A Synagogue’ s Recovery After the LA Wildfires
BUILDING A MISHKAN:
A Synagogue’ s Recovery After the LA Wildfires
By Sarah Ensor
On January 7, 2025, Melissa Levy, executive director of Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center( PJTC), was evacuating from her home as the Eaton Fire spread quickly through areas in and around Los Angeles. She received a call: who was on campus to protect the Torah scrolls? No one, as far as she knew.
That morning, strong Santa Ana winds had been forecast, suggesting possible danger.“ I had everyone work from home, and I’ m really glad I did,”
Levy said. Unfortunately, that meant no one was on campus to protect the thirteen Torah scrolls stored in the center, the temple, and the school.
Soon the cantor, the cantor’ s husband, a former rabbi, and several other temple officials and congregants drove to the PJTC campus to retrieve the scrolls. By the time they arrived, ash was falling in the parking lot. The fire was spreading rapidly.
Inside, they found the facilities manager in the lobby,
Above: Wildfire damage. Julia with all thirteen scrolls. He had taken public transportation to the PJTC to save them. The group loaded the scrolls Right: Fire engulfed the Pasadena
Grinblat
Jewish Temple & Center. into their trunks and made it to safety.
Getty / Josh Edelman
16 SACRED PLACES • SUMMER 2023