Jewish community accounted for in Joplin, Mo. tornado

JTA REPORT

All of the members of the small Jewish community of Joplin, Mo., including two Jewish brothers who were reported missing, are safe and accounted for in the wake of a deadly tornado.

But many lost their homes and possessions to the tornado and are in need of basic supplies, according to reports.

Rabbi Yehuda Weg, the Tulsa-based director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Oklahoma, drove to Joplin Monday night with a list of Jewish community members in need or missing and a car full of supplies, joining volunteers from the American Red Cross and local disaster agencies, according to Chabad.org.

He told Chabad.org Tuesday that several Jewish homes were “totally flattened.”

Weg travels to Joplin twice a month to supervise kosher production lines at several food manufacturers and to meet with 15 to 20 Jews affiliated with Chabad living there. The Jewish Federation of St. Louis reports that there are about 50 Jewish living in Joplin, which has a population of about 50,000

A Reform synagogue, the United Hebrew Congregation of Joplin, has existed in the city since at least 1919, according to the Jerusalem Post. The synagogue was not damaged, according to the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

The federation reports that at least four Jewish families have lost everything in the tornado and are currently living in shelters.

The St. Louis Federation is collecting on-line donations to help assist victims of the tornado, and its Jewish Community Relations Council is collecting needed supplies including blankets, new underwear, t-shirts, water, baby supplies, and toiletry items to drive into Joplin.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City Board of Directors took an emergency vote Tuesday to immediately allocate $5,000 to the current medical relief and ongoing recovery assistance relief in Joplin.

A reported 122 people are confirmed dead and hundreds missing following what is being called the second-deadliest tornado in U.S. history. The tornado cut through Joplin Sunday evening, one of several tornadoes that hit the Midwest over the weekend due to a system of severe thunderstorms that also have caused massive flooding.