Shopping in Sderot (video)

On Friday, thousands of people from all over Israel flocked to Sderot to show solidarity with the residents. More than just showing up, they chose to make their shabbos purchases, enjoy the coffee shops, and eat in restaurants in Sderot as a way of helping them financially, considering the local businesses have been suffering tremendously from the situation.

Personally I did not go. I hate dealing with traffic jams, I hate standing in long lines in stores, I hate going places when everybody else goes, and, perhaps most importantly, I did not want to miss my Friday basketball game (the only exercise I get!).

I like to go places and do things when others are not doing them. For example, I arranged a small group to go to Sderot when nobody else was going. So we did not make the national news, but we went and helped on our small level. I am trying to arrange a group from work to go maybe later this week, and also trying to arrange my shiur to go again, maybe next week. Without the headlines, and without the crowds.

From everything I have heard and read, the visit on Friday was a wonderful event (except for the traffic jams) and was a resounding "success".

Here are a couple of videos from the visit:


and: