Bat Yam provides highlights of past season
Janice Block Chaddock, president of the Bat Yam Temple of the Islands on Sanibel, recently offered some of the following highlights from the past season:
– In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Bat Yam’s Torahs were found and rescued by two residents who boarded a police boat to Sanibel. One was a Czech Torah that was rescued in the Holocaust, wrapped in heavy duty plastic and completely dry. NBC’s “Nightly News with Lester Holt” reported on the story.
– Once the hurricane-damaged Sanibel Causeway was repaired and reopened to traffic, Bat Yam retrieved its prayer books, arks, spiritual leader robes, and supplies from the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ. All were transferred to a secure storage facility in Estero.
– Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur were conducted online by Rabbi Stephen Fuchs and Cantor Murray Simon.
– The Jewish Federation of Lee and Charlotte Counties offered the use its space for Bat Yam’s Friday night Shabbats. In addition, Bat Yam’s hurricane recovery efforts and financial reserves have received a healthy boost from the support of many donors post-storm.
– Bat Yam members researched the answers to Fuchs’ Quiz Questions about the torah each week.
– Bat Yam member Vickie Fuchs, who had been treated for stage 3 lymphoma at the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa, rang the bell at the successful conclusion of her cancer treatments.
– Fuchs ordained he and his wife’s son, Rabbi Leo Eliezer Fuchs, at a ceremony in Los Angeles.
Block Chaddock added that there will be lay-led, summer Shabbat gatherings on June 9, July 7 and Aug. 4. It is the tradition of Bat Yam to arrange a dinner at an area restaurant before the services. The services will also be available via Zoom. For more information, contact batyamsanibel@gmail.com.