Chanukah, a holiday celebrating freedom, is especially meaningful in Sderot. In this southern Israeli city, more than 1,100 rockets were fired from Gaza in 2022. Last year, more than 4,300 rockets were fired into the small city.
The men and women of Magen David Adom’s Sderot Station are constantly adjusting between routine and emergency calls, moving from states of calm to high alert in minutes, between periods of darkness and times of light.
Last year, to help bring light to them and to the people of Sderot, Boaz Tzabari, the head of volunteers at the Sderot Station, contacted a volunteer paramedic, the artist Avi Tzafon. Together, they collected parts of Qassam rockets found at the scenes where MDA teams were treating the injured and saving lives. These became one of the triangles of the Star of David chanukiyah Tzafon designed and built.
The second triangle is painted red, symbolizing MDA, as well as the red alert sirens that sent the residents to bomb shelters on a regular basis. Together, the triangles represent the connection between MDA and the Sderot people, many of whom are their own family and friends.
“It’s especially poignant on Chanukah that we see these rockets that tried to harm us, to scare us, and bring darkness with them, and now they are used to bring light, continuing the bravery of the Maccabees,” said Tzabari.
“It shows the bravery of the staff in MDA Sderot, and the bravery of the volunteers. Their light isn’t only on Chanukah, but all year round, whether in times of conflict, or times of peace.”
This year, the chanukiyah sits atop the MDA Sderot Station for all to admire and be uplifted.