NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster

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NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster Rooted in the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, we provide comfort and community by engaging volunteers in disaster relief work.

NECHAMA is a voluntary organization that provides natural disaster preparedness, response, and recovery services nationwide.

This is our second year of Resilience Shabbat. This weekend, congregations, schools and community groups across the coun...
10/14/2026

This is our second year of Resilience Shabbat. This weekend, congregations, schools and community groups across the country will read the story of Noah and ask what it takes to be ready before disaster strikes, and to show up for each other after. You’re invited to join them.

📺 Join us live tomorrow. Rabbi Scott Klein goes live right here on our page Thursday, October 15 at 7 p.m. ET, for a conversation about Parshat Noach and what it teaches us about rebuilding together.

📥 Download the free toolkit. It’s not too late to bring Resilience Shabbat to your community this weekend, with sermons, prayers, family programs and graphics ready to use: nechama.org/resilience-shabbat

This year, Resilience Shabbat comes as NECHAMA staff and volunteers deploy to the Gulf Coast. From Rabbi Scott Klein: “Noach built a refuge when the world was overwhelmed, and today, as NECHAMA staff and volunteers answer the call to deploy onto the devastated Gulf Coast, we are called to be that very ark for families who have lost everything.”

Read his full message, plus a reflection from Rabbi Matt Rosenberg on what Noah teaches us about recovery: nechama.org/post/resilience-shabbat-2026-parshat-noach

🕍 On Saturday, pray with Beth Shalom Synagogue in Columbia, South Carolina, which is livestreaming its Resilience Shabbat service at 9:30am ET. Everyone is welcome: https://www.youtube.com//streams

This weekend, October 16 to 17, is Resilience Shabbat! Communities across the country are coming together around Parshat...
10/13/2026

This weekend, October 16 to 17, is Resilience Shabbat! Communities across the country are coming together around Parshat Noach to reflect on disaster, recovery and the strength we find in each other. To mark it, we’re honored to welcome a special guest voice for our dvar Torah: Rabbi Matt Rosenberg.

Matt has been part of the NECHAMA family for a long time. He served as president of our board, and today he sits on our Clergy Advisory Committee, the group of rabbis and clergy who helped shape this year’s Resilience Shabbat. He also works in emergency management in California, so when he writes about life after a disaster, he’s writing from experience.

Matt looks at the moment Noah steps out of the ark and sees how much the world has changed. “We used to call this the ‘new normal,’ but that doesn’t begin to encompass the reality,” he writes. Recovery means insurance and paperwork, cleaning out muck and mud and mold, temporary moves, and trying to get kids back into school. Matt calls it the “next normal,” and people get there through community, through family and friends, and through volunteers who show up to lend a hand.

“Taking those first steps is the hardest and scariest part of the recovery journey. But those steps are less challenging when we do it with others around us.”

Thank you, Matt, for sharing your Torah with us. Read his full dvar Torah here: https://www.nechama.org/post/noach-5787-rosenberg

Find everything you need to take part in Resilience Shabbat at nechama.org/resilience-shabbat.

This is the moment. NECHAMA is deploying to the Florida Panhandle to help communities recover from Hurricane Isaias, and...
10/13/2026

This is the moment. NECHAMA is deploying to the Florida Panhandle to help communities recover from Hurricane Isaias, and we need volunteers now.

How to help:

Give a day: Sign up to volunteer in person: https://form.jotform.com/262846458930165
Help from home: Join our Crisis Cleanup training call TONIGHT, Tuesday, October 13, at 7 pm Eastern: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6x1Jfp9bTRavTqzwK1sKUw
Give: Support our response: https://www.nechama.org/donate

Our Director of Disaster Operations, Amanda Reffsin, has been on the ground in Pensacola since Monday. The greatest need is debris and tree removal, especially in the counties around Pensacola, like Santa Rosa County, where communities aren’t used to storms like this and have fewer resources to recover.

If you live anywhere along the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Mobile to Tallahassee, you can make a real difference in a single day. We’ll need volunteers over the next couple of weeks, and beyond that, the length of our deployment will depend on the need. Grab a friend, your synagogue, your Hillel or your coworkers, and drive in for a day of hands-on work. Please plan to provide your own transportation.

