The situation here at Sasa is a little nerve-racking but not dire. The battles at Avivim and Maroun el-Ras are close enough for us to hear the small arms and we are, of course, on high alert. So far we’ve not been struck, although our closest neighbors have – a person who works at our factory was injured in Jish – and we have to keep track of anyone who leaves the kibbutz but, in general we are doing our best to maintain a normal a life as is possible under the circumstances. As of now, the most trying noise is the outgoing fire of our own cannons and rocket launchers near the kibbutz. There is an MLRS vehicle close by – and it sounds like God’s own fart when it fires – and we’ve “adopted” the crew.
We bring them food and treats and they come up to the kibbutz in shifts to take showers. In return, the soldiers inscribed a dedication to Kibbutz Sasa on the canister cap of the first missile that they fired operationally. By the way, the vehicle commander is a 19 year-old girl who is just thrilled to be able to shoot back at Hezb’ullah. In the meanwhile, we have all become artillery experts.
We’ve sent our children away to summer camps further south. The dinning room is open during the week, although people are encouraged to eat at home in our “security rooms” or in the shelters. Those who eat in the dinning room are not supposed to linger but we do anyway. The dining room is closed Friday night and Shabbat and we distribute food for the members to take home Friday evening. Our moadon has moved underground to our pub-in-a-shelter.
The turnout has been surprisingly good, especially when you consider that many families leave the kibbutz over the weekend to visit the kids or just to get away from the banging. In answer to your question, according to our kitchen staff, 90% of our food supplies are arriving on time. All deliveries of fuel and other vital items are coming through. Even the ice cream truck showed up the other day. The one organization which has let us down is the Post Office; we’ve had no mail for 10 days now.
Our ballistic protection factory (www.plasan.com ) has moved all of the employees and their families to holiday villages and guest houses in the Jordan Valley and around the Kinneret, with hired buses running up and back to bring them to work. We have some big orders that simply must get done and it was hard for the workers from Carmiel, Nahariya, Shlomi and the northern border settlements to leave their families and come to work. Our home and automobile care products factory (www.sasatech.com ) is having problems with their raw materials supplies because many of the chemical plants in the Haifa bay area have been shut down. All nocturnal activity in the orchards is forbidden by the army (we usually spray the trees at night when there is less wind) and we have had to postpone some of the picking in our lemon and plum orchards in the Hula valley. Our lulan tells me that the baby chicks who arrived just before the war broke out are holding up surprisingly well to all the noise, but that they are eating less and drinking more, which is similar to my own response to the situation.
In short, we are shaken but not stirred. Our morale is high. Everybody here at Sasa has lived under the threat of terror from Lebanon for a long time and we are perfectly willing to put up with whatever must be done for the IDF to strike Hezb’ullah hard enough so that they’ll think twice about attacking us again. We didn’t start this party but, if Hezb’ullah thinks that they can kill and kidnap our soldiers or rocket our cities with impunity, we must disabuse them. People here are very aware of and thankful for the support we receive from our friends around the world. At times like this, it’s good to know who your friends are and that they are there for you, even if it is only the act of going to a rally or writing a letter to the editor. Thanks to all who stand with us in these interesting times.
