Martin Langesfeld at project Inspire KMotzai Shabbat Keynote

[Music] part of a surfside florida condominium building came crashing down collapsing into a pile of rubble firefighters risking their own lives searching for possible victims and even now officials fear the rest of this building could come down at any time jewish communities across the state are praying and sending support to everyone impacted by the surf side condo collapse while many of the families affected by the collapse were of jewish faith they say the donations here at the shul of bull harbor are for everyone affected tell us what we're seeing here we had truckloads of people bringing so many supplies such an outpour helping out the people that really need anything and that's what we're here for they took this little snack bar at the community center and they turned it into this bistro that eventually delivered 3 000 kosher meals a day to families awaiting word of their loved ones and first responders an israeli search team is also on the ground helping miami-dade's urban search and rescue force there is still hope always and i hope that we will succeed it was a deeply emotional ceremony tonight filled with applause and gratitude as the israeli crews prepared to leave and family members had a chance to thank first responders face to face [Music] it's painful you just wish you were in a dream sometimes strong words from martin langsfeld who lost his sister and his brother-in-law in the surfside condo collapsed there's hope i really believe miracles do happen [Music] it never gets easier not with time not with anything on june 24th i was out with friends and i arrived home at three in the morning to my mother telling me she received the news notification that a building had collapsed on collins avenue that's the street where my sister lived didn't mention any names it was very brief she never in her life read a news notification at three in the morning but that night she couldn't sleep she had a mother's instinct that something was wrong what is going on what is she talking about what do you mean a building collapsed i called my beautiful sister nikki voicemail i called my brother-in-law lewis voicemail i called the police from my garage so my parents don't hear the conversation i'm about to have the operator had no idea what building collapsed it was a disaster it was a horror movie by the third operator they said i believe it is champion tower south sir mama wake up dad it's nikki's building the usual 40 minute drive turned into an eternal silent 20 minute drive and we got there to see there was no building people were screaming crying running desperate and confused not one first responder was on the rubble so i tried running on myself to find my family to find myself getting threatened to be arrested many many times at night it was a horror movie one i never thought i'd be playing a character we didn't go home for 15 days we slept on the floor desperately waiting for news for the first few days it was unimaginable unreal we had to cancel two funerals because they couldn't release such a small portion of a body by the third funeral attempt we had to sign a release that were okay with a percentage of my sister's body i didn't grow up religious and i never thought religion would ever play a crucial role in my life but i was quickly amazed by one thing the jewish community the religious community they were the first ones there you were the first ones there you were there the entire time you gave us a shoulder to cry on and a shoulder to smile on when we had hope not the people who lived in miami not all the mayors i met not the governor not the president but the jewish community and not only for the jews but for everyone at any time to be honest i had lost my faith i was mad at god i was mad at the world there was no logic there were no answers there are no answers but the jewish community gave me the support i didn't know i needed and the support i didn't know i had they were there in times of need to bring a sense of unity a sense of community and a sense of helping those who didn't know they needed the help you showed me what judaism stood for what it stands for we suffered together and we hurt together you gave me hope you kept me on my feet and you gave me faith the faith i never thought i would have again because of them because of you the from community my life has taken a different route you inspired me with a desire to spread love and kindness for others who are also in need when they do not know it whether it may be helping politically to change the system so such terrible catastrophes don't occur again or whether it's to simply inspire people the way i felt inspired by all of you i experienced a horrific tragedy in 12 seconds 98 people were crushed in their safest place i came to realize that when you say goodbye it could be the last goodbye and one day the day you don't know it it will be the last goodbye my friends my family we are here one time we need to realize we could not take life for granted money is not the only important thing in this world in fact money caused this we must care for each other we must give we must love and we must enjoy because we are one together and that bond will never be broken the jewish community was there no matter the time of day 4 am 5 am where were there whether it was just being there silently to share the pain or a simple request of can i pray for you or come spend shabbat with us in our synagogues we knew you were there for us and many times no words needed to be said i realized i could not be mad at god anymore i could not be mad at the world anymore when i saw the religious community was there for us i knew this faith is what brought us together it's about the from community to be who you are and to do what you do a community that will be there no matter what it takes and that made me realize the power of faith which i could never lose i can't speak up here without mentioning elisa muramusin which i believe is here with us today [Applause] elisa a project inspired leader from queens was one of the heroes who came to serve site one of the many who i opened the doors for in my home because i instantly felt a connection of family she met me she met my family it's only because of elisa that i'm speaking here tonight because of elisa as well as rabbi majetsky i attended project inspires three day trip in austin texas and when i arrived i experienced the same feelings of brotherhood and care they didn't know who i was they did not know what i had experienced but they all accepted me and treated me as a brother and that's the beauty of my experience with project inspire i'd like to say thank you to the leadership team thank you haim yosef and to future relationships with many people i met alan gross many others since surfside i have started with learning with rabbis putting on tefillin into ashore i've embraced the judaism [Applause] i have embraced judaism because you have embraced me and that's what i've learned through this whole experience whether we know each other or not we are all one we are brothers and sisters who need to care for each other and love each other no matter what i thank you for being there for me someone you never knew my friends i lost my sister my 26 year old sister who just became an attorney ready to start her life just married a tragic and painful loss and we lost so many more that night but the loving care i have felt from all of you the jewish community has helped me feel a profound sense of comfort and i look at you all here today and ask you my dear friends please let's continue to share love with each other and with our fellow jews and non-jews across the world by doing so the more goodness and faith we can bring to the world the greater the comfort will be to me and to all the families who lost loved ones on june 24th when i needed you the most you were there for me and there are so many more that need you as well that need the community i need the connection to god himself and before i finish up and say thank you to everyone here for listening to me and say we will never forget surfside these past two days we heard many speakers from all parts of the world with many different professional respectful backgrounds and when they finish speaking everyone in the crowd gets up claps and admires the person speaking that's not the reason i'm here i'm not here so you can clap for me and for my story i'm here because of you so when i finish up now and i say thank you i want you all to clap and look at the person next to you and say thank you to them because you all make a difference and i really mean that you guys are amazing so thank you everyone