A Post-Hurricane Life Lesson: ‘Little Things Matter’

Call it a sign that life is returning to normal. The marquee for Chabad of the Space & Treasure Coasts is back on display outside the building, and two of the congregation’s Torah scrolls have been returned to the ark following a mandatory evacuation in parts of central and northern Florida along the coast prior to Hurricane Matthew’s landfall.

The storm that caused the deaths of as many as 1,000 people in Haiti and nearly two-dozen others in the United States finally drifted out to sea on Sunday. In its wake are piles of downed trees and utility poles, and many households without electricity.

In Satellite Beach, where the Chabad House is located, the power remains off, but Rabbi Zvi Konikov was going ahead with Yom Kippur preparations as usual, given that the Day of Atonement was just hours away.

“Matthew” will no longer be an unwelcome guest; indeed, he most likely will be part of many a Yom Kippur sermon, notes the rabbi.

Florida towns on the East Coast are relieved at the minimal flooding and other damage. (Photo: Chabad Lubavitch of Northeast Florida)

Two-and-a-half hours north in Jacksonville, Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov, co-director of Chabad Lubavitch of Northeast Florida, was also busy with Yom Kippur preparations. After being without power for three consecutive days, the lights finally came back on Monday morning.

Kahanov, who stayed in the city during the storm, was able to open the Chabad House for Shabbat. Given that most other synagogues were closed, the rabbi says he had a lot of additional faces for both morning and afternoon prayer services.

“They were predicting the worst hurricane in history,” he says. “It was scaring everybody—and rightfully so. They evacuated all beach areas, but we didn’t have a lot of flooding, just a lot of downed trees and debris in the roadways.”

What goes down must come up: The marquee sign of Chabad of the Space & Treasure Coasts has been put back on display outside the building, and two of the congregation’s Torah scrolls have been returned to the ark. (Photo: Chavi Konikov)

Though Jacksonville was spared the worst, Hurricane Matthew will still be on people’s minds—and in the speech the rabbi will give—on the holiest day of the Jewish year.

“I think there’s a lesson we can learn from the hurricane, and it’s this: A tiny bit of action can make a world of difference,” says Kahanov. If the hurricane had gone two miles to the west, he explains, the devastation would have been unimaginable. But it stayed to the east.

In a way, it relates to the actions of individuals as well—serious food for thought in the new Jewish year.

“It just shows that little things matter,” adds Kahanov. “Little things can have big effects.”

Prayer services at Chabad of the Space & Treasure Coasts before mandatory evacuation last week. Even though the power still remains off, Rabbi Zvi Konikov is going ahead with Yom Kippur preparations. (Photo: Chavi Konikov)