Philissa Cramer reports for JTA.

Daniel Sher’s voice broke as he related the latest to members of his Pacific Palisades synagogue. Kehillat Israel had just sent a message saying that its building had so far survived the devastating Palisades Fire, but, the associate rabbi noted, so much had been lost.

“I cannot begin to describe the feeling that I am currently holding as I hear from so many beloved community members who’ve lost their home—while my family has found out that we’ve lost our home,” Sher said in a video he posted to Instagram on Wednesday afternoon. “Our community that we love so dearly is in disarray.”

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A post shared by Daniel Sher (@rabbidanielsher)

Sher later shared a picture taken by his wife of what remained of the home they lived in with their three young children and pets. Only a fireplace and chimney could be distinguished from a sea of ashes—one of thousands of structures that have burned in the last two days as fires rage across the Los Angeles area.

At least one historic synagogue, the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, was completely destroyed by fire, but not before community members battled challenging conditions to remove the Conservative congregation’s 13 Torah scrolls.

#BREAKING Chabad of the Pacific Palisades has safely evacuated all the Torahs from their building.#PalisadesFire pic.twitter.com/A5ngbIbigH

— Frum TikTok (@FrumTikTok) January 8, 2025

Los Angeles’ Jewish community—the second largest in the United States—has swung into action, attempting to provide relief and reassurance at a volatile time. Synagogues and Jewish community centers in safe areas are opening their doors to those who have fled their homes. A Jewish loan society is doling out funds to people who must start from scratch. And local Jewish eateries are fanning out to distribute free food to firefighters who have been battling blazes for days, with no end in sight.

“We have bagels. We have food trucks. We want to pull up to any safe zones to feed firefighters or anyone displaced from their homes,” Yeastie Boys Bagels posted on Instagram on Wednesday. Soon after, it announced that it would be distributing bagels at several evacuation centers. On Thursday, the pop-up shop announced, it would partner with Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen, known for its work in disaster zones, to do even more.

At least five people have died and more than 100,000 have been ordered to evacuate the fires, the worst in L.A. history, burning mostly uncontained in multiple locations across the region. Many others, lacking power and reliable water, have preemptively left their homes for areas with clean air and less risk.

Among those who have lost their homes are the Jewish celebrities Billy Crystal, Adam Brody and Eugene Levy. Meanwhile, a local newscaster encountered Steve Guttenberg, a Jewish actor who belongs to Kehillat Israel, as he sought to help people who had to abandon their cars in gridlock while evacuating the Palisades Fire.

Some of the new fires have cropped up in densely populated areas closer to the city’s core, including Hollywood. The city continues to experience high winds and low humidity, creating conditions for continued spread. Firefighters have reported a shortage of water in hydrants, leaving their hoses less than full.

While the region has always been prone to wildfires, the risk has historically been low in the winter. But this year, little rain has fallen, drying out vegetation fueled by last year’s historic rainfall, creating optimal conditions for a winter blaze that watchdogs say is a perfect example of the kind of “compound climate disaster” that is becoming more common.

“Now is the time to rally support for the communities being ravaged by these ferocious fires,” Rabbi Jennie Rosenn of Dayenu, a group that aims to mobilize Jews on climate issues, said in a statement. “It is also the time to use our radical imagination to envision and build a different future—one that is just, livable, and sustainable—free of this kind of rampant and devastating destruction.”

For now, many in the region are focused on immediate, practical concerns. The Jewish Free Loan Association announced $2,000 no-interest loans that do not require guarantors for all Angelenos with emergency needs, such as replacement clothing and hotel stays. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles compiled a list of more than a dozen Jewish institutions providing refuge and emergency assistance to people from across the region, while also looking ahead toward the long recovery process the region will require. And community members are taking stock of what has been lost, even as the risk remains for more devastation to come.

“I do know that we will continue to care for one another, to reach out to one another, and we will rebuild,” Sher said in his video. “So many of us are experiencing heartbreak. But when a community experiences heartbreak together, it means we can mend our hearts together as community as well.”

The post Wildfires are impacting the Jewish community in Los Angeles—with one synagogue completely destroyed appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

Saiaf Abdallah. Photo: Screenshot

A pro-Palestinian activist who was kicked out of a gym this week and arrested while wearing a shirt that said “Israel Kills Children” has been identified as a Hamas supporter and the head of a health-care company in Arizona.

The antisemitism watchdog group Canary Mission revealed in an Instagram post on Thursday that Saiaf Abdallah is the CEO of Voyage Medical Primary Care in Tempe, Arizona, a company founded in 2017. He has a “background in health care, vaccines, and clinical research,” and “holds a variety of seminars and educational classes to help the community better understand both vaccines and research,” according to the website for the health-care provider. He has been CEO of Voyage Medical since March 2023, according to his LinkedIn page.

According to Canary Mission, less than a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly terrorist attack in Israel that was orchestrated by the Hamas terrorist organization, Abdallah tweeted, “Hamas is eating your b—ch a—s soldiers … Liberation is gonna get shoved down your f—kin throat.”

In November 2023, Abdallah was arrested for disruptive behavior at a pro-Palestinian protest at Arizona State University and banned from the school’s property for one year. He has a bachelor’s degree from ASU and a master’s degree from Grand Canyon University. In December of that same year, he voiced support for Palestinian “resistance” against the Jewish state and violence against Israel.

“I wish we could call on America to send the Palestinians more weapons,” he said. “I want America to send tanks and F-16s to the Palestinians. And rifles and AK-47s. Let them take up arms. That’s the truth. That’s what should be happening … cough up some money and give weapons to the Palestinians. Let them resist.”