Can’t travel? Crisis Cleanup, the hotline families use to request help, has already logged more than 3,600 cases. You can help from home by returning calls and logging requests. We’ll record tonight’s training, so register even if you can’t make it live.

Our tradition teaches that we are partners in repairing the world. Right now, that work is happening on the Gulf Coast.

Read more: https://www.nechama.org/post/hurricane-isaias-volunteers-needed

Help by phone with Crisis Cleanup. Our training call is TONIGHT.Crisis Cleanup is the intake line families use to regist...
10/13/2026

Help by phone with Crisis Cleanup. Our training call is TONIGHT.

Crisis Cleanup is the intake line families use to register their housing needs after a storm. NECHAMA and other groups use those cases to decide where to send crews. More than 2,600 cases have already been logged in the Pensacola area, and the line stays open through about October 20.

If you can help log calls, join our training call tonight. Whether you did this after Hurricane Helene or it’s new to you, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know.

Tonight, Tuesday, October 13, at 7 pm Eastern
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6x1Jfp9bTRavTqzwK1sKUw

Hurricane Isaias made landfall on Saturday. Here’s what we know and how you can make a difference right now.3 Ways to He...
10/12/2026

Hurricane Isaias made landfall on Saturday. Here’s what we know and how you can make a difference right now.

3 Ways to Help

Help in person: Volunteer with NECHAMA. Sign up: https://form.jotform.com/262846458930165
Help by phone: Crisis Cleanup. Register for our training call on Tuesday, October 13, at 7 pm Eastern: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6x1Jfp9bTRavTqzwK1sKUw
Give: Support NECHAMA’s response. Donate: https://www.nechama.org/donate

Hurricane Isaias made landfall early Saturday morning, October 10, in Destin, Florida, as a strong Category 2 hurricane with wind speeds of 105 mph. While no Katrina, Sandy or Helene, Hurricane Isaias carried a punch:

4 storm fatalities: 2 in Florida, 2 in Alabama
Nearly 1 million homes lost power at its peak
Storm surge reached about 5.5 feet, and rainfall topped 8 inches in parts of the Florida Panhandle
Multiple tornadoes were seen across Georgia and South Carolina

The hardest-hit area is the western Florida Panhandle, led by Escambia County (Pensacola) and Santa Rosa County. On the Alabama side of the border, damage was more modest and dispersed than anticipated.

NECHAMA is currently on the ground in Escambia County, Florida, working with partners to assess the storm damage. What we’re seeing is relatively moderate: flooded roads that have mostly receded, downed trees, some wind and roof damage, and some homes that took on water. We will learn the full scope in the coming days.

We anticipate needing volunteers beginning late this week, with our engagement lasting several additional weeks, possibly more. At this point, we anticipate that most volunteers will be sourced locally, and we are not suggesting that volunteers travel far to respond to this event.

Crisis Cleanup is the intake system that affected community members use to register their housing revitalization needs. Nonprofit organizations like NECHAMA then use that information to identify which neighborhoods and clients to prioritize. Whether NECHAMA trained you for this role after Hurricane Helene or Crisis Cleanup is new to you, please sign up and join the training call.

NECHAMA’s response to Hurricane Isaias is made possible by the generosity of our donors. Every contribution goes directly toward our ability to deploy, assess and serve clients in the communities that need it most.

Thank you for your willingness to show up in whatever way you can.

Read the full update on our website: https://www.nechama.org/post/hurricane-isaias-where-things-stand-how-you-can-help

The water is going down. The work is just beginning.Hurricane Isaias has passed, and families across the Gulf Coast are ...
10/10/2026

The water is going down. The work is just beginning.

Hurricane Isaias has passed, and families across the Gulf Coast are now facing what comes after the storm: downed trees, damaged roofs, and homes filled with mud and debris. If you or someone you know needs help, call the Crisis Cleanup hotline at (800) 451-1954.

