Caracas chief rabbi says Jewish community escaped unhurt in Venezuela quake

In a Zoom interview from Caracas the day after a deadly earthquake hit Venezuela, Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen described the damage and said the local Jewish community was spared any injuries or deaths. He said, “Baruch Hashem, let us thank God, blessed be the redeemer and savior,” and added that “everyone is healthy and well.”

Cohen said the quake struck while he was at home, minutes after returning from a visit to a sick person. “I felt a strong tremor in the house,” he recalled. “The house was shaking and we were all shaking. The books fell, the utensils fell, the bottles fell, but thank God it was only property damage, not other damage.”

When the quake began, the community quickly gathered at a protected complex called Aibreyka, similar to Kfar HaMaccabiah in Israel, where they stayed until the danger passed. Cohen said the community’s location helped save it, because after the 1997 quake, newer and sturdier buildings were constructed, and most Jewish residents live in the newer eastern neighborhoods of the capital, while the heaviest damage was concentrated in older districts and one upscale neighborhood.

He said all community buildings remained intact, but local authorities ordered a shutdown of activity until Monday to monitor aftershocks. Cohen also rejected reports that the state had collapsed, saying Venezuela is a wealthy country and hospitals in Caracas are operating normally. The government has asked for international help to rescue people trapped under rubble, and teams from the United States and Israel are expected to arrive. The interview ended abruptly when the line dropped, underscoring the communications failures and infrastructure problems the quake left behind.