As the new year begins, Beth Israel Jewish Congregation of Sun City Center acknowledges and celebrates the significance of its hard work and achievements in reaching its 50-year milestone and anniversary.
This enduring vessel of faith has been anchored to the Hillsborough County SouthShore community for half a century and it marks the event with a gathering at Kings Point Veterans Theater on January 31, for a celebration of the cumulative work the congregation has performed thus far.
Ricki Bauman is the president of Beth Israel Sun City Center, and she said that working to benefit others is a core principle of the group and largely defines its purpose.
“We are very active in what we call social action,” she said.
Beth Israel’s social action efforts include things like sustaining a meal delivery program for local senior citizens and collecting school supplies not just for young scholars learning their lessons but for their teachers as well.
Today’s thriving congregation dates back to 1975 and is the legacy of a cohort, small in number but possessed of that hard-won faith common to those who seek meaningful answers to life’s questions. Its leader, Rabbi Adolf Feinberg, Ph.D., was a retired Army chaplain who combined spiritual clarity and administrative prowess to establish Beth Israel’s foundations.
As the group of devotees gathered and grew over the years, a series of leaders provided intermittent spiritual guidance to them until they received Rabbi Carla Freedman in July of 2013. This brought about more formal instruction in the Jewish faith and greater access to pastoral services as she excelled in creating a congregation defined by compassion. Her passing in 2024 presents a great initial challenge for the next 50 years as the congregation seeks to maintain its religious, education and social development in selecting its next spiritual leader.
“We want to expand on all those aspects of growth in the next 50 years,” said Bauman, who added that all are welcome to learn about the congregation and its programs.
Beth Israel is currently led by Rabbi Phillip Cohen, PhD as interim rabbi.
You can learn more by visiting https://jcscc.org/ online or calling 813-634-2590.
