Almost exactly 52 years ago—Feb. 9, 1971—a large magnitude 6.6 earthquake shook L.A.’s San Fernando Valley emanating from the vicinity of the Magic Mountain amusement park.
I was living in the city’s Echo Park district then in an old (1920s) Craftsmen-style house. It was approximately 6 a.m. when the quake hit—I was fast asleep—and lasted for about a minute. It felt much longer. But it was plenty long for what happened.
A two-story brick chimney that I didn’t know existed, because it had been covered over with plaster who knows when, completely came apart next to my bed, missing me by less than a foot.
Would it have killed me? I don’t know. But it could easily have seriously maimed me. When I stopped shaking myself and could look somewhat calmly at the huge pile of bricks, I saw not one inch of rebar in the smoke and rubble.
At the time I judged myself blind lucky.
Now, decades later, I see myself as having been spared by G-d.
Having spent much of my life in California, I have been through several shakes, as well as one in Spain when I was living there for the better part of a year, but in no other case did I have such a narrow escape.
You will note that I used the spelling G-d, the way the Hasidic Jews do. I make not the slightest claim to be an orthodox or even a good Jew. I don’t keep Kosher, nor do I observe the Sabbath, unless invited to someone’s house.
But something, maybe it’s getting older, maybe it’s the times in which we live, impels me to act—or at least write—to a small degree like the Hasidim, whose name is translated as “G-d fearing” or more precisely those who “fear a separation from G-d.”
You can certainly understand that fear when you see the horrifying pictures from southern Turkey (or Türkiye, as it’s now called) and northeastern Syria. It sent me searching for similarly catastrophic earthquakes on the internet. There have been quite a few, one as recent as 2005, the Kashmir Earthquake that killed approximately 86,000 people in India, Afghanistan, and China.
I thought of it when I read the Syrians—mired so deep in their own “fauda”—rejected Israeli aid after the quake when they knew well Israel, of all countries in the world, certainly for its size, was the most prepared to deal with such emergencies.
“An Israeli military field hospital established near the Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş has so far treated around 180 people, including Syrian refugees living in the country, who were injured in the devastating earthquake that struck the region earlier in the week. …
“On Friday, a four-year-old Syrian refugee whose parents were killed in the quake was brought to the field hospital.
“‘This is an area with a lot of Syrian refugees. This boy was rescued three or four days ago, his whole family was killed, and he was brought by his uncle. We treated him and calmed him down. He came in a moderate to serious condition,’ said Lt. Col. Aziz Ibrahim, a nurse and a commander in the IDF Medical Corps.
“Ibrahim said the boy’s uncle came up to him and said, ‘You Israelis treat us better than our people.’”
Many will jump in to say this is propaganda from an Israeli media outlet. Possibly. But have you been to Syria?
As one who has paid close attention to the Middle East conflict for decades, having been to the region five times myself, I can say that Israel is easily the most lied-about country in the world. The purpose of the U.N., these days, seems to be no more than the vilification of Israel.
But in a moment of crisis, I would choose Mogen David Adam (their Red Cross) or their military in a heartbeat over ours. Do you think the Israeli Air Force would have allowed a Chinese spy balloon to fly over the nuclear sites in the Negev for more than a minute? Gimme a break!
I know by saying this I will be accused of being one of those Jews whose loyalty is to Israel and not to America. That’s absolutely not true. I chose and choose to live here. I could easily have done otherwise.
I’m just hugely disappointed with the recent evolution of our country—not the least of which is that instead of spending their time helping the beleaguered peoples of Türkiye and Syria, both of which have horrendous governments, they send our Secretary of State to Israel to badger their leadership over their recent election that many would say was more democratic than our own.
I may be just beginning at a late age my own spiritual reformation, but I know that isn’t what G-d wants.
