jews d

in
the

D irect To
Houston

Bais Chabad/
Yad Ezra
team to send
a supply-
laden truck
to Houston’s
Jews.

To Aid Houstonians

KERI GUTEN COHEN
STORY DEVELOPMENT EDITOR

ABOVE: Shea Margolis of Oak Park was
one of the volunteers who drove the
truck full of supplies to Houston.
BELOW: Trevor Gaspas of Farmington
Hills receives a donation from Batyah
Hertz of Huntington Woods.

A

message posted in a WhatsApp group
of old yeshivah friends quickly devel-
oped into a convoy of trucks headed
to Houston, including a fully loaded 26-foot
truck from Metro Detroit.
Sara Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center
in West Bloomfield partnered with Yad Ezra
Food Pantry in Berkley to launch a com-
munitywide effort to fill and send a truck to
the hurricane-ravaged Jewish community of
Houston.
“It all began on Wednesday morning [Aug.
30],” explains Rabbi Shneur Silberberg, rabbi
and outreach director at Bais Chabad, “when
my friend Rabbi Mendy Hecht in New Haven
suggested in a WhatsApp group that trucks
filled with necessities be sent to create a
‘convoy of hope’ to the victims of Hurricane
Harvey.” (Four more trucks were sent from
Connecticut, Atlanta and Tennessee.)
Silberberg reached out to Lea Luger, Yad
Ezra director, who told him they would par-
ticipate, if: 1) the Houston community wanted
us to send a truck with items; 2) a vehicle

could get to the impacted area safely; 3) there
would be people available to help unload the
truck once it arrived; 4) the people in Houston
would tell us what they wanted us to send.
By Thursday morning, a full-fledged, city-
wide relief drive was under way. A 26-foot
truck was secured; drop-off sites and times
were scheduled in West Bloomfield, Southfield
and Oak Park; and the public was notified. A
rescue team in Houston provided a shopping
list of needed items for people to donate.
“The community really came through on
just a few hours’ notice” Silberberg says. By
Thursday night, people from all affiliations
were lining up to fill the truck with bottled
water, boxes of diapers, healthy snacks, tow-
els, toothpaste and even a giant bag of dog
food. “It’s a beautiful testament to the kind-
ness, empathy and generosity of the Detroit
Jewish community.”
Yad Ezra provided several thousand pounds
of canned food as well as the expertise of
Yad Ezra Warehouse Manager David Jaffee in
packaging the donated goods. Shua Sperka

continued on page 14

12

September 14 • 2017

jn

• Detroit Federation’s donation site:
jewishdetroit.org/news/support-
the-relief-efforts-for-victims-of-
hurricane-harvey.
• Jewish Federation of Greater
Houston: bit.ly/2j0Bj9D or send
checks to Jewish Federation
of Greater Houston, 5603 S.
Braeswood, Houston, TX 77096.
Put Hurricane Relief in the memo.
Shaarey Zedek’s Hazzan David
Propis, who came here from
Houston’s Congregation Beth
Yeshurun, created a video prayer,
“Heal Us Now,” for those affected
by Hurricane Harvey. See it at bit.
ly/2f1fYbz.
• Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township is partnering with
Congregation Beth Israel of Houston
to assist its members in rebuilding
their lives. The temple is collecting
gift cards (Target, Home Depot, etc.),
cash or check of any denomination
(TBE will purchase gift cards on your
behalf), and will make sure they
get to the temple in Houston, where
they can be distributed immediately
to those in need. For details, contact
Lindsey Fox-Wagner at lfoxwagner@
tbeonline.org or (248) 851.1100.
• The Union for Reform Judaism
is collecting donations at urj.org/
hurricane-harvey.
• United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism is collecting donations at
uscj.org/Donate/DisasterReliefFund.
aspx.
• The Orthodox Union is collecting
donations at ou.org/giving/houston-
relief-fund.
• Donate to Nechama: Jewish
Response to Disaster:
nechamaharvey.funraise.org.

