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'Home is memory': How Jews make sense of what they've lost in the LA fires and what remains

JL;DR SUMMARY Rabbi Sharon Brous reflects on the devastation of the recent Los Angeles fires and the profound sense of loss experienced by families who watched their homes burn. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish TraditionClimate ChangeCommunity SupportLossJosephMemoryJacobHomeLos Angeles FiresEnvironmental Justice

Places mentioned

Altadena, California, United States
"Rick Law (left) gets a helping hand from an LA County Firefighter as he digs throw rubble trying to recovery mementoes in the rubble of his Altadena home that burned to the ground Jan. 10, 2024."
Los Angeles, California, United States
"This essay is adapted from the sermon the author delivered at her Los Angeles synagogue, IKAR, on Jan. 11, 2025."
New Jersey, United States
"On the rare occasion that Im back in New Jersey, just driving into my old neighborhood makes me tear up."
Mexico
"I have friends who have lived in this country for twenty five years, who love it here and yet theyre just about ready to risk it all to go back to Mexico for a week, just to be, for a moment, home again."
Tehran, Fars, Iran
"Talk to someone whose family fled Iran in 79. Ive heard friends speak of the smells of Tehran."
Nablus, Jenin, Palestinian Territories
"He is buried, so many years later, in Shekhem (Joshua 24:32)the very place where his brothers betrayed him. But that place is home."
Pasadena, California, United States
"Joshua lost his home this week. Everything is gonethe appliances, the furniture. The paintings and the photos. Everything but somehow, inexplicably, one book."

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Cairo Item ID 41448
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Retrieved 2025-01-13 05:30:37 UTC
Curated 2025-01-13 08:31:12 UTC