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If storm threatens during holiday, Jews are allowed to evacuate
Above all, life is sacred to Jews, so if a killer hurricane threatens during Yom Kippur, many rabbis in mandatory-evacuation zones will counsel their flocks to flee.
Short of a ''killer'' storm, however, services for the solemn Jewish holiday, which begins today at sundown, will go on as planned, calls to South Florida synagogues indicate.
''For Frances, there was a mandatory evacuation and all of Miami Beach was told to leave, but I know maybe one person who left,'' said Rabbi Neal Turk of the Orthodox Beth Israel Congregation.
''But if there is a serious hurricane that could hit us head-on, I'd tell people to get into their cars during Yom Kippur and drive off the beach, because any threat to life takes precedence'' over ritual.
Just as Jewish law not only permits but mandates eating on a fasting day such as Yom Kippur under doctor's orders, he said a serious storm also would be a ``clear-cut situation.''
At a press conference with Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas on Thursday night, Rabbi Solomon Schiff, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami, said safety is paramount, despite religious obligations