not to worry about the windows because the City sent workers to do the work. He said, "I know, I called them because I couldn't come and she needed the work to be done." Most of the synagogues in Tzfat are closed. No one is on the streets and only a few cars are seen periodically. Two large grocery stores are open; there are few shoppers and the shelves are getting a little sparse. Bread is getting a little difficult to obtain. I think one bakery is open. Attacks usually come late morning and mid-afternoon. When sirens sound, everyone anticipates the ensuing sounds of rockets slamming into the city. We know that those that miss us are hitting others in our city and that doesn't make us feel any better.This afternoon I spoke with a friend who lives in the Old City. She said she and her husband were invited to a wedding in Jerusalem but they didn't go becaue her husband said that if he were not in Tzfat, there might not be a minyon in his shul (ten men needed for a service) and that was unacceptable.Moshe and I are busy daily on the computer and the phone, doing our best to help Lev U'Neshama. Our work keeps us focused. We must be focused because those who choose to remain are increasingly calling upon our resources. When people return to Tzfat, there will be even more work to do.Someone sent us a computer video, about six minutes long, that we highly recommend. It presents a true picture of what's going on in Israel. It will provide a different perspective than what you might be seeing on American TV. http://w3.castup.net/mfa/ProductionNewsLetter/008.htmBe well,Moshe & Yaffa in Tzfat, your personal "on-the-spot war correspondents"