Those who come to synagogue services this weekend will hear the weekly Torah portion, Chukat, when Moses hits a rock to bring forth water for thirsty Israelites rather than speak to it, as God commands. And water does pour out.
Those who manage to make it to services in parts of Texas just hit by Hurricane Beryl, however, may feel that particular biblical reference comes far too close to home.
A case in point is Beryl Chernov, the new executive director at Congregation Emanu El in Houston, a Reform synagogue serving some 1,600 families. He started the job on July 1.
“I arrived with my hurricane namesake,” he says. “It’s been quite an experience. It’s my first real hurricane.”
In fact, Beryl is the first hurricane of the 2024 season. It made landfall in the United States as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday near the coastal town of Matagorda, about 100 miles from Houston. It averaged winds of 80 miles per hour and rainfall of between 10 to 15 inches, and caused widespread flooding and power outages across Southeast Texas.
The storm caused 2.7 million power outages in the state, surpassing the record of 2.1 million set during Hurricane Ike in 2008. According to CenterPoint Energy, as of Thursday, more than 1 million customers remained without power, primarily in the Houston area and Southeast Texas.
A weather advisory on Friday warned of local heat indexes of up to 105 degrees with temperatures expected to exceed 90 for the next week.
“It’s the humidity,” said Chernov, who came to the city from New York. His family is still there; they plan to join him in August. “It has caused incredibly dangerous conditions. And there is water everywhere and downed trees.”
‘There is no rhyme or reason’
Since his house and the synagogue have power, their fridges are packed with items from community members to prevent spoilage, and both buildings are being used as resource centers. Emanu El is hosting a special Oneg Shabbat after Friday-night services, where people can come for food (extra has been ordered), air-conditioning and other needs. A planned community dinner is scheduled for July 19.
“Thank God, we were well-prepared” with storm-relief and discretionary funds for emergencies like this, put into place after Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, says Charnov. “But it’s block to block; there is no rhyme or reason” in terms of which neighborhoods have been affected and who has power.
The 58-year-old is no stranger to emergencies; he previously served as executive director of the Israel Cancer Research Fund and the executive director of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City. Still, he’s more used to winter flakes than summer flooding.
And he is certainly getting to know people quickly. “Let’s be honest: I’m probably the first Beryl to move here,” he says of his very Jewish name. “It’s like a meme now. For so many years, I had to use ‘Bill’ at Starbucks,” but now, he believes, the whole world can spell it.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden approved a federal emergency disaster declaration for Texas, as requested by Acting Gov. Dan Patrick. Gov. Gregg Abbott was in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan as part of a Texas delegation of legislators, and business and community leaders when the hurricane hit.
As of Friday afternoon, the storm’s death toll was at least nine people in the United States and 11 in the Caribbean, where it ravaged islands before it approached American shores. Countless businesses and homes have suffered wind damage and water damage, with flooding still a problem. Estimates place damages in the United States at as much as $30 billion, according to AccuWeather’s Global Weather Center.
While Houston has been dealt a significant blow that Charnov in no way minimalizes, as Jewish leaders do, he is also looking to brighter days.
“I came with the energy of a storm,” he says. “Don’t hold it against me. I plan to leave rainbows in my wake.”