How the Wildfires Are Impacting L.A.’s Jewish Schools
The devastating wildfires that erupted across L.A. this month have transformed our city and the lives of so many. At some of our Jewish schools, the fires and their aftermath, have caused particular trauma, loss and challenges.
In Pasadena, the synagogue which housed B’nai Simcha Jewish Community Preschool was destroyed in the Eaton fire. In Pacific Palisades, while Kehillat Israel and Palisades Jewish Early Childhood Center remained standing, the damage caused by the fires displaced both programs. In the most hard-hit and threatened neighborhoods, many Jewish school families and faculty who resided in those areas were under mandatory or voluntary evacuation, which resulted in many schools having to close – in some cases, for multiple days. And across all of Los Angeles, Jewish schools were impacted by some or all environmental threats, including airborne toxins, contaminated drinking water, smoke and ash. Most tragically, school directors have informed BJE that numerous families, educators and clergy from our Jewish schools have lost their homes.
Image
L.A.’s Jewish community responded immediately. Jewish Federation Los Angeles (JFEDLA) led the charge, mobilizing to provide essential resources, including mental health support, warm meals, shelter, and space for displaced individuals, families, and institutions.
BJE: Builders of Jewish Education got right to work doing what it always does -- supporting the needs of Jewish schools in Los Angeles. While the disaster was first unfolding, BJE quickly mobilized its professional networks of school directors from L.A.s 129 BJE-affiliated Jewish day schools, part-time religious schools, and early childhood centers to provide space to listen to them, help assess their immediate needs, and begin to secure support, resources, and funding. Through these networks, BJE published donation opportunities to fulfill wish lists of school needs, and to share vital knowledge and outreach.
“As Los Angeles turned to the Watch Duty app, Jewish school directors turned to BJE professionals and BJE’s professional networks, who worked closely together to successfully navigate other recent, sudden crises, namely COVID and the continuing impact on our schools of the tragic events of October 7, 2023 and the wars in Israel,” said Carly Rosenstein, Director of BJE’s Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Education and Special Projects.
Within hours of the wildfires’ outbreak, BJE gathered and made available key information and resources for individuals and families in need of help and/or for those who wished to volunteer. BJE’s JKidLA.org widely distributed that information and resources to families, and JKidLA’s Concierge for Jewish Education has been available to assist displaced families needing to quickly enroll their child(ren) in a different school.
The immediate needs of the impacted schools range from locating temporary spaces from which to operate classrooms, to purchasing furniture, school supplies and cleaning supplies, to securing funding required to address hazardous air quality and contaminated playground equipment. Upon identifying the need for new sand, BJE secured a generous grant from JFEDLA to facilitate the safe replacement of the contaminated sand in our preschool sandboxes.
As our city and our Jewish schools begin the early days of recovery, BJE will continue to leverage its close connections to our school directors to monitor and address their unfolding needs. We expect many more needs will emerge as our schools move forward, and, like the safe removal of contaminated sand – they may require more resources, time and funds than most would imagine.
EMERGENCY RESOURCES FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY THE WILDFIRES
