December 1, 2016
1 Kislev 5777
Dear Friends,
This has been a very difficult couple of weeks within Israel. Dozens of fires swept the land. Several of these appear to have been caused by carelessness; others appear to have been deliberately set.
The city of Haifa experienced terrible losses. This was captured for me by watching
this videotape. It shows a walk through the Moriah Conservative (Masorti) synagogue in Haifa by Rabbi Dubi Hayoun shortly after the flames subsided. Narrated by Rabbi Hayoun in Hebrew, in it you can see
the extensive damage to his congregation.
Help has been forthcoming from a variety of sources, some of them unexpected. During the conflagration, firefighters and equipment came from Israeli Arab and Palestinian villages, as well as from Europe and Russia. And the cleanup effort has also elicited support. As you can see from
this ynet news story, when Rabbi Hayoun reached out to some local Israeli Arab businessmen, they proved to be very generous.
I am grateful to all those who, during our High Holiday Israel appeal, contributed to the Foundation for Masorti (Conservative) Judaism in Israel. Whether you contributed at that time or not, I would ask you to contribute now to a special appeal to help Rabbi Hayoun renovate and restore Kehillat Moriah's building to its previous condition.
You can do this in one of two ways: You can make a contribution to Temple Aliyah's Israel Kesher (Connection) Committee, which is sending assistance to Rabbi Hayoun, by clicking
here. Or, you can contribute directly to the Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel by clicking
here. My understanding is that every dollar you contribute through this link will go toward helping this fine community regain its bearings.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
