Hurricane Harvey Flooded This Synagogue. Now It’s Being Torn Down.
Water-logged books outside the United Orthodox Synagogues in Houston, Texas, after Hurricane Harvey. Image by jta
By Ari Feldman January 31, 2018
The United Orthodox Synagogues building in Houston, Texas, has been flooded three times in as many years. But Hurricane Harvey, which filled the space with seven feet of water in early September 2017, proved to be the final blow. The synagogue, in use since 1961, is set to be demolished, the Houston Chronicle reported.
On Sunday, congregants will pray in the space for the last time. No date has been scheduled for demolition; clergy and lay leaders are working to preserve historical and religious artifacts as they assemble a plan for a new home for their community.
“Buildings can be fixed, torn down or rebuilt,” said Amy Goldstein, a UOS congregant whose own home took on 13 feet of water during Harvey. “But this is our community and our congregation. When you share a sacred place, it’s hard to let it go.”
The synagogue is said to be considering both building a new synagogue in the same location or moving it to somewhere less prone to floods. Several of Houston’s Jewish communal centers, heavily concentrated in the southwestern Meyerland area, took on heavy flooding. One out of every 13 Jewish families sustained flooding in their homes — about 2,000 families total.
Along with UOS, two other major synagogues in Meyerland were damaged, affecting a total membership of 3,900 congregants.
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 still need 300 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.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
