In the aftermath of last Friday’s tornado, we grieve for the five people who lost their lives and for the hardship that many of our members and thousands of other St. Louisans will have to endure for a protracted period as they seek to rebuild.
But we can take pride in the magnificent performance of our own rabbis and staff and of our congregation in general. It takes something more than an EF-3 tornado, clearly, to slow CRC’s roll.
As soon as storm warnings sounded Friday afternoon, our facilities manager, Mark Cross, and our office manager instructed the teachers in the Nest, our early childhood education center, to move their three dozen little charges out of their classrooms and into an interior hallway. Mark then asked several board members who had been meeting in the adult education room to join the children, several of whom looked puzzled but calm as they worked away on their pacifiers. The scene was one of complete quiet.
After the storm ended, Mark and the board members were able to survey the wreckage. In Mark’s case it was personal. Every other car parked on the CRC lot was undamaged. His sat buried beneath a fallen tree.
Undaunted, Mark and Jose Velasco, our facilities manager, began clearing trees off the lot and inspecting the building for damage. They found no obvious signs, except to the property we own next door, at 5062 Waterman, which among other issues had shed some of its clay roof tiles onto the front yard.
Meanwhile, Sarah Kirschner, our Interim Executive Director, who had been working from her home in Clayton, embarked on what turned into a 90-minute trip to the Sukkat Shalom. On arrival, she and Mark needed to determine whether the B’not Mitzvah scheduled for the next morning could be held at the scene of a literal disaster, and without power.
Rabbi Randy said he explained to the parents of the Bat Mitzvah twins, Eliza and Olivia Beinfeld, that the decision was really up to them. CRC would make it work if they wanted to go ahead. With out-of-town company already in St. Louis, they told him, they did. And so at about 7:15 p.m., after Rabbis Daniel and Karen officiated Friday evening services from their home on Zoom, Sarah drove Mark home. There he found — no power. Sarah, at her home, found the same absence.
Nonetheless, both reappeared early the next morning at CRC and the double Bat Mitzvah went off before a congregation that, despite being a bit warm, seemed lifted by the challenging circumstances. Rabbis Randy, Daniel and Karen presided. Mark Wrighton provided a memorable blessing on behalf of the board. Members of the CRC house band, including Leslie Caplan, Robert Fishbone, David Lazaroff, Bryn Sentnor, Joey Ferber, David Goldenberg, and Shlomo Ovadya, offered their inspiring music. And thanks to Drew Brodsky, our new sound technician, who had secured a backup battery, everything could be heard as if Ameren UE hadn’t missed a beat.
Then came the oneg and, instead of a respite, preparations for the rehearsal dinner that very Saturday night at CRC for the wedding of Noah Hartman and Kailey Brown. Mark Cross; Sarah Kirschner; James Binder, our security guard; Yael Portman, our rabbinical assistant; and Michael Cornillon, our AV and technology coordinator, all pitched in to ensure that the catered dinner went smoothly. Guests learned that if anything can bring ambiance to the multipurpose room, it might be candlelight.
Meanwhile, Rabbi Randy was officiating a shiva service Saturday night for Barbara Heyman, the mother of one of our members, Ruth Heyman, at the home of the bereaved. The next morning he officiated a memorial service, also away from CRC.
But by that time – in fact, by 7 a.m. Sunday — Mark Cross was already back at CRC. The sanctuary had to be set up for the 11 a.m. wedding of Lynnsie Kantor and Doug Gilberg. About 150 people attended the service, officiated by Rabbi Daniel. The music – amplified, again, with backup power – came from the couple’s own grown children. Another inimitable CRC event.
Also over the weekend, Rabbi Karen gave the invocation with a local imam at a volunteer event in Westport, and on Sunday afternoon, Rabbi Randy attended the Eagle Scout ceremonies for a young man raised at CRC.
What happened last Friday was, of course, a disaster. But it’s not boastful – it’s simply factual – to note that the response by our rabbis and staff was extraordinary. They showed a selfless dedication to service and a willingness to overcome all obstacles in order to go forward with their responsibilities to our members and the broad community.
The tornado brought out the best in CRC — and that best is stellar.
~ Paul Wagman, Board President