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Family Finds a Menorah in the Ashes of their Burned Home

"It has given me so much strength, courage, hope and faith. It feels like a miracle."
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January 16, 2025
Photo courtesy Joshua Kotler

Joshua Kotler, 39, was sitting down to dinner with his wife, Emily, and their two daughters on January 7, when the fire started down the street. The couple had purchased their house in Altadena two years ago after moving to Los Angeles from New York. Kotler works as an occupational therapist and is an assistant professor at USC. 

“We live up the mountain west of the fires. At that point, the wind started blowing east, but we still evacuated just to be safe,” he said in a phone interview with the Journal. “We moved to my sister-in-law’s house, about 20 minutes away.”

A few hours later, at around 11:30 p.m., Kotler decided to drive back to Altadena to assess the situation. When he got to the house, the fire hadn’t reached it yet, so he sprayed the roof and the area around the house with water, hoping for the best.

“I left when I saw the fire getting closer. I wished I had taken something out of the house, but it was too late—I felt it was unsafe.”

The next day, around noon, Kotler received a video from a neighbor who had filmed the burned-down street.

“When it panned down to our house and showed it was burned down, Emily and I just burst out in tears and cried. We spent the rest of the day mourning the house.”

On Thursday, January 9, the couple left their daughters, Liberty, 4, and Eve, 2, with family and drove back to Altadena. When they arrived, police had closed their street, so they parked on the side of the road and climbed up the mountain.

When they reached their house, they saw that nothing was left—just rubble and ashes.

“Before we left, I asked a firefighter who was standing there if it was safe to look through the rubble, and she said yes, she had some time and would help. I thought maybe something my kids made at school had survived. We started looking, and after ten seconds, the firefighter tapped me on the shoulder and said: ‘Happy Chanukah.’”

Kotler couldn’t believe it. He started crying and thanking God. “My wife ran over and videotaped me crying and screaming. I’ve been talking to my family—we were looking for some reasoning for it. This is the most horrific thing that has happened to us, and I honestly don’t think I would be as strong right now if I didn’t find it. It has given me so much strength, courage, hope and faith. It feels like a miracle. It feels like my grandparents are with me. It was the most powerful moment.”

Kotler received the menorah from his grandmother, Leah Kotler, a Holocaust survivor from Belarus.

“It made me feel how important it is to connect with tradition and my Judaism,” he said.

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