BOULDER Pam Sherman, evacuated from her Gold Hill home in the heart of the fiery maelstrom known as the Fourmile Canyon Fire, is caught between two antithetical possibilites.
Her house might survive or be destroyed.
Yet she sounds decidedly peaceful.
Now staying a safe distance from the fire with friends Shelley and Joe Bassman, Sherman recounts how everyone sat down at the table Monday night, Sept. 6, and prayed.
The last thing we did before we went to bed last night was gather around the table, hold hands and recite the Shma, says Sherman, a resident of Gold Hill for 16 years.
I cant tell you what it was like, she tells the IJN. We felt this breath of air and spaciousness, relief and rest. It was like light.
Sherman, her husband Steve and son Daniel are sharing the Bassmans hospitality with the Spitz family, also evacuated from their residence and now awaiting news.
My son received a post from the son of the fire chief on Facebook indicating that our home was still standing, Sherman says.
A cabin from the 1860s is gone, but they think our home is still there which would be miraculous.
However, the Shermans still dont know whether their house is structurally sound.
What Ive been saying to myself all along is that whichever way Hashem wants it is fine with me, Pam Sherman says.
Did we lose everything? Fine. Is our home is still standing? Thats fine with me.
While there is no official Jewish group in Nederland, Sherman says friends and neighbors regularly daven together.
The Fourmile Canyon blaze ignited Monday, Labor Day, near Emerson Gulch at about 10 a.m.
As of press time, the conflagration had grown to 7,120 acres in size and forced the evacuation of thousands living in the affected radius.
IN Boulder, nearly every Jewish organization is in contact with congregants and members upended by the fire.
Rabbi Joshua Rose of Har HaShem estimates that about 11 families in his congregation have been evacuated.
Ive been dealing with this all day yesterday and this morning, he told the IJN, coordinating ways we can provide material, spiritual and emotional support.
He says that his congregants have already stepped forward to offer their homes to the evacuees, regardless of whether they are friends or strangers.
This really tests the fabric of the community, Rose says. Losing a home entails so much more than losing a place. Its about losing your center, your memories, your security, your vision of what your life was supposed to look like.
On Monday, when the blaze started and high winds wafted smoke and ash throughout Boulder, Rose was driving northwest to a bris and naming ceremony.
I thought I saw an isolated raincloud, he says, but then it was obvious that it was coming from the mountains.
Today you can smell smoke from Har HaShem, and its very hazy.
Rose says that he will address the fire in some form during Rosh Hashanah.
This will be hanging over our heads, literally and figuratively, he says.
Its the kind of thing people need a chance to reflect upon.
It adds a sense of gravity, but it also adds a sense of hope that we can help these families rebuild in every possible way.
The Boulder Jewish Day School is closed for the week due to the High Holidays, but executive leader Daniel Bennett says that only one family has been evacuated.
They are staying with friends in Boulder very grateful to be out of danger but worried about their home, Bennett says.
When natural disasters occur, all we can do is respond in a Jewish way and show up as a community and thats what weve been doing, he says.
Of course, its not only Jews who are committed to ameliorating hardships inflicted by the fire.
The entire Boulder community has rallied together, Bennett says.
At the Boulder JCC, the preschool remains open, but children are not allowed to play outside due to the health hazards of smoke inhalation.
Yesterday the sun was blocked out by smoke and ash covered the cars, relates a JCC office employee.
It was almost surreal.
WHILE a natural break line virtually eliminates the fires ability to spread to the city, Boulders Jewish residents anxiously monitor the burning terrain and prepare to accommodate the homeless, hungry and bewildered.
Several families from our community have been evacuated, Rabbi Gavriel Goldfeder of Kehillath Aish Kodesh tells the IJN.
Many people down here have made their homes available if necessary to make sure they are comfortable, fed and cared for.
Right before Rosh Hashanah is a particularly powerful time to see this its deep food for thought: Who by fire . . . But more importantly, it makes us all so aware of whats important.
Were all wondering, what would I take with me if I were evacuated? How would I start over?
Bonai Shaloms Rabbi Marc Soloway says his congregation is actively contacting members to determine their needs and assess how the synagogue can best provide aid.
With Rosh Hashanah fast approaching, we want to be sure that we can support all of those in our congregational family who may have needs for food and shelter, he wrote in an e-mail delivered to the entire congregation.
As Jews around the world prepare to celebrate the birthday of creation, we are reminded of the fragile nature of our world and the vulnerability that we all feel in the face of its power.
Soloway told the IJN than in addition to offering concrete measures of assistance, we are also sending prayers out to everyone.
This is what life is about, affirms Goldfeder.
Opening to each other.
As for Pam Sherman, terrible scenarios that would stop another person in her emotional tracks seem irrelevant.
I kind of feel blessed in every way, she says. You dont always understand that somethings a blessing right away. But right now, I feel everything is a blessing.
Copyright © 2010 by the Intermountain Jewish News
