Since our last update we have been driving around the streets with volunteers and the national guard distributing supplies and generators to the badly affected neighborhoods, shelters, the Tutu area, public housing communities, family resource center, the hospital and senior care facilities.
The containers with generators which was donated specifically for families with children, people with disabilities and health issues, arrived and was distributed! We are working with another group on more generators.
At night, hundreds more lights now dot our mountainous terrain, each home an entire world. Showers, laundry, water, refrigeration, lights, homework, games etc. How rewarding...
Thank you to our group out of Miami for all the logistical help and tireless efforts!!
On the next container there are enough extension cords and gas canisters for all the families who benefited from the generators. Also donated specifically for this project... Practical supplies are so important...
We partnered with a very special soul - Mrs. Maekya Phillips and her family - and provided delicious hot meals to hundreds of people at the Udorea Kean Highschool. The setting was friendly and picknick-like, allowing fellow islanders the environment to share their experiences and coping ideas. Hearing people comment how this was their first hot meal in almost a month was sad yet heartwarming.
If we have the funding we hope to continue this partnership throughout the next few weeks, please G-d.
A special moment was donning Tefillin for the first time and celebrating the destination (sort of...) Bar Mitzvah with lieutenant Matthew (Mordechai) Arnold who is stationed here with The National Guard, out of Virginia.
We are working with various local organizations to coordinate a massive distribution of 10,000 beautiful pieces of clothing for the island community! Thank you Mr. David Shottenstein for this generous gift!
Friends, I am proud to say that with your help and support we have been at the forefront and a leader in the island-wide relief efforts! It has been a huge kiddush hashem!
Please share our activities with friends, orgs and foundations who can be of help!!
I only wish we had more hands, feet, wheels, resources, a better central source of information, and most importantly, the ability to share more love and inject more healing to the many broken hearts...
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We are now celebrating the Holiday of Sukkot. During these seven days we exchange the comforts of our homes for temporary outdoor shelter. Some of us will sit with our families and friends in beautifully decorated Sukkah's enjoying a pleasant breeze and the sounds of crickets under freshly cut foliage while gazing at the many stars and a full moon...
As a nation we will recall our long difficult journey, through the desert to the promised land, and how the divine clouds of glory cushioned and protected us from all forms of danger.
We will talk to our children about the temporary nature of human life, how the material is but a vehicle to express the divine and about our true priorities in this world.
It will be easier for us to empathize with the suffering of our fellow human brothers and sisters whose permanent homes are the likes of our transient Sukkah's.
We will discuss how we can work together to usher-in the promised era when "there will be no hunger, wars and jealousy for delicacies will be accessible as the dust of the earth", an era where the state of human consciousness will be elevated to a deeper dimension, "for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters covers the sea bed."
And, sitting under the vast heavenly expanse we will feel that mix of vulnerability and comfort as we are enveloped by the Sukkah's divine embrace.
In the Virgin Islands, I have been feeling the theme of Sukkot more than ever before... In fact I would say that our entire 32 sq mile island has become one big Sukkah!
And no... not just because many homes don't have roofs...
Here's why... The Sukka is the only Mitzvah that fully encompasses us! While there are restrictions as to the hight, material and shape, there is no limit to it's length. The Talmud teaches us that "the entire congeragation is worthy of sitting in one and the same Sukka." Under the Sukkah's collective embrace there is room for everyone!
This joyous Holiday represents unity!! A season where we put aside our differences, stature and class, and remember that from a heavenly perspective we are all one community dwelling together, each contributing and bringing completion to another.
This dear friends is the real story of the Virgin Islands. Henya and I are humbled to see the selflessness, care and support people are lending one another under the most difficult of circumstances.
I met dozens of people who invited families, some very large families, whom they never met, to live in their homes. These are acts of G-d that rival the power of Irma and Maria.
Indeed, these times have brought out the very best of our fellow islanders and friends. One big island Sukkah...
During the last few days many friends stopped by for Yom Tov meals, to share a L'Chaim, make a blessing in the Sukkah'le we built, perform the Mitzvah of the four kinds and farbreng.
On Thursday afternoon, a friend put me on the spot and asked - Rabbi, how do you find meaning in all the pain and devastation? I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. How can I answer?
Later that evening, another guest focused our attention to the beautiful affects of the full moon that always accompanies the onset of the Sukkot festival.
I thought to myself... The winds and storms of (Irma) Maria mercilessly battered us 15 days earlier on the eve of Rosh Hashana, a time when the moon was concealed... Indeed, it was one of the most suppressing and diminishing experiences our island has ever faced.
And yet, the moon has renewed itself in full glory during this season of our rejoicing...
I don't have an answer for human suffering. Nobody knows why some of us endure such disturbing, painful and shattering challenges. I stand in awe of these souls...
But it was then that I was reminded how in Hebrew the word test "nisa" comes from the word "nes," which means an elevated banner. In other words, experiencing a test or setback can also be translated as experiencing elevation.
In Judaism, the function of every test is to invite us to go much deeper into ourselves and excavate our full inner radiance, discovering the resources and potential we need in order to face these tests and triumph.
It is these challenging times that raise our sense of awareness and bring out the best within us. It brings out our ultimate, highest and truest being. A self we never knew existed. It propels us to move away from "who I am" towards the "who I can become..."
These mightily challenging times help each of us, little moons, fully reflect the light of the sun until the time when "the light of the moon will shine as the light of the sun, as it was before it was diminished."
Friends, there will be renewal, greater opportunity and a brighter future! The island is slowly returning to its natural green color, the turquoise waters are now still, sparkling and gorgeous. The view is even better than before. We are and will remain one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Z'man Simchateinu... Let us celebrate with joy the potential of our full moon and the gift of an elevated perspective.
But for now, we cannot forget those who are deeply hurting and need us most. We must continue to provide the basic necessities for our island brothers and sisters! And enable the Chabad House to serve as a source of comfort, meaning and Yiddishe discovery for our island community.
Please help us if you can by contributing here.
"May the merciful One rebuild for us the fallen Sukkah of David" and may we all merit the protection and shield of "Sukkat shlomecha"!
Chag Sameach and much love VI!!
Asher
