Oklahoma Chabad Leaders Organize Dallas Youth

The Sooner State has long had a vibrant — if numerically tiny — Jewish population, but until just a few years ago most Oklahomans rarely saw an Orthodox Jew at community events.

Today is a different story.

In the latest and perhaps most visible manifestation of its presence, the area’s Chabad Jewish Community Center organized a weekend blitz of some three dozen teenagers from Dallas-Fort Worth to deploy to devastated areas in Moore and other communities.

Jewish youth from the Lone Star State helped local families in clearing rubble and retrieving family treasures from some of the thousands of homes damaged or destroyed in the May 20 tornado. Their practical chores witnessed anew the spirit of volunteerism is alive and well in the heartland.

From the concrete foundation slabs, young men sporting yarmulkes — Kippahs — pulled up pieces of wood and other debris to stack curbside for later removal. Young women sifted through the state’s characteristic red soil, searching for precious family heirlooms.

Rabbi Ovadia Goldman, who runs the Chabad Center, learned long ago how to say “y’all.” At a barbecue for volunteers, one of his colleagues – smiling and with more than a hint of a Brooklyn accent — referred to the assembled youth as “all y’all.”

In interviews with CapitolBeatOK, Sammy Weiser and Jordan Cope — men in the Texas contingent — said over and over they could not find words to describe adequately the flattened homes they saw block after block in Moore. Weiser related, “These were people in need, but so hopeful. I hope never again to see this kind of devastation.”

The storm, initially designated EF4, was upgraded to “5” on the revised Fujita scale, a scientific measure of tornado intensity.

One young lady, Logan Lusky, said, “Pictures cannot convey what this devastation is like.” Her normal Sunday routine is homework, but Logan spent last weekend helping Moore families find treasures that weren’t damaged beyond salvage.

Valorie Lopez, another among the young Texans, told CapitolBeatOK, “Instead of resting at home, I had the most amazing experience, meeting people from Pennsylvania, New York and Iowa who were there to help Oklahoma City, Moore and Little Axe.”

A common theme — how unsettling it was to find baby pictures, clothing, and assorted trinkets, evidence those who survived lost homes and most material possessions in the storm.

One leader, Rabbi Michael Lomner, said, “As Jews, we have seen destructive periods, awful times that came before a time for rebuilding. In Oklahoma, we showed ways in which we cared and we want to help them move forward. Moore is going to rebuild, and we want to be among those who are with them every step of the way.”

Weiser said, “We showed we cared. I’m not going to go back to life as normal. It is so important at a time like this to act, not just to talk. “

Rabbi Berel Namdar has assisted Goldman in Chabad’s relief efforts.

Namdar told CapitolBeatOK the Texans concentrated in residential areas near Moore Hospital. “There was nothing greater than to witness the resolve of these Oklahoma people, and their gratefulness to everyone who was there helping. They were like a point of light, a beam of light in the darkness.

“Their optimism was infectious. They kept insisting they would be OK and that they were grateful to us for being there. That light, it impressed me. It pushed away the darkness, and I won’t forget that.”

Last week, Rabbi Goldman and his wife, Nechoma, arranged delivery to the Regional Food Bank of more than 20,000 pounds of kosher meats and dairy products – a useful gift both not only for observant Jews, but also local Muslims.

Goldman worked with Rabbis Meir Tannenbaum and Yaakov Rosenblatt, and Lomner, leaders of the Dallas NCSY — National Conference of Synagogue Youth—  an arm of the Orthodox Union.

Sunday, the Chabad held a kosher barbecue for the Dallas visitors at its facility, some 20 miles straight north from the devastation in Moore. For more than a week now, the center has held this ritual at day’s end for volunteers deployed to the region.

Rabbi Goldman told CapitolBeatOK, “We are asking people to help us, so we can do our part in the storm recovery.” The Oklahoma City Chabad leaders are in contact with their worldwide network; the local link is www.jewishokc.com/relief.

All y’all help now, if you can.