Jewish community requests prayers as number of missing mounts.
Several synagogues are within walking distance of the condo tower that collapsed Thursday in Surfside, and a sizable number of the missing are Jewish.
Chabad of South Broward in Hallandale Beach said at least 34 of the 99 people unaccounted for are Jewish, and the number was rising throughout the day.
The Jewish community began early in the morning to spread the Hebrew names of people whose families said they were missing.
The names went viral on private chats pleading for prayers. Chani Lipskar, the wife of the rabbi at the Shul of Bal Harbour, which is about eight blocks away, said thousands of people worldwide were reciting prayers for not only the missing Jewish people, but everyone else as well.
The prayers are called Tehillim, from the Book of Psalms.
Lipskar’s synagogue took chocolate milk and sandwiches to the Surfside Community Center, where families were waiting for news of their loved ones
Temple Emanu-El in Miami Beach congregants have offered their apartments and homes to families who have been displaced, according to the synagogue.
Because of the large Jewish community in the area, the tragedy made news in The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s English newspaper.
Also responding to the scene Thursday were first responders from Hatzalah of South Florida, who are medical first-responder teams that serve orthodox Jewish communities in major American cities.
Joe Dahan, the director, said 30 of his workers are triaging people from neighboring buildings who have been evacuated. His workers are helping tend to families who are waiting for word of their loved ones who are “in distress and in shock,” he said.
Among the Hatzalah volunteer paramedics is Michael Strongin.
“It’s been a rough day,” said Strongin, who started his shift at 7 a.m. and wasn’t budging nine hours later — “as long as there are people who need help.”
“It’s too early for most people to process,” he said. “The crowd is in a state of bewilderment and fear for loved ones.”