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Community Gathers in Response to JCA Fire Losses

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November 12, 2018
Photo by Aaron Bandler

Camp JCA Shalom, a program of the Shalom Institute is just one of the institute’s camps that is reeling from the fires that have ravaged Southern California since Thursday. Camp Hess Kramer also suffered extensive damage.

On Sunday, Nov. 11, Camp JCA Shalom held a community gathering at de Toledo High School in West Hills. It was an opportunity for people to come together, to grieve and support one another.

Attendees of all ages linked arms to sing camp favorites including, “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Lean on Me,” and to talk about their reactions to the fire.

Camp Director Joel Charnick told the packed auditorium of close to 100 people that while the full extent of the damage to the campsite has yet to be determined, “the news is not good. It’s a substantial amount of damage. It’s devastating.”

Charnick said the camp was evacuated early on the morning of Nov. 9. They managed to take all the animals, the Torah scrolls and some other equipment with them.  

Charnick said one of the Torah scrolls was similar to a tree he had been looking at before the camp grounds were evacuated. The tree had survived numerous fires, just like the Torah scroll had survived the Holocaust.

“Do we feel safe in our homes? Do we feel safe in our synagogues? Do we feel safe at all? We’re all a little bit more vulnerable.” — Jay Sanderson

And just like that tree and that Torah scroll, Charnick said the community would survive. He predicted that in 30 years, people wouldn’t be talking about the fire. “We’ll be talking about how our community came together and overcame,” he said.

Shalom Institute Executive Director Rabbi Bill Kaplan told attendees that personnel had gone to the campsite at 3 a.m. on Nov. 9 after the call for voluntary evacuations went out, and “moved into action” at 6 a.m. after they heard the fire had jumped the 101 Freeway.

Kaplan was confident that they would be back at the campsite shortly thereafter, but sheriff’s deputies called on everyone to evacuate. Decker Canyon was in flames shortly thereafter. “It was scary,” Kaplan said.

He thanked staff for helping with the evacuations and called the outpouring of support from all over the world “amazing. We will rebuild, we will come back,” Kaplan said.

Gil Breakman, president of the Shalom Institute, reminded everyone that despite the devastation, “Camp is not about buildings. It’s about community. For as long as I’ve been involved, the camp has never needed a community and a board like they need [it] today,” Breakman said.

Jewish Federation President and CEO Jay Sanderson noted how the past couple of weeks have been tough for the Jewish community, especially in light of the Tree of Life synagogue shootings on Oct. 27 in Pittsburgh. “Do we feel safe in our homes? Do we feel safe in our synagogues? Do we feel safe at all?” Sanderson asked. “We’re all a little bit more vulnerable.”

Sanderson also reminded everyone that “at the end of the day, our lives are around the people we know and the people we love,” particularly those at Camp JCA Shalom.

He went on to say that eventually the time will come to transition from grieving to dreaming. “If you close your eyes and you dream about what camp could really be with a brand new kitchen and brand new bunks, this is the beginning of the next chapter of JCA Shalom, he said.

The Federation, he concluded, “plans to be in the front seat of the car that drives this camp to the next destination.”

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