The JTA reports:
Chabad teams rescue New Orleans Jews
Chabad-sponsored rescue teams have pulled 32 Jews from their New Orleans homes over the past several days, a spokesman for the organization said.
Hundreds more Jews still may be trapped in water-inundated houses or otherwise missing in the Gulf region, Zalman Shmotkin told JTA. Working on foot and boat, the rescue squads — comprised largely of New York-based medics — have encountered some elderly Jews who are reluctant to leave their homes, in addition to one woman who did not wish to evacuate and leave her pets behind to fend for themselves.
The teams were able to convince some victims to evacuate their homes; others stayed put. The Hurricane Relief section of Chabad’s Web site asks anyone who believes they know of people still missing or trapped to provide details through the site, www.chabad.org.
The Chabad teams on the ground will then look into the reports.
The good news is clear. The bad news is that rescuing Jews is not nonsectarian. If Chabad would advertise its hurricane fund as what it really is – a fund to help Jews – I would not have any problem with it. But Chabad is using deceptive advertising to make its fund appear to be nonsectarian, and by doing so siphoning off money from actual nonsectarian efforts like those of the Red Cross and Salvation Army. There is a place for specific Jewish relief targeted to help Jews. People understand that and will give money, goods and time to the effort. There is no need to lie for this cause.