Canary Mission shared details about Abdallah in an Instagram post as well as a video about the incident that took place at a gym in Gilbert, Arizona, recently while he wore an anti-Israel shirt. Abdallah responded to the post by Canary Mission, writing, “I’m on Canary? How come no one mentioned it?! I’m gonna get dressed up and celebrate.”

Abdallah shared on social media this week that he was kicked out of the Life Time gym in Gilbert and arrested when he disregarded demands by gym management to leave the facility. During the ordeal, Abdallah was wearing a shirt that said “Israel Kills Children.” He said when he arrived at the gym, a staff member asked him to take off the garment and he refused. Not long afterward, the gym’s manager told Abdullah he must leave the premises for not having “an active membership,” or the gym would call the police. When Abdallah refused, police officers arrived and arrested him for trespassing.

During the incident, he made anti-Israel comments to both the manager of Life Time gym and Gilbert police officers. “There’s a Holocaust going on in Palestine,” he claimed. “There are no more gyms left in Palestine, you guys bombed all of them. Free Palestine.”

The post ‘Pro-Palestine’ Activist Spewing Anti-Israel Rhetoric Identified as Hamas-Supporting CEO of US Medical Company first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Flames rise from a structure as the Palisades fire burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, US, Jan. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ringo Chiu

Adam Brody, Billy Crystal, and Eugene Levy are among the Jewish celebrities whose homes have been destroyed and reduced to rubble by the wildfires in Los Angeles County that started early Tuesday morning and have so far killed 10 people.

Brody and his wife, actress Leighton Meester, lived in the Pacific Palisades, where an out-of-control bush fire started Tuesday morning before spreading to other neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area with the help of strong winds.

Crystal lost the Pacific Palisades house where he had lived since 1979 and raised his children.

Levy also saw his house burn down in the same neighborhood. The “Schitt’s Creek” star told the Los Angeles Times that he was caught in gridlock traffic when trying to evacuate his neighborhood. Levy, who is Canadian, has been serving as Pacific Palisades’ honorary mayor since 2021.

“Top Gun: Maverick” actor Miles Teller, who is of Russian and Jewish descent on his father’s side, had pictures of his burning home shared by media outlets. American television host and actress Melissa Rivers, who is the daughter of the late Jewish comedian and media personality Joan Rivers, also had her home destroyed by the wildfires. She talked to CNN on Wednesday about the belongings she took from her home before evacuating, and said they included her mother’s only Emmy award — won in 1990 for Outstanding Talk/Service Show Host for her work on “The Joan Rivers Show.” Rivers also grabbed items such as passports, birth certificates, and medication before evacuating her home.

“I grabbed my mom’s Emmy, a photo of my dad [the late producer Edgar Rosenberg], and a drawing that my mother had done of me and my son … I went for a drawing of my mother’s rather than a photo, because I know I can find the photos,” she said, adding of the drawing, “I can’t replace [it].”

The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center was decimated by the fire, but its 13 Torah scrolls were saved.

Other Jewish celebrities whose homes were destroyed in the wildfires include Diane Warren, Ricki Lake, and Jennifer Grey.

Warren and Levy have been honored by Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), a pro-Israel nonprofit organization that is comprised of prominent members of the entertainment industry dedicated to combating anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism in the industry. The organization shared its condolences to victims of the wildfires in a released statement.

“We are devastated by the unprecedented destruction in Los Angeles, which has forced members of the Creative Community for Peace’s advisory board, and broader community, and even our esteemed Ambassadors of Peace honorees, such as Eugene Levy and Diane Warren, to evacuate and face the loss of their homes,” CCFP said. “We are a community of strength and resilience. Together, we will rebuild and overcome.”

Lake’s home in Malibu was destroyed on Tuesday, and she chronicled in a series of Instagram posts her family’s failed efforts to stay behind and save the house, before they decided to evacuate and prevent themselves from being engulfed in the flames.

“Ross and I lost our dream home,” she wrote in one Instagram post, referring to her husband. “This description ‘dream home’ doesn’t suffice. It was our heaven on earth. The place where we planned to grow old together … This loss is immeasurable. It’s the spot where we got married 3 years ago. I grieve along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event. Praying for all of my neighbors, my friends, my community, the animals, the firefighters, and first responders.”

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who is the daughter of the late Jewish actor Tony Curtis, said she is donating $1 million toward the relief efforts for the wildfires in LA.

“As the fire still rages on and @calfire @losangelesfiredepartment and all the available first responders and agencies involved in fighting fire and saving lives are still hard at work and neighbors and friends are banding together to save each other, my husband and I and our children have pledged $1 million from our Family Foundation to start a fund of support for our great city and state and the great people who live and love there,” Curtis, who had to evacuate her LA home, wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. “I’m in communication with [California] Governor [Gavin] Newsom and [LA] Mayor [KAren] Bass and Senator [Adam] Schiff as to where those funds need to be directed for the most impact.”

At least 70,000 people have been displaced by the wildfires since Tuesday morning, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said late on Thursday that he expects the death toll to increase. The Palisades fire between Santa Monica and Malibu and the Eaton fire in the east near Pasadena have been ranked as the most destructive fires in the history of Los Angeles for destroying more than 34,000 acres and nearly 10,000 structures, according to Reuters.

The Jewish organization Chai Lifeline is providing resources to support victims of the Los Angeles wildfire, and the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles has created a Wildfire Crisis Relief Fund to support its neighbors affected by the fires, while also helping to facilitate shelter, warm meals, and other needs for victims. BStrong — an initiative started by Jewish entrepreneur and former reality star Bethenny Frankel in partnership with the nonprofit organization Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) — is raising funds and also providing supplies and resources to help with the relief efforts.

The post Adam Brody, Billy Crystal, Eugene Levy Among Jewish Celebrities Whose Homes Destroyed in Los Angeles Wildfires first appeared on Algemeiner.com.