AJW Staff Report
Fifteen Jewish teen volunteers from New Jersey NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth) will travel to Minnesota and help with flood cleanup from Oct. 20-24.
Nechama – Jewish Response to Disaster has been deploying volunteers recently to help with sandbagging and cleanup after flooding in Zumbro, Minn. Nechama has contacted local synagogue youth groups to join their peers from New Jersey on Oct. 22. The local teens will give up a day of the MEA break to aid victims of flooding in southern Minnesota. Local members of BBYO, NCSY, NFTY and USY have been invited to volunteer.
The volunteers from New Jersey NCSY (part of the Orthodox Union’s international youth program) are from Torah Academy of Bergen County, Teaneck; Teaneck High School; Fair Lawn High School; and Northern Highlands High School, Allendale.
The New Jersey teen group is led by Rabbi Ethan Katz, who has previously organized youth volunteers to help Nechama in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in Texas and flooding in Atlanta, Ga. The NCSY youth will spend Shabbat with the Chabad House in Rochester.
A group of Hillel students from the University Florida joined Nechama for flood clean-up in Waverly, Iowa. (Photo: Courtesy of Nechama)
A group of Hillel students from the University Florida joined Nechama for flood clean-up in Waverly, Iowa. (Photo: Courtesy of Nechama)
The Zumbro River flooded in late September; and the young Jewish volunteers will help homeowners with the messy job of tearing up carpets and pulling out warped floorboards, removing sheet rock and mold, and salvaging household items.
The New Jersey teens traveled to Buffalo, N.Y., earlier this month and helped with a Habitat for Humanity housing reconstruction project.
“The message that we strive to instill within our students is that true chesed (acts of kindness) is not only about vast organizational structures, but about engaging the needs of people in crises wherever they are,” said Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, regional director of New Jersey NCSY.
In a press release sent to the Jewish World, Glasser added, “One of the greatest strengths of informal Jewish educators is their creativity to innovate new programs in response to shifting circumstances. When we received the call a few weeks ago regarding the floods in Minnesota, our staff immediately went to work creating a brand-new program and schedule to meet the needs of the residents.”
Twin Cities-based Nechama was formed in 1993, when local volunteers traveled to help with cleanup after floods in Iowa and other parts of the Midwest. In many rural communities, the volunteers with Nechama (which means “comfort” in Hebrew) are the first Jews that local residents have met. In such situations, stereotypes about Jews dissolve quickly when the residents see that Nechama volunteers have traveled far and work hard to provide relief in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
Nechama acts as a first step in paving the way for reconstruction to begin. By cleaning up damaged areas after flooding or other natural disasters, the organization provides an intermediary step before groups such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and others can assist the community in relocation and rebuilding.
Nearly 70 percent of Nechama volunteers are Jewish, but the organization works closely with Lutheran Social Service and other Christian relief organizations who share the same goal.
For information about the Oct. 22 deployment to southern Minnesota, call 763-732-0610, e-mail: info@nechama.org or go to: nechama.org.
(American Jewish World, 10.15.10)
