Tu B’shevat and the Carmel Forest Fire

During our sabbatical in Israel this past summer, my family and I were fortunate to enjoy hiking in Israel’s nature preserves and forests, and swimming in natural pools and waterfalls.  But Israel is in the midst of a severe drought and this year during Chanukah,  the festival of lights, Israel faced a severe crisis.  A massive wildfire burned over 12,500 acres, over 5 million trees, in the Carmel Forest near Haifa.   The fire claimed 42 lives and displaced more than 17,000 people from their homes.  As the winds intensified, the flames spread across the dry forest and raged through the Carmel Hai-Bar Nature Reserve, the UNESCO BioReserve on the Carmel Mountain Range and Kibbutz Beit Oren, decimating wildlife, unique forestry and  plants, and homes, including those of Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, and Druze.

Over many years Israel  has reached out to assist many countries during devastating disasters.  They have sent humanitarian aid to help after the earthquakes in Turkey, Haiti, Chile and El Salvador, sent personnel and food to help with starvation in Ethiopia and responded to Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in 2004. And we are grateful that the world responded to help Israel this time of need: the Palestinian Authority sent trucks and crews that drove for hours to help with the raging fires.  Turkey put aside the diplomatic challenges of the past year and sent fire fighting planes in formation with Greece to stop the fire.  The US, Bulgaria, and Azerbaijan all sent aid to help Israel. Russia, France, Britain, Switzerland, and Germany sent planes and helicopters. Dozens of nations sent help and expressions of support. As Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister said: “It is an incredible and much needed response and is proof that Israel can count on its friends during a time of national tragedy. To these, and the many other nations that offered assistance and aid, we send our most heartfelt appreciation.”

During this month of January, we will celebrate Tu B’shevat, the New Year of the Trees.  Many of us remember the blue boxes for JNF, and bringing home a certificate from religious school for planting a tree in Israel in honor of a significant occasion – a birthday, or a bar mitzvah, or in memory of a loved one.  This year it is even more important to plant trees in Israel to aid in the recovery from this tragic ecological and humanitarian disaster.  The Jewish National Fund is committed to forestry development and soil conservation, fire prevention, and innovative solutions to alleviate the water crisis in Israel. You can help Israel by donating funds to plant trees or order water certificates, and help JNF purchase fire trucks and protective gear, and provide for firefighter training.  

ARZA, the American Reform Zionist Association, is also accepting donations to help rebuild the affected areas.  Keren B’Kavod, ARZA’s humanitarian aid project, provided hot meals, food and supplies for the firefighters, and assisted people evacuated  due to the fire. Rabbi Gaby Dagan, rabbi of Reform congregation Ohel Avraham and the Leo Baeck education center in Haifa wrote:

“On Saturday morning, a Bar Mitzva ceremony was held in Ohel Avraham synagogue. A few minutes before the ceremony began, one of the guests told me that Elad Riven, a young school student from Haifa and a friend of the family, had died in the fire. It was not clear to the family that the ceremony should go ahead in such circumstances.

Once again, we must cross familiar and unfamiliar boundaries of joy marred by profound sadness. We said the “Shehechiyanu” prayer for the young boy who had just become a man, and with the same breath and the same tears we said Kaddish for those who will celebrate no more. The Bar Mitzva boy’s speech was transformed from the usual blend of optimism and naivety to the burning reality we faced. We celebrated, and we wept.

On Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, students from Leo Baeck Education Center packed hundreds of food parcels for the firemen and for the families of school students from Usafiya, Daliyat al-Carmel, the Carmel Coast region, and the Dania neighborhood of Haifa. The showers at the community center were opened up to the security forces, offering a brief chance for them to relax and clean themselves. At such times, our lives are guided by the needs of families who have experienced and are still experiencing loss.”

ARZA is collecting donations towards helping the communities in the North rebuild.  You can donate online toward Keren B’Kavod and the fire relief programs in the North.