14 | FEBRUARY 13 • 2020 

Jews in the D
continued from page 12

 MASSIVE DELIVERY
The Greenbergs’
 relief efforts 
have extended beyond the 
Jewish community, as well.
In a mammoth undertaking 
Feb. 3, Shalom Greenberg orga-
nized the distribution of 10,000 
medical-grade masks and disin-
fecting equipment throughout 
Shanghai. Two thousand masks 
came from Magen David Adom, 
Israel’
s national EMS organi-
zation, which upon Chabad’
s 
request, also sent 200 full-body 
protection kits for those in con-
tact with affected individuals. 
The Israeli non-governmen-
tal humanitarian aid agency 
IsraAID, in partnership with 
the Israel-China Chamber of 
Commerce, Innonation (a plat-
form promoting Israel-Chinese 
relationships) and David 
Ashkenazi of ICCB-Capital, 
also sent a shipment of medical 
supplies. 
Stored in the Shanghai Jewish 
Refugee Museum, which honors 
Jewish refugees who escaped 
Nazi Germany during World 
War II by fleeing to Shanghai, 
the masks were distributed to 
Jews and non-Jews alike. 
“We are proud of those who 
are working there,” said Schneor 
Greenberg of Commerce. “They 
are the Lubavitcher Rebbe’
s shlu-
chim (messengers) doing a vital 
job of helping those in need. 
On a personal note, we feel 
indebted to help the Chinese 
people because Estie’
s grand-
father, Rabbi Shmuel Tzvi Fox, 
managed to escape to Shanghai 

with thousands of Jews who 
found refuge there during the 
Holocaust.”
The rabbis’
 hope is that the 
masks will not only help prevent 
disease but also protect seniors 
from having to go out in the 
cold weather. To ensure this, 
a team of volunteers, largely 
non-Jewish Chinese citizens, 
delivered many of the masks 
door-to-door. 
“In China, it is required to 
wear a face mask,” Avraham 
said. “You are not allowed any-
where without one — not in 
a taxi, not in a store. You can’
t 
live there without them.” And, 
he said, because each mask can 
only be used for two to three 
hours, individuals need more 
than one. 
Many Jews had left the 
country before the outbreak 
during the Chinese New Year 
holiday and, because of the 
virus, did not return after 
vacation, according to Schneor 
Greenberg.

AID FROM DETROIT 
Away from Pudong, Avraham 
and Nechamie Greenberg are 
launching fundraising efforts 
in Metro Detroit, where the 
two went to school and where 
Nechamie’
s parents live. They 
are here with their nine chil-
dren, including Mendel, 15, 
and Levi, 13, students at the 
Lubavitch Cheder & Yeshiva, 
International School for 
Chabad Leadership in Oak 
Park. One of Shalom’
s sons, 

Mendel, 20, serves as a men-
tor at the yeshivah. 
“We are raising funds to con-
tinue to be there for the Jewish 
people of China,” Avraham 
said. “We still need to pay the 
rent and keep the Jewish cen-
ters going for when the people 
come back. 
“There is something special 
about Chabad in China,” he 
said. “In America, there are 
already Jewish centers in place; 
Chabad is an addition. In 
China, there is nothing. We are 
the infrastructure of Jewish life. 
We are the address if someone 
has a bar mitzvah or a bris, or 
to take care of a body when 
someone dies, to plan a seder, 
everything.”
When the family left 
Shanghai, the streets were 
deserted, Avraham said. No 
cars were on the road. A 
40-floor hotel was completely 
empty. Most people had closed 
their houses and evacuated. 
“There is no lockdown, but 
people minimize their time out; 
they go mostly to buy food,
” he 
said. Because Chabad is the local 
supplier of kosher food, Shalom 
has a storage area with con-
tainers that include meat from 
Uruguay and matzah and wine 
from Israel.
Like Schneor, Avraham is 
concerned for Shalom but says 
he is careful about where he goes 
and about following health pro-
tocol, including frequent hand 
washing. Despite dire warnings 
from health officials, Shalom says 
he will remain in Shanghai as 
long as he does not feel he is in 
extreme danger. 
 
GOING BACK HOME
The family is enjoying the 
extended visit to Detroit, 
but Avraham and Nechamie 
look forward to serving 
their Shanghai community 
again. They already are reach-
ing out. 
“We continue to support 
them from here,
” Nechamie said. 

“They are in lots of different 
cities and countries, but we are 
planning a Torah study class 
online, and a group of women 
who run our Hebrew school 
want to continue online studies 
for our students.
” 
All of Schneor, Shalom and 
Avraham’
s 14 Israeli-born sib-
lings also are Chabad emissaries, 
serving communities in the U.S., 
Israel, China, Ukraine, France 
and Germany.
“Especially in times of need, 
we all need to look around and 
see how we could help the people 
around us,
” Shalom Greenberg 
said. “It could be helping one 
person at a time or on a larger 
scale, but we must ask ourselves 
this question again and again, 
and then we act on it.
” 

To help provide supplies and support 
to China’
s Jewish communities, go to 
chabadchinanews.org/donate.

Coronavirus 
Explained

The coronavirus has been 
identified in 24 countries, 
including 11 cases in the 
United States. 
The World Health 
Organization describes coro-
naviruses as a large family of 
viruses common in species 
of animals that can infect 
humans and then spread 
to others. Common signs of 
infection include respiratory 
symptoms, fever, cough, short-
ness of breath and breathing 
difficulties. In more severe 
cases, infection can cause 
pneumonia, severe acute 
respiratory syndrome, kidney 
failure and death. 
Standard recommendations 
to prevent infection include 
regular hand washing, cov-
ering the mouth and nose 
when coughing and sneezing, 
thoroughly cooking meat and 
eggs, and avoiding contact 
with anyone showing symp-
toms of respiratory illness. 

“We are proud of those working 
there. They are the Lubavitcher 
Rebbe’s (messengers) doing a vital 
job of helping those in need.”

— RABBI SCHNEOR GREENBERG