For a religion and culture that has most certainly seen its share of adversity and challenges, it’s no great surprise that devout Jews are prioritizing their sacred rites of worship, even amid the turmoil of the Los Angeles County fire disaster.
On Saturday morning, in the wake of the Eaton fire’s devastation — including the destruction of the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center on North Altadena Drive — the Chabad of Pasadena held its regular Shabbat service and study group at its East Walnut Street campus, also welcoming some members of the displaced congregation.
Related: How to help Southern California wildfire victims
Shabbat, a Hebrew word for the Sabbath, or “Shabbos,” is the traditional Jewish day of rest and celebration, which goes from sundown on each Friday, to Saturday evening after nightfall.
According to Chabad practice, Shabbat is the centerpiece of Jewish life.
Chabad of Pasadena quickly stepped up to help, sending clergy and volunteers out into the area to distribute meals, provide supplies to firefighters, and even put out blazes where they could.
Along with opening its doors to displaced residents who needed immediate shelter, the congregation has organized a relief fund that has already raised close to $30,000.
Chabad has also provided a safe haven for the sacred Torah scrolls of the PJTC, which was able to evacuate them in time.
Related: Many congregations look to a Sunday without a house of faith in LA County’s fire-ravaged areas
“The Torah is another part of the family,” Alex Fischer of Pasadena, a Chabad congregant, noted.
The sacred scroll of the Torah is prepared on special parchment and written out by hand by a specially trained scribe called a sofer. It contains the five books of Moses.
Fischer, a fifth-generation Angelino, described how terrible it was to be in the main hall of the Chabad campus this week and see the smoke of the Eaton Fire out the window to the north.
“It wasn’t long ago this whole ridge was on my fire,” he said, recalling fires from a decade ago.
Yet despite the tragedy that has impacted so many lives, the religious traditions and practices will endure.
“We are here,” said a statement on the PJTC website. “We are strong. We will rebuild.”
“Our people and Torahs are safe, but many congregants have lost their homes entirely, and many more are displaced. The PJTC campus, a 100+ year spiritual home, has burned almost entirely to the ground,” the statement said.
While the Chabad Shabbat services were closed to formal press coverage, congregants offered a friendly welcome into their sacred space. While some took moments of silence before the study began to meditate, pray or ponder, others shared their feelings and experiences about thisdramatic week with one another.
Vicky Balmot of Arcadia, described how her and her husband’s rental home in Altadena was somehow spared from the fire.
“It was just two houses,” she said, located on West Altadena Drive, west of North Fair Oaks Avenue in Janes Village.
While all around the two adjacent structures, everything was devastated and destroyed by the fire, she said that by some complete random chance, her house and the one next to it were left unscathed.
“There are these two houses in this wasteland,” she said.
“The randomness is what hit me,” Balmot said. “How did my house get sacrificed? Why did these other houses get destroyed?”
“It was like a miracle, but my heart wrenches,” she said, having just talked to two of the neighbors the day before, both of whom lost their dwellings.
“One day you’re living life,” she said, “and the next day you lose everything.”
In their update on their website, clergy and officials from the PJTC shared thoughts of comfort, noting that despite the loss of property, the more important thing is that people are safe and that the community endures.
“In the desert of ancient days — and in Pasadena today — we know that sanctuaries have always been built and rebuilt. We are devastated, but we will rebuild.”
“The sanctuary is temporary,” the statement said. “Our community is for all time.”