By Nathan Guttman September 20, 2017

Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Meyerland, Texas took a severe hit from hurricane Harvey. The entire building was flooded and repair work on damages will take months and in no way will be done in time for the High Holidays.

In the meanwhile, members of the 2000-family synagogue are finding refuge at Lakewood Church, Houston’s megachurch headed by televangelist Joel Osteen.

“We are honored to announce that we will be opening our doors to the Beth Yeshurun congregation so that they may celebrate their High Holy Days at our church,” the church announced.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Osteen came under criticism last month after failing to offer his church as a shelter for Houston residence whose homes were flooded.

Rabbi David Rosen thanked Osteen for the offer, calling it a “reaffirmation of the beautiful spirit of collegiality and interfaith conversation we have here in Houston.”

Osteen is scheduled to talk to Beth Yeshurun congregants during the Rosh Hashanah prayer service on Thursday.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount