JTA
Thousands of elderly Florida residents, including many elderly Jews, were still without power this week as a result of Hurricane Wilma.

Last Friday, most Florida Power and Light customers were still without electricity, rendering hurricane cleanup and Shabbat preparations arduous.

The disruptions from Wilma, which swept through the region on Oct. 24, were just the latest from a storm that hindered Sukkot celebrations through South Florida, a region densely populated with Jews.

Some Florida residents in the dark after the ravages of Hurricane Wilma

JTA

Thousands of elderly Florida residents, including many elderly Jews, were still without power this week as a result of Hurricane Wilma.

Last Friday, most Florida Power and Light customers were still without electricity, rendering hurricane cleanup and Shabbat preparations arduous.

The disruptions from Wilma, which swept through the region on Oct. 24, were just the latest from a storm that hindered Sukkot celebrations through South Florida, a region densely populated with Jews.

On Monday, even as power returned to more and more residents, thousands of elderly Floridians were still in the dark. Chabad volunteers mobilized, distributing hot kosher meals to residents of Century Village of Pembroke Pines and other retirement communities in the area.

“We couldn’t be any more grateful,” said Leah Weingarten, a Century Village resident who had been without power for more than a week. Weingarten loaded meals into the trunk of her car and coordinated their distribution throughout the community.

“It’s not even about the food any more,” said Rabbi Pinny Andrusier of Chabad of Southwest Broward, returning to his car after delivering meals to an elderly widower. “It’s about the human contact. Some of these people haven’t seen a friendly face in over a week.”

Other Jewish organizations also mobilized to help those in need, however many of them faced the same challenges as the people they were hoping to assist.

“We just got our phone service back yesterday,” Scott Benarde of the Jewish Community Center of the Greater Palm Beaches told the Florida Jewish News on Tuesday. “But that hasn’t stopped us from helping the community.”

Benarde said that since the beginning of the week, the JCC has been running an impromptu day camp for children who are still unable to return to school due to extensive closures.

FPL, the power company, estimates that all power in the area will be restored by Nov. 8, up from an early Nov. 22 estimate.

While South Florida is an area usually immune to Sukkot’s inclement weather, this year’s holiday was interrupted by Wilma, a Category 3 hurricane that rattled even the most permanent of structures.

On the sixth day of the festival, rabbis throughout the region advised congregants to take down their Sukkahs as they prepared for the storm. The next morning, Wilma’s 120-mph winds destroyed any sukkahs not taken down by their owners, and damaged many of the trees, power lines, homes and buildings in the hurricane’s path.

Temple Beth El of Hollywood, Fla., lost a third of its roof, allowing driving rain to leave an inch of standing water in the sanctuary and social hall, and soak Rabbi Allan Tuffs’ library of more than 1,000 books.

Wilma also blew out the windows, caved in the ceiling and damaged the furnishings inside Chabad of Downtown Ft. Lauderdale, rendering the building uninhabitable. The synagogue’s Torah scrolls were undamaged and have been moved to the safety of Rabbi Schneur Kaplan’s home, where services are currently being held until a more suitable location can be found.

Brauser Maimonides Academy in Hollywood suffered an estimated $100,000 in wind damage to the school’s roof and awnings, and water damage to a classroom whose door blew in during the storm. Even after enough repairs were made to render the building inhabitable, students were prevented from returning to class by the presence of downed power lines in the parking lot, some of which were believed to be live.

Once the storm passed, 98 percent of FPL’s customers in South Florida were left without electricity. Even the synagogues that did not suffer extensive damage faced challenges of their own, with Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah following Wilma by mere hours.

Rabbi Efrem Goldberg of Boca Raton Synagogue scheduled an early afternoon service to allow Simchat Torah celebrations to end early, enabling congregants to return home while there was still some light in the sky.

“We began Ma’ariv at 5:33 PM, after Plag Haminchah,” said Rabbi Goldberg, explaining Plag Haminchah as a time late in the afternoon which, in extreme circumstances, can be used to denote the end of the day.

Ordinarily, it is forbidden by Jewish law to begin the second day of a holiday before the first has ended.

Other synagogues, such as Young Israel of Hollywood-Ft. Lauderdale, opted for the use of candles and generator-powered lights to illuminate their dances with the Torah, which occurred at their regularly scheduled times.

“There was something special in the air tonight,” said one congregant leaving Young Israel after the service. “It was like we were all celebrating both Simchat Torah and surviving the hurricane all at once.”