A fire on Rosh Hashanah day at a strip mall in Colorado Springs caused major damage to Chabad Lubavitch of Southern Colorado. As the cleanup continues, the emissaries stress that they will not only rebuild, but continue to grow and serve as a beacon for good in the community.
No one was hurt in the Oct. 3 blaze, which started in a store adjacent to the Chabad House, but the damage is extensive, and there’s no word on when, or even if, Chabad will be able to return to the building.
“There was terrible damage to the whole structure—the roof, the ceiling, all the insulation fell in,” says Rabbi Moshe Eliezer Liberow, who directs the center with his wife, Zelda. “The smoke damage is also terrible. We had to go in today and got special masks to do so.”
In many ways, it had been an otherwise quiet, contemplative morning as the rabbi, his 14-year-old son Zalmy and two yeshivah students were reciting Psalms and awaiting the start of Shacharit (morning prayers) on the first day of the Jewish New Year when they got the inkling something was amiss.
According to the Zalmy Liberow, they heard a large bang and the wall shook; a few minutes later, they smelled smoke. When they stepped outside, smoke was pouring from the roof of the business next door.
The rabbi credits his son and the students from New York—there to help with holiday services—with getting the synagogue’s three Torah scrolls to safety. The four carried the scrolls to the Liberow home 15 minutes away, where services were held for the remainder of Rosh Hashanah.
Since then, non-Jewish area residents who had nothing to do with the fire or Chabad have volunteered to help move furniture and other items out of the burnt center.
‘Come Out Even Stronger’
Given the damage, reports Liberow, there’s a real possibility that the authorities will not allow them to return to the building.
Meanwhile, they will relocate to a new place, with new expenses and a new lease. “It will be for many, many months, even if they allow us to fix this Chabad House,” he says.
The couple is already working on plans for the upcoming holidays. Shabbat services will be held at their home, and the rabbi has secured local hotel space for Yom Kippur. He is currently trying to arrange a location for Sukkot and beyond.
“We’ve been here 16 years and cover the entire area of Southern Colorado, including Telluride more than 300 miles away, and all kinds of small towns where Jews are,” he says, noting that the two yeshivah students were planning to visit some of those places as well.
The ultimate goal, says Liberow, “is not just to come out of this and replace what we had, but to come out even stronger and continue to expand. May we go m’chayil l’chayil—from strength to strength.”
To donate to an account established to help with the costs, click here.
Join the Discussion