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Jewish Community Leaders Pledge Support to Wildfires Victims

Leaders of multiple Jewish organizations, including Bet Tzedek, Jewish Family Service LA and Jewish Free Loan Association, have offered various forms of assistance and support for those affected by the fires.
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January 15, 2025
Araxy Manookian receives a hug in front of her home which was destroyed in the Eaton Fire as wildfires cause damage and loss through the LA region on January 11, 2025 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Jewish community leaders quickly responded to the wildfires raging across Los Angeles County by pledging support for those most in need.

“As leader of the largest Jewish philanthropic organization in Los Angeles, it is my sacred duty to ensure the safety of our community,” Rabbi Noah Farkas, CEO of Jewish Federation Los Angeles, said in a phone interview. “We are working diligently with our partners to provide resources and are utilizing cutting-edge communication methods to directly reach people in crisis. Every member of our community impacted by this tragedy will receive the help they need.”

On Jan. 9, Jewish Federation Los Angeles organized a virtual briefing, featuring community leaders providing updates related to the fires blazing across Los Angeles County. Approximately 500 listeners tuned in.

Among the speakers was Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park. The L.A. elected official offered a sobering assessment of the on-the-ground reality in Pacific Palisades, where a fire had burned through more than 20,000 acres and was just eight percent contained as of Jan. 10, hours before Shabbat began. 

“The scenes on the ground are absolutely apocalyptic,” Park, who represents the city’s 11th district, which includes Pacific Palisades, said. “It’s a miracle anything is still standing, and even for the folks that may have a home to return to, the scope and the scale of the damage is so significant that it’s going to take many, many, many months just to get the rubble out and to bring some basic structure and order back.”

Park said she anticipated a “yearslong recovery ahead.”

The L.A. City Councilmember was speaking two days after an unprecedented fire broke out in Pacific Palisades and scorched the affluent Westside neighborhood. Fires also raged in Eaton Canyon, Hollywood Hills and Sylmar, among other areas.

Among the structures that were destroyed is the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, which “has burned entirely to the ground,” according to a statement on the synagogue’s website. The synagogue also housed the B’nai Jewish Community Preschool.

Additionally, multiple synagogues reported having congregants who had lost their homes.

The Jan. 9 Zoom call organized by Jewish Federation Los Angeles was the latest action the organization has taken since the outbreak of the fires. The L.A. Federation has launched a Wildfire Crisis Relief Fund and compiled resources on its website for those in need, at jewishla.org/fire.

The L.A. Federation is also rolling out an emergency text response service, which the organization describes as an “innovative text-based alert system that provides a new level of connection and comfort to Jewish Los Angeles during a time of uncertainty and crisis.” 

Distinguishing this system from others is the real-life Federation staff people who are responding to text messages, Farkas told the Journal.

“The feedback has been absolutely tremendous as a way of feeling you’re a part of something, part of a community that cares about you,” the L.A. Federation CEO said.

Leaders of multiple Jewish organizations, including Bet Tzedek, Jewish Family Service LA and Jewish Free Loan Association, have offered various forms of assistance and support for those affected by the fires. JFLA, a nonprofit, interest-free loan organization, is offering emergency loans of up to $15,000 to cover evacuation expenses, such as hotel or motel rooms, short-term rentals and travel outside of the area. There are also a limited number of loans of up to $2,000 for applicants without access to guarantors, available on a first-come, first-served basis, JFLA Executive Director Rachel Grose said.

Jason Moss, executive director of Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, struck a realistic yet hopeful tone as he addressed the damage that’s been done. 

“Our community has forever been changed since Wednesday night,” Moss said. “But through change comes opportunities and growth, and even in this devastation, people know that there is support coming from our local Jewish community and nationally, and it is greatly appreciated.”

Likewise, Jewish Federation Los Angeles Board Chair Orna Wolens acknowledged the unprecedented devastation that has taken place but was confident the community would step up and help.

“The needs are immense and only growing,” she said.

Chai Lifeline, which serves families with children suffering from life-threatening illnesses, has been assisting those dealing with trauma from the current wildfires. In a phone interview, Dr. Dovid Fox, a forensic and clinical psychologist and director of crisis intervention at Chai Lifeline International, said he was urging those in need to consider their “mental hygiene” as the days unfolded and the true damage from the fires became clearer.

Chai Lifeline’s hotline—855-3-CRISIS—was a useful tool for the community, Fox said. 

He advised those who are struggling to “be self-aware of their own reactions. Self-awareness is part of self-care. For those whom spirituality is an important part of their lives, [ask yourself] ‘How is this affecting me spiritually?’”

Danielle Goldblatt, founder of Holy Smokes Kosher Barbecue, a Tarzana-based caterer that offers weekly takeout kosher Shabbat meals, is among the many who’ve sprung into action. Since the outbreak of the fires, Goldblatt, her staff and volunteers have prepared kosher meals for first responders and displaced families. While she acknowledged most L.A. firefighters probably don’t keep kosher, “It’s about great food, that happens to be kosher,” Goldblatt told the Journal in a phone interview.

Many of those meals— including sweet-and-sour meat balls, rice and sautéed cabbage—are being delivered to Chabad of Pasadena, which has been offering daily daycare for kids whose schools burned down, distributing meals to the displaced and providing gift cards for essentials, among other services. 

Goldblatt has collaborated with Chabad at Pierce in raising funds to support the effort—but donating isn’t the only way to help.

“If people can’t fiscally help, continue to share donation links,” Goldblatt said. “Spreading the word and seeing how we can support people is really the number one thing.”

Farkas said he’s been heartened by the response from the wider Jewish community, including from Israeli governmental organizations that have reached out to the L.A. Federation and asked how they can assist.

“It reinforces for me that we are a global, united Jewish community,” he told the Journal.

An ordained rabbi, Farkas said it’s natural for people to be asking existential and theological questions at a time like this, such as “Is God in the fire?” “Did God punish these people who’ve lost their homes?” or “What did I do wrong?”

But the former rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom, where he served from 2008-2021 before taking the top job at Jewish Federation Los Angeles, said he was letting wisdom from the late Rabbi Harold Schulweis guide him. 

In moments of crisis, Schulweis taught ” ‘that God is not in the tragedy, but God is in the response to the tragedy,’” Farkas said. “ ‘And it’s in our eyes, our hearts, our hands. And that our capacity to love and care for each other, that’s where we find God.’”  

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