Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 13, 2005 Page: 3 of 24
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TJP V59-01 01-13-05 p01-04 1/11/05 6:58 PM Page 3
-e
January 13,2005
In Our 59th Year
Texas Jewish Post
Grateful local couple
reflects on tsunami
By Gerald Nehman
Days after they witnessed the worst
natural disaster of their lifetimes,
Gerald and Bobbie Nehman agreed to
recount their experience for TJP
readers. For years, the longtime mem-
bers of Temple Emanu-El and its
choir had planned the trip to India
and the Maldives Islands, for both
personal and professional reasons.
Here, Gerald Nehman explains what
he and Bobbie expected to do in South
Asia - and how nature changed their
plans and their lives.
Dallas to India
Bobbie and I went to college with
a friend who married an Indian
man from southern India, in the
state of Karala. We have been on
their invitation list for many years.
Ironically we have postponed the
trip several times because of our fear
of disease. It seems as if most of the
people we know who come here get
sick. I have had a head cold but it is
manageable. Otherwise we are fine.
Our trip is part pleasure and part
work. I delivered three lectures here
on environmental issues. There was
a fourth lecture that was cancelled
because it fell on the day of memo-
rial for the tsunami victims. I have
spoken to journalists. Bobbie is a
massage therapist. She delivered one
lecture on her work.
We first visited the Maldives
Islands, south of India where
Bobbie's brother David manages
hotels. We left there on Christmas
Day the day prior to their being hit
by the wave. Because of the shallow
waters surrounding the islands, the
damage was not as great in the Mal-
dives as in other places. There were
no fatalities on my brother-in-law's
island.
We flew to southern India and
drove down to the southern tip. It is
an important tourist attraction.
There are temples and churches
right on the most southern point of
India. The town is called Kanyaku-
mari. It is where the Indian Ocean,
the Bay of Bengal and the Persian
Gulf come together. We rushed
down to watch the sunset and awoke
to watch the sunrise. In addition to
the normal tourists, there were pil-
grims there because of some holiday
festival.
Water grows turbulent
In the morning we decided to
visit the memorial for a famous sage
named Vivekananda. It is located on
a granite outcropping, or rock,
about 100 yards off shore. This rock
is perhaps 100 yards in diameter. It
is pretty much filled with two build-
ings and an open plaza. We waited
in long lines for about an hour to
catch a ferry to the rock. The ferry
took about 200 people each. I noted
that the water was rough and the
winds were strong. I wondered if
there might be difficulty later in the
day becau se of the high winds. Thus,
I was not surprised when they sus-
pended ferry service about one hour
after we arrived. We were ready to
leave and resume our trip north.
The winds were strong and the sun
was hot. We only had a liter of water
and we were afraid to drink the
water that was available. As time
dragged on, I and several other men
observed that the water was very
turbulent.
There were drastic changes in
water level as the flow first went to
the east and then west. I realized that
this is why the ferryboats were
stopped. They could not exit from
the small harbor because of the low
and uncertain water level. No one
hinted that a tsunami might be
building. I think this is because we
did not observe a steady surge of
water away from us. Rather there
was a general turbulence created by
the forces coming from the conflu-
ence of the three seas.
Wave claims 300 nearby
When people first saw the wave
coming, they ran toward that side of
the rock. I followed. Bobbie and our
friend, being somewhat more
rational, headed up the stairs of the
memorial. I stood and watched. I
did not feel threatened. I was higher
than the wave that we estimated to
be about 30 feet high. I watched it
come in and crash into the rock.
Then I watched it roll into the shore.
It is then that I realized that some-
thing very destructive was
happening. Boats were tossed up on
the beach, buildings were hit, people
were running. I later learned that
300 people were killed in the area.
They could have been people still
waiting in line to visit the memorial.
Fishing boats arrive
Slowly, news trickled in by cell
phone on the extent of the damage.
We discussed with people around us
that we were not being rescued
because there were more pressing
Jewish groups expand tsunami relief efforts
From staff and wire reports
United lewish Communities
(UJC) and the lewish Federations of
North America are rallying to help
victims of the Southeast Asia
tsunami, raising $2 million and
counting since the Dec. 26 cata-
strophe.
More than 50 communities of
every size have launched mailbox
drives to raise funds for non-sec-
tarian tsunami aid by the American
lewish Joint Distribution Com-
mittee (JDC), the overseas arm of
the lewish community that provides
relief and promotes lewish renewal
in more than 60 countries. By
phone, mail and the Internet, feder-
ations have raised more than $2.1
million to date for IDC, and many
report donations are steadily con-
tinuing.
From Allentown, Pa. to Win-
nipeg, Manitoba, federations have
seen an outpouring of support for
tsunami victims. Many federation
officials said they were sending 100
percent of the money raised directly
to IDC, which itself has raised more
than $2 million and already sent
personnel and emergency aid to the
disaster area.
Members of North Texas' Jewish
community — through day schools,
synagogues, federations and other
groups - have been active partners
in the relief effort. For example, Fort
Worth Hebrew Day School's 21 stu-
dents in kindergarten through
fourth grades collected more than
$250 that they forwarded to the
JDC.
