Officials called off the rescue operation at the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse Wednesday, 14 days into a grueling but futile search for survivors of the disaster that drew volunteers from all over the country and the world to Surfside, Florida.
Until the transition from search-and-rescue operations to search-and-recovery, many people in a Jewish community that still counts dozens among the missing still hoped and prayed for a miracle.
“Just based on the facts, there’s zero chance of survival,” Assistant Chief Ray Jadallah of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told families of the missing in a private briefing, the New York Times reported.
About 30 people packed into the living room and dining room of the white stucco house Saturday as a Torah scroll was laid on the bimah and the gabbai prepared to summon a kohein for the first
aliyah. But there were no
kohanim among them, because this congregation’s was in the rubble.
“
There is no Kohen present.
It was a grim reminder of the hole left in Surfside Minyan, a Shabbat-only prayer group that meets in a rental home near the 12-story Champlain Towers South, which collapsed on June 24, burying nearly 150 people in a mountain of debris.
Surfside sits on a barrier island that is home to several synagogues and a handful of independent minyanim, and many of the thousands of Orthodox Jews who live here frequent more than one especially during the summer, when a long walk can mean arriving drenched in perspiration or rain. No Saturday-morning prayer service was a shorter walk from the Champlain towers about one block down and one block over than Surfside Minyan
Surfside rabbi learns 2 of his congregants the latest to be recovered
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Rabbi says grim reality is that members of his synagogue most likely haven t survived Surfside collapse
SURFSIDE, Fla. – Rabbi Areyh Citron stared out on what used to be the Champlain Towers South. On Monday, he learned his congregant Tzvi Ainsworth, 68, was identified as one of the dead as well as Tzvi’s wife, Ingrid, 66. “What rabbis and clergy have to do in these situations, what I find, is to just be there for the family,” Citron of the Surfside Minyan said.
Now 12 days after the collapse and demolition of the building on Sunday night, there’s a feeling of loss and emptiness. “We have to realize that God’s ways are mysterious. There is really no answer for this now,” Cintron said.
About 30 people packed into the living room and dining room of the white stucco house Saturday as a Torah scroll was laid on the bimah and the gabbai prepared to summon a kohein for the first aliyah. But there were no
kohanim among them, because this congregation’s was in the rubble.
“
There is no Kohen present.
It was a grim reminder of the hole left in Surfside Minyan, a Shabbat-only prayer group the meets in a rental home near the the 12-story Champlain Towers South, which collapsed on June 24, burying nearly 150 people in a mountain of debris.
Surfside sits on a barrier island that is home to several synagogues and a handful of independent minyanim, and many of the thousands of Orthodox Jews who live here frequent more than one especially during the summer, when a long walk can mean arriving drenched in perspiration or rain. No Saturday morning prayer service was a shorter walk from the Champlain towers about one block down and one block over than Surfside Minyan.
Tzvi was a very easy-going fellow, very nice to talk to. Great sense of humor, very chatty, Rabbi Citron recalled. Just had a lot to say about his life and the places he’s been and jobs that he’s done and talking about his kids just a great all-around guy.
Tzvi, 68, was a senior member of the congregation. He never missed services unless it was to take care of his wife, who was also known as Itty. She was having treatments and often going to doctor. He was very devoted to her. Always taking care of her, Rabbi Citron said. If he was missing, if he didn t come to the synagogue, it was because he was with her or his children.