By COLlive reporter
Members of the Jewish community in Surfside, Florida, gathered on Sunday to mark the first yartzeit for the victims in the collapse of Champlain Towers South.
Billed as an evening of chizuk and inspiration, it was sponsored by Ezra Biernbaum and the Ainsworth family in memory of their parents R’ Tzvi and Itty Ainsworth OBM who found their death in the tragedy.
While a full year has passed, the pain remains raw for families of the victims and the wider community who were in shock as the 12-story beachfront condominium crumbled at 1:22 AM on June 24, 2021.
Ninety-eight people died, many of them Jews. Four people were rescued from the rubble, but one died of injuries shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The commemoration the yartzeit was organized by Rabbi Aryeh Citron of the Surfside Minyan in cooperation with Young Israel Congregation of Surfside, The Shul of Bal Harbour, Magen David, Ohr Oziel of Surfside and Safra Synagogue of Aventura.
The guest speaker was the renowned lecturer and author Rabbi Paysach Krohn who spoke about “achdus and unity in difficult times.”
Addressing the crowd, The Shul’s Rabbi Shalom Ber Lipskar called to take on a Mitzvah that will be done in memory of the victims to elevate their nashama and hasten the coming of Moshiach.
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