Holly Cin

Interviewee: Holly Cin 

Interview Date: October 25, 2018 

Interview Location: Genesis Steakhouse, Houston, Texas 

Interviewer: Paula Davis Hoffman 

INTERVIEWER:  This is Paula Davis Hoffman. It’s the afternoon of Thursday, October 25, 2018. The time is now 20 until 1:00 P.M. And I’m here with Holly Cin. I’m interviewing her as part of the University of Houston Center for Public History’s Resilient Houston project. We are at Genesis Steakhouse, a kosher restaurant in Meyerland. 

PDH: So Holly, let’s start with the basics — name, age, and job. 

HC: My name is Holly Cin. I’m 49 years old, and I work at Houston Community College. I teach English as a Second Language and English Composition. 

PDH: And let me just turn the input up a little. Can you tell me about your experience during Harvey? 

HC: Well, first of all, we pretty much expected to flood — or at least, I did. My husband didn’t, but we expected to flood because of the prior two floods. The first — Memorial Day, we had gotten two feet of water [0:01:00]. And in Tax Day, we had gotten one foot of water, so we knew this big hurricane that was described as a rain event was coming. So I figured we’re going to flood in this. However, I had never seen three feet of water before, so I assumed it was going to be more like one of the other floods, which didn’t — really didn’t — they — the other floods turned our lives — made our lives crazy but not in the same way of when three feet of water entered the house. That really was a level of destruction that we had not experienced before. 

PDH: So you said you expected to flood. I know from your letters you didn’t expect to flood Memorial Day. You expected to flood Harvey. What is the difference there? 

HC: Well, of course, there’s some comfort in being prepared, so you’re able to move your things. You’re able to — I mean, I thought we — honestly, I thought my stuff would have been saved. I didn’t expect three feet of water. That was just in the — my expectations were off. But [0:02:00] it wasn’t a shock. So yes, we were able to get most things off of the floor. We were able to save most personal items. And of course, we were able to — well, we went upstairs to — when the water started to enter. So we knew the water was coming in, and we went upstairs. But waking up in the middle of the night to that water calf-length — calf-high was really kind of a shock — not so much in terms of fear but just in terms of our stuff. I did not really have the fear that we were — the water was going to come in three feet, four feet. I couldn’t even imagine what that was until that happened in Harvey. 

PDH: Was your husband worried that the water would reach the second floor? 

HC: I don’t know — partially, you know. We were — the water had entered the house. This started on Saturday night into early Sunday morning. The water had entered the house. We were upstairs, and then the water kept rising for the next 12 hours or 15 hours [0:03:00] or more. And you just didn’t know when that water was going to stop, you know. People were evacuating, and my mother was calling me — and “Maybe you better get out of the house.” But we had turned off the electric before the water came into the house to try to preserve the appliances and not to get electrocuted, and — you think that could happen. We went upstairs. My mother was calling. People were evacuating. There was a lot of fear and panic, but my — Elliot and I — Elliot, my husband, and I, we were wondering like, “Come on. We’re safe up here. There’s no reason to evacuate. It’s not a wind event. There’s no way that the water even –”  

We did not know how high it was going to rise. And from the top of the landing, we kept looking down to see how high it was getting. But we said, “Come on. There’s no way this water will get to the second floor. If this water gets to the second floor, what is that? Another 15 feet? I mean, then the whole city is underwater.” So — in [0:04:00] which case, there’s nowhere to be safe. So no, we did not, in earnest, think — and we had to — I had to hang up on my mother with my limited cell phone battery time. You know, because we had to make our own decisions. I did not think that — I — we did not think that it was necessarily wise for people who had a second floor to evacuate to — they didn’t know what was coming next. 

PDH: So Holly, you said you expected to flood again. But after the Memorial Day flood and Tax Day, you repaired at grade. You remediated at grade. Is that accurate or no? 

HC: What does at grade mean? 

PDH: At the same level. You didn’t elevate your house at that point? 

HC: Oh, correct. 

