“Where Does YOUR House of Worship Fit in YOUR Home?” Jeff Jacob - jeff@tbehollywood.com Jan 8, 2025 A 2023 Gallup poll found that the percentage of Americans attending weekly religious services fell from 42% to 30% over the past 20 years. The article further broke these numbers down by individual religion. Sixteen percent of Jews responding to the survey expressed that they attend services weekly. And, while there was no deeper dive into the denomination breakdown, it stands to reason that if one were to remove Orthodox Jews from that equation, the percentage of Jews attending weekly services would be far, far lower than 16%. Ouch. In 2025, after piano and ballet lessons, soccer practice, Social Media time, Netflix, family time, friends, chores, school work, and the two of you working three jobs…where does the temple fit in? In other words, where does your house of worship fit in your home? As a Synagogue Executive Director, I’ve seen firsthand how much of a struggle it can be in many Reform and Conservative congregations to put “butts in the seats” for regular Shabbat services…therefore, I can’t say that I’m surprised by the results of this study. Although it is still shocking to see the actual numbers, many churches are also struggling with these questions. In this day and age, if one is not particularly observant, what does it take to garner enough interest in someone to make them desire to be regularly involved, in some shape or form, at the nearest temple? What can get you there? Charismatic, authentic Clergy is certainly a starting point. Gotta have it. Geography is also key. Who wants to drive more than 10-15 minutes to a house of worship when there is so much else vying for your attention? Even growing up in the 80s, I know that I was not the only one in my Hebrew and Sunday school classes who would have preferred being at soccer or basketball practice with my Christian friends. We were already being over-programmed as kids back then, but we didn’t have smart phones or Social Media, Prime, Apple +, Hulu, etc., streaming every single possible thing in the world right to our own personal hand-held movie theater. All of these options right at our fingertips have quelled the desire of more secular-leaning adherents of various religions to attend worship services even more. Kids are glued to their screens, and after an exhausting day, or week at work, so many parents simply want to tune out as well. Time for Netflix seems to be a common mantra after dinner hour for many of us. The aspect of Temple as a possible “3rd place” outside of work and home began decades ago, but with the growing popularity of coffee shops and personal electronics that trend has dramatically reversed itself in many instances. At Temple Beth El of Hollywood, we’ve been asking ourselves hard questions these past few years. Since COVID-19 really, as that period made so many of us reconsider and rethink both how we live, and how we “do business.” Questions such as, “How can we continue to offer the basics of what the older generations expect in a synagogue, while somehow trying to alter our operations, our programs, our long-range vision to adapt and be relevant to a changing world?” In a world where Zoom is a verb, and virtual programs are here to stay, why would someone get off the couch to come to a temple and worship, play, learn? The obvious answer would seem to be that most of us still seek a sense of belonging, community, caring, and continuity. But that drive to commune with one another doesn’t seem quite enough anymore to compete with all of the options and distractions available to us. Like most Jewish houses of worship, we host Shabbat services, Sunday School, Adult Education, celebrations of major holidays, Sisterhood, Brotherhood, Social Action, and Bar/Bat Mitzvah training. We also have a wonderful, Apple-Accredited Preschool. None of this is extraordinary, rather it’s a baseline. For Bar or Bat Mitzvah, we actually have 2 different tracks. And what does this mean? Traditional Track: Through being a member family of our congregation, and attending our Sunday School, a child is eased along the path of a modern, Jewish education that eventually evolves to include learning about what it takes to become an adult in Judaism, and training on how to get there. The benefits of this traditional model are well-documented. A sense of community and relationships that come with being part of a temple or synagogue is a major reason many of us commit to being supporting members of a “House of Worship.” However…. We’ve been hearing for years that there is a significant portion among the less observant who long for their children to have the Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience without committing to supporting a temple community. It may be sad, but that doesn’t make it untrue. Therefore, we created our “APP Program.” In this transactional, fast-food, ADHD, multi-personal-device, person-driven society, many Jewish and interfaith families are disinterested in being a part of a “fixed Religious community.” And yet, they STILL want to provide that one rite of passage that is definitively Jewish for our kids. A Bar/Bat Mitzvah. For families that fit this mold, this program exists. Without