Evacuation orders were issued for the entire area, and roads had been blocked leading to an from the campus and the Chabad Samson Student Center where Goldman works.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFFirefighters battle a wind-driven wildfire called the Saddle Ridge fire in the early morning hours Friday in Porter Ranch, California, U.S., October 11, 2019.(photo credit: GENE BLEVINS / REUTERS)
A campus rabbi at the University of Cape Town ran into a burning building to save a Torah scroll from being engulfed by the flames, according to Chabad.org. Rabbi Nissen Goldman went into save the Torah as well as other objects after the school's Jewish student center caught fire from sweeping wildfire, which has destroyed a number of historical buildings and spread to the campus.Evacuation orders were issued for the entire area, and roads had been blocked leading to an from the campus and the Chabad Samson Student Center where Goldman works.“It was a very hot day and the city is prone to bushfires that are rarely harmful, so I was not too concerned at first,” Goldman told Chabad.org. “But as the day progressed, I began to receive torrents of WhatsApp messages from friends and neighbors. My neighbor sent me a photograph of their roof that had caught fire, so we nervously headed back home.”The fire did not hit the Chabad house, but instead started hurling towards the Kaplan Center for Jewish Studies, which housed a Torah scroll and some tefillin left by students.The rabbi was escorted to the Jewish student center by a member of the Jewish community security company.Chabad noted that the building was not on fire at the time the rabbi entered, but some nearby structures were, such as the library and dorms.“In retrospect, I realize how dangerous it was, but I felt that there really was no other option. I had to make an effort to salvage what I could, and the Talmud (Psachim 8:a) says that ‘agents carrying out a mitzvah are not harmed,’” added Goldman.In light of the fires, the surrounding Jewish community has donated money to take care of the needs of affected Jewish students, and a separate relief fund has been established by Chabad.“At times like these, we really need to say Tehillim [Psalms] and keep in mind people who aren’t in safe situations right now,” said Daniel Cohen, a Jewish student evacuated from campus. “I think it’s important that everyone comes and picks” up a book of Psalms.
