Temple Beth-El leaders say they will stand with family of missing Tuscaloosa doctor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - It’s been nearly two weeks since a beachfront condominium complex collapsed in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida.
A Tuscaloosa doctor and his brother are still missing following that collapse, but members of a local synagogue are clinging to hope.
Congregants of Temple Beth-El have been watching the news and reading the papers just like all of us, are waiting to learn more about Dr. Gary Cohen and his brother, Dr. Brad Cohen.
Unfortunately, emergency workers who have spent the last several days searching for survivors, have now switched operations to recovery mode, signaling the search for survivors is all but over.
Leaders at Temple Beth-El said they’re doing all they can to support the family.
Rabbi Hillel Norry just recently joined Temple Beth-El, but he said it’s already clear how well-known and loved the Cohen family is.
“A number of people in the synagogue community have been in touch with them. My sense is that they’re a private family and that they’re not out in front and talking with lots and lots of people. I’ve been in remote communication with them, but we’re trying to give them their space,” Rabbi Norry said.
Dr. Gary Cohen is a physician at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center.
He and his brother, Dr. Brad Cohen, have both been missing since the Champlain Towers Condominium Complex collapsed in Surfside, Florida June 24th.
“It’s our belief that a community around you is life affirming, and so when you’re confronting the hardest things in life to confront, you need that affirmation, you need to be reminded that there is life beyond this moment,” Rabbi Norry said.
He said waiting to learn the news of what’s happened to a loved one is agonizing and is a heavy burden to carry.
But he said despair is the absence of hope, so they’ll remain optimistic for the family.
“When they have hope, we have hope with them. The best way to support people when they’re going through a crisis is to stand with them wherever they are as they are. Not to expect them to be a different way, not to place your thoughts and your expectations into their mindset, but just to be with them,,” Rabbi Norry said.
He added that in the Jewish community, support for people who are going through hardships is one of the reasons we’re here, and it’s one of our most fundamental callings.
He said the Temple Beth-El congregation will stand with the Cohen family during this difficult time.
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