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Oceanside gathers for Overdose Awareness Day By KEPHERD DANIEL kdaniel@liherald.com
Dina Ewashko/Herald
A beautiful first day Emily Campos, far right, has a lot of support for her first day of school at South Oceanside Road School 4 from second-grader George Campos and fourth-grader Nicholas Campos.
New rabbi at Temple Avodah By KEPHERD DANIEL kdaniel@liherald.com
Rabbi Jeshayahu “Shai” Beloosesky is settling in with his new congregation after he was appointed the new rabbi at Temple Avodah, in Oceanside, the fourth rabbi in the history of the Reform temple. A native of Israel and a retired colonel in the Israel Defense Forces, Beloosesky takes over from Rabbi Uri Goren, who retired after guiding the congregation for 26 years. Goren is now Rabbi Emeritus. Beloosesky, 61, who prefers to go by Rabbi Shai, is a third-generation Holocaust survivor. Raised in Israel by his parents and grandparents, he served in the Israeli military for 29 years, ris-
ing to assistant to the military secretary to the prime minister and minister of defense under the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He earned a doctorate in ministry from Hebrew Union College in New York City. While he was in the military, Beloosesky decided he wanted to help people in other ways, which led him to become a rabbi. He began studying for rabbinical school in the military, with the permission of the IDF, and was ordained in 2011. “I asked myself, ‘What are you going to do in the world?’” he recalled. “‘How are you going to make the world a better place?’ Then I decided this meant rabbinical school.” Continued on page 20
Oceanside residents gathered on the Schoolhouse Green on Aug. 31 to celebrate International Overdose Awareness Day, remembering those who have lost their lives to drug addiction. Dee’s Nursery & Florist provided purple flowers, which were planted by Oceanside Community Warriors to honor the victims’ memories. The Oceanside library assembled a crafting table, where attendees could decorate a rock to place by the flowers, in honor of someone they had lost to an overdose, or write an uplifting message. This is the third year that the Oceanside SAFE Coalition has hosted Overdose Awareness Day. The hamlet has been deeply affected by overdoses, particularly among young people. That brought about the formation of the coalition in 2015. “Sadly, we get reports from the precinct once a month, and there’s always some sort of overdose report happening within Oceanside,” Alison Eriksen, the coalition’s project
coordinator, said, referring to the Nassau County Police Department’s 4th Precinct. “There are so many people in our community that have been affected by an overdose, and we really wanted to make sure that there was a place where they could go, and there was a place that they can honor those they have lost. There’s a place where they can be remembered, and doing something like this, they’re seen, they’re heard, and they know that they’re not alone.” As part of the event, Jo Venturelli, director of business and professional development at the Seafield Treatment Center, in Westhampton Beach, offered training on the use of Narcan nasal spray on the Schoolhouse Green. Narcan, the brand name of the drug naloxone, reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. Free Narcan kits were given to all who took part in the training. “I’ve been in this field since I was in college, Venturelli said, “and I’ve never seen what we’re facing now, with the devastation, the loss, and also the Continued on page 25