The building collapse in Surfside, Florida and it’s terrible human toll have left us all reeling in shock as 159 people remain unaccounted for and several are already confirmed to have been killed. The crews are working around the clock to see if they can find signs of life beneath the rubble and the Police and Firefighters are staying beyond their shifts and not wanting to go home, in the hope that they can somehow save more lives.
Surfside is home to a massive Jewish community and many of the missing people attend the Chabad “Shul” of Bal Harbor and other Jewish institutions. I have been in touch with my friends many of whom are a part of the Latino Jewish community whom I know from when I lived in South America and have heard about the trauma they are all dealing with as they wait to hear if their friends and colleagues survived or not.
One of the craziest elements of this tragedy is that people were asleep in their beds in their own homes when this occurred, without even a moment to process the scale of the disaster. No words can explain yet another tragedy like this and we can’t pretend to understand the Divine plan.
Please say a prayer for the victims and their families when you light Shabbat Candles this evening.
Tomorrow at Shabbat services we will also have a special prayer for the victims of this disaster after the Torah Reading.
You can read more about the tragedy and ways you can respond spiritually and in tangible ways in helping the victims over here.
May we have better news to share as we go forward.
Good Shabbos & Shabbat Shalom
Yisroel