California – As the region deals with the fires, the Jewish community of nearly three quarters of a million people in San Diego and Los Angeles counties is struggling to assess the damage in its own ranks.
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San Diego County, with about 100,000 Jews, has been hardest hit, with 14 separate fires raging. About 300,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.
It is unknown how many of the evacuees are Jewish, but communal leaders were meeting to discuss how to react.
The Jewish Community Centre has been evacuated and has incurred some smoke damage, according to Michael Sonduck, chief operating officer of the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County.
On Monday night, 125 residents of the Jewish Sea Crest retirement villages were evacuated. The rest of the residents will soon be evacuated, Sonduck said.
A number of the area’s 40 synagogues are in fire zones, but it is still not known whether any of them have been damaged, according to Sonduck.
After reading all 115 comments on the Williamsburg food truck article that immediately preceeds this sad story, I wonder why there have yet been no comments on this tragic event. Certainly this is literally about life and death. More than half a million people have evacuated their homes and may return to find them a total loss.
Wake up my fellow Jews. We should expend our energies to help these unfortunate people. Arguing about a new food vendor is embarrassing and juvenile.