The damage and displacement inflicted by Hurricane Milton has created uncertainty for Jews in Florida, many of whom evacuated and whose plans for Yom Kippur have been altered as synagogues close or adapt services. Rabbis from temples around the state are preparing for a starkly different Yom Kippur, similar to their approach after Hurricane Ian two years ago.
“A lot of people said, ‘Hey, let’s do Yom Kippur in a week from now,’” Yitzchok Minkowicz, 55, a rabbi at Chabad Lubavitch in Fort Myers, said. “Guess what? That’s not an option. Yom Kippur is Friday night.”
Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, is centered on repentance and becoming closer to God and requires that congregation members spend 25 hours fasting and praying. This year, the fast runs from just before sundown on Friday to Saturday night.
Many Jews spend the entire day at temple. But a historic weather event can threaten tradition.
With an estimated 778,000 Jewish residents, Florida has the third-largest Jewish population of any state, according to the American Jewish Population Project at Brandeis University.
in Sarasota, Temple Emanu-El has been without power. Though it is customary not to drink water on Yom Kippur, the prospect of having hundreds of people in a room without air conditioning has Rabbi Brenner Glickman, the senior rabbi there, altering plans.
“I would council people to drink water this year on Yom Kippur,” he said.
With several of the other main temples in Sarasota choosing to cancel their services and other residents away from their normal congregation because of the evacuations, Rabbi Glickman said the temple is making the rare move of accepting people from outside the congregation to join services.
In a normal year, Temple Emanu-El has a popular livestream so people can participate in Yom Kippur remotely. But without power, there will be no livestream this year. If someone has internet but cannot travel, they can join another congregation’s livestream, Rabbi Glickman said. People without internet and far from another congregation’s service can do their best to recreate the prayers and rituals at home, he added.
During Yom Kippur, observant Jews do not use electricity — a guideline that is skirted by turning lights and air conditioning units on before the fast begins. On Friday morning, more than 2.4 million customers in the state did not have power. Without air conditioning, a 25-hour fast becomes a health concern.
Because Chabad Lubavitch is one of the few synagogues in the area with power, Rabbi Minkowicz expects his service to have “double” the normal number of about 125 attendees on Friday. He also believes that residents of Fort Myers will be especially grateful for God this year, because the damage could have been a lot worse.
“I hate to say this: The best prep you can have for a Yom Kippur is a hurricane,” Rabbi Minkowicz said with a chuckle. “You don’t need stuff, you’re just happy you’re alive.”
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