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Offering Support
Jewish groups pitch in to aid bridge victims.
Melissa Apter
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Washington
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20 August 9 • 2007
1274610
inneapolis-area Jews were
offering aid and comfort to
victims of the tragic col-
lapse of the I-35W bridge in that city
— and are giving thanks for the sur-
vival of a former yeshivah student.
The bridge collapsed Wednesday,
Aug. 1, during evening rush hour, leav-
ing at least five dead and 79 injured.
As of Sunday, eight people were still
missing. Among the survivors is 20-
year-old Roman Koyrakh — a former
student at Torah Academy, a yeshivah
in suburban Minneapolis — whose
car plunged into the Mississippi River.
"There was a loud bang, and my
car buckled suddenly;' he told Vos Iz
Neias, a religious news Web site. "Dust
and smoke shot up all around and the
next thing I knew I was falling, plung-
ing headfirst."
Fearing the end, he said the Shema
prayer, but managed to free himself
from his seat belt and open the car
door. He made it to dry ground and
was taken to a hospital, where he was
treated for minor injuries.
Koyrakh credited God for his sur-
vival, telling the news site: "Hashem
saved me. There's no other explana-
tion" for such miracles.
Jewish Family and Children's
Service of Minneapolis and the JCRC
partnered to offer free crisis inter-
vention counseling for victims, their
families and responders, as well as
survivors. Those who wanted to help
were encouraged to donate blood to
the American Red Cross or with the
Memorial Blood Centers. Monetary
donations are being directed to
the Twin Cities Area Chapter of the
American Red Cross.
Ordinarily the JCRC would have
partnered with Nechama: Jewish
Response to Disaster to aid victims
at the site. However, direct response
was not possible here because of the
danger," said Steve Hunegs, the JCRC's
executive director. "We were told [by
law enforcement] to stand down!'
In the meantime, JCRC promoted
an interfaith service hosted by Temple
Israel, a Reform congregation, on Aug.
2. Participants included a Muslim
imam and clergy from local churches.
"
They used an interfaith prayer book
with passages from Christian and
Jewish liturgy, as well as songs by the
popular Jewish performer and song-
writer Debbie Friedman.
Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman
described a coming-together of sev-
eral downtown congregations located
not far from the bridge. "We are very
connected, and we even took a trip
to Israel together;' she said of Jewish,
Protestant, Roman Catholic and
Islamic houses of worship all within
blocks of one another. "We have very
strong ties."
The 45-minute service was timed
exactly 24 hours after the collapse,
at 6:15 p.m. Particularly moving,
Zimmerman said, was the Birkat
Hagomel, the blessing for those who
survive. She noted that a woman
congregant who works at the temple's
summer camp was on the bridge.
"Physically she was fine, but she was
shaken," Zimmerman said.
"We have all been on that bridge
hundreds of times," she said, not-
ing that the bridge connected the
downtown area to the University of
Minnesota campus, where many local
children studied or used the sports
facilities. "The entire community is
struck by the randomness."
Temple Israel's chapel was open
Aug. 2 and 3 for personal prayer and
meditation.
Answering
Israel's Critics
The Charge
Iran's leadership recently criticized
the promised Bush administration
arms sales to Israel, Egypt and
several Persian Gulf states, accus-
ing the U.S. of trying to destabilize
the region.
The Answer
The West's efforts to arm Israel and
the moderate Arab nations actu-
ally deters the radical regimes from
threatening them, preparing terror-
ist activity or changing the balance
of power in favor of the radicals.
- Allan Gale, Jewish Community
Relations Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
@copyright Aug. 9, 2007, Jewish Renaissance Media