What the River Left Behind
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the Winter 2025 Issue of the Jewish Journal.
NOVEMBER 12, 2025 – When Rabbi Yossi Marrus and Malkie Marrus arrived in San Antonio from a visit to Florida at 1:00am on Friday, July 4th, the rain had just begun to fall. As it trickled onto their car on their way home to Boerne, Malkie remarked on the upcoming week’s plans, which were more quiet than usual. After the war in Israel escalated only a few weeks prior, they would no longer lead a trip of 40 Birthright Israel participants on their first trip to Israel, or get to visit their children in South Africa that week, as they’d previously planned.
Boerne sits on the outskirts of San Antonio, placed neatly in between Kerrville and San Antonio, only 45 minutes away from each city. The Guadalupe River, which spans 230 miles and cuts through Kerrville, is a constant source of entertainment for those in the region, and plays host to a variety of summer camps, resorts, and vacation homes in the area. Families settle on its banks for the serenity the river can provide, a small, safe retreat from the hustle of the day-to-day. After all, the river had risen just once in recent memory, in July of 1987. Since then, safety had been bolstered in the affected areas, and builders had been more careful about building so close to the river. When Rabbi Marrus woke the next morning, the historic Independence Day Floods of 2025 had begun. The Guadalupe River would continue to rise to nearly its highest level on record. Homes would be lifted off their foundations, RV parks would be washed away, and lives would be lost to the river.
Updates from the area came in slowly. Rabbi Marrus checked on the Jewish community in the area, left numerous messages, and then, nervously, went into Shabbat.
Saturday morning, the news had worsened. Several friends commented that the situation in the Hill Country was bleak. As the day went on, others shared that it had become increasingly dire. The Hill Country communities needed help, and they needed it desperately. By Saturday night, Rabbi Marrus felt like he needed to do something, anything, to help. The situation was far worse than anyone could have imagined.
Once he knew the people he had checked on before Shabbat were safe, Rabbi Marrus turned his attention outward. He reached out to Boerne’s Mayor Pro-Tempore, Ty Wolosin, who connected him with Clint and Jenna Sanders at Bunker Branding, who were organizing supply runs along the Guadalupe River of food, water and other supplies needed. By Sunday morning, Rabbi Marrus visited them at their location on Upper Cibolo Creek Road, and rolled up his sleeves to help.
In the early days of the response, frustration and chaos were widespread. Everyone had bits and pieces of information, different and often contradictory, and hard to piece together on their own. Since food and water were already being prioritized by other organizations, Rabbi Marrus looked for another group in need. He reached out to the Hill Country Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Center in Kerrville, which had been tasked with supporting flood survivors in crisis. Through the center, he learned that the fire stations were the ones who were leading the rescue and recovery efforts. That same morning, an e-mail arrived from a contact at the Ingram Fire Station, which had become the body identification site. With the help of Police officer Jeff Grossman, Rabbi Marrus made his way to Ingram, Centerpoint, Comfort, and Sisterdale where he prayed with firefighters and first responders, listened to their needs, offered thanks, and officially joined the response.
Over the next few days and weeks, Rabbi Marrus became a matchmaker of sorts, connecting those in need to resources that were available. The firefighters in Ingram shared that they needed a way to keep perishable donations from spoiling; Rabbi Marrus responded with a delivery of every refrigerator that Lowe’s had in stock. He visited Centerpoint, where the Fire Station had been claimed by the river and replenished some of their supplies. He drove to Sisterdale, Comfort, Bergheim, and home to Boerne, and found that first responders were struggling with chainsaws, which were burning out fast, so he ordered heavy duty chainsaws and shipped them straight to the fire stations. Chabad.org set up a website for donations; when they poured in, they went straight to fire departments, families, and mental health support.
They funded funerals for the victims through Grimes Funeral Home in Kerr County, which was received with tearful gratitude. They connected first responders, who had seen the devastation first-hand, with mental health support, so they had the tools needed to process what they had witnessed. Rabbi Yossi & Malkie Marrus, and Chabad of Boerne became a big part of the hands-on Jewish community’s response to the floods. He also served as a liaison to the Jewish Federation of San Antonio and Shalom Austin, providing them with updates and real-time information. His initiative and drive, paired with the thousands of dollars raised by the Jewish Federation of San Antonio through Shalom Austin, and the thousands raised through Chabad, were pivotal in caring for those in need. “Everywhere I went, I let them know that the donations were on behalf of the Jewish community locally, in Israel, and worldwide. People were very touched and grateful. We feel blessed,” said Rabbi Marrus.
“I felt a very big responsibility to act on behalf of the Jewish community and be the representative of the Jewish community… It was a great mitzvah to be able to help people.”