Jewish organizations are mobilizing their responses to the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday.
IsraAid, an Israel-based coordinating organization for 17 Israeli and Jewish humanitarian groups, said Friday that it has two teams of rescue personnel, emergency medical personnel and water pollution experts ready to deploy to Japan but was looking for ways to reach the affected area.
Because the airports in the affected area are flooded and Tokyo's airport closed on Friday, IsraAid said it was exploring the possibility of flying to a nearby country and then trying to make it to northeast Japan, where the tsunami has killed hundreds and devastated cities and towns.
"We're in touch with local groups to check the situation in the area," Shachar Zahavi, chairman of the group, told JTA in a telephone interview. "We're trying to get to the closest airport and then get to the affected area from there."
The Japanese consul in Israel, Mitoshiko Shinomya, told the Israeli news webstie Ynet that he was heartened by an Israeli government offer of assistance to Japan.
"Israel officially offered its help an hour after the earthquake struck," Shinomya said. "It is very heart-warming, but at this point we do not know exactly what the extent of the damage is, so it is difficult for us to say what can be done."
The Chabad-Lubavitch movement reported Friday that its emissary in Tokyo said the Jewish community there largely was spared any serious injury or damage from the 8.9-magnitude quake that rocked the city Friday morning.
via jta.org
chabad reports:
Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries around the world received a report from Chabad of Hong Kong director Rabbi Mordechai Avtzon, relayed through Chabad of Thailand director Rabbi Yosef Kantor, that Tokyo's Jewish community appeared to emerge from the tragedy relatively unscathed. Although details were sketchy, as the natural disasters struck just before the onset of the Jewish Sabbath, Avtzon said that Rabbi Mendel and Chana Sudakevich were okay.
Mendel Sudakevich "reported that while it was a terribly frightening experience, and objects within the homes [and] the Chabad House shifted and fell, there were minimal injuries in the area and that the Jewish community was thank G-d, safe and sound," said Avtzon. "Approximately 15 minutes after we spoke, another strong earthquake struck greater Tokyo, triggering what appears to be a rather serious tsunami."
