GEDERA, Israel (WSVN) — A Jewish family from South Florida have shared their harrowing experience of hiding from rockets during a recent trip to Israel, coinciding with the country’s 75th year of independence.
The family said people only have 90 seconds to reach a shelter when rockets fly over Israel, and rockets go off more often than not.
Denise Tamir shot a video of the scene that occurred in May of 2021 after rockets from Gaza rained down on Tel Aviv while they were having dinner with family. Her daughter also shot a video from the Ben Gurion Airport after another warning of incoming rockets.
“I was at the hotel watching the missiles fly in that direction knowing they might hit the airport, knowing my daughter is in the airport, on a plane while I was racing for a bomb shelter. It was a tremendous amount of stress,” said Denise.
While the incident was terrifying, the family found comfort in the calmness of Ruth, Denise’s mother, who was captured on video asking for her purse in the midst of the chaos.
“She was OK in dealing with this,” said Tamir. “She was actually better than all of us. She’s got a steely nerve.”
Ruth’s calm response was a result of the many hardships she had experienced in her past, including being on the run from the Nazi regime as a child and losing three of her brothers in the process.
Despite the peace and beauty of Israel’s countryside, the Tamir family believes the threat of an attack lingers. They are leading an effort to encourage more Israelis in the U.S. to become active in the American-Jewish community.
“Because they are not too many Jews around the world,” said Ofer. “So, number one it’s important that we speak to each other and I think the other side of it is Israelis bring different thinking. They bring a different color.”
The Tamir’s joined the Greater Miami Jewish Federation for a tour of the Israeli countryside held on Saturday.
“The history of the Jewish people is a history of such contrasts,” said Denise. “On the one hand, there are so many sad stories and tales of mourning, and on the other hand, there is such glory and joy.”
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