By Jacky Gerzema
Alvin Bergsohn worked on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center for Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial firm, and as of late last week, had not been heard from. Bergsohn, the father of two sons, escaped the WTC bombing in 1993.
A family friend said that Bergsohn's wife, Michele, and other family members had traveled to Manhattan with a photo of Bergsohn to check hospitals and other command posts. Michele Bergsohn could not be reached for comment.
Miriam Baum, principal of the Religious School of SBJC, said that the Center had been planning a prayer vigil, but after hearing about Bergsohn, the event took on special significance.
"Now it's one of our fathers," said Baum. "He was in the last bombing (in 1993), but managed to get out. I'm so distraught. It's a nightmare."
Friends and congregants were still hopeful, though. In a stirring prayer at the evening vigil, Rabbi Robert Judd said:
"It is necessary to gather to offer voices in union for the people who are missing. And for Alvin Bergsohn...wherever he is, we hope he's surviving. There is a time for us to focus on who's to blame for this and what actions our country will take.
Today is not that day.
Today is the time to recite Psalms and pray for others, to unite and stand for our people. Not only do we talk to God, but we talk to ourselves. This is a time when we may feel distant and far from God, but we need him now."
St. Christophers Church in Baldwin also provided support through religious services. From Tuesday-Friday, the church held a nightly Mass at 7:30 and remained open late to provide additional support for community members.
Under the direction of Father Brian McQuade, Monsignor John F. Bennett, Rev. Robert Koznick and Father Alexis Fernando, citizens were asked to pray for those suffering in New York City and pray for the faceless evil that cuts so deeply into the hearts of our brothers and sisters.
"There is a cross in the hearts of people throughout the world," said one priest at St. Christophers Mass. "It is our cross too, because it is our families."
