Sep 1, 2005 -- More than 500 students packed the main beit midrash in Zysman Hall on the Wilf Campus and on the Beren Campus in midtown to hear a videotaped plea from Yisroel Shiff, rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation in New Orleans. Rabbi Shiff was evacuated with his wife and five children from New Orleans and spoke from a friend's home in Memphis, TN. Rabbi Shiff began his brief but stirring presentation by addressing President Richard M. Joel, Chancellor Norman Lamm, dean of RIETS Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, dean of the Center for the Jewish Center Rabbi Kenneth Brander, and students of Yeshiva University. "Imagine Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan under water," Rabbi Shiff said. "Imagine Central Park filled with sewage... The death toll here already far exceeds the 9-11 tragedies." Click for video Rabbi Shiff said that when a tragedy strikes, his job is to account for his congregants, which he has not yet been able to do. He also must counsel and help congregants however he can, and minister to their religious needs. "I cannot do this alone, and I greatly appreciate Yeshiva University's willingness to aid me in this true hesed [charitable good deed]," Rabbi Shiff said. "I ask you to join me in leading my community and addressing their needs at this time. "My congregants may not have a shul or a building or a home, but they still need a rabbi. They still need to daven [pray]. We appreciate and encourage your tefillot [prayers]." Rabbi Yosef Blau, mashgiach ruchani (spiritual guidance counselor) of YU, led the assembled on the uptown campus in Psalms. Rabbi Charlop implored the students to keep the hurricane victims in mind. "Our pleas and prayers include the citizens of our beloved and blessed country, the United States, who find themselves in a time and place of deep sorrow and pain." Through its Center for the Jewish Future, YU is identifying immediate ways in which it can provide assistance to members of the New Orleans Jewish community. YU has also been in contact with the rabbinic and lay leadership of the Memphis and Houston communities, where the refugees have been relocated. The Beren Hebrew Academy in Houston has taken in students from New Orleans and is working to accommodate the displaced children. YU has given support by providing rabbinic students for additional classes and offering grief counseling. Plans are underway for teams of YU students to provide frontline support for the refugee community.