Carmel Forest Fire: Looking for Good News…
Sunday a.m–looking for a few points of good (or at least better) news than we had before shabbat.
The manager of the renowned Carmel Forest Spa Hotel was interviewed on Reshet Bet Radio this morning and expressed his amazement that the hotel building itself is pretty much unscathed. No one asked about the 15 acres of beautiful grounds that belong to the hotel…
Right now the Boeing Evergreen Supertanker that Israel rented from the US is starting operations–the biggest fire-fighting plane in the world is also one of the few that can operate at night, when most of the damage has been done in the Carmel as the winds pick up and there’s no equipment with which to fight it. The supertanker is operating over the picturesque artists village of Ein Hod, dropping some of its 21,000 tons of water and retardant over the sculptures and homes that have not yet been destroyed.
Hard to find other upbeat news–funerals have been taking place all over the country since Friday. The 42 Israelis who perished in the fire are from communities all over Israel, but predominantly from development towns in the periphery. They include Elad Riven, a 16-year-old volunteer fire-fighter who was a student at the Reali School in Haifa.
Several people are still in critical condition, including Haifa Police Superintendent Ahuva Tomer–Ahuva bat Aviva.
A few thousand of the 17,000 evacuated from their homes before Shabbat have been allowed to return home, but for the remainder, many have lost every material possession.
Thanks to StandWithUs for this list of ways you can help:
(click on any of the titles to connect to the organization’s website):
Jewish National Fund:
Friends of Israel Firefighters
American Associates of the Haifa Foundation
Jewish Federations of North America
Orthodox Union
Israeli Leadership Council
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