When an event occurs that defies any kind of rationality or logic, such as last week’s collapse of the Surfside, Florida condo building, it’s only human to begin searching for answers.

In an exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva, Rabbi Sholom Lipskar, Rabbi of 'The Shul' synagogue of Bal Harbour and a Chabad emissary to the area, said that the only aspect of such a tragedy that has any kind of language is spirituality.

“On a practical level, kindness and empathy is a very critical factor in trying to balance extraordinary difficulties that are permeating the space,” he said. “It’s surreal, like you’re in a war zone waiting for the final verdict to know if people are alive or not. And you have this glimmer of hope, but then you have the reality of a very dismal situation.”

He noted that multiple factors are integrated into the disaster, which occurred early in the morning last Thursday.

After nearly five days, hope has begun turning into anxiety, frustration and impatience.

But with such a massive search and rescue operation, everything must be done slowly and safety. It’s not possible to speed up the process.

“People are starting to think, ‘Why didn’t they do something earlier?… Why didn’t they do something faster?’ Yet you’re dealing with a whole building that caved in from 13 floors that became one floor.”

He first understood the gravity of the disaster and its impact on the Jewish community when his granddaughter texted him Wednesday night at 2:30 am. She wanted to know if he knew what was happening in Surfside because there were stories of people running around the street saying their building fell down or that the world was coming to an end, and people initially wondered if they were crazy.

But for them, “the world did come to an end,” said Rabbi Lipskar.

He described the area’s Jewish community as trying to cope the best they can, calling it a very closely knit and integrated community that is very philanthropic.

“The fundamental aspect of it is the only positive thing we can do besides spiritual matters like praying and giving to charity and studying Torah and continuing to evoke some spiritual connection is to give kindness and to give empathy and to make a person feel like they’re cared for, which is so critical,” he said.

Showering families with giving and kindness takes away some of the trauma they are experiencing currently.

“It doesn’t answer questions but it’s like a warm blanket on a cold body. The body doesn’t get warm but it’s nice to have a warm blanket around you,” he said.