Remembering My Student Ilan, Jewish Surfside Victim

I'm writing this from Miami, 10 minutes from the beach. There are many reasons to be here -- the beach, the sun, the culture. And there are many reasons not to be here. As my grandma keeps calling to tell me, COVID rates are skyrocketing in Florida, and maybe it's not the best place to be right now. But none of these considerations really mattered to me. I came for a reason nobody should have to come for: to be at the shiva of a former student of mine, Ilan Naibryf, who was one of the victims of the Surfside building collapse in late June.