Dear YION Family,
Our hearts and prayers go out to all those devastated by the fires throughout Southern California. We are all on alert, hoping and praying that the fires are put out soon. Recently the Archer fire, was controlled near Sesnon Blvd, quite close to some of our members. With over 9,000 homes destroyed in these fires, it’s hard to imagine the loss that people are going through.
Some notes in Case of Emergency.
Preparations for Evacuations
As everyone is preparing their Go-Bag, it is prudent to mention a few things that you should prepare.
Aside from clothing, cash, and important documents, be sure to have your Tefillin, siddurim and your Ketubah ready to go.
Shabbos Evacuations
For Shabbos, you can leave your phone on, in case there are alerts in our area. Keep in mind, we are currently not in a dangerous situation, so one should not do any melacha, even if you are anxious.
- Shabbos Go-Bag – can contain muktza items, as long as you have non-muktzah items in the bag.
- Driving -In the event of evacuation, you may drive to the nearest safe place.
- Indirect Melacha – Try to perform melacha with a shinui (indirect manner). Only do melacha for necessities for safety.
As a thought, for all of us…
Many families have lost everything, they have nothing physical left in their life, but the shirt on their backs. It is a moment of introspection for each of us to think about what we each consider to be valuable in our own lives. We have so many valuables, but how valuable are they? To those families with nothing, what do they have to value?
Look around at your home and your family. Take stock of what is valuable in your life.
May we all be saved and see the compassion and kindness of Hashem through all of these events.
Rabbi Nachi Klein