The hotline connects storm survivors with volunteers from local relief organizations, community groups, and faith communities who may be able to help with tree removal, tarping, debris cleanup, and muck out. All services are free, and volunteers bring their own tools and equipment. Because the need is overwhelming, help isn’t guaranteed, so please call soon. The hotline is open through Friday, October 30.

(Please note: the hotline can’t assist with food, clothing, shelter, insurance, or FEMA registration questions.)

Register to volunteer with NECHAMA (link in bio), and our team will reach out as deployments come together.

👇 Tag someone who would roll up their sleeves with you, and share this post so it reaches a family who needs that number.

Hurricane Isaias is currently a Category 1 hurricane with wind speeding exceeding 80 mph. It is moving through the Gulf ...
10/08/2026

Hurricane Isaias is currently a Category 1 hurricane with wind speeding exceeding 80 mph. It is moving through the Gulf and is expected to make landfall on the northern Gulf Coast Friday night or early Saturday, most likely as a Category 2 (wind speeds 96-110 mph) or potentially a Category 3 storm with wind speeds 111-130 mph. Hurricane warnings stretch from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Florida panhandle. Currently, the area between Mobile, Alabama and Tallahassee, Florida is expected to bear the brunt of the storm, and both states have declared states of emergency. Forecasters are calling for storm surge of up to 7 feet along parts of the Mississippi and Alabama coasts, plus heavy rain that could bring flooding well inland across the Southeast this weekend.

It's too early to know how much damage Isaias will cause. Past storms have taught us that the hardest hit communities need help as soon as the water subsides, and recovery moves faster when volunteers are ready before the call goes out.

That's why we're asking you to register with NECHAMA now. If you sign up today, our team can reach you right away if volunteers are needed in the days and weeks after the storm.

If you haven't volunteered with us in a while, please consider registering again. We've updated our form so we can place you where your time will matter most.

If you're able to help, please register at https://form.jotform.com/JRTD/general-volunteer-interest-form. We'll reach out to registered volunteers as we learn more about the storm's impact.

To everyone in the storm's path, please follow the guidance of your local officials and stay safe.

The NECHAMA Staff

10/08/2026

Before the first spark of light, there was chaos.

In this week's video, our Jewish Education and Engagement Consultant, Rabbi Scott Klein, returns to the opening lines of Genesis. The Torah opens on tohu va'vohu, a world unformed, chaotic, and enveloped in deep darkness. As Rabbi Klein puts it, "purposeful action does not wait for chaos to magically disappear. Purpose is the tool we use to step directly into the disarray, establish order, and bring light where things feel unformed and uncertain."

That is the mindset that guides NECHAMA's work. When a disaster hits, we don't wait for optimal conditions or clean circumstances to show up. We enter the wreckage, roll up our sleeves, and bring structured, hands-on relief to families whose lives have been turned completely upside down. Rebuilding hope always starts right in the middle of the mess.

Watch Rabbi Klein's two-minute reflection, and send it to someone who is working through a messy season of their own.

Shabbat Shalom!

Three years ago today, on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal assault on Israel. More than 1,200 people were murder...
10/07/2026

Three years ago today, on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal assault on Israel. More than 1,200 people were murdered and over 250 were taken hostage.

Today we remember those who were murdered and honor their memory. We hold close the survivors, the families of the victims and hostages, and everyone still living with the impact of that day. This year, every hostage has finally come home, the living to their families and the fallen to be laid to rest. May the memories of the lives lost be a blessing forever.

We condemn the antisemitic hatred behind this attack, and we stand against antisemitism wherever it appears.

Thursday is DAF Day, a reminder that a donor-advised fund can put a grant to work right now. At NECHAMA, that grant beco...
10/06/2026

Thursday is DAF Day, a reminder that a donor-advised fund can put a grant to work right now. At NECHAMA, that grant becomes hands on a house: gutting flooded homes, clearing debris, rebuilding roofs, and staying until a family is back inside. If you have a fund, recommend a gift to NECHAMA – Jewish Response to Disaster, EIN 41-1998750. If you don’t, a gift at nechama.org/donate does the same work. One house. One family. One act of repair at a time.

Address

PO Box 17249
Saint Paul, MN
55117

Telephone

+17637320610

Website

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