As one of the Chabad (Lubavitch) emissaries living in Southeast Asia, I was dispatched that very night to the hardest hit areas. My mission: to aid with the search and rescue efforts, particularly in regards to the thousands of missing Israelis and other Jewish travelers. 

Yakov Dvir, from the Israeli Consul in Thailand, as well as Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, put in the urgent request to Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, the director of Chabad activities in Thailand, asking that Chabad step in to help. All of us — the six Chabad rabbis and our families and the 12 rabbinical students living and working in Thailand — immediately moved into 24-hour mode, fielding calls, compiling lists, and offering aid and comfort to the survivors. 

When I arrived in Phuket the bloated bodies still lined the streets. I had hundreds of names on my lists, with new ones being added every hour. For three days now I have been making my rounds of the morgues, hospitals, and makeshift shelters, trying to match faces and fates to the names on my lists. 

For the dazed survivors I arrange food, clothing, medical care, and transportation back home. For the dead, I have the unfortunate task of helping the ZAKA (Disaster Victims Identification) volunteers who’ve flown in from Israel make the identification, arrange for a proper Jewish burial, and get the news to loved ones keeping vigil by the phone. But in a place where unfortunately so many will be thrown together in mass graves, there is some sense of relief and closure knowing that the victim has been found and will receive a Jewish burial. From the moment a Jewish body is identified, it is not left alone for a minute. This is the last respect and love we can give to our brothers and sisters.

Our three Chabad houses in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Ko Samui have been transformed into crisis centers for counseling, clothing, communication, food, money, transportation, and shelter. We have opened our phone lines for free calls to assuage the fear of parents who will not rest until they hear their son or daughter’s voice on the other end. Our free email service has enabled hundreds to contact worried loved ones and assure them of their safety. 

The survivors come to us shaken, hungry, and overwhelmed. They need to go home and be with their family. Until that is possible, it is our responsibility to provide them with love, comfort, and safety while they are still here. For some that means a warm meal, others need money and arrangements for necessary travel documents, some a hug or shoulder to cry on, and others a place to sleep. 

The Thai government has been incredibly helpful and organized. Now that people have been able to travel here to help, we have been joined by dozens of volunteers who’ve flown in from Israel. We’re all working round the clock. No one has yet digested the magnitude of what has happened. Right now, there’s too much to do to even pause for moment to contemplate it. 

The unity amongst all the workers is incredible. I was moved to tears when I saw the Israeli media and news reporters join us to help locate and identify the injured and dead. They were no longer looking at the situation through the camera, but through their tear-filled eyes, as they worked alongside the rabbis, government officials, and volunteers. 

On a larger scale, this disaster has joined every race, creed, and religion together. And now, once again are all the same when it comes to offering aid, support, and love. What keeps us going are the miracles that are sprinkled throughout the horror. Today a 20-day-old baby was found alive, floating upon a mattress in the water. A one-year-old who was torn from his mother’s arms was miraculously recovered by his nanny, seconds before he was submerged in water. A Jewish family of six was scheduled to fly to Ko Phi Phi, the hardest hit of the islands; we feared the worst for them, until we learned that they had missed their flight and were sitting on the runway bemoaning their ruined vacation when the news broke. 

Today, when I visited the hospital, an Israeli woman called me over and started crying when she told me her story. She had been traveling by boat with another 41 Israelis. They had just docked at Ko Phi Phi when the waves began to hit. The group ran as fast as they could, but could not outrun the rushing water. They were immediately swept in its path along with debris, trees, and cars. This woman was sure her life was over and without time to think, suddenly found herself screaming to the others to join her in saying the Shema out loud. 

With the last ounce of strength in her body she cried out the words of the most foundational prayer of the Jewish people, our acknowledgement of our Creator and the oneness of that G-d. And as she finished the verse, she suddenly felt a log come up from under her feet, keeping her head above water so that she could breathe. Then, as she floated along, she looked up at the heavens and saw a rope come down from the sky. The rope had been thrown from her boat, where other survivors had gathered. They pulled her aboard and managed to save 40 of the group. Unfortunately, there are two still unaccounted for. 

It is these miracles that give me hope and remind me of my purpose and my mission. There are no words to describe the horror that has happened, and certainly no understandable explanations or reasons for its occurrence. But we must believe that though we can’t make sense of it, this, like everything we experience, is part of a larger picture that we currently don’t see.

More importantly, we must use this opportunity to focus on our ability to overcome, to help others, and to rebuild. 

Every living, breathing person who survived this not only has to live his or her life, but must live for those who were not able to survive. 

And we must remember that just as instantaneously as utter destruction struck, so too in a split second we can be redeemed, we can start anew, we can have complete peace, love, and goodness. 

I’ve seen more pain and suffering in the last few days than I’ve seen in all my 32 years. But I have also been privileged to witness compassion and faith of a magnitude that I never imagined existed. I have watched as people from different cultures, faiths, countries, and mentalities join together to help one another. For the G-dly soul, hidden deep within, often shines forth precisely when externally there is nothing to depend on. When physicality is destroyed, the only thing left is spirituality, and that is what is left in this annihilated area. 

So, for now, I continue to help rescue and identify the victims, working along with representatives from throughout the world here to do the same. We still are hoping to find more survivors, to provide for the injured with all their needs, and to make possible for those who were not so fortunate, a proper burial at home with their families. 

May G-d bless us to continue to be successful in our work, and may this disaster be the last we know of pain and suffering and the beginning of the true ushering in of goodness and redemption. 

Rabbi Wilhelm is originally from Israel and has been in Thailand for nine years with his wife and five children. They live in Bangkok. To learn more, visit their web site at www.jewishthailand.com.

You Can Help After the devastating earthquake and tsunami in late December, more than 60 Jewish communities launched highly successful drives to support non-sectarian aid by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the overseas arm of the Jewish community. JDC provides relief and promotes Jewish renewal in more than 60 countries.  Together, Federations and the JDC have raised more than $15 million at the time this publication went to press.  Contributions can be made through your local Federation or by credit card via the JDC’s website: https://www.jdc.org/donation/jdc_form.cfm; via phone: 212-687-6200; or by check payable to: JDC: South Asia Tsunami Relief; Box 321; 847A Second Avenue; New York, NY 10017.  Operation Noah’s Ark: Helping Victims of the Tsunami One Boat at a Time  Just as Noah’s family was saved by a boat, boats can be the lifeline for hundreds of Tsunami victims as well. After the rescue, after the recovery, after the humanitarian life-saving aid has been distributed, the victims of the South East Asian Tsunami disaster will still need to rebuild their lives. Jewish tradition teaches that there are eight levels of Tzedakah, or charitable giving, that create a more just and righteous society. The highest level of Tzedakah is enabling the recipient to become self-reliant.  Nechama — The Jewish Response to Disaster, a Minnesota-based organization dedicated to providing disaster relief to victims of natural disasters wherever they may be, and Justice Squared, an initiative of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, invite you to join in helping survivors of the South East Asian Tsunami regain their lives and their livelihoods:For every $500 raised, a fishing boat will be built for a family that lost its boat to the disaster.  Donations may be made to Nechama/Operation Noah’s Ark and sent to Nechama, 4330 South Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis, MN 55416. Or you may donate online at www.nechama.org/.

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