PDH: And you didn’t rebuild, so. 

HC: Right, okay. After the first — after the Memorial Day flood, we knew that we did not want to live in such a situation again. We applied for the grant from FEMA, and we were very, very fortunate to be given that grant. So after the first flood, I knew that the house was going to be elevated [0:05:00] at some point. It didn’t happen as quickly as we had hoped. Before Harvey came, we had already been in negotiations with the company to lift us. It just didn’t happen fast enough. That’s for bureaucratic reasons. But now, we couldn’t have stayed in that house knowing that — without knowing that we are going to lift. That would not be a possibility.  

If I were living on my street, which some neighbors of mine are, I would not stay in the house without definite knowledge — well, look, anybody can lift it any time if you have the money. But that — for us, that was more of a challenge, so we’re just very fortunate we got the grant. But I wouldn’t want to live in the house and remodel and get everything back with the knowledge that this can keep happening year after year after year. I mean, it’s a big gamble. That said, after the — after Memorial Day, I mean, I was really very surprised that in Tax Day — so soon after that we had another major flood. I thought, “Okay, this could go on for five years, ten years.” I mean, I don’t think anybody expected — when it came [0:06:00] — when the water came in on Tax Day just nine months later, and everything is like, “Oh, my god, I can’t believe it. It’s a new kitchen, and it’s all getting wet again.” You know, that was just a real — a real shocker. But nevertheless, I was able to live with it, because I knew there was an end to the story. I knew that the house would be lifted, and we weren’t going to flood from below again. 

PDH: Some people who were granted the 2016 elevation grant still have not been lifted. 

HC: Ours was the 2015 grant, yeah. 

PDH: But you were still confident that it would happen relatively soon? 

HC: Yeah, I mean, we were in process. And the city was administering — is, was administering the grant. And you know, it was a slow process. But we had no reason to believe — well, we — we had some concern, “Oh, are they not going to do it now?” Or for some reason — but in general, we were not — we had no reason to believe that. We had reason — or every reason to believe that we were still going forward as we did. And we were taken care of, you know, in a way [0:07:00] that was very satisfactory to us. 

PDH: So let’s switch gears and talk about right after Harvey. Can you tell me about your relocation experience? The High Holy Days were soon after that. Can you tell me about that experience? 

HC: Okay, so immediately after the water came in — that we had to leave. We ended up going to one friend’s house and then switched quickly after that to another friend’s house closer by. And I mean, the house was uninhabitable, and we came back to clean up. But we were staying — we were staying with a — we were just staying with other friends. My kids — my oldest son had gone to Israel. He was doing his — a gap year in a yeshiva. He had left before Harvey. He was gone maybe two weeks before that. And my other two sons, who were supposed to — on Harvey, they had — we had — on Harvey [0:08:00], which was also my birthday, by the way, August 27^th. My sons were supposed to fly to Chicago, but — because that’s where they go to high school. But all the airports were closed, and services were curtailed. So they were around with us for that one week until we could get them on a plane to start school. So they were with us that week, and it was very busy with cleaning up and with the volunteers, and just trying to get the water out of the house, and get the soaked items out of the house, and try to preserve and save what you could. Wait, you mentioned Rosh Hashanah.  

PDH: The High Holy Days, yes. 

HC: The High Holy Days, oh, okay. I can’t remember where we were — I don’t remember. Where was I? I’m not sure where I was living for Rosh Hashanah, but I remember that everything in our shul, Meyerland Minyan, was taken care of, so we had services. And all of the meals for that holiday were in our shul, so none of the people in our community had to worry about what they were doing [0:09:00] for the — for that time. 

PDH: In your letters, you had a lot to say about Meyerland as a community. I wanted to ask you about your Meyerland story, and this is a multifaceted question. I want to know how long ago you came and why you came to Meyerland, why you chose to raise children here in the community, and whether you think it helped foster Jewish identity for them, and why you’ve chosen to stay despite flooding three times in three years. I know your sons are in Chicago. Your mother is in Florida. Why stay in Meyerland? What is it about Meyerland that makes it worth it? 

