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QUAKE page 29

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JFC's hotline number and ser-
vices.
Similarly, soon after the
quake, when it was reported
that 300 people taking refuge
in a Santa Monica park were
going hungry, SOVA sent over
kosher meals for everyone.
Since the quake, most Ange-
lenos have been inundated with
anecdotes, rumors and impres-
sions, but lack hard, practical
information. To supply the lat-
ter, JFC has held four disaster
relief forums, at which experts
answered questions ranging
from getting emergency food to
the tax impact of losing a home.
Mr. Fishel and Ms. Terry
said they have been heartened
by a string of phone calls from
federation officials in other cities

Jewish communal
institutions
suffered damage
as high as
$20 million.

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— particularly Oakland, San
Francisco,. Miami and Des
Moines — offering expertise
garnered the hard way through
natural disasters that have
struck those communities dur-
ing the past two years.
Over the weekend, a delega-
tion from the Council of Jewish
Federations toured disaster
sites and offered not only moral
support but concrete financial
assistance. The council, as well
as B'nai B'rith International,
American Jewish World Ser-
vice, and the Reform, Conserv-
ative and Orthodox movements
have established earthquake re-
lief funds
Though at the moment all
other considerations have been
pushed aside to focus on urgent
relief efforts, the problem of fi-
nances is sure to confront all lo-
cal Jewish institutions in the
near future. The federation —
which went through massive
layoffs in the last couple of years
and was strapped for money in
a recession-plagued economy
even before the quake — faces
the most daunting of fundrais-
ing problems.
"Judging from the experi-
ences of other cities, after a ma-
jor disaster, campaign
contributions go down by 25
percent," acknowledged Ms.
Bell.
The reasons are obvious. Po-
tential contributors have lost
jobs or businesses and many
need every available dollar for
home repairs and other prop-
erty losses. Moreover, just about
every Jewish school and uni-
versity, every synagogue and

community center will appeal
to its congregants and support-
ers for reconstruction moneys.
Indeed, a few institutions
awash in red ink for years, may
hope that the emotional appeal
for quake relief may help reduce
long-standing debts.
Still, the JFC and other Jew-
ish institutions must continue
to function and meet their pay-
rolls. What's the solution?
The federation and its Unit-
ed Jewish Fund, for one, are
reevaluating their entire cam-
paign strategy. For another,
said Ms. Bell, "those of us who
can give, well go back to them
again and again and ask for
more."
More realistic, considering
the huge sums involved, is Mr.
Fishel's remark that "we will
discuss with our national and
international partners the im-
plications of the disaster," a
diplomatic way of saying that
more of the $40 million-plus the
United Jewish Fund here had
expected to collect before the
quake will go toward local
needs, and less to national or-
ganizations and Israel.
Aware of the large population
of Israelis in Los Angeles, a
television crew from Israel
spent three days here last week,
interviewing Israelis as hard hit
by the temblor as everyone else.
Two days after the quake,
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
offered to dispatch the Israel
Defense Forces' Disaster Reac-
tion Unit, which did yeoman
work during the 1988 Armen-
ian earthquake. Los Angeles
turned down the offer.
Accompanying the nerve-jig-
gling impact of daily after-
shocks, a semblance of normal
life is resuming. On the very
day of the quake, a young Or-
thodox couple celebrated their
long planned marriage, for
which friends and relatives
from Israel, South Africa and
throughout the United States
had arrived.
Despite the damaged hotel
hall, no catering facilities and a
makeshift orchestra, the wed-
ding proceeded. With only one
loaf of bread at hand, 70 guests
shared crumbs for the tradi-
tional blessing.
On the night before the tem-
blor, the National Leadership
Conference of the American
Committee for the Weizmann
Institute of Science held its
farewell dinner in a large tent
erected on a hilltop at Univer-
sal Studios. On the tram ride to
the dinner, the guide took a de-
tour — despite the vociferous
protests of some patrons — to
treat passengers to a simulat-
ed, magnitude 8 San Francisco
earthquake that is one of the
Universal theme park's main
attractions. Six hours later, the
same out-of-town visitors were
awakened by the real thing. Li