Wildfire in Colorado brought Meryl Suissa and Aimee Miculka together for the first time more than three years ago.
In January, California wildfires reunited them.
For Miculka, the Marshall Fire in December 2021 was a time of heartbreaking loss. For Suissa, the Marshall Fire galvanized her, as she transformed her empathy for the victims of the fire into a passion project to help them.
This year, the two women—survivor and organizer—joined forces to help Jewish fire survivors in California. Their goal is to ensure that families who lost all their Judaica in the fires will be able to sit down for Passover in 2025 with replacement Judaica that is not just similar—but identical—to what they lost.
To succeed, they are asking for your help. And they have made it easy to participate either as a donor or as a recipient.
‘Now that is something I can get behind’
Both Miculka and Suissa contributed unique skills to their new project.
Meryl Suissa
After the Marshall Fire, Suissa organized the Marshall Fire Community Facebook Group to provide resources, connections, and needed items for families and individuals in the response, recovery, and rebuilding phases.
In multiple ways, Suissa matched people who needed help with those who could help. Working with her JEWISHcolorado and Young Adult Division connections, she was able to fulfill Amazon wish lists for 15 families, including Miculka’s family.
“We had been renting a house for two years, and we lost everything that makes a home,” Miculka recalls. “But through the Facebook group, we received so much support and so many resources.”
The Los Angeles fires would have been horrifying for anyone to watch, but even more so for Miculka, who grew up just outside Pasadena, Calif. Her brother is a firefighter in Los Angeles who was on duty for both the Altadena and Palisades Fires. She worked as a youth camp director for the summer camp of the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. The camp usually holds its first summer session at Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center. That historic synagogue, which had stood for more than a century, was completely destroyed in the Eaton Fire.
“I have really dear friends in that community, and it still feels very much like my home,” Miculka says. “I also have the wisdom that comes from having lived through a fire that destroys everything.”
During the height of the L.A. fires, Suissa’s phone was ringing nonstop with people asking if she planned to “do the same thing you did with the Marshall Fire.” But Suissa could not see clearly how she could best help until she received a call from Miculka who reminded her of the impact of having Judaica replaced.
Aimee Miculka
“It meant so much to have Shabbat candlesticks show up at our house after the fire,” Miculka says. “It represented the passing of time during a period when time really felt meaningless, and it felt like something normal in a life that was totally not normal. And by Passover, I was able to host a Seder because of what the community gave us.”
Suissa listened to Miculka’s story and was sold. “‘Now that is something I can get behind,’” she remembers thinking. “Let’s start a Judaica initiative.” And thus, this joint venture came to life.
Miculka had connections with California federations, and she has personal connections in the fire-devastated communities—“I know people who know people,” she says. Suissa reached out to the Boulder JCC and JEWISHcolorado. But this was not going to be a simple matter of asking people to order Judaica from Target, because this initiative seeks what Suissa likes to call “l’dor v’dor Judaica.”
‘Judaica is full of years of memories’
Anyone interested in donating Judaica through this initiative should read the Donor Form carefully:
“We will be working with Jewish individuals and groups across the country and even Israel to attempt to match someone who lost their items with someone who wants to donate those same items.”
By that, they mean they are seeking identical items to those that have been destroyed, items that recipients share photos of in their forms.
“Judaica is full of years of memories, so it is much more than just a physical possession,” Suissa says. “It could have even survived the Holocaust. We are hearing from survivors that it is so important to have something that looks the same as what they have lost.”
Donors can either donate the exact item from their personal collection or help the Judaica Initiative find it. They can reach out to companies directly and order items. They can also buy items themselves on eBay or Amazon, donate it directly to a specific recipient, and have the chance to make a personal connection—donor to recipient.
“All of us can see ourselves or our family members in the people who lost everything in the LA fires,” Suissa says. “All of our hearts hurt, but what makes us human is our ability to help others. When we meet someone who had our exact same Judaica, with memories of holidays or family past, we find connections, and that is so important in a world that can often seem so divided.”
Through her California connections, Miculka is distributing the forms to recipients and arranging for items to be sent to the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys when the recipient no longer has a permanent address.
“I am already hearing back from people that this is having an impact,” Miculka says. “I can’t thank Meryl enough for what she has done for our community in Colorado and now for yet another community in California.”