HC: Okay. We moved to — when I first got married to my husband in 1996, we lived in his house. He had a house in Meyerland — a different house on Yarwell Street. And shortly after that — while we were there, he always felt [0:10:00] that there needed to be an Orthodox presence in Meyerland. At the time, we went to UOS, which was a 45-minute, very hot, shadeless walk from his house. And there were many, many other families at the time who were members of UOS or other congregations and either walked long distances or drove to UOS and then came back to their homes in Meyerland. So at that time, the first — our first year of marriage, Elliot had started — had asked Rabbi Rudinsky for a blessing — for his approval for us to start Friday night services in the Meyerland neighborhood. There were about 10 families maybe. And we had — I have very fond memories of that time. We would get together — well, the men got together for services, and women could go, too. And a few times, we organized a potluck dinner of those families. And there was always this feeling like, “Wouldn’t it be great if we had a shul here in Meyerland [0:11:00],” which was really the original — the start of the Meyerland Minyan.  

But shortly after that, Elliot and I moved to the Fondren neighborhood to go to Young Israel and attended there. And we lived there for four years. During that time, we had a wonderful experience. We loved living over there. We had wonderful friends. And we couldn’t have had a better Torah environment. It was Torah, Torah, Torah all the time. At that same time, Elliot and I — while we were really enjoying our time there, we were always very personally concerned about intermarriage and about helping other Jews come close to Judaism, not just us. We were in our little shtetl over there, but we felt that there was more — that we had to do more. We — while we tried to do outreach efforts in the Young Israel neighborhood, for a variety of reasons, we felt that we needed to be in [0:12:00] a place, A, where the Jews were, which was Meyerland.  

The JCC is kind of the heart of the community. Everything — if you want to think about the Jewish community, almost all of the major institutions are located off of Braeswood between — you know, somewhere between the Loop or UOS and Hillcroft. I mean, that is the — that whole area — that Meyerland area is strongly Jewish. And we felt that that was the most appropriate place to be if we really wanted — if we really cared about our fellow Jews and their — and what was happening in Jewish life with intermarriage and assimilation. So really, Elliot — it was always in his heart to go back and to start something in Meyerland for the people for whom it was too long — too far to walk to UOS and also for who it would be too far to walk from Young Israel. This community deserved its own presence [0:13:00].  

So that’s when — so Meyerland Minyan started around the year 2000. We moved. We bought our house in 2001. And we have been here ever since. It’s been a wonderful community — a small community. But my — one of the most important things I want to say about this community is that everybody counts in more ways than one, especially for a minyan. Minyan is dependent on having people show up but so is the community. My children grew up in such a place where they knew the counted, where they were important. They participated in the shul. The shul was really their second home. And I wouldn’t have traded that experience, because they feel — they have grown up feeling very responsible and being part of a community.  

Originally, the shul was at the JCC. We had a meeting room over there, and then I think about four years later, we moved over — we rented our own space in the HEB shopping center, which coincidentally or not is right behind my house [0:14:00]. So my house became, in a way, the — we used to joke my house was the annex of the shul. So we were very, very connected to the shul. And we have been. And we have been, certainly, pillars of the community among others. If we were to leave — you know, and believe me, the thought crossed our minds after the first flood, “Maybe it’s time for us to move. We can move back to the Young Israel neighborhood. We can get a less expensive home. We can not have to deal with this and other problems.” To me, that — you know, I’m saying, although we had the discussion, to me, this was my home.  

And I felt that other people maybe felt that they could leave and that they weren’t as important — as critical to the existence of the shul. But I felt that if we leave, we’re the founders. We’ve had our hearts and souls in this place. We’ve been the builders of this shul. If we leave, it sends such a bad message that — it’s like if the Cins leave, then there’s no point. So we have this personal, real responsibility. Now, I’m not — I’m not blaming others who left, and people had reasons for leaving [0:15:00]. I just felt that that was not something that we could do — that I was not ready to do it.  

