Rabbis and faith-based organizations are working directly with Miami-Dade Police Department “to do everything possible to handle the remains of Jewish victims in a manner consistent with the Jewish faith and with all the care and sensitivity possible,” Miami-Dade mayor says.
Chesed Shel Emes has more than a dozen volunteers on the ground in Surfside assisting authorities in handling Niftarim and Kavod Hames.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
Klal Yisroel have recently experienced three tragedies: Meron, the bleachers at Karlin Stolin, and the collapse of the Surfside building in Florida. The common thread is death by “skilah” – “stoning” (see Gemorah Sanhedrin re: how the 4 capital punishments are still in effect.) Our gedolim — the “eyes of the congregation” have implored us to do teshuva, and teshuva we must do for sure. Why dafka “stoning”, we don’t know.
But if you look at all three tragedies, you will find that each of them could have been avoided and were caused by human mistakes and negligence (i.e. overcrowding in Meron, bleachers held together with “twist ties” in Karlin-Stolin, and the engineering flaws in the most recent tragegy in Surfside). They happened because HaShem chose, for reasons that we do not understand, not to make a miracle and intervene to save us from recklessness.
So in addition to following the suggestions of our gedolim to improve ourselves in various areas, we must also strengthen ourselves in the mitzvah of “shmiras ha nefesh” — guarding our health and safety and not be involved in risky behaviors.
Concerning our physical health, please read the following excellent book: “Am I My Body’s Keeper” by Michael Kaufman, published by Urim, Jerusalem 2018. It has endorsements from many gedolim. I found it very eye-opening and I am sure you will to if you invest the time to read it.
Love,
myownopinion