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LA fires claimed places of worship, but congregations still are helping others

Tragedies and hardship call on a core aspect of faith: community. “It’s about the connection to something bigger than ourselves,” says Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, the director of Friends in Deed, a Pasadena interfaith nonprofit.

His family lost its house in the Eaton Fire, as well as its synagogue.

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Organized religion provides space for worship and spiritual study. Amid disaster, it can also provide a built-in system of caring and an active faith.

The Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes, schools, restaurants, and businesses. Houses of worship burned, too. But their congregations are still here, gathering to pray in borrowed spaces and distributing food and clothing. The interfaith outpouring of compassion and generosity is an example of faith in action, those interviewed say. And, they add, it shows the role of faith amid times of disaster.

Over a century old, Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center is gone. But leaders rescued 13 Torah scrolls. And when the fire died, one wall remained, etched with a mural that members didn’t know was hiding behind drywall. It depicts people and animals in the desert, beneath a single palm tree.

“My house burned, but I would never consider myself homeless,” says Rabbi Grater. He has resources, friends, community.

“We have to find the courage to rebuild a step at a time.”

Cars pull into the Pasadena Church parking lot, waved forward by a couple of Scientologists. Christian volunteers hand out groceries and diapers. Orange, yellow, and black turbans dot the crowded lot, as Sikh volunteers dish out hot chickpea curry and basmati rice and cups of steaming chai.

The line of cars stretches around the lot. Volunteers pass meals through car windows and load back seats with pet food, toiletries, and paper goods. Some Sikhs traveled from as far as New York and Canada to cook and serve meals to people displaced by the wildfires.

The chai, especially, gets five-star reviews from volunteers and evacuees alike.

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

Organized religion provides space for worship and spiritual study. Amid disaster, it can also provide a built-in system of caring and an active faith.

“That’s what we’re really hoping to do here – it’s really offering solace, offering comfort, in this absolutely crazy time,” says Meetan Kaur, an organizer with United Sikhs, an international aid organization.

The Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes, schools, restaurants, and businesses. Houses of worship burned, too. But their congregations are still here, gathering to pray in borrowed spaces and distributing food and clothing. The interfaith outpouring of compassion and generosity is an example of faith in action, those interviewed say. And, they add, it shows the role of faith amid times of disaster.

Organized religion provides space for worship and spiritual study, but it can be especially helpful when disasters strike because there’s already “a built-in system of caring,” says Cynthia Eriksson, a dean at Fuller Theological Seminary, who specializes in the intersection of faith and mental health.

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