Florida Jews reflect after disaster
High Holy Days take new meaning following Irma
NAPLES, Fla. — During Hurricane Irma, Temple Shalom served as a sanctuary of a different kind.
When the storm changed course at the last minute, the Naples synagogue suddenly became an emergency shelter. As power stayed off for days, the Reform temple, which had only minimal damage, was a place for neighbors to escape the heat and have a free meal.
Now, amid the upheaval caused by Irma, Rabbi Adam Miller has decided the sermons he had carefully planned for the Jewish High Holy Days, starting Wednesday night, are no longer relevant.
“Those are in the trash can,” said Miller, who rode out the storm in Memphis, Tennessee, carrying one of the synagogue’s Torah scrolls for safekeeping. “The new message now is bringing the community together. No matter how challenging it might seem, we can pick up the pieces and rebuild.”
In Florida’s large Jewish community, the solemn period starting with Rosh Hashana has taken on new meaning as congregants facing desperate uncertainty about the state of their homes, neighbors and livelihoods seek as much comfort as inspiration in the new year.
“The hurricane was so incredibly disruptive psychologically,” said Rabbi Michael Resnick of Temple Emanu-el of Palm Beach, a Conservative congregation, who used a solar charger to power his phone so he could send emails of support to his congregation throughout the storm and in the days after. “For me, it was a reminder of how small and fragile we are and that we really have no control over a whole lot.”
Even before Irma, Jews in Florida and throughout the country were unsettled approaching the holidays, after a year of ever-bolder expressions of anti-semitism, including a rally last month of neo-nazis and white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, where cries of “Sieg Heil!” were heard.
For Florida’s Jews, Irma presented a more immediate personal threat. About 600,000 Florida residents — or about 3 percent of the population — are Jewish, and many are elderly.
Many Jews who evacuated ahead of Irma will not make it back to their communities and their synagogues for the holidays. Miller said some parents have told him they won’t return until schools re-open. Resnick said many of his congregants who had spent the summer outside of Florida have dropped plans to return to Palm Beach for Rosh Hashana.
The Reform Jewish movement and other branches of American Judaism are asking synagogues around the country to admit those displaced by Irma and Hurricane Harvey, which devastated Texas last month.