Rockets Strike Twice

Above: Celebrating children and grandchildren— before the war. Before the evacuation. Before the rockets hit their home.

Shalom from Jerusalem!

       His name is Hezi. The Hebrew nickname for Ezekiel. He and his wife, Shlomit, of 32 years have four children. They have a son and son-in-law fighting in the war. One of their grandchildren was already born into this war and a second one is due this month. 

       Hezi runs a local grocery store and Shlomit is a kindergarten teacher near the Lebanese border. Life before the war was all about home. They didn’t need vacations overseas. They lived for the evenings with their kids, grandkids and friends.

       We met Hezi and Shlomit when we were giving out vouchers from Maoz to evacuees to cover the cost of food and clothes. Often the evacuees share their stories when they meet us. It’s as much an act of appreciation as well as a therapeutic experience for them to sit with someone they feel cares about them as individuals. Hezi, like all evacuees, had his tale of how October 7th affected his way of life. But it was just a few weeks before we met him that the daily attacks from Hezbollah hit home—literally.

       They say like lightning, rockets don’t hit the same place twice. That’s why Hezi couldn’t believe it when a friend sent him pictures of not one but two rockets that landed on his property. One in the living room and one in the yard. 

       The good news was that by some miracle the one that landed in the living room didn’t blow up and so the damage was “limited” to the roof and floor. The bad news was that the government would only cover the tens of thousands of dollars it would cost to fix the damage once the war was over and paperwork could be processed.  

Hezi understood winter is only a few months away, and if he didn’t fix the damage now the moisture and mold that would build up inside the home would increase the damage tenfold.  

Just sealing his roof for winter will cost almost $20,000. He was considering taking out a loan, but there is no one to buy from his grocery store right now and Shlomit has been volunteering her kindergarten services to evacuee children stuck in hotels across the country.    

It’s these moments that we at Maoz love to be able to say, “We can help!”  

And it is Maoz partners that have been supporting the war-relief efforts that have given us this strength—Christians and Messianic Jews from all over the world who want not only to see Israel win this war but see the people of Israel standing on their feet – spiritually, emotionally—and physically—when it’s over. 

And so we’d like to say thank you for every effort you have put into this cause and mission.  

Please don’t let up. Keep your prayers fervent. We’re here able to fight because of people like you.