Chabad Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz joins 50 rabbis from across the country volunteering in Houston.
(Courtesy of Chabad of West Orange)—With thousands of homes destroyed, and countless displaced, 50 rabbis from across the country headed to Texas to volunteer. Chabad Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz joined the effort.
Rabbi Kasowitz was in constant contact with colleagues living in Houston throughout the hurricane and is now coordinating relief efforts. Chabad-Lubavitch of Houston, with the aid of hundreds of volunteers, has been coordinating rescue efforts and providing meals to the thousands of families whose homes and businesses were flooded.
Last week, the Chabad-Lubavitch Harvey Relief effort in Houston put out a call for rabbis to come assist and counsel Houstonians who lost everything, when the scope of the loss is only setting in now.
“My friend, Rabbi Enan Francis, who was a scholar in residence with us in West Orange a few years ago, reached out to me. He said the situation is indescribable and to please help in any way we can. I said, ‘I’m on my way,’” said Rabbi Kasowitz, director of Chabad of West Orange. “The Torah teaches responsibility for all mankind and the time for action is now…when people need us, we must go.”
Rabbi Kasowitz left for Houston on Tuesday, September 5.
The rabbi joined colleagues from Boca Raton, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fairfax, VA, Little Rock, Long Island, Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, S. Diego and St. Louis.
The effort is funded by the 1Mitzvah initiative, philanthropically underwritten by Nate Dalton. “We are just happy to be able to add our little bit to all the Americans pitching in to help our neighbors. Our organization was founded on the simple idea that one good deed or mitzvah leads to another,” said Dalton, the driving force of 1Mitzvah.
During and in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Chabad-Lubavitch centers in Houston and across the nation mobilized to offer relief to the many stranded and affected by the hurricane. Hundreds of volunteers continue to gather daily at local Chabad-Lubavitch centers to help package and distribute food, clean homes and get supplies to those in need.
A relief fund has been set up and your donation through Chabad of West Orange is tax-deductible, with all funds going directly to assist relief efforts in Houston. To help, visit www.chabadwestorange.com/Hurricane.
