There was so much devastation up and down the east coast of the United States, that they felt every positive thing in their lives was a manifestation of G-d's love for them.
I heard that the New York Post headline the other day was "G-d hates us." How disheartening! [It is the media's responsibility to report news, but to give hope! Hmm...that sounds like the subject of a different blog.]
The NY Post was surely lamenting the snowstorm on top of the crippling hurricane, causing even more destruction and homelessness. Tragically things certainly look black, literally, in parts of New York.
My dearest mother, may she live and be well until 120, had evacuated her home just before Hurricane Sandy hit, stayed with an aunt of my sister-in-law, then a friend, and then returned home finally when the electricity returned.
Suddenly late at night, while sitting finally in her warm kitchen, she heard a boom as the house shook, and then everything went black.
A neighbor's tree had fallen into her backyard, hit part of her house and had taken down the electric wires with it. Her neighbor and emergency services told her to "get out now." So, my wonderful elderly mother had to leave her house late at night and took refuge with a local rabbi.
Suddenly there was an unrelated explosion and the entire community was plunged once again into freezing darkness.In the morning she returned home to get some belongings and saw a truck with a Minnesota license plate in front of her driveway. She went looking for the owner of the vehicle.
In her backyard was an entire crew of electric company men working on the tree and the downed wires.
My Mother thanked the men and asked them where they were from. They replied, "Minnesota," "Wisconsin", and other states. "What are you doing here?"
When these electric company workers (from whatever states) heard about the disaster, they drove for two days from their homes in order to come help. And there they were a united-states of electricians rewiring the electricity of the neighborhood for the benefit of my mother and tens of thousands of other folks that they didn't even know. They left their homes so that other could re-enter their homes once again.
My Mother B"H is safe and well now. She hasn't really surveyed the damage to her home yet. She is just thankful to be safe and well. At times of disaster, it's the people quotient that takes precedence. And that's the attitude all around my mother, her neighbors and the rescue workers toiling day and night. It's the people we are worrying about today.
It is a few minutes before the Sabbath, but I didn't want to go into the Sabbath without saying thank you to my sister-in-law's "Aunt Barbara", my Mother's friend "Margie," "Rabbi Mareless", my mother's neighbors, my friends in New York, all the emergency workers who are trying their best, the schools and soup kitchens, the folks who are collecting/distributing food and clothing, everyone who's trying to cheer up their neighbor, and especially these volunteers from all over America who have come to the aid of their fellows.
Loving kindness builds the world and ensures its existence. If Americans continue to stick together during this and any other crisis, they will be stay strong.
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B"H, That means those electricity repairmen drove all that distance to help with all their equipment.
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