Baruch Hashem, we’ve been blessed with our tenacity here, because we got the grant. The house has been lifted. It’s more beautiful than it ever would have been before. Other blessings, countless, have come out of it. And I — in addition, I don’t know if you know the — I don’t know if you want me to answer — if you know about the story of the shul. 

PDH: Go ahead. 

HC: So the shul was — the shul was in the HEB shopping center. And after the first flood — oh, I think it flooded twice also. So the first flood and the second flood, it was determined, “Oh, my gosh, we can’t stay in this place anymore.” A shul — you know, couldn’t keep — we couldn’t live like that. I’m telling you it’s completely in the hand of God that the Hashem wanted our place to continue, because otherwise, that would have been the end of this community. And it wasn’t so easy to find another place to rent or own [0:16:00].  

We’re very limited in the — in zoning and what we can get in this — in walking distance to most of our community. At around the same time, our — the shopping center became available for purchase. And guess what? In our small, little shul, we happened to have a real estate developer who buys shopping centers. Isn’t that unbelievable? And this man, Rudi Yeroshalmi, he had it in his heart that he wanted us to get this building and to build a shul. And he was the driver behind it. And had he not — he did the fundraising for it. He led the efforts. He sent his own construction crew to fix it up. And even to this day, he manages the property for the shul. He’s been a true blessing and really an amazing blessing for this synagogue — he and his wife, too, Rozi. [0:17:00]  

And what else was I going to say about him? Oh, and the timing couldn’t have been any more perfect, because we are one of the only institutions in a Meyerland neighborhood that didn’t flood in Harvey. Now, half of our membership, at least, flooded. If our shul had flooded too, that would have spelled the end for our community. Everybody would have picked up and left. There’s no way that we could have stayed here. And we could not have sustained — we did sustain a big hit, but we couldn’t have — I don’t know. If our shul had flooded, that would have been the end. So at least now, during — after the hurricane, we had a placed that could serve as a center.  

And thank God, the two rabbis in our shuls, Moskovitz and Grossman, and their wives, they didn’t flood, so they were able to minister to the community and set up — our shul became a place of distribution, a place of meeting, a place of eating, a place of comfort for prayers. It’s just truly the hand of God that it happened. You know, look, when something happens — if we had just bought the building in the right time [0:18:00], you’d say, “Okay, you know, shuls grow, and that’s very nice.” But when it’s — when the building became available at the exact moment that we needed it to precede the biggest, largest flood that ever hit Houston, then I know, not only am I meant to be here, this whole shul, the whole community is all under — is under God’s providence. And that’s a feeling of — that’s a vote of confidence, you know. We could have been in despair, but it was a real vote of confidence that our shul is meant to be here. And we’re meant to do whatever we’re doing here. 

PDH: So I know you are a founding member, an integral part of Meyerland Minyan. You are a member of the JCC, which you mentioned. And I noticed when you walked in, you said hello to a lot of people here at the kosher steakhouse. What else marks Meyerland as particularly welcoming to Jews? Is it supermarkets? Is there anything else that just makes it a Jewish area? 

HC: Well, other institutions are, you know, located nearby. That’s UOS and Beth Yeshurun [0:19:00]. Beth Israel is right here. I don’t know what else — what else is located. Torah Vachesed, Rabbi Yaghobian’s shul, is nearby. Saba’s Grill & Wok is here. Genesis is here. 

PDH: Those are both kosher restaurants? 

HC: Kosher restaurants. All the other restaurants are not far from here. I mean, you go up Chimney Rock to Green and you go — you go down Braeswood to — you go down Braeswood for Saba’s. Am I missing anybody? Oh, off of Hillcroft, we have two kosher restaurants. I always said that, you know, Meyerland — it’s like the — I said Braeswood and Chimney Rock, which is, you know, the location of the shul basically, and it’s also the location of my house. I said, “It’s the damn — it’s the darn center of the community.” I said, “It’s the — Braeswood is like the aorta, and if you’re too far off of Braeswood, you’re very removed from the Jewish community.” The further you go away from Braeswood, the further you are and not connected [0:20:00], you know. Everyone is — it’s — it’s the pulse. It’s the pulse. It’s the center. 

