Florida Catholic | Archdiocese Aids Synagogue

Archdiocese aids synagogue

The donation will help the Chabad Shul congregation restore their fire–damaged Torah.

Published: 05.09.08

Archbishop John C. Favalora personally delivered a $5,000 donation from the Archdiocese of Miami to the Chabad Shul in Miami Beach, an Orthodox synagogue that was damaged by fire at the end of April.

The money will go toward the restoration of the congregation’s Torah, pieces of which were found strewn about the property after the fire. That led some to suspect arson, although investigators have yet to rule officially on the cause of the fire.

“I certainly hope and I pray that they will put back together, reconstruct, what they have lost here,” the archbishop told the media during his visit to the synagogue just before Sabbath services April 29.

He noted that he could sympathize with the Jewish community’s feelings, because one of the archdiocese’s own churches, St. Catherine of Siena, had been damaged by arson just before the start of Holy Week.

The archbishop earlier had offered Chabad Shul members the use of either of two churches on Miami Beach – St. Patrick or St. Francis de Sales – for their Friday night services.

Neither church was within walking distance, however, so Chabad Shul members celebrated the Sabbath on the lawn outside their burned-out synagogue. Orthodox Jews adhere strictly to the law barring them from doing any work on the Sabbath, including driving.

Return to the Archdiocese of Miami Front Page

Archdiocese aids synagogue

Other Stories