“I Became a Mother Overnight”: A Grandmother’s Testimony from the Simchat Torah Massacre in Sderot

On the morning of Simchat Torah, Eliana Herstein (Suissa) woke up to a nightmare. In truth, as a longtime resident of Sderot, this was a reality she already knew all too well — and heartbreakingly, one she was experienced through Qassam rockets, interceptions, and sirens. Together with her husband, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, she rushed to their reinforced safe room and waited for it to end. She had no idea that this time, her life was about to change completely.

Eliana, a mother of four and grandmother to six, describes her family as very close-knit, one that used to see each other often. Among them was Dolev, her youngest son, who was married to Hodaya, and their two daughters, ages six and three. Like any devoted grandmother, Eliana often babysat her granddaughters. But since Simchat Torah, she has effectively become their mother — raising them under utterly tragic circumstances.

“At 6:25 the Red Alert Woke Me”

“At 6:25 a.m. the Red Alert woke me,” she recalls. “We were used to Qassams, but not to such a barrage of 50 to 60 rockets in 20 minutes. Later the bitter truth became clear: the rockets were intended to keep us occupied while the terrorist infiltration began.

“Dolev and Hodaya, who also lived in Sderot, just a five-minute walk from me, were always organized with a suitcase that included winter and summer clothes — a suitcase they never touched except in a Red Alert situation. They would flee to the center or the north — anywhere but staying in the city. Usually they went to Hodaya’s father in Lod, or to a hotel or a guesthouse in the north — wherever they could be received.

“They did have a safe room at home, but about two and a half years ago a missile penetrated a safe room in Sderot and the child Ido Avigal, may his memory be blessed, was killed. Since then they no longer believed the safe room was truly protective. So they went downstairs with the suitcases and planned simply to escape the city.”

Silence on the Phone

“We have a family custom: whenever there are sirens, everyone updates the WhatsApp group that they’re okay — and Hodaya was always the first to ask if everyone was okay. This time too, everyone was supposed to check in. Suddenly they weren’t answering the phone. Not Dolev, not Hodaya, and not their older daughter, for whom I had bought a new cellphone just two weeks earlier. No one answered.

“At the same time, electricity and communications went down for hours. Whenever we could, we tried calling again, while dealing with the sirens ourselves.”

Terrorists in the Neighborhood

“Less than half an hour passed and suddenly the power returned, and I realized that there were terrorists in my neighborhood too, just 100 meters from my house — something that had never happened before. While the rockets were falling I had heard gunfire, but I didn’t think it was terrorists shooting.

“Then it became clear that 17 elderly women had been murdered at the bus station, and on the nearby road a terrorist fired an RPG at a truck. We shut the windows and were trapped in the room, still trying from time to time to contact them, but there was no answer.”

“Your Granddaughters Are Safe”

“At some point, Hodaya’s brother-in-law said that neighbors from their building had seen them at 6:55 going downstairs with a suitcase. That was the first time I began to understand that maybe we were in real trouble,” Eliana continues, in tears. “Terrorists in the city, and they went downstairs and weren’t answering. I pushed the thought away.

“Just before noon, I suddenly heard knocking at the door. I was afraid to open it until the person identified himself and I understood he was Jewish. A young man was standing there and said there was a young man named Yinon, a fairly new resident of Sderot, looking for me and asking me to call him. When I asked why, he dodged the question, only saying, ‘Your granddaughters are with him and they’re fine.’ He said a soldier had brought them to him as he was leaving the synagogue and running to a safe room, and that I shouldn’t worry — they were okay.”

A Child’s Account

“I contacted Yinon and asked to speak with my older granddaughter. She told me what had happened: that people took her father and she didn’t see him again, that she didn’t manage to see who he went with or where, and that someone saw them and said he would take them to a safe place. In hindsight, I know she also censored details because she was worried about me.

“Later it became clear that it was a police officer who happened upon the scene — apparently on his way to change shifts, and saw my daughter-in-law Hodaya screaming and shaking, after she had just witnessed Dolev being shot.”

The Escape That Turned Into a Trap

“What happened — and we later saw it in videos, is that as they tried to leave the city, they were shot at while driving. When the terrorists kept driving, they got out of the car and split up on foot. Dolev took the younger daughter with him, and Hodaya was with the older one.

“They tried to escape, but Dolev’s foot was broken from a work accident, which slowed him down. He shielded the little one with his body, and the terrorist shot him. Then the terrorist was called, got back into the car, and drove toward the city entrance.

“Dolev, bleeding heavily, told the little one to go to the car, thinking that maybe she would survive and the car would protect her.”

A Miraculous Rescue

“At that moment, Hodaya returned to the scene. The police officer had just entered the area, stopped a young man guarding a construction site, and asked him to get in and drive Hodaya’s car to a safe place. The little one was already in the car; the older one got in too, and they both hid in the back as they drove toward the police station.

“Tragically, no one knew that this was an even worse killing zone, with around 30 terrorists, if not more. Some terrorists stayed outside shooting at passersby, but many entered the police station and took it over.

“In another video you can see the terrorists surround Hodaya’s jeep, shoot her and the driver, and look inside to see if there’s anyone else to shoot. But thank God, the Holy One, blessed be He, showed us mercy and blinded them — they didn’t see my granddaughters hiding in the back. He took the parents, but saved the children.”

“Help Us, Save Us”

“When the older girl heard the terrorists moving away, she realized there was a brief window when someone might help, and she shouted, ‘Help us, save us!’ A Yamam (special police unit) officer heard her scream and approached together with a prison guard from a local emergency squad.

“She asked if they were police. They said yes — but she didn’t settle for that. She asked if they were from Israel. She had to be sure, because earlier she had seen supposed ‘police’ murdering her father. Only when he said yes did she tell him there was a baby with her, and then they rescued both of them.”

Eliana adds that the rescuer later told her he could not understand how the older girl managed to hide her little sister so well under the driver’s seat — he himself couldn’t even push a water bottle into that space.

“The Word ‘Shabbat’ Saved Us”

“Because my husband has Alzheimer’s, the word ‘Shabbat’ saved both of us,” Eliana says. “We were trapped for six days in a dark room. He smokes, but he remembers that on Shabbat you don’t smoke. So after Saturday night I told him it was Friday night, and the next day I said it was Shabbat. That’s how I kept him from going out to smoke on the balcony. Otherwise, the terrorists would have noticed him.”

Piecing Together the Truth

“In the end, it became clear that Dolev was shot in the morning. Two young men found him and took him to an MDA station, but he had already lost a great deal of blood. We still don’t know exactly when he arrived there or when he was taken to the hospital. I’m only now beginning to connect the dots. It’s not easy.”

How Are Your Granddaughters Coping?

“My older granddaughter had a very hard day on her mother’s birthday. In general, they attend school, but it’s not easy. Each time another realization sinks in about what happened. Their coping won’t be simple, and they need a great deal of time to recover.”