‘That’s our job.’ Religious leaders who have lost congregants in Surfside comfort families
Clergy from various faiths joined first responders, police and reporters at the site of the Champlain Towers tragedy to check in on the mental and spiritual well-being of the families, other loved ones of the victims, those trying to find the unaccounted for and even the media.
Some of them have lost their own congregants in the collapse.
Among them is Father Matthew Gomez, vocational director for the Archdiocese of Miami, who arrived at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Wednesday morning. The church lost at least five parishioners in the collapse.
With Gomez just arriving, he only had a chance to visit with first responders coming off their shifts from searching on the debris pile at ground zero, in addition to the hundreds of journalists gathered at a makeshift campsite in a muddy field about a block away.
Father Gomez was preparing Wednesday night for the difficult task of meeting with the families of those confirmed dead and others whose loved ones are unaccounted for.
“We’re not here to give them the answers because really, who has the answers in these moments of trial. The best thing that we do as clergy, as priests, is just be present with them. Let them know, that we — I don’t want to say we understand, because we don’t. But, really, it’s just allowing them to have a shoulder to cry on. That’s our job,” Gomez said.
Diego Mendelbaum, the religious leader and community director of the Jewish Community Center of Puerto Rico/Shaare Zedeck synagogue, traveled from San Juan to Miami to also offer spiritual and emotional support to families of the missing and dead at Surfside.
Several victims belong to the temple Mendebaulm serves, including missing resident Nancy Kress Levin, along with her children Frankie and Jay Kleiman and relative Deborah Berezdivin. They were all in Champlain Towers South when it collapsed.
“There have been activities and religious services in person, through Zoom,” said Mendelbaum, “all kinds of shows of solidarity on a daily basis to support the families.”
He said the religious community is “heartbroken” following last week’s tragedy, but that they have found strength in each other.
“We are living in a moment of grief, where we are trying to find answers to so many questions. And in looking for answers, we embrace each other and give each other support,” he said. “Sometimes answers won’t appear, but the love and support that is offered to those who need it so badly at this time, that ends up being the most important thing.”
Mendelbaum has traveled twice to Miami since the residential condominium came crashing down on June 24. Frankie Kleiman’s body was found in the rubble on Monday evening. His wife and stepson were discovered lifeless the day before. His mother and brother, along with Berezdivin, remain missing.
The religious leader says that the community is holding on to the possibility a miracle could happen as rescuers search for the missing in the debris.
“Despite adversity, we don’t lose faith, we don’t lose hope,” he said.
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
