Temple Israel-Greater Miami Jewish Federation Joint Venture

Founded in 1922, Temple Israel of Greater Miami was South Florida’s first Reform synagogue and has served the Jewish community at its present location on 19th Street since 1928. As the synagogue plans to sunset on June 30, 2025, its leaders have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a Joint Venture with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, which will ensure a meaningful Jewish future for the historic campus and the community.

Jewish Miami: A 2024 Community Study, a comprehensive examination of the Jewish population of Miami-Dade County commissioned by Federation, has found that the Temple Israel site is situated in a dynamic area of tremendous growth. In fact, 16% of Jewish households reside in the Central Region, with an increasing number of young adults, ages 18-34. Further, while 41% of K-12 Jewish students in Miami-Dade attend a Jewish day school (nearly quadruple the national average of 11%), the study’s data shows a strong interest in even more Jewish educational facilities in our community.    

These findings — and others — demonstrate many great reasons to explore the creation of a new campus that welcomes people to participate in nearly every aspect of Jewish life. The Temple Israel-Federation Joint Venture is being led by Robert Berrin with the dedicated efforts of Temple Israel President Marc Lamb, Federation Board Chair Lily Serviansky, Jonathan Raiffe, Peter Bermont and Leonard and Jayne Abess, as well as professional support from Federation President & CEO Scott Kaufman, Temple Israel Executive Director Shari Debowsky and Federation Chief Planning Officer Michelle Labgold.

Four subcommittees are being created to advance the Temple Israel-Federation Joint Venture:

 

A clear timeline will be established shortly, with defined benchmarks, especially concerning the preservation of key aspects of the Temple Israel campus. These include safeguarding historic elements, archiving important documents and ensuring proper care of religious items. While no final decisions have been made, assessments are being conducted, particularly regarding the aging infrastructure. 

Even after the official sunsetting of Temple Israel in June, the Joint Venture will continue to keep the community informed on progress toward the shared goals of all involved.

Both Temple Israel and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation are genuinely excited about the prospects to serve the community with a new Jewish campus and are eager to honor the legacy of Temple Israel and create an exciting Jewish future on 19th Street.

We value your ideas, feedback and questions. Please contact us by email at [email protected].