President's Message
October / November 2024
Dear Chaverim,
The last few months have been rather eventful. We had the “Great Flood of 2024” – one of the sprinkler
heads in our fire suppression system failed, and we had significant water damage to our administrative
offices. If you have been in the Temple recently, you have seen we gutted and vacated the offices and
moved office functions to the lobby area and library. This is obviously very disruptive, but we do what we
have to do. We have had extensive dealings in the last several weeks with clean up services, adjusters,
brokers, underwriters, contractors, etc. It is a long process, but we will get the offices put back together
using insurance company proceeds in the next several weeks.
In the same time frame, Jennifer Restivo, our wonderful Director of Operations, had to announce her
resignation in order to relocate to New York. Jennifer has been wonderful in her 6 years with us, and we will
miss her dearly. Fortunately, we were able to just now hire a new Director of Operations, Connie Foglia, who
is starting on September 30.
At the same time, we are dealing with our issues, the war in Gaza, the continued cruel imprisonment of the
hostages, and the fighting on Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah rage on. It puts our issues into
perspective. Many of us have family and friends in the line of fire. My cousin’s son just finished his third
deployment in Gaza as a reservist with the IDF. We are dealing with increased antisemitism here in the
U.S., but our brothers and sisters in Israel are dealing with a whole different level of issues.
As of this writing, the High Holidays are fast approaching. As usual, these events take a great deal of
planning and preparation by the Rabbi, our Ritual Committee, our office staff, and many other volunteers. A
huge thank you in advance to all of you for putting together what I’m sure will be very successful and moving
High Holiday services.
This past year has been very challenging. The one-year anniversary of October 7th is coming up. For Jews
world-wide, October 7th was a body blow. It shook our sense of security and confidence. It brought back
memories of the slaughter of Jews we hoped were in the distant past. It taught us we must remain vigilant to
be true to one of our core ethos – Never Again!
We have been fortunate to avoid any serious antisemitic incidents here at TBS. However, we must remain
on our toes. We continue to contract for armed Brevard County deputies at virtually all of our functions. We
maintain close communications with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to be informed of
any potential threats. It is an unfortunate necessity in these times, but we remain vigilant.
The Year 5785 is here, with all of its challenges and opportunities. I am an optimist, and I look forward to the
thriving success of Judaism in the new year, both here locally at Temple Beth Sholom and Brevard County,
and in Israel and Jewish communities throughout the world.
Shana Tova and my best wishes to each of you and your loved ones for a happy, healthy, and successful
year!
L’Shalom,
Paul Newman
Dear Chaverim,
The last few months have been rather eventful. We had the “Great Flood of 2024” – one of the sprinkler
heads in our fire suppression system failed, and we had significant water damage to our administrative
offices. If you have been in the Temple recently, you have seen we gutted and vacated the offices and
moved office functions to the lobby area and library. This is obviously very disruptive, but we do what we
have to do. We have had extensive dealings in the last several weeks with clean up services, adjusters,
brokers, underwriters, contractors, etc. It is a long process, but we will get the offices put back together
using insurance company proceeds in the next several weeks.
In the same time frame, Jennifer Restivo, our wonderful Director of Operations, had to announce her
resignation in order to relocate to New York. Jennifer has been wonderful in her 6 years with us, and we will
miss her dearly. Fortunately, we were able to just now hire a new Director of Operations, Connie Foglia, who
is starting on September 30.
At the same time, we are dealing with our issues, the war in Gaza, the continued cruel imprisonment of the
hostages, and the fighting on Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah rage on. It puts our issues into
perspective. Many of us have family and friends in the line of fire. My cousin’s son just finished his third
deployment in Gaza as a reservist with the IDF. We are dealing with increased antisemitism here in the
U.S., but our brothers and sisters in Israel are dealing with a whole different level of issues.
As of this writing, the High Holidays are fast approaching. As usual, these events take a great deal of
planning and preparation by the Rabbi, our Ritual Committee, our office staff, and many other volunteers. A
huge thank you in advance to all of you for putting together what I’m sure will be very successful and moving
High Holiday services.
This past year has been very challenging. The one-year anniversary of October 7th is coming up. For Jews
world-wide, October 7th was a body blow. It shook our sense of security and confidence. It brought back
memories of the slaughter of Jews we hoped were in the distant past. It taught us we must remain vigilant to
be true to one of our core ethos – Never Again!
We have been fortunate to avoid any serious antisemitic incidents here at TBS. However, we must remain
on our toes. We continue to contract for armed Brevard County deputies at virtually all of our functions. We
maintain close communications with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to be informed of
any potential threats. It is an unfortunate necessity in these times, but we remain vigilant.
The Year 5785 is here, with all of its challenges and opportunities. I am an optimist, and I look forward to the
thriving success of Judaism in the new year, both here locally at Temple Beth Sholom and Brevard County,
and in Israel and Jewish communities throughout the world.
Shana Tova and my best wishes to each of you and your loved ones for a happy, healthy, and successful
year!
L’Shalom,
Paul Newman