11-year-old daughter of Jersey City hero calls rabbi in solidarity after Monsey
Rodriguez, 49, was an employee at the kosher supermarket. Before succumbing to his wounds, he saved a customer.
By ROSSELLA TERCATINThree people are killed in a kosher supermarket in Jersey City by two members of the anti-Semitic Black Hebrew Israelites movement on December 10, 2019.(photo credit: SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE)
Less than a month ago, 11-year-old Amy Rodriguez lost her dad, Miguel, in the shooting that targeted a kosher supermarket in Jersey City. Rodriguez, 49, was an employee at the store. Before succumbing to his wounds, he saved a customer."After being shot, he opened the back door for a customer to be rescued and unfortunately, he died at the footstep of that door," Rabbi David Niederman of the Brooklyn-based United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg told reporters in the aftermath of the tragedy, according to CNN.He called Rodriguez a "hero."When Amy heard what happened in Monsey on Saturday, when five people were wounded in a horrific attack in a rabbi's house, she called Rabbi Avi Weiss to make sure that he was ok and to express her solidarity with the Jewish community at large."Amy is the daughter of Miguel who was killed saving the life of Chaim Deutsch in the Jersey City antisemitic attack, where Moshe Deutsch and Mindy Ferencz were also killed," the rabbi wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. "I attended Miguel's funeral and spoke with Amy and her mom, leaving them my phone number." "This morning, I was overwhelmed when Amy called. She had heard what had happened in Monsey and with great emotion, wanted to make sure I was ok. Tears welled up in my eyes," he added. "Her words touched the depths of my soul. Here is a youngster, just eleven years old, in the midst of her own grief, calling to express concern – not only for me, but for the larger Jewish community."Weiss is founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, a congregation of 850 families in Bronx, NY. He is also the founder of the flagship progressive Orthodox institutions Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat. According to CNN, Rodriguez, an engineer, immigrated to the US about four years ago from Ecuador after being laid off by the insurance company where he worked, to give his family a better future.He had been working at the kosher supermarket for over a year.
His sister Ketty told CNN that he was a very devout Christian and that he deeply admired people of faith."There is hope in the world," Weiss further wrote on Facebook after receiving Amy's call.