PDH: Holly, would you like me to turn the recording off just for a little bit while we eat? Okay. [0:20:12] Okay, so we’re starting again, and I wanted to — so we were talking about Meyerland and what marks it as a Jewish area. But I want to switch gears. You’re something of a Meyerland matchmaker. Can you tell me about that? 

HC: As part of our so-called mission to fight intermarriage and assimilation and all of that, one of the projects that we have taken on is — was to arrange a singles Shabbaton for single people to meet. And in that effort, we’ve had — actually, three marriages came from that and I think maybe 10 children as a result of those marriages. And many other dates and many other relationships were made, but only the three that we know of that led to actual marriage. And all three of those couples lived in our community. Two still do, and one left town — not related to the flood — related to job opportunity [0:01:00].  

So for the Shabbatons, we invite people. Oh, and we’ve had younger Shabbatons, and we’ve had older Shabbatons. We’ve done like 20’s and 30’s, and then we’ve also done 40’s and 50’s not to exclude people. And they’ve all been very wonderful events. And it’s an opportunity for us to showcase our shul a little bit — and our community — but mostly for our singles to meet. And usually that event — we would have a dinner and a Oneg Shabbat in my house and usually a lunch at the house of Rebbetzin Grossman or at someone else’s house. Another flood couple, Renee and David Cohen, they actually met in my house, and subsequently got married, and subsequently bought the house two doors down from me, which also flooded. We are — we are — what’s the word? We are like — like this [0:02:00]. We are close. Did I answer that one? 

PDH: Yes. Can you tell me about your Rosh Hashanah letter and your picture being published in the Jewish Herald-Voice? How did that come about? 

HC: So every year, I write a letter. I’m not on Facebook or on any other social media. So every year, I write a letter to the family and to the friends and to people who — you know, who I’m only in touch with infrequently to let them know a good family update about what’s going on in the House of Cin. And so I do that. So 2015, ’16, and ’17, they were fully of letters related to the flood since that was one of the — if not the — one of, if not the event major event in — during that time. Of course, I think I’ve also had two bar mitzvahs in — within those three years as well. What was I — did I –? 

PDH: Well, I was asking about how it came to be in the Jewish Herald-Voice? 

HC: Oh, okay [0:03:00]. And then — so one of the — of the people who I’m friends with and is actually on that mailing list for that letter is Vicki Samuels, who is the — who runs the Jewish Herald-Voice. So when it came time for the Harvey anniversary issue, she contacted me and asked if I could — if I could give a story — give an interview for the newspaper. And I said, “Oh, you just want to have my letters? I’ll send you my letters.” So I send her the letter. I said — actually, the plan was for the reporter to read the letter before they met me, because then they’ll get a lot of the background information. But then when she got the letter, she said, “Oh, let’s just use the letter. And that will be it.” So then she — yeah, I became kind of the poster child or better known as the cover girl for Hurricane Harvey — being on that Hurricane Harvey one-year issue. The picture is of me holding up — holding up my house — celebrating the fact that it had just been lifted, albeit [0:04:00] not in time to prevent the damage from Harvey but still happy and going forward into the future. 

PDH: Have you seen a change in the community? You mentioned you know some Jews who have left the community. Tell me about the loss of those families and how you see the community has changed, if you see the community has changed, as a result of flooding three times in less than three years. 

