Even for a Long Island rabbi hundreds of miles from the tragic scene of the collapsed Surfside residential complex, finding survivors is a test of faith.
“I’m sick. Heartbroken, I’m a basket case,” said Dix Hills Rabbi Yakov Saacks.
His prayers are directed to two brothers who were born on Long Island and whom he has known for more than 20 years. Brad and Gary Cohen are still missing seven days after breaking down in the middle of the night.
“Where there is life, there is hope. And we do not know whether there is no life,” said Saacks.
Brad lived in Surfside while Gary was visiting from his Alabama home, where a friend said he was a doctor at a VA hospital in Tuscaloosa. The building collapsed shortly after the brothers, both in their 50s, returned from visiting their parents.
Brad’s wife, Siraya, spoke of staying hopeful in the hours after the collapse and believes her husband is still alive. But the death toll is 16 as of Wednesday as four more bodies were pulled from the rubble. 147 people are still missing.
Like his brother, Brad was a doctor and father of two children. There he met Saacks, who called him “a man of great faith, integrity and knowledge. He never stopped learning”.
The rabbi will travel to Florida on Thursday with a third Cohen brother still living on Long Island to reunite with the Cohen mother and father. Saacks said he spoke to the mother sometime after the breakdown.
“She told me she won’t talk about it in the past tense,” Saacks said of the mother. “She doesn’t give up hope. She prays and if a miracle has to happen, so be it. “
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from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/two-long-island-brothers-are-still-missing-after-a-miami-condo-collapse-nbc-new-york/
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