any of the commitments that come with joining a congregation, a family can have their son or daughter go through training (on average 9-12 months) with our well-loved and talented Cantor, Manny Silver, who does a wonderful job of “meeting kids where they are” in his mentorship. Truly personalized paths of learning that towards the end of the process are also joined in on by our Rabbi, Aaron Sataloff, so that he can get to know each student and add to their experience before it’s time to stand on the Bimah together. Over the years, many students and their families have benefited from this program, and we feel it’s a necessary component of ensuring the survival of our peoplehood. While it may sound counter-intuitive since those who take advantage of this path are basically unengaged at the temple most of the year, we are still assisting in the continuation of Jewish knowledge and identity…and pride. And even though this may NOT ensure the survival of all temples and synagogues in a new world, it CAN help Judaism survive, thrive, and evolve. We cannot be so enamored of the four walls we inhabit that we disregard the potential to keep a flame of Jewishness lit out in the world. By any means necessary and at our disposal. And to that end, we’ve also created a festive “Alternative Shabbat Experience,” which we call 2nd Saturdays/Shabbatstock. As the name suggests, on the 2nd Saturday of each month October through May, our Worship band, JewGrass Revival, leads a folk-rock-oriented service under the big, beautiful trees on our front lawn. The goal in creating this experience was to make a once-a-month, Shabbat “mini-festival” feel that would be appealing to those who just don’t want to be with us, or can’t be with us on Friday nights. This dog-friendly environment features a coffee truck serving lattes and espressos, etc., a big lawn for the kids to run around on, and often a post-service activity such as yoga, a Ukulele Circle, or story time for the little ones. Neighbors stop by and commune in a VERY casual Shabbat experience. The Neshama in nature is 2nd to none. Outside the walls! We even offer a boutique Yoga & Fitness Studio in our Chapel every Monday through Friday with expert practitioner Sue Elle Strong. We love embarking on “field trips” with our congregants to baseball games with the Marlins, and basketball games with the Heat, as well as museums and member-hosted house parties where we expand beyond the four walls, out into our broader community. If you’ve reached this point in the article and would like to know more about any of the above-mentioned items, or would like to talk regarding anything else temple-related, please reach out and say hello. We’d love to show you around and share a cup of coffee. If you’re interested in signing someone up for our APP program, mention this article and receive a $500.00 credit towards their training! Shalom. Jeff Jacob jeff@tbehollywood.com Previous Next

From Miami’s Jewish Beginning, There Was Isidor Cohen By Sylvia Gurinsky Feb 18, 2025 Recently the City of Miami celebrated Isidor Cohen, a true pioneer of Miami, with the naming of Isidor Cohen Road. The event, held with family and friends present at the Center for Jewish Life at Beth David, 2625 Southwest 3rd Avenue, honored his legacy of community growth, cultural inclusion, and vision for our city’s future. (Pictured: All descendants of Isidor and Ida Cohen.) In June, 1896, Isidor Cohen, a young merchant, was beginning his first summer in Miami and was already experiencing business ups and downs, mosquitos, snakes, rats and hot weather. Nevertheless, he wrote in his diary, “This is going to be a wonderful city.” Greater Miami has had its own ups and downs, but Cohen’s prediction has generally been correct. And he and his family have been among the reasons for that success. Cohen had arrived in February, 1896, two months before the first train. He tried to negotiate with Julia Tuttle for land on the north side of the Miami River. She recommended he take a job clearing land. “I tried to impress this naïve lady that the last labor of this character my race had performed was in the land of Egypt, and that it would be a violation of my religious convictions to resume that condition of servitude,” he later wrote. After starting on the south side of the river, Cohen soon moved to the north side, where most of the business was. He quickly became part of the growing community, joining most of the new organizations except the Tuxedo Club – because he didn’t own a tuxedo. In July, 1896, Cohen voted to officially incorporate the city of Miami. He took note of the Black men who voted and spoke in favor of the new city and wrote favorably about them. His book, “Historical Sketches and Sidelights of Miami, Florida,” was published in 1925 – the first locally published book with a positive look at the Black community. In the beginning, things looked favorable for the growing Jewish community as well, with an 1896 Commemoration of the High Holy Days. But two fires and a Yellow Fever Epidemic before 1900 temporarily reduced the size of that community. Cohen didn’t give up. In 1904, he married Ida Schneiderman, the widow of another early Miami Jewish merchant, and adopted her son, Murray. Isidor