The Shul of Bal Harbour is a

Chabad-Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

synagogue in

Surfside, Florida Surfside is a town in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,689 as of the 2020 census. Surfside is a primarily residential beachside community, with several multistory condominium buildings adjacent to Surfside Beach on ...

named by ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' as one of America's 25 most vibrant congregations.

History

The Shul was founded by Rabbi

Sholom Lipskar Sholom Dovber Lipskar (born 1946) is a Chabad rabbi who was principal of the Landow Yeshiva in Miami Beach in 1969. He founded The Shul of Bal Harbour in Surfside, Florida, as well as the Aleph Institute in 1981. Early life Born in Tashkent, ...

, who was sent as an emissary of the Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneersohn, to Miami Beach in 1969. After finding no active Jewish community in the Surfside area, Lipskar initially met in hotel rooms before moving to a storefront. In the early 1980s, Surfside was not welcoming to Jews with real-estate agents refusing to deal with Jewish clients. In 1982 the local Bal Harbor Club dropped its policy banning Jewish and Black people after a discrimination lawsuit. The Shul moved to its current site in 1987.

Building

The $9 million, 34,000 square foot building was completed and opened in 1994 in time for

Rosh Hashanah Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...

. The building is colonnaded and the design resembles ancient Jerusalem sandstone.

Expansion

In 2016, The Shul announced a 40,000 square foot expansion at the cost of $20 million to be finished in two years. The expansion includes an all-glass wall 40 foot high social hall with glass ceilings accommodating crowds of up to 700 people.

Membership and services

The congregation membership has 700 families representing 3,000 people. Programming includes adult education, programs for Latin American Jewry, early childhood, and five daily

minyans According to Greek mythology and legendary prehistory of the Aegean region, the Minyans or Minyae ( el, Μινύες, ''Minyes'') were an autochthonous group inhabiting the Aegean region. The extent to which the prehistory of the Aegean world ...

. The Shul is also the headquarters for the

Aleph Institute Aleph Institute is a Jewish humanitarian organization for both prisoners and military personnel. Aleph Institute also has sister branches, the European Aleph Institute, and the North Eastern US Aleph Institute. Services Aleph provides critical so ...

, an organization assisting Jewish prisoners and military personnel, also founded by Lipskar.

Surfside Condominium collapse

After the

Surfside condominium collapse On June 24, 2021, at approximately 1:22 a.m. EDT, Champlain Towers South, a 12-story beachfront condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida, United States, partially collapsed, causing the death of 98 people. Four people were ...

, The Shul raised over $500,000 for families of the victims and distributed aid to displaced community members.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:The Shul of Bal Harbour 20th-century synagogues Religious organizations established in 1981 Surfside, Florida Synagogues completed in 1994