Shortly after 5:00 am on Wednesday, December 6th, my ringing phone startled me from my sleep. “Wake up,” a member of my congregation said, “The hills are all on fire.” I quickly turned on my television and saw flames engulfing the massive hillsides framing the Sepulveda Pass, the main thoroughfare through the northwest part of…
A Jewish summer camp in California breathed a sigh of relief over the weekend as the camp’s director reported that its buildings were untouched by wildfires. Rabbi Joe Menashe, executive director of Camp Ramah in California, wrote on Facebook on Friday that though the wildfires raging near the camp had burned acres of land on…
(JTA) — Los Angeles-area synagogues and Jewish institutions closed in the wake of a major fire, dubbed the Skirball Fire after the Jewish cultural center that is in its path. Leo Baeck Temple, Stephen Wise Temple, American Jewish University’s Familian Campus and the Skirball Cultural Center all were closed due to the fire, the Los…
(JTA) — The Union for Reform Judaism’s Camp Newman, which was “mostly destroyed” by last month’s northern California forest fires, will have a temporary home for the 2018 summer camp season. The URJ announced Friday that the camp will be housed for summer 2018 at the facilities of California State University Maritime Academy, or Cal Maritime,…
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — Administrators of a Jewish summer camp destroyed by a wildfire in Northern California toured the site for the first time, finding “miracles” amid the devastation. Although most of Camp Newman’s buildings were lost in the North Bay Area wildfires, camp officials said an entrance gate,…
A synagogue has emerged as a center of aid and refuge for people fleeing wildfires in the Sonoma County, California, the Jewish News of Northern California reported. Rabbi Stephanie Kramer of Congregation Shomrei Torah says the synagogue, which is far from the fire lines, has been able to house dozens of people who have been…
Arielle Morrison was just a few hours away from her wedding ceremony on Sunday afternoon when she started seeing the Facebook posts about Camp Newman: There was a wildfire menacing Sonoma County, California, encroaching on the grounds of her beloved summer camp. The wildfire was part of the current Northern California firestorm, which has so…
(JTA) (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The wildfires ripping through northern California have forced several Jewish families to flee — and some of their homes have been destroyed. Rabbi Mendel Wolvovsky of Chabad of Sonoma has been fielding calls from members of his community and with his wife, Altie, has…
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