and Ida added two more children – daughter Claire and son Eddie, who had the first Bris in Miami in 1908. The growth extended far beyond the family. In 1912, Isidor and Ida were among the founders of Beth David Congregation, the city’s first and oldest Synagogue. In 1941, Ida Cohen was a principal creator of what’s now Miami Jewish Health Systems. After World War 2, the Cohens were among the founders of Mount Sinai Medical Center. During the 1950’s, Claire Cohen Weintraub helped to begin what is now the Frost Science Museum. By the time Isidor Cohen died in 1951, Miami was on its way to becoming a major international center. Today, members of his family continue as community leaders. In January, the City of Miami honored Cohen by naming the street just north of Beth David Congregation for him. Such an honor is long overdue for a primary founding father of Jewish Miami. Isidor Cohen was the father of Greater Miami's Jewish community - Credit: www.museumoffamilyhistory.com In January, the City of Miami honored Cohen in a ceremony by naming the street just north of Beth David Congregation for him. Credit: Miami-Dade Communications Department Isidor and Ida Cohen and family with Claire Weintraub (Right) - Credit: www.floridamemory.com Ida Cohen, wife of Miami's first permanent Jewish settler, Isidor Cohen - Credit: www.museumoffamilyhistory.com Previous Next

Jewish Family Home Care Once Again Awarded With Three 2025 Best Of Home Care® Awards Pictured: JFHC CEO Robin Miller Feb 18, 2025 Jewish Family Home Care (JFHC) – a not-for-profit agency – is honored to announce that it once again received three 2025 Best of Home Care Awards from Activated Insights, formerly Home Care Pulse, the leading firm in experience management for post-acute care. The awards include the Leader in Experience, Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice. JFHC received all three awards in 2024 and both the Best of Home Care® – Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice Awards from Activated Insights in 2023. JFHC provides multi-reach, non-medical home quality home health care for Broward County, Florida seniors from all reaches of life and any faith. JFHC is one of the largest providers of home health care providing assistance to Holocaust survivors and anyone in Broward County needing in-home care. Providing service to more than 400 clients, including over 300 Holocaust survivors, JFHC offers services such as home health aides, companions, housekeepers and certified nursing assistants. It delivers tailor-made home health care plans, with special consideration to patients’ physical and emotional needs, as well as their family’s budget. The Leader in Experience Award is the highest recognition awarded by Activated Insights and is given to select home care businesses that consistently rank among the very highest in 10 or more quality metrics. As a Leader in Experience, JFHC is now recognized among the top 10% of home care providers participating in the nationwide Activated Insights Experience Management program. This accomplishment demonstrates JFHC’s long-term dedication to excellent care and quality improvement. To qualify for this award, 10% of JFHC’s clients and caregivers were interviewed each month by Activated Insights. Over 12 months, JFHC received high client and caregiver satisfaction ratings in areas such as caregiver training, compassion of caregivers, communication, scheduling, client/caregiver compatibility and more. Using feedback from clients and employees, as well as quality benchmarks from Activated Insights, the JFHC management team set goals to reach the highest level of experience possible. The Best of Home Care® – Leader in Experience Award highlights the top-performing home care businesses in the nation. Activated Insights believes that by honoring these providers, families looking for in-home care for a loved one will be able to recognize and choose a trusted home care provider. The Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice Awards are granted only to the top-ranking home care providers, based on client and employee satisfaction scores gathered by Activated Insights. JFHC is now ranked among a small handful of home care providers across the country who have proven their ability to provide an exceptional working experience to employees and the highest quality care to clients. Best of Home Care providers have contracted with Activated Insights to gather feedback from their clients and caregivers via live phone interviews each month. Because Activated Insights is an independent company, it can collect honest and unbiased feedback. “We are proud to once again be honored with the 2025 Best of Home Care® – Leader in Experience, Employer & Provider of Choices awards from Activated Insights,” said JFHC CEO Robin Miller. “Each of these awards is a true testament to our commitment to providing exceptional in-home care to our families, as they are based on testimonials from both our clients and our caregivers. This wouldn’t be possible without my incredible team who shares my passion for excellence and delivering the best results to our clients and their families. Knowing that we’re making a difference in the lives of others fuels our passion