Monster Hurricane Maria Strikes Puerto Rico — Rosh Hashanah Services Cancelled
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Puerto Rico’s three synagogues closed for Rosh Hashanah as Hurricane Maria pummeled the island.
The synagogues, all in San Juan, canceled Wednesday evening services for the Jewish New Year and urged members to stay home, according to The Times of Israel.
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning after causing widespread destruction on the Caribbean island nation of Dominica. In Puerto Rico, which has 3.3 million residents, power outages were expected as strong winds ripped trees out of the ground
Leaders of the Jewish community, which numbers around 2,000, said there was no choice but to cancel the Rosh Hashanah services.
Diego Mandelbaum, a leader at Shaare Zedek, a Conservative congregation and Puerto Rico’s largest synagogue, told The Times of Israel: “This is a situation that speaks for itself. This isn’t even a decision, it’s an impossibility.”
Yadhira Ramirez Toro, a leader at the Reform Temple Beth Shalom, said people had been urged to stay home.
“Nobody’s supposed to leave their houses,” Toro told The Times of Israel.
Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Irma earlier this month, which led to widespread power outages on the island.
Rabbi Mendel Zarchi, who runs a Chabad house in the San Juan suburb of Isla Verde, was using his synagogue to provide shelter for people in need. The synagogue was built to be able to withstand a hurricane.
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.
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 the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
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.
