It is not uncommon for friends in the community to compliment us on the forthright and catchy name of our Synagogue "The Shul". I always respond by giving the credit to the pioneering Rabbi Shalom Lipskar of "The Shul" of Bal Harbor and Surfside in Miami.
During my year of study at the Yeshiva in Miami Beach in 1998, a highlight of my week was visiting Surfside/Bal Harbour every Friday afternoon, where we shared a Torah thought, a Mitzvah (or just chatted) with Jewish businessmen and women before Shabbat. This included frequent visits to Rabbi Lipskar and his magnificent, world-renowned Shul.
Yesterday, watching Rabbi Lipskar on Wolf Blitzer's CNN show, just meters away from the site of the collapsed Condo towers where the rescue workers are still searching for his congregants, he shared something fascinating:
Just last week the Governor of Florida has signed two pieces of legislation at his Shul; 1. Recognizing the Jewish run ‘Hatzalah’ as an official Emergency Service in the State of Florida, and 2. Mandating the ‘Moment of Silence’ as a part of the Public School system in Florida.
"And this morning, those are the only two things that were working."
While the experiences of the last year and a half feel like they are breaking us, the truth is, as Rabbi Lipskar explained on CNN, that "we accept it and we have to learn, as we do in our culture, resilience and to move forward because challenges don't hold us back."
Please G-d may Hashem bring miracles of salvation to all those who need it, and the miracle of redemption to a world that needs it more than ever.