Breslavers see miracle in rocket miss [pg. 3]

"It was incredible that the rocket fell in between two houses which are full of children."

By JEREMY LAST
One of the two Katyushas that hit the northern city of Safed on Sunday afternoon landed in the only house still under construction in the Kiryat Breslav neighborhood. The other hit an empty area on the hillside above the houses. Although an estimated 80 percent of the population of this ancient city have fled the rocket attacks, the families living in the houses on either side of the half-finished building were home at the time of impact. Locals proclaimed it a miracle that nobody was wounded and the only damage was to windows of nearby houses. Small holes peppered the outside walls of the surrounding homes. "It was amazing," said neighbor Gad Lior who has lived in the area for three years. "We were just sitting in the living room when we heard a whistle then a big explosion. "It was incredible that the rocket fell in between two houses which are full of children," he added, pointing to the mangled metal in the construction site. Kiryat Breslav is a housing project with 50 families surrounding the large Breslav Hassidic synagogue on the hillside. Members of the community have been moving in to the homes over the last 10 years. Baruch Stern lives in one of the houses next to the building site which was hit. Some of the tiles on his roof were shaken loose and part of his door was bent in by the force the blast. Despite the gravity of the situation Stern said he is not leaving. "This is my home and I am going to stay," he said. Since the start of hostilities, Safed has been hit with dozens of Katyushas. Nearly all the shops in the center of the town were closed on Sunday and there were hardly any people in the streets. Only the brave remain. "We don't need to be scared of this," said 70-year-old Aryeh Margolis as he fixed the window on his house after it was shattered by Katyusha shrapnel. "I believe that God is going to help us. We only need to fear God."