Orthodox Volunteers Shake Off Prohibition To Help Harvey-Stricken Churches
ZAKA volunteers help clear out a synagogue in Houston damaged by flooding during Hurricane Harvey. Image by facebook
By Ari Feldman September 6, 2017
Volunteers with ZAKA, a search and rescue operation run by Israeli Orthodox Jews, are helping repair Houston churches damaged by intense flooding during Hurricane Harvey, reported Breaking Israel News. The decision to help the churches breaks with a custom against entering Christian houses of worship that many Orthodox Jews adhere to.
ZAKA chairman Yehuda Zahav told BIN that there was a “religious imperative to help, since every man was created in God’s image.”
The volunteers are helping with the restoration of Gulf Meadows Church, which is in an area of Houston that reported several dozen rescue requests during the storm and subsequent flooding.
“Throughout history we stayed far away since the church presented both spiritual and physical threats to our people,” said Rabbi Weisz, the publisher of Breaking Israel News. “Nevertheless, Yehuda Meshi Zahav didn’t hesitate to send the Ultra-Orthodox ZAKA volunteers to assist the Gulf Meadow Church suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.”
“We are blessed and privileged to number one have anybody come from Israel, but secondarily to have religious people come with shoulder to shoulder help, we are honored beyond belief,” the church’s pastor, Becky Keenan, said.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
