June 11, 2024
From the Chairman, West Point Jewish Chapel Fund
Subject: Storm Damage to the Chapel and Repairs
Dear Friend of the West Point Jewish Chapel Fund,
As you probably know, the West Point Jewish Chapel sustained significant damage in the storm that hit West Point in July of last year. That storm was a once-in-a-generation event, with a record eight inches of rain falling in a 24-hour period. West Point suffered over $110 million in damage to its infrastructure. Even getting onto post was a challenge; Route 218 was completely washed out and is still closed. On post, Williams Road, connecting Thayer Road to South Dock, was washed out and is still closed. Washington Road was impassable until one lane was reopened two months ago.
The storm caused water intrusion in the chapel’s social hall, the chaplain’s office, the front foyer, and the sanctuary. The mechanical room in the basement was flooded and the electrical panels in that room were damaged. For nearly a year, the chapel had no heat or air conditioning. Chaplain (Major) Heather Borshof, our administrator Melanie Ullah, Colonel Ben Wallen, and others all pitched in to begin to clean up the damage and to make the chapel usable and accessible to the new cadets who had just arrived—and Melanie even cooked breakfast for the new cadets for several days.
The storm damage created a real fiscal and manpower challenge for the installation. The chapel was only one of the many buildings (including other chapels) and other infrastructure that suffered substantial damage. But the installation—from the Superintendent to the garrison command team, the directorate of public works (DPW), and the garrison chaplain—have been more than responsive to the situation at the Jewish chapel. The post stepped up immediately with temporary fixes, such as portable heating, which allowed the chaplain and the chapel to continue to support the cadets and the community while waiting for repairs to begin.
Those repairs, to both the interior and exterior of the chapel, are now underway in earnest, as you can see in the attached photos. As with every damaged building on post, however, the process is not rapid. The Fund is in close contact with our rabbi and with the garrison, and we are prepared to step in if Army funding for the repairs falls short. To this point, however, the Army and the installation have provided magnificent support and have done all the right things. We anticipate that the Army will repair the chapel fully and will even be able to fix some of the pre-existing deficiencies in the building that we have been discussing with DPW for some time.
We’ll post updates on our website as repairs progress, www.westpointjewishchapelfund.org. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions or concerns.
Go Army!
Jeff
Jeffrey A. Jacobs, Class of 1979
Major General, US Army (Ret.)
Chairman of the Board
