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The Forward
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As smoke filled the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center one year ago, Cantor Ruth Berman Harris searched for her husband through the darkness, calling out to make sure the Torahs were being carried out. By night’s end, the building was destroyed, but all 13 Torahs were safe. 🧵

The Forward
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She grew up in Buenos Aires and lived through two acts of mass violence that targeted the Jewish community there — the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center, which killed 85 people, including friends of hers.

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The Forward
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The Eaton Fire that razed Pasadena was different. “What surprised me,” she said, “was how loving and caring and strong and vibrant a community can be in the midst of tragedy. There was no doubt that we were going to be OK.”

The Forward
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Over the past year, she has watched people return to Jewish life who had once drifted away from it — not out of fear, but out of need. “It surprised me how relevant a Jewish community can be in times of crisis,” she said. “I knew it from books. I had never experienced it.”

forward.comShe helped rescue the Torahs from their burning synagogue. A year later, Pasadena's mishkan is thriving.A year after wildfire destroyed Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, its congregation is still gathering, growing and planning a new synagogue.