Chabad House In US Virgin Islands Ravaged By Hurricane Irma

Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon September 8, 2017

Hurricane Irma ripped through the U.S. Virgin Islands this week, badly damaging most of the buildings in the archipelago — including the local Chabad House, whose leaders have stayed there to help the recovery effort.

“My brother Asher and his wife Henya are Chabad Shluchim on the Island,” wrote Eli Federman, brother to Chabad staffers Rabbi Asher Federman and his wife, Henya Federman, in an e-mail to the Forward. He added: “Their family sheltered in a hospital building during the storm. Thankfully they are physically okay.”

According to Facebook posts, the Federmans have been checking on local members of the Jewish community since the storm hit — and are planning to hold a Shabbat service this Friday evening.

“Friends, these are tough times but we are a resilient community. We are strong! We will come together and rebuild!” the two wrote on their page, announcing the Shabbat services.

Eli Federman has set up a GoFundMe page to assist the Chabad community in the Virgin Islands.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter, @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO