Jewish family’s narrow escape
A loss of electricity may have saved the lives of a Byron Shire family during Cyclone Alfred.
An Israeli family in Byron Shire in northern NSW are counting their blessings after a close brush with ex-Cyclone Alfred.
The house where the couple and their children, aged six and 10, were staying lost electricity as the tropical low neared the coast, so they went to bed earlier than usual. Some time later, they heard a huge crash. A tree had fallen onto the house, crushing the living room where they would normally have been sitting.
Rabbi Tomer Ben Harosh and Rebbetzin Inbar Rachel Ben Harosh, co-directors of Chabad Byron Shire, were stunned at the news and grateful the family had escaped calamity.
Wild weather caused another Jewish family to evacuate after a tree crashed into their roof.
Rabbi Ben Harosh told The AJN, “Many people evacuated early because last time we had a big storm there was very little warning, so people were worried.”
The rabbi and another Chabad member took their four-wheel-drive from the Chabad House in Mullumbimby over swollen rivers and barely navigable bridges to check on Jewish families. They brought essential supplies to locals marooned by extensive flooding. Many residents began emerging on Tuesday.
“Luckily the power stayed on at the Chabad and there was no disruption to our freezers, so we could protect our food,” said Rabbi Ben Harosh. “And the supermarkets also kept their power, so we were able to get in new supplies of essentials.”
The rabbi and rebbetzin welcomed 20 distressed families over the weekend, celebrating Shabbat with them. Rebbetzin Ben Harosh said, “The children helped with the cooking, and we had a warm, joyous Shabbat, despite the terrible conditions all around.”
Hundreds of Jewish and Israeli families have made Byron Shire their home and many are involved with Chabad Byron Shire since it launched four-and-a-half years ago.
Describing the nervous hours before Alfred smashed into the coastline, Rabbi Ben Harosh related, “I prayed the storm would be only a small one, but my eight-year-old son suggested I pray for it to completely disappear.”
North of the border, Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg said on Tuesday the Gold Coast Jewish Communal Centre had lost power, but there had been no reports yet of major damage to Jewish buildings or homes in the storm area.
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