BY DANIEL CHANG
dchang@MiamiHerald.com
CARL JUSTE / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus sits down as he recounts seeing the flood-damaged temple of worship. No religious artifacts were damaged due to quick removal by members of the congregation. Large fans are placed throughout the interior to remove the remaining moisture.
Flood damage from last week's rainstorm has forced the temporary closure of a preschool and administrative offices for Chabad of South Broward in Hallandale Beach, but the center for Jewish spirituality will remain open for worship and other services.
``We have a mission here,'' said Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, surveying the damage and meeting with teams of repairmen and construction workers on Monday.
Inside the preschool, offices, and synagogue, workers had removed the floorboards and cut the drywall about two feet from the floor to check for mold. Many ceiling tiles were either missing or bulging and brown with water.
The torrential rainstorm that soaked much of eastern Hollywood and Hallandale Beach on the night of Dec. 17 caused about $200,000 in damage to the chabad, which serves about 250 families, Tennenhaus said.
That night, about 20 women from the center's seminary school had to be evacuated by the Broward Sheriff's Office as rainwater inundated the parking lot and crept into the synagogue, preschool and offices.
The women were hosting a Hanukkah party inside the synagogue when they noticed water coming through the roof and lapping at the threshold of the front door.
``The water just kept on coming,'' said Hinda Levin, 19, a student of the Chaya Aydel Seminary.
Levin said the women debated whether to leave in the middle of the storm. Among the stranded was an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor, she said.
Soon the parking lot was under about two feet of water. Tennenhaus said he dissuaded the women from leaving, warning them of the potential danger posed by downed power lines and debris.
Tennenhaus then called the Broward Sheriff's Office for help, and Cmdr. Michael Calderin responded with a 15-passenger van.
But rising floodwaters nearly stranded his rescue effort.
``It was very challenging,'' Calderin recalled on Monday. ``As I was trying to get to them, the engine kept sputtering. I was pretty much almost immersed completely in the water.''
Calderin found high ground in the parking lot of a Walgreens across the street from the Chabad of South Broward, 1295 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd., and the woman waded though knee-high waters to reach the van.
``One girl was having an allergic reaction and fire rescue couldn't get to her,'' Calderin said, adding that a dose of Benadryl from Walgreen's helped the woman.
The rescue took several hours as Calderin shuttled the women to their dormitories nearby. Tennenhaus said he and the women declined an offer to stay overnight at a Red Cross shelter because they wanted to make it home and light a Menorah for Hanukkah.
The rabbi also wanted to begin drying out the synagogue and preparing it for Shabbat services, which begin at sundown on Fridays.
``There were leaves. There were worms, palmetto bugs,'' he said of the debris in the sanctuary. ``It smelled. It was very heartbreaking.''
The synagogue was ready for worship services on Friday morning. About 20 people showed up.
``The first man who came broke down in tears when he saw what had happened,'' Tennenhaus said.
He said the buildings are insured for flood damage, but he worries that the contents -- computers, books, furniture -- will not be fully covered.
While Chabad's synagogue will remain open for worship and other services, the offices and preschool, whose 70 students are on holiday break until Jan. 4, will have to be dried out and partially reconstructed.
Tennenhaus said the damage is the worst Chabad of South Broward has suffered in nearly 30 years at the same location. But he compared the spiritual resolve of Chabad's members to the olive.
``When we get crushed or pressed,'' he said, ``it only brings out the best in us.''
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