Approaching one year mark of H.P. temple fire

By Dan Newman
Special to The Jewish State

Nearly 11 months ago, Rabbi Eliot Malomet was notified about a problem at the Highland Park Conservative Temple. What he actually encountered upon arrival was something he was not prepared for.

"As soon as I got there, I thought, 'Is this happening to us?' It was so traumatic. To see it all was tough," Malomet said.

The tough part Malomet was referring to was an August 24 electrical fire that rendered the sanctuary useless. The Torah was saved, but that was the only bright spot, as water damage combined with rough winter weather led to approximately $2 million in damage.

"We're in the planning stages of getting things together again," Malomet said. "We've been working very closely with architects, and we're trying to clarify what we need in the new building."

Even though the new building is still in the planning stage, Malomet and his congregation are looking forward to returning to the school wing of the building as soon as possible. The Highland Park Y and Highland Park High School have been utilized over the past 11 months and have served their purpose, but Malomet says he is looking forward to getting back to his home of the last 13 years.

"The carpet has been laid down and the offices have been cleaned up, so we're just about ready to go," Malomet said. "It really has been an amazing process to beautify the facility. We want to have things as functional as possible."

Even as the temple was going through a tough time recently, Malomet said his faith in the recovery process never wavered and apparently he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

"We've actually gained some new members in the process, even after all that has happened to us," Malomet explained. "We pledged that day that we wouldn't skip a beat. It really wasn't tough to get people to stick with us. We knew we'd be alright."

And some of the support for the temple has come from people that have nothing to do with the facility.

"People always ask me everywhere I go about the temple. Even the cashiers at Stop-n-Shop, they want to know also how things are going," Malomet said.

He said that although the temple does not yet have a Certificate of Occupancy, he is working closely with the borough to secure one and that the borough "is bending over backwards for us."

After an 11 month wait, Malomet and his 500 congregants are looking forward to seeing familiar surroundings, something that the Rabbi wasn't sure would happen.

"Initially, it was tough to go back there because I know things wouldn't be the same. Sure, things will be different now, but it'll feel good to be back," Malomet said.