3/2 Update: Continuing to gather impact info RE: tornado outbreak

March 2nd, 2012

We continue to follow reports from parts of the Midwestern and Southern United States affected by this week’s widespread tornado outbreak. We are currently on standby, gathering all available information and communicating with partner agencies. Our assistance has not been requested at this time. At this stage, the main concern for emergency management, in most of the locally impacted areas is search and rescue and life safety.

Typically life saving measures and the stabilizing of infrastructure in each affected community needs to be completed before organizations like NECHAMA can deploy. Stay tuned for future information.

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9/29/12 Tornado Aftermath – Info Gathering

March 1st, 2012

Based on emergency management situation reports and mainstream media coverage we are piecing together the 9/29/12 severe weather impact around the US. Harrisburg, Il. a town of about 9,000 people was hit by an EF4 tornado. The tornado’s path is estimated to have been more than seven miles long and range from 250- 400 yards wide. The storm reportedly damaged or destroyed between 200-300 homes in Harrisburg. We have been in contact with partner organizations to try and ascertain information about the on-going situation and needs. We will be participating in state level conference calls on 3/2 for further evaluation. We will be sure to provide updates and info about the impact and/or our potential response actions, as it becomes available. We are not active anywhere in the USA at this time. Thanks for supporting NECHAMA.

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A Simple Way to Help

February 18th, 2012

Friends of NECHAMA!

Will you help us raise NECHAMA’s profile?

GreatNonprofits.org has launched the 2012 Disaster Relief Campaign in partnership with GuideStar, and CharityNavigator to recognize organizations that provide disaster aid.

The campaign rankings are based on the quality and number of reviews each organization receives before Wednesday February 29, 2012.

Click on or paste the following link into your web browser to visit our campaign page:

http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/profile2/nechama-jewish-response-to-disaster

The clock is ticking so pleasae take a few minutes and write a review today! Thanks!

- Team NECHAMA

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Tu B’Shevat: A Holiday of Renewal

January 30th, 2012

by Matt Rosenberg

When I lived in Israel for a year, I distinctly remember witnessing the first blossoming of almond trees on the holiday known as Tu B’Shevat. For me, the coincidence of the first blossoms appearing and Tu B’Shevat was nothing short of a miracle for this minor holiday is known in the Jewish tradition as the “new year for trees.” It marks the beginning of the spring renewal that fills the land with the produce of Israel, as mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:8, a “land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olive trees, and honey.”

The ancient Israelites relied upon rain in its proper season to bring forth this produce from the land. Israel lacks rivers for irrigation so if there is too little rain, famine was the likely result. Thousands of years ago the inconsistencies of nature could wreak havoc on society. Even though we live in the twenty-first century, the same is true today. Not enough rain leads to drought and too much rain leads to flooding. While we have more technology for controlling the impacts of these extremes, oftentimes, despite our best efforts, nature’s impact is profound.

In ancient times, Tu B’Shevat marked the end of the rains and the beginning of the planting season, a critical point in the agricultural calendar. Every region has that critical point, the too-many continuous days of rainfall; the point where high temperatures, low humidity, and Santa Ana winds will turn any spark into a conflagration; the time when the hurricane-force winds are projected to make landfall. We always live on that razor’s edge between serenity and chaos.

Tu B’Shevat provides us the opportunity to recognize the power of the divine and of nature on our planet. It is an ancient moment of transition that leads us from one season and into the first fleeting signs of another one beginning. It represents renewal and hope. That hope exists in the hearts of those victims of disaster that NECHAMA helps throughout the year. Through its efforts to rebuild and repair, NECHAMA fills an important void in the disaster recovery process.

Happy New Year for the Trees!

