The Jewish community in Northern Palm Beach is recovering and providing relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
According to Michael Hoffman, president/CEO of the West Palm Beach-based Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, the Federation successfully served — and continues to serve — post-storm as the central convening point for the Jewish community.
“Jewish Federation is in a unique position in our community,” Hoffman said. “Through the dedicated leadership and generosity of our community members, we address the vital needs and causes pertinent to our Jewish community — in times of calm and in times of crisis.”
Hoffman said the efforts of staff at Federation and its partner agencies ensured the Jewish community was well prepared for the storm.
“As the High Holidays approach, we are checking with synagogues that lost power to verify whether power has been restored and to refer them to the appropriate resources,” Hoffman said.
The Federation also established a Hurricane Irma Relief Fund to address urgent needs in the Jewish and general communities in the wake of the storm.
Hoffman said the Federation is partnering with organizations in the Jewish and general communities to assess needs and mobilize volunteers and resources where they are most needed.
The Federation assures that 100 percent of contributions will help people in need with:
• Urgently-needed basics, including food and medicine;
• Damage repair and clean-up at partner agencies such as the Mandel JCC; and
• Long-term needs for victims, including trauma counseling.
If you would like help coping with trauma from the storm, call the Federation’s partner agency, Alpert Jewish Family & Children’s Service, at 561-684-1991.
To donate to the Federation’s Hurricane Irma Relief Fund, visit the website www.jewishpalmbeach.org/fund/irma_relief/.
Throughout Northern Palm Beach County, synagogues and other Jewish facilities had some debris to clear up in the wake of Hurricane Irma such as fallen trees, but there were no reports of any serious damage to any of the structures.
At Temple Beth David, a Conservative synagogue in Palm Beach Gardens, Executive Director Steve Bogad reported that there was no serious damage from Hurricane Irma.
“We just had some debris like everyone has,” Bogad said. “It won’t takes us long to clean it all up.”
At Temple Israel, a Reform synagogue in West Palm Beach, Rabbi Cookie Olshein was pleased to report there wasn’t much damage to her synagogue.
“As we are right on the Intracoastal, we always fear flooding from a hurricane,” Olshein said. “But, we didn’t get much of that this time around. I guess our prayers were answered. On Friday night before the storm, our building was closed but we did do a short Facebook Live service over the Internet.
“I think people needed to connect to something Jewish at that point.”
Also, throughout Northern Palm Beach County — as it was throughout the entire county as well as the whole state of Florida — centers of the Chabad Lubavitch of Florida sect of Judaism opened their doors and kitchens to people (both Jewish and non-Jewish) left without power in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
A total of 85 Chabad centers around the state participated in the relief efforts, including serving meals and providing emergency relief at the centers and delivering meals and needed supplies to the homes of people in need.
Chabad also has been using their 187 centers across the state of Florida as an invaluable resource to create a system of communication and be helpful to people who are out of town and couldn’t reach a family member. The people were calling the local Chabad, which then sent someone to check on the family member.
“We’ve been going non-stop since the storm ended,” said Rabbi Yoel Gancz of the Chabad of West Palm Beach. “We’ve had people cooking around the clock to meet the needs of the people in the community who are hungry.”
Anyone who still has any Hurricane Irma-related needs should contact their local Chabad center to ask for help.
The list of Chabad centers in Palm Beach County includes:
• Chabad Jewish Center of Jupiter
• Chabad of Northern Palm Beach Island
• Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens
• Chabad Lubavitch of Wellington
• Chabad of Royal Palm Beach
• Chabad of West Palm Beach
• Chabad of South Palm Beach
• Chabad of Lake Worth
• Chabad Jewish Center of West Boynton & West Lake Worth
• Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Boynton Beach
• Chabad of Delray Beach
• Chabad of West Boca Raton
• Chabad of Boca Raton
• Chabad of East Boca Raton
• Machon Menachem Boca Raton Rabbinical College
• Chabad Israeli Center
• Chabad Student Center
• Chabad Youth Network of Florida
• Jewish Recovery Center
To contribute to Chabad’s ongoing relief efforts, visit www.flchabadrelief.com.