{"id":58466,"date":"2017-09-14T16:58:11","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T21:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=58466"},"modified":"2017-09-17T07:58:05","modified_gmt":"2017-09-17T12:58:05","slug":"atlanta-jewish-community-members-open-homes-hearts-florida-evacuees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/atlanta-jewish-community-members-open-homes-hearts-florida-evacuees\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta Jewish Community Members Open Their Homes and Hearts to Florida Evacuees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Facing predictions of a direct hit from Hurricane Irma, the largest storm the Atlantic had ever seen, Naftali Herrmann told his daughters\u2019 nanny that they planned to evacuate from their home in Boca Raton to Atlanta. When he invited her to join them, she asked, \u201cWho do you know in Atlanta?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know anyone,\u201d said Naftali, who is Southeast Regional Director for OU Synagogue Services, \u201cBut the Jewish community is one family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Packing up their belongings, he took a last look at his home before driving away and wondered what things would look like when they returned. \u201cOur house is our home,\u201d he said, \u201cIt\u2019s terrifying to think that our home, which is supposed to be where we\u2019re safe, can no longer afford us that safety.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Naftali and his family were among the more than 1,500 who evacuated from southern Florida to be embraced by the warmth of the Atlanta Jewish community. \u00a0Watching the Florida visitors mingle with their Atlanta hosts at kiddush, one could never have imagined the fear and trepidation they felt during the 20 hours spent in traffic, afraid that they would run out of gas or be stuck on the road for Shabbat. <\/span><\/p>\n

From the jubilant dancing at Kabbalat Shabbat, the festive communal meals at both of Atlanta\u2019s largest shuls, the community-wide kumsitz on Saturday night and concert on Sunday morning, all of which had hundreds of attendees, one could sense the Florida families had found an oasis from the week-long stress they had experienced as they prepared for the hurricane\u2019s arrival. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Atlanta Jewish community, known for its warmth and hospitality, has opened its doors to hurricane victims before. In 2005 they hosted evacuees from Hurricane Wilma and in 2016, to Savannah and Charleston evacuees from Hurricane Matthew. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once again, as soon as calls went out that hosts were needed, community members eagerly signed up, offering their homes \u00a0for as long \"\"as needed, with one family hosting 75 people for Shabbat dinner and others willing to not only house families, but even families with dogs, cats and a snake! <\/span><\/p>\n

With Atlanta\u2019s two largest Orthodox synagogues–Beth Jacob and Young Israel of Toco Hills–at around 500 and 215 families respectively, feeding another 1,500 people was a challenge. As Rabbi Adam Starr of Young Israel of Toco Hills explained, \u201cIt\u2019s like bringing in another congregation.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Just as the Orthodox Union had mobilized to raise money for the Houston Jewish community, they were quick to find ways to help support the Florida evacuees in Atlanta. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the Orthodox Union\u2019s mission is helping our communities when they are in need,\u201d said Moishe Bane, president of the OU. \u201cWe were inspired by and grateful to the Atlanta Jewish community for all they were willing to do to help house Florida evacuees and we wanted to help them in any way we could.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the help of Jewish communities worldwide, we were able to provide assistance to the wonderful community of Atlanta, which so graciously opened its homes to so many,\u201d said OU Executive Vice President Allen Fagin. <\/span><\/p>\n

Donations from individuals across the country helped to provide truckloads of food for Shabbat and the week, including 300 pounds of schnitzel, 3,000 hot dogs, 2,500 hamburgers, 1,200 challah rolls, and 25 cases of pre-made lasagna. They also provided 50 boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and 75 pizza pies which were served at the kumsitz.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing to see the kids, who had experienced so much stress, dancing at the concert,\u201d said Naftali. \u201cWe were so moved by the <\/span>achdut <\/span><\/i>[unity] we witnessed and the embrace of the Atlanta Jewish community. This was a weekend that both the evacuees and the hosts will never forget.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facing predictions of a direct hit from Hurricane Irma, the largest storm the Atlantic had ever seen, Naftali Herrmann told his daughters\u2019 nanny that they planned to evacuate from their home in Boca Raton to Atlanta. When he invited her to join them, she asked, \u201cWho do you know in Atlanta?\u201d \u201cWe don\u2019t know anyone,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133465,"featured_media":58478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nAtlanta Jewish Community Opens Their Homes and Hearts to Florida Evacuees<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One could sense the Florida families had found an oasis from the week-long stress fear they had experienced as they prepared for the hurricane\u2019s arrival.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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