Santa Barbara, California, May 11 -- Rabbi Yaakov Raskin braced his body against a blown-out door, pressing a mattress into the frame as wind and water forced their way inside his home, where his wife and children also steeled themselves to the elements. Outside, Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc throughout Jamaica as one of the most powerful Caribbean storms in recorded history.

As he was pressing his body against the mattress, Raskin recited Psalm 124: "If not for

Hashem

standing with us. the waters would have washed us away."

The following morning, Raskin and his wife, Mushkee, emerged to find their home, which also functions as a community center, heavily damaged. Their car was flooded, and the yard was strewn with debris. Even as t...