Chabad of Thailand, saying its the only Jewish service agency in the country dealing with the mounting humanitarian disaster in southeast Asia, has "put everything else aside, working 24/7 to assist those in need and comfort." So writes Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, Executive Director of the organization, in an urgent plea for funds.
A Chabad representative, Rabbi Nehemiah Wilhelm, was dispatched to the scene of the tragedy in Phuket to aid in the rescue efforts, Kantor writes. Wilhelm is "making the rounds of the hospitals, identifying bodies, arranging medical help and transportation for survivors, connecting survivors with each other, and helping the Israeli government in coping with this terrible ordeal. Thailand's three Chabad Houses, staffed by six full-time Rabbis and twelve Rabbinical trainees, were immediately converted into crisis centers where dazed survivors are receiving medical help, free meals, and funds for new clothing, [as well as] placing free international phone calls and internet to contact their loved ones, and being helped in their efforts to locate their friends as of yet unaccounted for."
Rabbi Kantor adds that the Israeli Consul in Thailand, Yaakov Dvir, has asked for Chabad's help in locating missing and stranded Israelis, and that Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has acknowledged Chabad's help to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
"As the initial efforts of search and rescue wind down over the next week," Rabbi Kantor writes, "the grim work of identifying bodies and counseling bereaved families will unfortunately keep the Chabad staff fully occupied for the foreseeable future. We are also expecting the stream of survivors of this natural disaster appearing at our doors in Bangkok to increase, placing the burden on us to clothe, feed and accommodate them as they slowly try to make their way home."
Another Chabad representative, Benny Gimzo, told Arutz-7 yesterday about his part in the rescue campaign: "All along a 20-kilometer stretch of beach there is nothing but destruction – private homes, hotels, stores, cars... I don't even want to say how many bodies we pulled out of the water... I joined up with a group of people giving help to whoever needed it, whether they be foreigners or local Thais, giving them food, medicines and whatever possible."
Gimzo described how he set out at 5 AM to distribute food and equipment to various police and rescue posts, "and then we started our search efforts. Our first objective was to extricate bodies from under buildings and cars, or inside cars. Trees were ripped out and were thrown into buildings..."
In Ko Samui, Thailand, Chabad's Rabbi Gaoni Maatuf says his Chabad House fielded over 1,000 phone calls from Israel, trying to help families locate their relatives. Rabbi Maatuf notified Israelis in Ko Samui, which was not affected by the quake, to contact their families back home.
For more information, see "www.chabadthailand.com".
A Chabad representative, Rabbi Nehemiah Wilhelm, was dispatched to the scene of the tragedy in Phuket to aid in the rescue efforts, Kantor writes. Wilhelm is "making the rounds of the hospitals, identifying bodies, arranging medical help and transportation for survivors, connecting survivors with each other, and helping the Israeli government in coping with this terrible ordeal. Thailand's three Chabad Houses, staffed by six full-time Rabbis and twelve Rabbinical trainees, were immediately converted into crisis centers where dazed survivors are receiving medical help, free meals, and funds for new clothing, [as well as] placing free international phone calls and internet to contact their loved ones, and being helped in their efforts to locate their friends as of yet unaccounted for."
Rabbi Kantor adds that the Israeli Consul in Thailand, Yaakov Dvir, has asked for Chabad's help in locating missing and stranded Israelis, and that Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has acknowledged Chabad's help to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
"As the initial efforts of search and rescue wind down over the next week," Rabbi Kantor writes, "the grim work of identifying bodies and counseling bereaved families will unfortunately keep the Chabad staff fully occupied for the foreseeable future. We are also expecting the stream of survivors of this natural disaster appearing at our doors in Bangkok to increase, placing the burden on us to clothe, feed and accommodate them as they slowly try to make their way home."
Another Chabad representative, Benny Gimzo, told Arutz-7 yesterday about his part in the rescue campaign: "All along a 20-kilometer stretch of beach there is nothing but destruction – private homes, hotels, stores, cars... I don't even want to say how many bodies we pulled out of the water... I joined up with a group of people giving help to whoever needed it, whether they be foreigners or local Thais, giving them food, medicines and whatever possible."
Gimzo described how he set out at 5 AM to distribute food and equipment to various police and rescue posts, "and then we started our search efforts. Our first objective was to extricate bodies from under buildings and cars, or inside cars. Trees were ripped out and were thrown into buildings..."
In Ko Samui, Thailand, Chabad's Rabbi Gaoni Maatuf says his Chabad House fielded over 1,000 phone calls from Israel, trying to help families locate their relatives. Rabbi Maatuf notified Israelis in Ko Samui, which was not affected by the quake, to contact their families back home.
For more information, see "www.chabadthailand.com".