“It is axiomatic of Jewish psyche and tradition that rather than allow tragedy and destruction to demoralize us, we use
it as a springboard to achieve greater heights.”
—Rabbi Mendel Weinfeld
Optimism and courage in the face of tragedy best defines Brooklyn born Rabbi Mendel Weinfeld, founder/director of Chabad House in the Almaden neighborhood of San Jose as expressed in his quote I cited above. He no doubt took his lead from his Rebbe [spiritual teacher], the late great Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Considered to be one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the twentieth century, the Rebbe once said: “Imagine you could open your eyes to see only the good in every person, the positive in every circumstance, and the opportunity in every challenge.”
After moving to the area Mendel and his wife Mussi held gatherings and Jewish holiday services at their home for over a year before the grand opening celebration of the Chabad House on Rosh Hashanah in September 2021. Little did they know three months later on December 22, 2021, a devastating fire set by a troubled individual would consume the synagogue. Fortunately, the Torah scrolls and other sacred books were spared from the fire by firemen on the scene. After hearing about the fire, we made our first donation on January, 18 to help rebuild the synagogue. We decided to give in memory of Cecile’s late great grandfather David Pretula, an orthodox Jew who used to walk to his synagogue in Chicago to pray every day. Grandpa Dave, as he was affectionately called and Cecile’s great grandmother Dora had escaped religious persecution in a small village outside of Kiev, formerly a part of the Soviet Empire in the early 1900s.
Rabbi Weinfeld paid us a visit recently, and brought Cecile and I a gift box of special Ukrainian Matzah (handmade version of unleavened bread with the consistency of a cracker preferred by observant Jews for Passover). It was imported from Dnipro, a city in eastern Ukraine which has the largest Chabad Center in the world. It also houses the largest Holocaust museum in the former Soviet State that has been under missile fire by Putin’s military invasion. It came with a booklet about Passover.
Since our first donation toward the rebuilding of the synagogue, Rabbi Weinfeld’s congregation received such overwhelming support that he and his congregation members and advisors were inspired to launch an Emergency Recovery & Capital Campaign called “Rise from the Ashes,” with the intention of raising enough money to purchase their own facility more than double the size of the space they were renting and provide a permanent home for congregants to “embrace their heritage and celebrate it openly.” Cecile and I are so impressed with Weinfeld’s unbridled optimism, we decided to match our previous donation by 100%.
"In the Divine scheme of things,” wrote Mendel Kalmenson, Rabbi of Beit Baruch in London and author of Time to Heal, "…disaster can be seen to pave the way for even greater regeneration and blessing than before. This is especially true when it comes to the ability to transform…disaster [darkness]…not as an entity or force unto itself, rather it is itself an agent of light.” Sometimes there are people in our midst who are able to visualize through their faith that there is light at the end of the tunnel that others can’t see. Rabbi Weinfeld appears to me to be one of those people.
Postscript: For those inclined to help the San Jose Synagogue RISE FROM THE ASHES here is the link: Chabadfire.com
Also see link below for this sad but inspiring story: San Jose Jewish community attempts to rebuild after destructive synagogue fire by Maggie Angst published January 24, 2022.
https://www.mercurynews.com/.../unanswered-questions-and.../
