The Florida Building Collapse - a 1619 Project of a Different Kind

 מגדלי שמפליין דרום בסרפסייד פלורידה (Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida) + the kollel = 1619. 

בחמישי י"ד תמוז תשפ"א (On Thursday, the 14th of Tammuz, 5781) + the kollel = 1619.

Devarim 28:52:

נב  וְהֵצַר לְךָ בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ, עַד רֶדֶת חֹמֹתֶיךָ הַגְּבֹהֹת וְהַבְּצֻרוֹת, אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בֹּטֵחַ בָּהֵן, בְּכָל-אַרְצֶךָ; וְהֵצַר לְךָ, בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ, בְּכָל-אַרְצְךָ, אֲשֶׁר נָתַן יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לָךְ.

52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou didst trust, throughout all thy land; and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.

The words in red (חֹמֹתֶיךָ הַגְּבֹהֹת וְהַבְּצֻרוֹת) + the 17 letters = 1619.

Florida, rightly, had just banned the 1619 Project from its classrooms 2 weeks prior to the collapse.  But this is not a message for Florida.  As with all the other recent tragedies that have befallen us, it's a message for Jews.

Perhaps, it's a message that we shouldn't be so בֹּטֵחַ בָּהֵן - so trusting - in where we are.  Our overconfidence in our government, our country's military, our money, our jobs, and even our homes is a problem.  We should only trust the One Who provided those things.  בטחו בה' עדי עד.  He is the One Who provided them and He can take them away in an instant and make them come crashing down.

This past week showed us this rebuke from this verse from the Tocheha.