Joel Millman (Central America, 1987-1989) met Sam Levy (Mozambique and Portugal, 1985-1986) in Mozambique’s capital Maputo this month. Sam writes:
“The Hebrew and Jewish Studies class in the Maputo Synagogue with community donations for the victims of Cyclone Idai, to be sent to Beira tomorrow. Our congregation’s name is Honen Dalim — Support to the Poor. From today’s lesson: tzedaka is when you give money or things; chesed is when you give of yourself. We need both.”
Parts of southern Africa were devastated after Tropical Cyclone Idai, a category 2 storm, ripped through Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe earlier this month. Many hundreds of people were killed and hundreds of thousands more affected, and flooding, disease and starvation continue to threaten the region. Mozambique’s port city of Beira bore the brunt; 90 percent of the city was destroyed.