Matt Rosenberg is a Rabbinical Student at American Jewish University in California and a NECHAMA volunteer. He can be reached at rosenbergmatt@gmail.com

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Hanukah 5772 By Matt Rosenberg

December 14th, 2011

There is a midrash, a Rabbinic commentary, about the first winter that Adam and Eve experienced after the Garden of Eden. As the nights were getting longer and the days were getting shorter, Adam feared that night would overtake the day and soon, only the cold nights would exist. Eve thought of a plan to ward off the night. They would light lamps to defend against the nights. This was a comforting idea to Adam. So they began. Each night they added a lamp, one on the first night, two on the second night, three on the third night and so on until after the eighth night, when Adam and Eve realized that the nights were getting shorter and the days were again getting longer.

Obviously this ancient tale was a portent of the lights of Hanukkah, a holiday in which we traditionally light candles during the darkest point of winter. With each night, each additional candle wards off the darkness and cold by increasing the light found within our homes. Hanukkah is one of the most frequently observed Jewish holidays in America and it’s no wonder – it is a holiday that unites families and makes a house a home.

Volunteers and staff of Nechama worked earlier this month at Nechama’s warehouse to prepare the supplies and equipment needed for next spring and summer’s inevitable round of disasters. Every disaster organization must ensure that its equipment and supplies are ready to respond and Nechama is no exception. This essential preparation during the darkness of this time of year will hopefully lead to bringing light into the homes of families around the country.

As we light our Hanukkah candles, one additional candle on the Hanukkiah (Hanukkah menorah) each night, increasing in light throughout the eight nights, let us pray for a season of warmth and happiness in our homes. Happy Hanukkah!

Matt Rosenberg is in his penultimate year of rabbinical school at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and is a NECHAMA volunteer.

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Thanksgiving

November 22nd, 2011

Thanksgiving: A Jewish Holiday?
Matt Rosenberg

A psalm of praise. Raise a shout for God, all the earth; worship Adonai in gladness; come into God’s presence with shouts of joy. Acknowledge that Adonai is God; God made us and we are God’s, Adonai’s people, the flock God tends. Enter God’s gates with praise, God’s courts with acclamation. Praise God! Bless God’s name! For Adonai is good; God’s steadfast love is eternal; God’s faithfulness is for all generations. – Psalm 100 (JPS translation)

Many of our psalms, such as psalm 100 above, speak of giving praise and thanks to God for all that God has bestowed upon us. Psalm 100 is one of the thanks-giving psalms and is recited in daily worship. It speaks to thankfulness and expresses the heart of the great American holiday of Thanksgiving.

November is often a month without any Jewish holidays. But, can we count Thanksgiving as a Jewish holiday? The concept of giving thanks is not foreign to Judaism. Offerings of thanks were made in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem and much of our liturgy is centered around giving thanks, such as Psalm 100.

The sharing of a meal surrounded by friends and family is a very Jewish way of celebrating a holiday. The Passover seder, the meals before and after the fast of Yom Kippur, the plethora of meals in the Sukkah during Sukkot are just a few of the times of gathering together over a communal meal. The modern Thanksgiving meal, with its traditional and symbolic foods of that historic first Thanksgiving in the New World, reminds us of the founding of our nations, on its principles of religious freedom.

Additionally, the custom of sharing what one is grateful for over the past year can be somewhat likened to the self-accounting that took place during the High Holy Days just a few weeks ago. During the High Holy Days we reflect on the aspects of ourselves that we’d like to change and improve; during Thanksgiving we have the opportunity to reflect on the happiness and blessings that were part of our life. Thanksgiving is indeed a great Jewish holiday, to be celebrated to its fullest.

Unfortunately, for many families affected by disaster, Thanksgiving represents the beginning of a difficult and cold holiday season working to recover. Thanks to people like you who support agencies such as NECHAMA with your time and donations, more families are more able to be grateful for their blessings such as a roof over their heads.

Yom Hodu Sameach! Happy Thanksgiving!

Matt Rosenberg is a Rabbinical Student at American Jewish University in California and a Nechama volunteer. He can be reached at rosenbergmatt@gmail.com

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