Some 50 families, residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, have made arrangements to travel in chartered buses to Kibbutz Deganya, opting to escape the harsh realities of ongoing rocket attacks from Gaza. Other families are making their way to spend Yomtov with relatives, also leaving their homes in the hope of a brief hiatus from continuous attacks.

Kibbutz member Varda Goldstein explains that Kibbutz Deganya officials invited them for Shavuos to permit them to take a break from the difficult day-to-day realities that have become their lives in the Greater Sderot Area.

Shavuos is generally viewed by kibbutz residents as “their holiday” but in the southern area, this will not be the case this year in many communities. Ofir Lieberman of Kibbutz Nir Am explains that last year, they made elaborate plans to mark the special holiday but those plans were canceled last minute as the rockets began to fall. This year, following the recent fatal attacks that claimed the lives of area residents, they are not making any plans to celebrate. Ofir explained that the people are not in a celebratory mood.

In nearby Kibbutz Nirim, there will be no Yomtov celebrations as residents explain they just buried their neighbor, 51-year-old Amnon Rosenberg, who was killed in an attack last week.

Alon Shuster, who heads the Eshkol Regional Council, states that despite the difficulties and dangers, kibbutzim in his council will do their utmost to celebrate the Yomtov in someway, seeking to overcome pain that has accompanied their lives during recent weeks and months.

Residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz explain that because Rosenberg was killed last week in their community, they are even more compelled to celebrate the Yomtov and they will not permit terrorists to take this away from them.

In Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, residents plan to celebrate as in past years, well-aware that their Pessach celebrations came to an abrupt halt due to a major car bomb attack along with a barrage of rockets/mortars. Nevertheless states community secretary Iris Lavi, they plan to make this Shavuos no less a holiday than in previous years.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)