As millions of residents flee a massive and strengthening Hurricane Matthew, which is taking aim at Florida and the southern Atlantic Coast, Chabad-Lubavitch centers from Florida to the Carolinas are doing everything to prepare, from protecting Torah scrolls to opening their doors to evacuees.
Among those forced to evacuate is Rabbi Zvi Konikov, who on Thursday morning was packing up his family in order to get out of harm’s way as Matthew was expected to hit their area. The rabbi and his wife, Shulamit, serve as co-directors of Chabad of the Space & Treasure Coasts in Satellite Beach, Fla.
The Category 4 storm has sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. It has already caused the deaths of at least 300 people in Haiti and elsewhere earlier in the week before barreling into the Bahamas on Thursday morning en route to U.S. shores. States of emergency were declared in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.
Taking down outdoor signage and anything else portable and possibly salvageable before leaving, the rabbi made certain that the Torah scrolls at the Chabad House were secure. “We had them taken to a safe place,” he says.
Meanwhile, Chabad centers not directly in the path of the storm are opening their doors to evacuees and preparing to assist victims in the coming days and weeks.
More than 70 miles inland from the Florida coast, Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student and Community Center in Gainesville is hoping that it will remain business as usual this Shabbat, though judging from the emails, phone calls and messaging from worried parents of students and others, it may be anything but.
“We are getting calls from all over Florida and other states from concerned parents who want a safe place for the children,” says Rabbi Berl Goldman, co-director with his wife, Chanie. “Our plans now are to stay and be with the students.”
In a letter sent to students, parents and community members, the Goldmans and their fellow Chabad emissaries, Rabbi Aharon and Pessie Notik, write: “We hope and pray that all in the path of the storm will be safe and unharmed, please G‑d. We are busy preparing to respond, host and help. We want you to know that if you need anything we are here for you! Chabad will be open. Our plans are on track to host Shabbat services and dinner, and Shabbat morning services and [Kiddish] lunch. Plans for Yom Kippur and Sukkot are all the same, as well.
“If the weather intensifies and you have to leave your house, apartment or student housing and need a place to go, please let us know,” the letter goes on to say. “If any student is afraid to be in their apartment, home or dorm, you can come over and stay at Chabad until the storm passes.”
Also reaching out to those who may need a place to stay are Rabbi Yossi and Sulha Dubrowski, co-directors of Chabad Lubavitch of Tampa Bay. “People in Daytona have reached out to us, and we are offering to host families from their area who need a place to stay,” says Sulha Dubrowski.
Preparation and Prayer
Further south, in the heavily Jewish city of Boca Raton, Rabbi Ruvi and Ahuva New, co-directors of Chabad of East Boca Raton, have been doing all they can to prepare for the storm and help those in need.
“I was just on the phone with Home Depot to see if they have any more plywood, but they don’t,” the rabbi reports.
“A part of my community is under mandatory evacuation, particularly those who are on the barriers islands or just by the Atlantic Ocean,” he says. “A significant number of people have already evacuated, and others are making sure that their homes are protected.”
New and his family are just outside of that zone and are staying put, having made sure they have plenty of nonperishable foods, water, flashlights, batteries and more on hand. He has also seen to it that people who couldn’t get water were able to stock up, as the Chabad House had quite a lot of bottled water still on hand from Rosh Hashanah that they made available to those who needed it.
Meanwhile, while those who remain on the East Coast of the state hunker down and hope for the best, Rabbi New offers one solid suggestion. Noting that the local power company Florida Power & Light goes by the acronym FPL, he notes that those same letters can also refer to “Farbreng [gather together], Pray & Learn.”
“Given that we are currently in the 10 days of repentance, I suggest that we all have our own in-home farbrengens and utilize the time we have together with our families to pray a little bit more, learn a little bit more, and try and put a positive perspective on it.”
Bookmark this story for news updates as the Hurricane Matthew makes its way up the U.S. coastline.
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