16 Year-Old Under Fire

By Aliza Leah Lichtenfeld for COLlive

Imagine walking in the center of a Negev town in Israel. You’re checking out all the stores as you look for a shady spot and sip ice coffee. But there’s something else you’re checking out, too.

The nearest bomb shelter.

Look, this is Sderot and the unfortunate reality is that everyone in town is always keeping an eye on the closest concrete shelter, hoping they can make it to seek safety in case the fifteen-second tzeva adom warning goes off. That was the first thing I learned when I arrived in Sderot this summer.

To be honest, I never imagined myself as a sixteen-year-old volunteering at the Chabad camp in Sderot. I was happy to have my usual job at the Chicago Camp Gan Israel for the summer. But when Rabbi Yossi Swerdlov from Israel Chabad told my parents back in March that the Chabad camp in Sderot would love to have an English-speaking counselor for the summer, I was so excited to go, even though I really didn’t have any idea what to expect.

When the day finally came to leave, my parents drove me from Chicago to catch the El Al flight in New York. Naturally, I visited 770 before heading to the airport and I could feel the Rebbe’s inspiration—almost as if I was being sent on assignment like a shlucha.

When I landed in Israel, Rabbi Moshe Pizem and Mrs. Pizem greeted me at the airport. I had never met them but had seen pictures and I recognized them immediately. They also brought with their ten-year-old son, Levi who was all smiles. I already felt comfortable with the Pizems and was excited to be staying at their house for the next five weeks. But the real surprise came when we arrived in Sderot because that’s when I met their fifteen-year-old daughter, Faigy. I never knew they had a daughter around my age and Faigy and I immediately became best friends.

We started setting up camp on Motzei Shabbat. The next day, Camp Kaytanat Chabad began. As the kids piled in, I realized that this Chabad camp is the safe haven for nearly one hundred Sderot children. The Beit Chabad house in Sderot is constructed of bomb-proof concrete and the camp is located right inside. The Chabad house also serves as a synagogue, food bank for the needy, school for music lessons and activities and the headquarters for all the programs run by Rabbi and Rebbetzin Pizem through donations from America.

The best part of working as a counselor this summer was having an impact on the kids. They were excited to have a counselor from America and I think that knowing I wasn’t afraid to come here by myself helped them forget the daily terror of kasaam rockets.

Sadly, during my five weeks at camp, there were five rocket attacks. The first tzeva adom sounded exactly one week after I arrived. It happened at 6:45 a.m. I remember being awakened by this automated woman’s voice screaming “tzeva adom…tzeva adom.’ Even though I had seen videos of tzeva adoms on You Tube, just being there while it was happening was pretty unreal. The first time it happened, Mrs. Pizem came running in my room and told me to rush downstairs to the safe room which is just a concrete room that looks like a normal room but it’s actually bomb-proof. There were four other tzeva adoms during my stay and one person was injured in one of the attacks.

What really surprised me about Sderot was the town’s shopping center! I was shocked that that many of the stores were modern and clean, especially my favorite place, Golda, where I bought lots of new clothes.

Still, the most inspirational part of Sderot was the kids. They have been living in constant fear of the kasaams for their entire lives yet they all have fun and they’re constantly smiling. They should be an inspiration to everyone. I once asked one of my ten-year-old campers if she was afraid and she told me “it’s scary of course, but after it is over, it feels good.’

I have to say that it was very tough leaving Sderot and its wonderful people. And I was extremely touched when I boarded the plane back to New York and my Israel phone rang for the very last time. It was Rabbi Pizem. He called to wish me a safe flight and told me I was an inspiration to the Rebbe and that I should come back next summer.

That’s exactly what I’m planning to do.