Yossi Haziza, a Sderot resident in whose courtyard the first rocket exploded, was looking at the walls of his home sprayed with shrapnel and shattered windows.
"I wish this was merely damage to property but my eight year old daughter and my wife are terrified," Haziza said. "We just want to live in peace. We don't want to keep having to run to bomb shelters." Washington Post, March 21, 2013

Dear friends,

Lately I have heard the same question from many friends and relatives: Why Sderot? It’s enough, they say, can’t you do anything for our community here? They are tired of the same program. One very deserving young man told me, “Inna, I can not relate to RJCF, I go to the home page and it’s all Sderot. What about us and our children here?”

To them, I say: People, wake up! Our children here should know that while their parents emigrated from a criminal country to the most prosperous (at least at the time) country in the world, some of their friends emigrated to Sderot. Our kids should know that it could have been them waiting for the Tseva Adom siren. It could have been them wetting their beds at night. It could have been them who rich Bostonians grew too tired to support.

For me the Sderot project is as much about the Children of Sderot as it is for the Children of Boston. We frequently discuss it at camp; our camp counselors go there to volunteer every year and have forged deep connections between our two communities.

Friends, now when you are thinking about your own children’s summer plans, please think about the summer of a Sderot child. Yes, we have had the same program since 2007. And yes, we all grow tired of repetition. But repetition is what has helped to build a community, a life, and a future for our children of Sderot.

Though it rarely makes it into the news. The conflict is not over. Just yesterday, two rockets hit southern Israel (one in Sderot).

Only $360 gives one child a fear-free and fun-filled save-haven for a week. Please consider it. I realize that on paper, this seems like a significant amount of money. But it’s just one week of food shopping for us and for them—a lifelong connection with our counselors, and a transformative experience overall. An escape from their world of war to our world of peace.

I know you are tired of the same old thing, but if you don't step up - then who will?

Please donate $360 at rjcf.com. Please do it right as you read this email, and please tell your children about it. Remind them that they live in this country because someone fought for them too.

Inna Rifkin with love and hope.

March 22, 2013