H eadlines
A social hall under construction in The Shul, a synagogue in Surfside,
Florida, is piled high with donations for homeless families less than 18
hours after a nearby building collapsed on June 25.

Photo by Ron Kampeas via JTA.org.

country flock to the towns for
their numerous upscale kosher
restaurants just a few minutes
from the beach, and the
multitude of prayer services
available nearby on Shabbat
and throughout the week. And
The Shul has grown by leaps
and bounds, having announced
a major expansion in 2016
that would double its size and
add a glass-walled social hall
for seating an additional 600
to 700 people. The Shul has
approximately 700 member
families, but counts several
hundred non-member families
among its community.

“He doesn’t do anything
unless, like he says, it’s ‘over the
top,’” Gabe Groisman, mayor of
Bal Harbour, said about Lipskar.

“Really what it means is, he’s
always 100% invested in the
person that’s in front of him.”
In the days after the
collapse, the synagogue’s large
and still unfinished social
hall expansion was turned
into a distribution center for
getting essential goods to those
who had lost their homes.

Everything from underwear
to computers to toothbrushes
were stored at The Shul. To
feed the families of the missing
people and the search-and-
rescue teams that descended
on the building site, The Shul
worked with local chefs to
organize thousands of kosher
meals each day. Even though
many of the people in need of
food were not Jewish or obser-
vant, all of the food was made
to strict kosher standards.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Those meals went on for
weeks as the search-and-rescue
teams continued to scour the
site for signs of survivors.

Through it all, Lipskar was
thinking about the dozens of
members of his community
who died in the collapse, like
Frank Kleiman, who’d recently
gotten married and started
a new company, and Harry
Rosenberg, who’d moved to
Surfside just a month before
the collapse to start over after
his wife died of cancer.

That individual attention was
nothing new. According to one
account, when Lipskar visits the
grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
in Queens, he brings the entire
list of his synagogue members
with him, reading through the
list and picturing each member
as he prays for them.

To Lipskar, mourning and
joy, too, each have equal roles
to play.

“Each day starts again,”
Lipskar said, launching
into a summary of his Rosh
Hashanah sermon comparing
the sun, which does not
change, to the moon, which
appears to change throughout
the month. To Lipskar, the sun
represents continuity and the
moon represents change.

“There’s the benefits of
continuity, we are standing
on the shoulders of giants.

But there’s also the recogni-
tion of renewal of new. That’s
why the day consists of sun
and moon, of continuity and
renewal,” Lipskar said. “That’s
our opportunity after this.” l
Seashore Gardens Foundation
FIFTH ANNUAL
TOURNAMENT October
4TH 11 11:30
1: 3 0 am
a m
Presented by:
David Lieberman Allstate
This golf tournament provides much needed
funds for programs at Seashore Gardens
Living Center. These programs ensure that
we can continue to Enrich Elder Lives.

Foursome $800
Early Bird $700
(if payment received by September 13th)
4 golfers with boxed lunches, deluxe
goody bags, and dinner.

Single Golfer $200
Includes a boxed lunch, deluxe goody
bag, dinner and golf.

BBQ Buffet Dinner Only $75
JEWISH EXPONENT
Blue Heron Pines Golf Club
550 Country Club Drive
Egg Harbor City, NJ 08215
Scan to sign up!
Schedule 11:30am
Registration and Lunch
12:30pm Putting Contest
1:00pm Tee Time
4:00 Novice Golf Academy
5:30 Awards Dinner
and Silent Auction
SEPTEMBER 16, 2021
11