What NECHAMA Means to Us - Temple Israel of Charlotte

For weeks after Hurricane Helene hit, friends called me asking if I was okay. Thankfully, my city of Charlotte was mostly spared, but two hours away from us, Western North Carolina was devastated by the storm. Countless homes were flooded, and parts of the region did not have electricity or running water.

My community at Temple Israel cares deeply about helping out when people are in distress, and many of us have connections in places like Asheville and Hendersonville. We contributed to communal efforts to support rebuilding, but so many of us wanted to do something hands-on for our neighbors.

I am thankful for the work of NECHAMA. Through this organization, congregants from Temple Israel spent a day emptying out two flooded houses and tearing out rotted drywall. In the middle of the day, the homeowner came by to see all the items we were removing from his home. It must have been painful for him to see his home and possessions like this, but he thanked us for our work and shared his positive attitude about rebuilding.

As we finished the day and looked at all the work we had done, we felt quite accomplished. Upon reflection, one congregant pointed out that our work was just a tiny fraction of the work that would need to be done for just this one family, let alone the whole region. At this point, I thought it was important to share the teaching from Pirkei Avot:

'Rabbi Tarfon taught: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.'

Thank you to NECHAMA for giving us the opportunity to make even a modest contribution to our neighbors in their time of need.”

Rabbi Michael Wolk,
Temple Israel

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