and commitment to exceeding expectations every day.” “At Activated Insights, our mission is to help post-acute care businesses create an experience that goes beyond client and caregiver expectations; ultimately improving outcomes for all stakeholders in the care continuum,” says Bud Meadows, Chief Executive Officer of Activated Insights. “When we see agencies like Jewish Family Home Care that have so effectively provided outstanding care and employment experiences, we know we’re on the right track. Jewish Family Home Care has worked extremely hard to prioritize high-quality care and employment, and their work hasn’t gone unnoticed. These awards allow them to show proof of quality to potential clients and caregivers.” To find out more about JFHC’s commitment to excellence, please visit: www.JFCares.org - Or call: (954) 908-5677. Previous Next

Roll With The Punches By Judith Levy Jan 7, 2025 Life offers many ups and downs. Some blows, especially the unexpected ones, bolts out of the blue, are more hurtful than others, but what choice do we have? We must endure. The loss of loved ones, parents, partners, and worst of all a child leaves no option but to reel from the blow, get up, steady yourself and go on. Many times, we wonder what we did to deserve this unspeakable sadness. There are no answers for you, only words of sympathy that are being offered by friends who want to, but don’t really know how to comfort you. You listen, appreciate their kindness but nothing will help other than the passage of time. You look at the pictures of your dear loved ones, even talk to them, but nothing will ease your pain other than some momentary distraction and the ticking of the clock, heralding the passage of time. The calendar betrays your true feelings with each passing birthday or anniversary that shouts at you, remember me and the good times we spent together. Of course you do remember them, and painful as it is, you hold those memories dear and try to comfort yourself with recollections of the heartfelt times and the laughter you shared with these people whose absence leaves a permanent hole in your heart. I know it’s difficult, been there and done that, but do try to look forward. The people you loved would want that for you. Your happiness would be their fondest wish, so embrace that thought and try to face tomorrow with good thoughts and a smile. Rain makes flowers bloom and then to everyone’s joy, the sun comes out. Sometimes reaching out to be with someone who has walked the road you are now traveling on offers a modicum of relief from sorrow. Helping others might help you. Try it. Judith Levy speaks for organizations and is the New York Times best-selling author of GRANDMOTHER REMEMBERS, which has sold over four million copies and the mega best-seller GRANDFATHER REMEMBERS published by HarperCollins. Both books, perfect gifts, are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Previous Next

Chanukah Discovery: Rare Coins Unearth Hasmonean History By Hanan Greenwood and Assaf Golan Jan 7, 2025 A remarkable archaeological discovery emerged in the Jordan Valley during this year’s Chanukah Festival: a cache of coins minted under King of Judea Alexander Jannaeus, a significant ruler of the Hasmonean Kingdom from 104–76 BCE. Jannaeus (whose Hebrew name was Jonathan, as revealed in historical records and confirmed by numismatic evidence) was descended from a lineage of revolutionary Hasmonean leaders. He was the son of John Hyrcanus, the grandson of Simon, and the great-grandson of Mattathias, who sparked the rebellion against Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the Seleucid Empire. That historic uprising, which began in 167 BCE, culminated in the Temple’s purification from Syrian-Greek idolatry and the genesis of the Chanukah celebration. The rebellion led to the establishment of a sovereign Jewish kingdom under Hasmonean leadership. Conducted by the University of Haifa’s premier archaeological team—including Shai Bar from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, Yoav Farhi and Michael Osband—the excavation uncovered a previously unknown roadside complex. “The site features a ritual bath, water reservoir and additional structures along Nahal Tirzah’s [the Tirzah Stream’s] banks, situated on the primary route leading to the Sartaba Fortress, which Jannaeus himself constructed,” Bar elaborated. Farhi, the Israel Museum’s ancient coin curator, noted the cache’s remarkable uniformity. Each coin bears an eight-pointed star with an Aramaic inscription reading “King Alexander Year 25” on one side, and an anchor with a Greek inscription on the reverse. Dated to 80 or 79 BCE, such comprehensive coin collections are exceptionally rare in archaeological research, making this discovery particularly significant. “Discovering this Hasmonean treasure during Chanukah imbued our work with profound meaning, especially amid the current challenging national context,” Bar said. “We hope this site will become a cherished public landmark, enriching Israel’s archaeological heritage.” Originally published by Israel Hayom. Photo by Shai Bar/The Zinman Institute of Archaeology - Ancient coins minted under King Alexander Jannaeus, found in the Jordan Valley. Previous Next