Hurricane Harvey relief effort

JFS Orlando has been in contact with its colleagues at Jewish Family Services in Houston. Despite difficult conditions, emergency officials are working to assess the damage that has already left hundreds of thousands of people without power or access to food and water and shut down municipal services, highways, schools and community institutions. JFS Houston is the lead organization providing relief services to the Jewish community.

“The unprecedented hurricane and subsequent flooding of Houston and the surrounding areas have been severe and is expected to be felt by all in that area for quite some time,” said Eric Geboff, executive director of JFS Orlando. “The Talmud teaches us ‘kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh,’ meaning all Jews are responsible for each other.  It implies and has led to the obligation on all Jews to ensure that other Jews have their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter taken care of. Simply by virtue of being a Jew, we are responsible for the well-being of other Jews, and vice versa. As members of the worldwide Jewish community, we have always responded to the needs of our family in times of crises. Now is the time to act.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston has established an online form to collect donations for immediate needs in the community including food, water and shelter. Getting as many individuals as possible to safety and out of harm’s way is the first goal, and funds will immediately be used in this way.

Please consider doing what we Jews have done for centuries, responded to the needs of other Jews in times of crises. To help, go to https://jewishfederations.org/hurricane-harvey-relief-fund.