{"id":9409,"date":"2013-09-17T07:55:37","date_gmt":"2013-09-17T13:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=9409"},"modified":"2013-09-17T13:30:07","modified_gmt":"2013-09-17T19:30:07","slug":"colorado-flooding-wreaks-havoc-on-yom-kippur-observances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/colorado-flooding-wreaks-havoc-on-yom-kippur-observances\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado flooding wreaks havoc on Yom Kippur observances"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">By ANDREA JACOBS, <em>Intermountain Jewish News<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">DENVER (IJN) &#8212; Before the start of Yom Kippur, a flood of historic proportions swallowed Boulder, Colo., and surrounding areas, displacing families, damaging synagogues and threatening services on the holiest day of the Jewish year &#8212; until determination came to the rescue.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Orthodox Boulder Aish Kodesh hit the Internet first, sending a mass email to 500 residents announcing that heavy rains and flooding had destroyed the tent it had prepared for the holiday. The email offered alternative locations for services, including hard-hit Chabad centers and Denver synagogues out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9432\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/boulderflood.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9432\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9432 lazyload\" title=\"Heavy Rain Fuels Major Colorado Floods\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/boulderflood-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/boulderflood-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/boulderflood-1024x679.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9432\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9432 \" title=\"Heavy Rain Fuels Major Colorado Floods\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/boulderflood-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/boulderflood-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/boulderflood-1024x679.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9432\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The U.S. National Guard responds to heavy flooding in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 12. (Joseph K. VonNida\/U.S. National Guard via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Elon Bar-Evan, executive director of Boulder Aish Kodesh, said the tent and parking lot were under water and that many prayer books intended for the services were ruined.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Rabbi Marc Soloway, spiritual leader of Conservative Bonai Shalom in Boulder, told the IJN Friday that his synagogue had sustained significant flooding.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cOur Yom Kippur services are scheduled elsewhere, but it is unclear whether we will be able to have them there at this point due to flooded roads and so forth,\u201d Soloway said. \u201cIt\u2019s a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">At Har HaShem, Boulder\u2019s major Reform synagogue, the power was out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cThe lower level of the main building was under four feet of water,\u201d said communications and membership director Ellen Kowitt, reached at her home in Erie, Colo.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Because Kowitt often works from home, she was able to update the website. Before the server collapsed, Rose wrote an email to the congregation:<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cThe Talmud teaches that rain is a sign of blessing. That might sound questionable right now. Whether we can turn this into a blessing remains to be seen . . . I believe in us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Chany Scheiner of Chabad of Boulder described a scene of utter chaos at the synagogue, which is attached to the side of her home. \u201cCU and other places closed on Thursday,\u201d she said. \u201cMy husband Rabbi Pesach Scheiner and I thought they might be making a big deal out of nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">When three rooms filled with water later that night, they knew it was serious. \u201cThere was a flood in front of our house and the backyard was a nice sized swimming pool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">The Scheiners and their children were evacuated. Neighbors convinced them to leave. \u201cWe went in their car,\u201d Scheiner said. \u201cIt was like the parting of the Reed Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">When the Scheiners returned to assess the damage, they found a few inches of brown water in the synagogue. The family got on their knees to clean the small worship space and then tackled the house.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Days of heavy rain across Colorado&#8217;s Front Range left eight people confirmed dead as of Monday evening and hundreds more unaccounted for.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Reconstructionist Beth Evergreen, located in the foothills just outside Denver, nearly shut its doors on the evening of Yom Kippur due to flooding.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">According to Rabbi Jamie Arnold, the road cutting through Evergreen, in the mountains west of Denver, was closed all day Friday, which meant congregants coming from Conifer would have to tackle a circuitous route from the opposite direction. Only about 30 to 40 \u201chard-core\u201d congregants made it to Beth Evergreen for Kol Nidre, Arnold said, and about 300 attended Yom Kippur services the next day, when the clouds dissipated long enough to allow for safe travel.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cI didn\u2019t change my sermon substantially,&#8221; Arnold said. \u201cI included prayers for healing and read names for those unable to say kaddish for their loved ones. But my sermon was about the function of community; how it provides sanctuary. I think that said it all.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9434\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/chabadflood.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9434\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9434 lazyload\" title=\"chabadflood\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/chabadflood-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/chabadflood-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/chabadflood.jpg 960w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9434\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9434 \" title=\"chabadflood\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/chabadflood-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/chabadflood-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/chabadflood.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9434\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Chabad volunteer helps people clear damaged goods from their homes in Colorado. (Courtesy of Chabad)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Meanwhile, Rabbi Yisroel Wilhelm of Chabad at the University of Colorado was receiving a call a minute and a stream of emails Friday morning.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cWe\u2019ve already cleaned up our mess &#8212; only a few inches in the shul,\u201d Wilhelm said. \u201cBut it\u2019s pretty intense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Students contacted Wilhelm to find out where they could attend services in Boulder. Some, unable to get home to Denver, also called him. Others trapped in inaccessible areas requested basic supplies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cThe saddest part for me is that there are people who are completely stranded,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can\u2019t even get out of their cars. Another girl in an isolated canyon has no food or water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Bonai Shalom was able to hold services at Naropa University, despite the university&#8217;s closing. Several Boulder Aish Kodesh members attended Bonai Shalom\u2019s services.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cOur congregation shares land with Boulder Aish Kodesh,\u201d said Steve Hill, president of Bonai Shalom. \u201cWe\u2019re very close.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Rabbi Wilhelm, who rewrote his sermon Thursday night to emphasize the need for volunteers \u201cto seize the day,\u201d said that a few hundred people comprising a \u201cvery different turnout\u201d prayed at CU Chabad over Yom Kippur.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Kol Nidre \u201cfelt like a relief,\u201d he said. \u201cStudents were happy to get out of their dorms and join us. There was a very special energy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">For those who couldn&#8217;t make it to synagogue, some observed the holiday at home.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cYom Kippur is where you are,\u201d said one man, who asked not to be identified. \u201cWe had the machzor, we had the parsha, so we did it at home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Jonathan Lev, executive director of the Boulder JCC, which also sustained damage, broke away to spend a few hours at Bonai Shalom\u2019s Kol Nidre service.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cAlthough I couldn\u2019t stay long at services, people were talking to each other, pooling resources and figuring out what was necessary,\u201d Lev said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Flooding virtually annihilated the Chabad Jewish Center of Longmont, located about 25 miles northeast of Boulder. \u201cOur shul was completely ruined,\u201d Rabbi Yakov Borenstein said Friday. \u201cIt looks like an island. We are right next to a creek here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Borenstein managed to save the Torah scroll, prayer books and other ritual items before he was ordered out of the building Thursday. At 3 a.m. that night, the rabbi, his wife and four children were evacuated from their home.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cOur Hebrew school is gone,\u201d he said. \u201cThe water is two feet deep. Humidity has warped all our sacred books.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">Borenstein worried he might not draw a minyan to Yom Kippur services in Longmont, but almost 100 people showed up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\">\u201cG-d has a purpose in everything,\u201d Borenstein said. \u201cI see a tremendous amount of good in people. Volunteers and donations are coming from all over. What a beautiful world we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Colorado%20flooding%20wreaks%20havoc%20on%20Yom%20Kippur%20observances\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[642],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9409"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9409"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9433,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9409\/revisions\/9433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}