Both the Jewish Federation of
Greater Dallas and the Jewish Feder-
ation of Fort Worth and Tarrant
County support the JDC. The feder-
ations publicized these Internet and
telephone contacts for those inter-
ested in making donations by credit
card: www.jdc.org or (212) 687-
6200 ext. 851. Checks, payable to
"JDC: South Asia Tsunami Relief"
may be mailed to Box 321, 847A
Second Avenue, New York, NY
10017.
With federations, the lewish
community has responded to the
tsunami in force, raising a reported
$10 million. That aid includes $6
million raised by the other major
Jewish global relief group, the
American Jewish World Service,
which works with 24 non-govern-
mental organizations in the disaster
area.
In Florida, one new federation
donor pledged $10,000. In Pitts-
burgh, a mother brought her two
children's tzedakah (charity) boxes.
And some proposed new forms of
aid as well. The Cleveland federa-
tion is considering a significant gift
to be supported long term by
donor-advised or endowment
funds, while the Toronto federation
is pursuing a matching-grant
arrangement with the Canadian
government.
In a conference call last week led
by UJC's Rabbinic Cabinet with
rabbis nationwide, JDC officials said
that while their immediate concern
remains emergency relief, aid
groups must plan for the difficult
rebuilding and rehabilitation work
ahead. The ad-hoc Jewish Coalition
for Disaster Relief, which includes
some 44 Jewish groups across North
America including UJC and JDC,
will convene shortly to discuss
strategy for a longer-range response.
One rabbi in the Phoenix area,
who informed a friend from Sri
Lanka about the Rabbinic Cabinet
call, received this response: "This is
truly amazing. I feel as if I am in a
dream. I will offer my life any time
for any person from [a] Jewish
background."
United Jewish Communities
(UJC) represents 155 Jewish Feder-
ations and 400 independent
communities across North America.
Through the UJA Federation Cam-
paign, UJC provides life-saving and
life-enhancing humanitarian assis-
tance to those in need, and
translates Jewish values into social
action on behalf of millions of Jews
in hundreds of communities in
North America, in towns and vil-
lages throughout Israel, in the
former Soviet Union, and 60 coun-
tries around the world.
Relief Coalition convened
The Jewish Coalition for Disaster
Relief (JCDR) has convened the
Jewish Coalition for Asia Tsunami
Relief in order to facilitate a coordi-
nated Jewish strategy for assisting in
tsunami victims in South Asia.
As of noon, Monday, 35 Jewish
organizations had joined the Jewish
Coalition for Asia Tsunami Relief.
The coalition will ensure that there
is an integrated approach to
tsunami relief from the J ewish com-
munity, including the sharing of
information regarding partnerships
and programs in the field, stream-
lining communications, and
avoiding duplication of efforts by
pooling financial resources and
manpower.
"In the past few weeks North
American Jewish organizations
from across the ideological spec-
trum have raised money in record
sums for tsunami relief," said Will
Recant, assistant executive vice pres-
ident, non-sectarian programs for
the American Jewish Joint Distribu-
tion Committee, which serves as the
coalition's chair. "This tremendous
response demonstrates the Jewish
principle of Tikkun Olam at its very
finest. For our efforts to have max-
imum impact, it's crucial that we all
work in concert with one another."
The Jewish Coalition for Asia
Tsunami Reli ef will exist as a subset
of the broader JCDR, which was
formed to coordinate Jewish non-
sectarian relief and assistance
programs in 1998, after Hurricane
Mitch devastated parts of the
Caribbean and Central America.
Other JCDR efforts have included
responses to earthquakes in India,
Turkey and El Salvador, draught
relief in Ethi opia and humanitarian
assistance in Sudan, Rwanda and
Kosovo. More than 46 organizations
belong to JCDR, and each has the
option of taking part in responses to
specific crises.
concerns taking up the time of the
rescue organizations. The Army and
Navy did send helicopters to the
rock but they decided not to land,
probably because of the small space
available and because of the strong
winds. Around 6 p.m., small boats
started coming to the island to take
us off, 10 at a time. They also
brought some food.
We finally left the island at 8 p.m.
The water was still rough under
strong winds. However, I felt very
safe under the hands of the
boatmen. Someone mentioned to
me yesterday that it was quite special
that these boatmen came out to help
even though they were dealing with
terrible destruction of their liveli-
hood and their friends and families.
There was nothing said of this at the
time. They just came out and ferried
us to land.
It is ironic, I guess, that we were in
two of the potentially most vulner-
able places to the tsunami - India
and the Maldives. In both cases, little
destruction occurred. We had a
bird's-eye view of the worst natural
disaster in recent history. I don't
know what it means. For us, there
was not loss or suffering. Many of
those who did lose a lot were poor
people who lived in close to the sea
in homes that could not withstand
the forces of the water. Now, it
remains to be seen how services,
particularly water, will be brought to
these people. Also, many of them
lost their means of financial sur-
vival. It is hard to keep our
experience and theirs in perspective.
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Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 13, 2005, newspaper, January 13, 2005; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth188062/m1/3/?q=architectural+drawings: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .