Chaim (Harry) Rosenberg Missing In Champlain Tower in Surfside

SURFSIDE (CHABAD.org) – Harry Rosenberg, 52, known to his family and friends by his Jewish name, Chaim, is an asset manager originally from Brooklyn and a recent resident of Champlain Tower in Surfside, Fla. He purchased the second-floor condo only last month, hoping that its views of the Atlantic Ocean would help him find solace after a turbulent year that saw the loss of his wife, Anna Rosenberg, to cancer, and both of his parents to COVID-19.

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In recent months Chaim had dedicated himself towards launching Mercaz Shalom, a young adult center for mental healing, located in the campus of Mayanei Hayeshua Hospital in Bnei Brak, Israel, in memory of his late wife.

In a conversation recorded in Tablet Magazine with Steve Eisenberg, fellow member of The Shul in Bal Harbour, Chaim said of his move to Florida “I’m so happy to be here, this is my next chapter of happiness.”

Previously, Rosenberg had been renting smaller apartments in the area, but had purchased the larger one in the Champlain to have more room for his children and their families to visit. His daughter, Malki Weisz and her husband, Benny, of Lakewood, N.J., were staying with him at the time of the collapse.

The Weiszes remain missing as well at this time.

Chaim is beloved by those who know him as a truly dedicated friend and family man, someone who “loves everyone and is loved by all.”

“He’s always thinking of others, the type of person who puts their needs before his own, recalls Sendy Liebhard, a friend. “If he sees something and concludes that ‘this is just the thing that so-and-so would appreciate’ it would arrive at the friend’s house in short order.”

Rosenberg had returned from a trip to New York just hours before the tower’s collapse, rushing back to greet Benny and Malki Weisz.

“Chaim is a man of intense faith,” Liebhard says. “Life threw him a lot of curveballs, especially recently. His faith in G‑d and positive outlook is what’s nourished him, and what he taught his family and is keeping them strong right now.”