Synagogue on Palm Beach coming of age

By Lona O'Connor Palm Beach Post Religion Writer

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Moshe Scheiner, the founding rabbi of Palm Beach Synagogue	PALM BEACH — The sight of an Orthodox rabbi walking down North County Road in his broad-brimmed hat and sober-sided black coat was a head-turner in 1994 in the town of Palm Beach. "He had the fringes and all that stuff," said Sandy Kuvin, a physician who has lived in Palm Beach for 42 years. "I said, 'Who is this guy from outer space?''" Moshe Scheiner, the founding rabbi of Palm Beach Synagogue, is also dean of its new Hebrew academy, one of its many offerings.
It must be noted that this apparition was occurring in the town that once barred Jews from many of its exclusive private clubs. In 1994, even some Palm Beach Jews worried that the new Palm Beach Synagogue might be "too Orthodox." This year, Palm Beach Synagogue, its founding rabbi, Moshe Scheiner, and its congregation are celebrating their 13th, or "bar mitzvah," year. The synagogue is growing like a 13-year-old too. The new Judy Steinberg Hebrew Academy, with Scheiner as dean, just opened a few blocks away with 20 children and plans to add higher grades. Scheiner waves across the street to his young son, one of a group of preschoolers in yarmulkes, on their way into school, housed in the former Palm Beach Junior High School building on Cocoanut Row. The synagogue also operates a weekend Hebrew school for older children, has started a children's camp and sponsors a number of cultural events, including musical programs and speakers like Holocaust survivor Esther Jungreis and controversial Mideast commentator Daniel Pipes. "It's quite a meaningful year for us," said Michael Gelfand, a physician and founder of the synagogue. "Now that were passing into our maturity, we are obliged to fulfill these roles." The synagogue's first temporary home was in the basement of Temple Emanu-El, the oldest and at that time the only Jewish house of worship in Palm Beach. The fledgling congregation was so tiny that members joked about having to stand out on the street to collect 10 men for a minyan, the minimum number to hold a service. "We frequently had to borrow members from Temple Emanu-El," Gelfand said of the synagogue's Conservative neighbor. The temple later used space in a hotel before moving to its present home at 120 N. County Road. Now it has 250 families and is expanding its building. "Putting an Orthodox synagogue in the town of Palm Beach, it was a miracle, because of the history of being exclusionary to Jews," said Kuvin, 77, who joined the synagogue when it opened. "In all fairness, (the town) grew with the times." No longer an unwelcome minority When Kuvin moved to Palm Beach 42 years ago, he estimates that no more than 1 percent to 2 percent of the town's population was Jewish. In those days, his four children, who attended Palm Beach Public School, were not allowed to go to their friends' cotillions. When friends invited Kuvin and his wife to private clubs on the island, their names were crossed off the guest list. So Kuvin, an accomplished musician, took particular pleasure in tootling klezmer music on his clarinet on County Road as the congregation moved its torah into its new home. In 1994, Scheiner was fresh from rabbinical school and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Newly married to his wife, Dina, he was making his living as a medical instruments salesman in Miami when Michael Gelfand met him through Scheiner's brother Dovi, also a rabbi. Starting as a part-time rabbi, Scheiner soon saw his duties at the synagogue eclipse his weekday job. "When he came here, he asked me about the town," Kuvin said. "He was very innocent and naive. I said, 'Moshe, don't confuse the land of milk and honey (Israel) with the land of sand and money. Don't be corrupted by the wealth that is so obvious in this area.''" Palm Beach attorney Skip Randolph met Scheiner early in his tenure, when he and his wife took Scheiner's introductory course in Hebrew. Later Randolph and Scheiner worked together as board members of the Palm Beach Fellowship of Christians and Jews. "He's dedicated to his faith, to his family and to his synagogue," Randolph said. "He's a very valuable member of the board." Open minds, hearts Scheiner's members also are active in interfaith endeavors. Kuvin is part of a cooperative effort between Israel and its Arab neighbors to fight malaria and other infectious diseases. Edward Steinberg, a retired optometrist, is a member of the Pave the Way Foundation, which fosters links between Christians and Jews. Palm Beach jewelry designer Laura Munder and her daughter Charlotte tried a number of congregations before they turned to Palm Beach Synagogue nine years ago. Like many who did not grow up in the Orthodox tradition, Munder, raised a Conservative Jew, worried that she might not be able to fulfill the many requirements of an observant Orthodox life. She invited Scheiner to her home to discuss the issues. "He made me feel good about being Jewish as opposed to, 'I'm never going to be good enough.''" Since then, her attitude toward her religion has deepened. "The message is, 'How do you want to live your life? Do you have this incorporated into your heart?' That's a real fundamental shift about how I live my life."