Running Springs, CA – Rabbis Help Firefighters In Devastating Blazes.

Running Springs, CA – Dark beards blowing, black felt fedoras flying off their heads, the four Hasidic rabbis clapped their chests with open palms and cheered as the firefighting helicopter dipped its bucket into their camp swimming pool.

At the Camp Gan Israel, crews fighting devastating blazes in the mountains east of Los Angeles have found more than a source of water. The rabbis have been serving up kosher meals, spiced with a dollop of their own spiritual musings.

Josef Broed, a Brooklyn native who leads the picturesque retreat center, didn’t consider evacuating with the rest of his staff when the order came Monday.

“This is a holy place,” said Broed, a rabbi in the Orthodox Jewish movement called Chabad. “God is going to watch over our place, and we will survive.”

More than 300 homes in the area have been destroyed.

Instead of leaving, Broed hooked fire hoses up to the hydrants at the 72-acre camp, fired up a generator for his main lodge and began welcoming firefighters who have come in waves, hurrying past the rustic synagogue, the cabins and fields to fight flames on the slopes below.

As Wednesday waned and the flames died down with diminishing winds, Broed approached a team of exhausted firefighters. [seattlepost]