SURFSIDE (VINnews/Sandy Eller) – A young Jewish girl who made international headlines after being mentioned by the mayor of Surfside, Florida met today with President Biden during a visit with family members.
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In a Tuesday press conference, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett spoke of the girl, who appeared to be about 11 or 12, and was praying for a missing parent at the site of last Thursday’s apartment collapse.
Burkett recalled kneeling down beside the girl, who was sitting alone as she read a Jewish prayer from her phone outside of the wreckage of Champlain Towers South. The mayor vowed to make an effort to see the girl again, perhaps at a reunification center, and to remind her that the city is doing everything they can to find her loved ones.
While Burkett never named the girl, he said at a press conference today that he had introduced her to Biden, at her request. A photo of a young girl meeting with the president today was released to CNN by the girl’s mother. CNN identified her as 12 year old Elisheva Cohen, daughter of Dr. Brad Cohen who is among the missing.
NBC News Channel 8 (https://bit.ly/3wa1xGP) reported that Elisheva split her time living with her father, Dr. Brad Cohen, in Champlain Towers, and with her mother, Soroya Cohen, in a nearby building. Both Cohen and his brother, Dr. Gary Cohen, were in an 11th floor apartment when Champlain Towers crumbled to the ground last week.
A photo sent to CNN’s Nick Valencia by Soroya Cohen showed the meeting between her daughter and Biden, with the president clasping Elisheva’s hands in a shared somber moment. Taking to social media, Valencia said that Soroya Cohen had reached out to her husband to share a photo of their daughter just before he went to sleep last Wednesday night. A tweet by Valencia read, “Her face ‘was the last thing Brad saw. I texted it to him right before he went to sleep,’ his wife told me. I texted: look how pretty Elisheva looks. He got the WhatsApp, it’s marked.’”
The wife of Brad Cohen who is still missing in the Surfside collapse sent me this photo of their daughter Elisheva, 12, meeting with President Biden. They said he was “kind,” but worried his visit diverted resources. The rescue was paused because of safety concerns to the teams. pic.twitter.com/M1mq55H1dJ
— Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) July 1, 2021
Brad Cohen called his daughter “Mushy.” Her face “was the last thing Brad saw. I texted it to him right before he went to sleep,” his wife told me. “I texted: look how pretty Elisheva looks.
He got the WhatsApp, it’s marked.” https://t.co/S8oigayGb3— Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) July 1, 2021
Do people have no brains at all?
Please show some kindness and sensitivity.
There’s a good chance this heartbroken girl or her relatives are here reading comments. Even if not, the divisiveness and stupidity don’t belong in a place and time when we know our unity is the only thing that can heal us.
Elisheva made a huge Kiddush Hashem. My heart goes out to her and to all the others whose lives have been touched by this tragedy. Together with the Biden’s we’re all praying for them and thinking of them. May Hashem wipe away their tears.
Some of these comments are so insensitive that it’s incredible. Of course, they all are made L”Shem Shomayim, right? Did any of these commenters ask a Rov whether they are allowed to make such comments? The Mishna tells us “Al Todin Es Chaveiro Ad Shemagia Limkomo.” Do not judge anyone unless you are in their position or circumstance. How many people have been in the position of this girl so that you have a right to comment on how she handled the meeting with the President?
Judging by the way she is dressed she was most likely taught that a girl her under no circumstances should physically contact with a male other than husband father grand father (brother?) and medical personal when necessary.
Having said that being a young child whose father is missing she could have been so over come with emotion in meeting such a great personality as a president of the United States.
I am a Chasidic guy who does not shake hands with woman during the 1980 and 1990 my company Exhibited at a lot of trade shows’ the custom at that time was if you met with an existing customer you shook hands or with a potential customer when you finished the meeting with woman i always politely explained that as an Orthodox Jew our custom is not to shake hands with woman i do not recall ever losing any customers because of this
As the atmosphere became more casual in 2000 hand shakes became less and less frequent, hugs became more of the norm serious business people never adopted it, at a show in 2009 VP for sales of a fortune 500 company someone who I was pursuing for a decade stopped at my booth the conversation was very intense and fruitful just as she was leaving she reached out for a handshake and i shook her hand not being used to shaking hands i let my guard down as soon as i did it i was very distressed which she sensed and asked did i push you to far in our negotiations i said no i usually don’t shake hands with woman she asked am i special i said you are special as a customer but not to break my custom she smiled now i knw i can trust you 100%
Why did no one explain the sensitivities of Orthodox cultural norms to Biden, in advance?
I bet if she were Amish or a very strict Muslim, more cultural sensitivity would have been exercised
Oy vey! These comments make me realize that leaving Orthodoxy was the healthiest think I ever did!
I would never let Biden touch My girl he’s known to be a child molester look how good it feels when he touches that girl’s hand
So….
Did he sniff her hair??
Who comments on this website? Many here are certainly not real frum Jews. Defending Biden’s obviously sick behaviour and no one intervening while a frum girl is in this akward position that is against halacha as well? And then saying it is just a chumra? Are you people nuts? This is abuse in front of the world and neglect of halacha. And Jewish girls should not daven in such a public place and circumstance, tzniuis the biggest kiddush Hashem. Your “frum” minds have become warped.