The Surfside building collapse in Florida killed three generations of a Jewish family known for harnessing the community's presence in Puerto Rico.
Some of Richard Kleiman’s fondest memories growing up in Puerto Rico are of Highland Gardens, the neighborhood where his good friend Jay Kleiman lived.
While both friends shared the same last name, they weren’t related. But their friendship was so strong, they were “like brothers,” Richard, 52, said. “It was never like just friends. We were always together.” The tragedy reverberated across Puerto Rico’s Jewish community as the devastating news came that several generations of Jay's family were missing.The body of Frank Kleiman, 55, Jay’s older brother, was found in the rubble a few days later alongside the remains of Frank's newlywed, 26; both were not Jewish. The following week, authorities recovered Jay’s body, as well as the remains of his mother, Nancy Kress Levin, 76, and his younger cousin, Deborah Berezdivin, 21.
“People came to Puerto Rico to live, as a haven,” Azulay said. “Remember that they have these commonalities and ties together, so once the first family gets here, then they help the second one that comes in, and then everybody just helps each other.”“The Jewish Community Center, also known as the Shaare Zedeck Synagogue, already existed for several years. But the institution acquired its character with the arrival of the Cuban Jews,” Mendelbaum said in Spanish.
, showing that “the founding work of Diana, and her contemporaries, goes on and has inspired many generations, including Deborah’s generation,” Mendelbaum said.Tommy Babil, 48, who was also born and raised in Puerto Rico to Cuban Jewish parents, lived across the street from Jay and Frank in Highland Gardens. They grew up building makeshift backboards onto palm trees to play basketball and eating “limbers,” or Puerto Rican popsicles.
“It’s funny, people ask me, ‘So what, do you feel you're Cuban or Puerto Rican? Your parents are Cuban, so you must be Cuban,'" Babil said. "But I say I’m not Cuban, I’ve never been to Cuba. I think about Cuba, my parents are Cuban — but I’m Puerto Rican.”
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