HC: Well, I mean, one of the big problems — you know, for an Orthodox shul, where people are going to walk, is that you need housing within proximity of the shul. And in Houston, you need close proximity, because nobody wants to walk miles when most of the year is boiling hot here. So the question is about real estate. Most — if houses are flooded, then it’s harder to get a house unless you’re of — in position to knock down a house, build a new house [0:05:00]. It’s a — our neighborhood’s not a — despite the flooding, it’s still — seems to hold its value for homes. I mean, it’s a great location in the city. So you need the money to elevate the homes or either build a new house. So of course, not all the streets in the community flooded. Unlike — let’s say in a neighborhood like UOS, where almost every street flooded seriously. In our neighborhood, if you go further out — like you can find — there are streets where — that did not flood. The further you are away from that bayou, the less likely you are to have flooded.  

But sure, the — I think the flooding has had a major impact on the potential growth of our shul, limiting the purchase of homes and, of course, you know, giving — hopefully not permanently, but giving a sort of bad name. You know, when people are associating with Meyerland, they’re associating flooding [0:06:00]. That’s a big negative that we have to overcome. Another flaw of our community – I guess that’s the right word – is that we don’t have — we don’t have great apartment options close to the shul. Had we had a great apartment option, that would have been — that would help our shul very much — if we had a place — a nice place better than the options we have. We do have apartments near the shul, but they’re a little bit rundown. And it’s not a place that everybody wants to live. 

PDH: What about The Highbank and The Meritage? They have a really high proportion of Jewish residents after the flood. 

HC: Yeah, I wish we had those — if those were located closer to our shul, that would have been a big help to our shul. 

PDH: But they’re just not close enough? 

HC: Yeah, they’re located near UOS, I mean, for walkers. 

PDH: Right. So you were talking about the potential growth of the Meyerland Jewish community. [0:07:00] So you see flooding as a big deterrent for young Jewish families who are looking to settle somewhere? 

HC: Yeah, because I mean, it’s obvious that we’ve had three floods in three years and that there’s no reason to believe that another flood won’t come at another time. I hope nothing as severe as Harvey, but it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to get a — I think it would be ridiculous to think that we’re not ever going to flood again despite what they’re doing to fix the bayous. And they were fixing the bayous before Harvey also. I always said — my personal opinion on fixing the bayous, I always said, “It doesn’t matter. Hashem can send more water.” You could — you could widen the bayous from here to the border, and it doesn’t matter. Because we’ve never seen the kind of rain that we saw with Harvey. If Harvey would have lasted another three hours, you know, the — people would have — the flooding would have gotten even further and wider, so that’s — I’m not saying that we shouldn’t do something. I think we should elevate our homes [0:08:00], you know, but how much water is going to come is going to be in the hands of God. 

PDH: So I know there was a joke or at least half a joke, but I do want to explore that more. What do you mean, “Hashem could send more water”? I mean, do you see it as a divine — I know you made a lot of parallels in your letters to — 

HC: The flood.  

PDH: The flood and Noah’s ark. 

HC: Well, I said that when a little flood happens, you know, a little flood happens. But when a major flood happens, a major flooding event — the largest storm in the United States’ history — what did they say? 58 million — I don’t remember — trillion tons of water. I mean, this was some — this is a remarkable event. And if we don’t pay attention and said, “Wait a second,” you know, yes, I do think events like this that are absolutely remarkable, we can see — we can see the hand of God in them, for better, for worse, you know. 

PDH: Let’s go back to the secular. So where do you see Meyerland in 10 years or 20 years? Do you think it’s still going to be a Jewish area? 

HC: Yeah, I mean, it’s — you know, if you look around [0:09:00], it’s not — it’s not an abandoned area. The real estate is still good. People are building these mega-mansions nearby. Whether our — whether people for the Meyerland Minyan can afford it — to live in this neighborhood, that, I don’t know. But the neighborhood itself will probably still — probably be a very wealthy neighborhood for people who can afford it — and probably a lot of Jews who are working here — whether they’ll — I don’t know if they’ll join Meyerland Minyan, but I think a lot of Jewish people will stay in this area. 

PDH: Holly, is there anything you’d like to add before we conclude? 

HC: I don’t know. 

PDH: Well, thank you so much. We really appreciate your participation and your candor. And thanks again.