Puerto Rico synagogue survives wrath of Georges

After services on Rosh Hashanah eve were held as scheduled on Sunday of last week, services the next morning were held at 7 a.m. so that residents had time to go home and prepare for the storm.

The rescheduling was a good idea. By 2 p.m. that day, Georges hit the island, and the storm continued all day and into the night.

The next day's services were canceled, the first time that Jewish residents of the U.S. commonwealth can remember that happening.

Trees at the synagogue, which stands near San Juan's tourist district, were uprooted "like toothpicks," according to the rabbi, Alfredo Winter, and there is damage to the roof, which now leaks.

And, like much of the capital, the synagogue has been without electricity and water for more than a week.

But the building was spared some of the devastation that hit high-rise apartments across the street.

The synagogue's Torah, stored in the lower floors of the building, emerged unscathed.

"Physically, we consider ourselves really fortunate," said Winter.

And despite the destruction that was caused by Georges, which made its way to the U.S. mainland this week, Winter said there's a lesson to be learned: Cherish the present.

"Everything can be there and gone the next minute," he said.