Mrs. Judy Moss was in the hospital

when the storm started. Here’s her

exciting adventure:

You really never know how a routine

day can end up! I had an appointment on

Friday at the hospital’s outpatient clinic, for

what was supposed to be a regular visit.

After performing certain tests, the doctor

realized that I needed further tests, and I was

admitted into the hospital. So, during the

storm, I was in the hospital, with no idea what

was happening outside. The hospital had a

generator, so I didn’t even know that most

electricity was down. When I was discharged

on Sunday, I tried calling a friend to come and

pick me up, and I couldn’t understand why

she wasn’t answering. Since I was alone, a

hospital employee wheeled me all through

the parking lot to find my car. There were no

cars in the parking lot, and I had no idea why.

I kept thinking to myself, this is so strange;

where did all of the people go? How could it be

so empty in the hospital parking lot?! I had no

clue that there had been a disaster. Where

was everyone? I just wanted to go home.

So I drove home, happy to be leaving

the hospital. Everything was so quiet; it was

strange. There were only two cars in my

building’s parking lot, and usually the lot is

full of cars. What’s wrong? I thought.

I saw some trees down, and thought that

maybe there had been a small storm. When

I came home and my lights didn’t turn on,

I realized that something must be wrong.

I opened my fridge, and it smelled so bad. I

wanted to take a shower, and the water was

freezing.

I called and got to the Storch’s house with

air-conditioning and food. They let me stay

for the night, and then arranged a wonder-

ful place for me to stay. It was so special how

the people with electricity were so gracious

toward their neighbors in need.

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ing to get power back anytime soon. I assured them

that I could bring them a few of our generators, so

at least they would have some power for serving

hot food and lights. Some dedicated volunteers

delivered the generators to the wedding hall, and

the weddings went on as scheduled. It was hot

without air-conditioning, but the simchah carried

it through.

I also enjoyed my stint at being the “Good

Humor man” at Yeshivas Ner Israel, since their

power outage lasted for over five days. I brought

bags of ice and bottled water to distribute from my

car. And one night, I surprised them with hundreds

of popsicles for the children and their families. It

was a big hit!

Monday, July 2:

FS: Even though the heavy part of the storm had

passed, the electricity still was not restored because

of the many damaged power lines. Trees were

down all over, and the roads were treacherous.

But life still must go on. A chinuch workshop for

Yeshivas Ner Israel was scheduled to take place in

our backyard shul area. How would people arrive

without streetlights to guide them? We directed

them from the highway and told them to head for

the only lit house on the block. Baruch Hashem, our

generator kept the Chesed Fund activities going!

Rabbi and Mrs. El, Workshop Teachers:

Chasdei Hashem, the power in the workshop

building was restored two hours before we

started our class. The Storch’s chessed flowed

all week. Although the yeshivah still didn’t have

its electricity back, the bachurim were in luck

that they had this workshop to attend. There

were literally truckloads of water arriving, which

volunteers handed out. Everyone appreciated

the comfortable accommodations even more

because it was a rare oasis amidst the general

chaos of the storm. I also got to see other chessed

in action. Mr. Storch organized additional

meetings with members of other community

organizations to assure that no one would be

stranded in an overheated home without help,

especially elderly people.

It was amazing to see the behind-the-scenes

work of people who are constantly involved in

chessed. They looked at this crisis as an opportunity

to give even more.

Thank you all for your stories! Maybe

Hashem sends storms to our communities

to remind us that people need people. With

our achdus and acts of chessed, we can join

together and overcome such emergencies

with kindness.

Binyan readers, do your communities have

chessed committees for storms? Maybe you

can volunteer and be a part of this chessed,

too!

A tree partially blocking Strathmore Avenue

Junior CERT members worked hard to help their fellow community members who were out of power. Free flashlight distribution, organized by the Chessed Fund and CERT7.

Hamodia Youth Magazine 9