'The Israeli flag is our Iron Dome'

Convenience store owner, whose store suffered damage from a nearby mortar hit, was amazed to find the only thing that remained undamage was the Israeli flag.

Ilana Curiel

Published: 08.11.14, 12:16 / Israel News

When Silviya Orshchovsky arrived at her convenience store in kibbutz Ein HaShlosha on the Gaza border on Monday morning, she was shocked to discover the great damage caused to the structure from a mortar rocket that landed nearby.

It what was even more shocking was that while the entire front wall of the structure was peppered with shrapnel holes, the Israeli flag hung over the front door remained completely undamaged.

"The flag stayed hanging," one of the residents of the kibbutz said.

 "The bomb fell on the road in front of the store. It hit the walls; it's all holes in the door and everywhere else, just not on the flag. It remained untouched," Orshchovsky said.

The store, located in a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council that is right on the Gaza border, remained closed on Monday morning. "We have no communications or water, so we didn't open," Orshchovsky said.

'The flag is our Iron Dome' (Photo: Silviya Orshchovsky)

Orshchovsky spoke of the complicated situation in which the kibbutz residents found themselves - living in-between ceasefires.

"The situation here is unpleasant. It's very scary that we don't know where we stand. It's sad to see the kibbutz empty like this, without children," she said.

"I left only for a week, and came back because I wanted to be with my husband Sergio. It was harder for me to be far away up north than to be in the kibbutz," she added.

Our flag was still there (Photo: George Ginsburg)

Orshchovsky went on to say the residents of Ein HaShlosha weren't feeling safe.

"We have no security here, we're not safe. We don't know what could happen today or the day after tomorrow. The ceasefire is neither here nor there. Our children don't go outside because they can't. They returned to the kibbutz but remain inside the house. What kind of a routine is that for them? We want to live like in Tel Aviv, like in the north. I hope they don't start shooting again."
 

Visiting the Sick

Visiting the sick is one of the greatest commandments in the Torah. Rabbi Abba son of Rabbi Hanina said that “He who visits the sick takes away one sixtieth of his pain”. 

I would like to share with you a real life miracle story. My aunt passed away at a young age of 54. She battled cancer and excruciating pain over the last 7 years. Things were at its worse 6 years ago, when she was put into an induced coma and all of her organs except for her heart and brain had failed. The doctors had told us that she had about a 0.5-1% chance of surviving. We all prayed and many people had visited her in ICU as she had laid there looking worse and worse. However, seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours, hours turned to days and in one month she actually woke up from the coma and all of her organs had restarted! There was not one doctor in the hospital who could explain how she survived. Medics would come visit her and just stare at her chart, trying to scientifically explain her recovery, but could not. She was now breathing on her own. Interestingly, when she woke up, she immediately started singing songs in Yiddish. Due to the extreme pain in her legs, she could not walk. This is common after a month long coma. Doctors then came and said she would not be able to walk as the nerves in the bottom of her feet are dead and show no signal. 

What do you think happened? Within half a year with no signal in the nerves under her feet, she was not just walking but driving herself to the supermarket. In June 2009, she celebrated her 50^th birthday where she walked around the restaurant and took shots (she drank water) with all her friends and family and even did some dancing.

Regardless of her miraculous recovery, people continued to visit and support her every day throughout the next 6 years. Those visits is what gave her the strength to survive to her last day. I had the merit to dance her last dance with her 8 days before she passed. My grandmother had not left her sight from the first day of her hospitalization and was the key in keeping her alive all these years. What makes this story even more miraculous? A few weeks later after she recovered and left ICU, another woman was brought into her old room with the same exact condition and the same slim chance of recovery. She also had a mother that never left her sight and she also recovered!!!!! The doctors would call her Polina 2!

I would like to take this idea to the next level and ask how can we apply this in our lives. Many of our fellow friends and family members go through stress every day. We all know someone who is sick, out of work, have a broken heart, feel lonely, betrayed, lost money or just simply had a bad day. We all have the ability to help each other heal. Simply visiting or calling a friend or extending our friendship to a stranger can do tremendous things. Kindness is what life is all about. As Hillel said,“Love your fellow as yourself” and the rest are just commentaries.