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Bet Shira Congregation is a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
located at 7500 SW 120th Street in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, in the United States.


History

In February 1985, a nucleus of families left Congregation Beth David to form a new congregation, Bet Shira. The membership grew to 300 families in the weeks that followed. The name "Bet Shira" (House of Song) was selected to reflect the upbeat and dynamic character of the founders. In May 1988, the Letty Roth Synagogue Complex was dedicated as was the Arin Stacey Appplebaum Sanctuary. In January 1990, Mark Kula, a graduate of the Cantor Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, became Bet Shira's new cantor. In August 1992,
Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a compact, but very powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures dama ...
badly damaged the synagogue. In 2005, the synagogue was serving 500 families. That year, Sam Rosen of Bet Shira Congregation was chosen as co-winner of the Jewish community's Teacher of the Year, Excellence in Teaching Award by the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education. In 2007, the synagogue acquired a Torah scroll that during World War II had been smuggled out of the Polish town of
Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...
, when it was invaded by
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
s and its Jewish population destroyed, and protected by monks in a monastery near
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
until the Soviet Union collapsed.


Community programs

Bet Shira holds an annual "
Mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew language, Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment Divine law, from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of disc ...
day" every year, where volunteers, and members engage in activities such as: Beautification of community sites, planting trees at homes of the disabled and elderly as part of a "Treemendous Miami" project; blood drives; and many clothing, food, toy and medical supply drives to benefit the Miami community. The synagogue's Early Childhood Center was also a site of "Project Kavod", a three-year pilot program in improving the culture of employment in early childhood, by the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education, which was launched in 2004.


Drive-through sukkah

For the holiday of
Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...
, Bet Shira erects what is believed to be the first and only drive-through Sukkah, a tent in the parking lot of the synagogue that it calls the "McBet Shira Sukkah", allowing the community to participate in the celebration of the holiday from the convenience of their cars. Members of the public can drive into the sukkah, park, lower their car window, and say the blessings for the holiday, including shaking a lulav and an
etrog Etrog (, plural: ; Ashkenazi Hebrew: , plural: ) is the yellow citron (''Citrus medica'') used by Jews during the weeklong holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the ''lulav'', ''hadass'', and ''Aravah (Sukkot), aravah'', th ...
, as volunteers hand them snacks at the end of their visit. The idea, put into effect first in 2009, is credited to Cantor Mark Kula, who noted that cars are "integral" to people's lifestyles. He explained that “We sit as we drive; this way, we can sit in our cars in the Sukkah." He also commented that "Perhaps realizing the fragility of the Sukkah will encourage us to drive more carefully.”


Clergy and staff

David H. Auerbach was the founding rabbi of the synagogue. He is from Montreal, Canada, and had served as rabbi of Ahavat Achim synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia, and then senior rabbi of Beth David Congregation in Miami prior to the founding of Bet Shira. Since his retirement in 2005, he served as the rabbi emeritus of the synagogue, until his passing in September 2016. In 2005, Rabbi Auerbach was followed as rabbi by Micah Caplan, until 2010. In July 2010, Brian Schuldenfrei assumed the post of senior rabbi. Schuldenfrei had been associate rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California. Mark Kula, brother of Rabbi Irwin Kula, assumed the post of cantor in 1989. Mark and his father Morton Kula are the only father and son that have been ordained as cantors by the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...
in New York. Prior to coming to Miami, Mark was the assistant cantor of New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue. In 2013 Mark was appointed the Rabbi of the congregation and served as Rabbi until 2018. In 2008, the synagogue appointed Renée Rittner as its education director. in 2019, Ben Herman was hired as Bet Shira’s rabbi.


Religious school

The synagogue has an active religious school that serves students from pre-school through the Bar and Bat Mitzvah training.


Customs

The congregation is a conservative synagogue and is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. As implied by its name (House of Song), Bet Shira values music and its incorporation into daily and ritual life. Although regular services are held in traditional style, without musical instruments, it is a custom of the synagogue to conduct services throughout the year accompanied by musical instruments.


Anti-semitic attacks

In February 1988, an improperly drawn
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...
and anti-Semitic slogans and "Jesus Lives; You Can't Kill Him" and "Accept Hitler, Respect Christ" were plastered across the synagogue, and 30 windows were smashed. In response, a neighboring church put a
Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...
on its lawn, and its parish donated $1,000 towards repairing the windows. Miami Sunset High School students painted over the anti-Semitic slurs spray-painted by the vandals. Four teenagers, three of whom were football players at Miami Palmetto High School, were sentenced for having vandalized the synagogue to 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay the $14,800 ($ today) in damages. Two years later, on five occasions in six weeks vandals shot at windows at the synagogue. Three teenagers, two of them students at Palmetto High School, were arrested for shooting out the windows.


See also

* Timeline of antisemitism in the 20th century


References


External links

*
Facebook page
{{Synagogues in the United States 20th-century attacks on Jewish institutions in the United States Antisemitism in Florida Buildings and structures in Miami Conservative synagogues in Florida 1980s crimes in Florida Jews and Judaism in Miami Jewish organizations established in 1985 1985 establishments in Florida Synagogues completed in 1988 20th-century synagogues in the United States Synagogues in Florida