- November 22, 2024
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On July 15, 1973, 18 Jewish families, new homeowners in the Palm Coast C Section, neighbors who became friends, gathered together to celebrate weekly Sabbath and Holiday celebrations. Since they had more than enough people to create a minyan (10 men as required by Biblical law), they decided to form a congregation and named it Temple Beth Shalom ... House of Peace.
They approached developer ITT Community Development Corporation (ICDC) for space to meet and were offered the opportunity to conduct services in the Palm Coast Welcome Center during off-hours.
As the congregation grew, ICDC offered them use of Valencia, one of its model homes. Buyers were closing on homes at a rapid rate in those early years, and as the population grew in Palm Coast, so did the congregation.
In 1974, ICDC graciously offered use of the dining room at the original Yacht Club, and with the help of Alan Smolen, then president of ICDC, a search for a site on which to build a permanent home was initiated.
On Feb. 20, 1979, the congregation purchased a 3-acre parcel of remote wooded land on Wellington Drive. While in stages of planning, development and construction, Shabbat (Sabbath) services shifted to the larger Emergency Services Building, graciously offered by the Palm Coast Fire Department, as long as it did not interfere with operations.
The rest is a history that parallels the development of Palm Coast.
Now in its Golden Jubilee Year, Temple Beth Shalom has much to celebrate, and welcomes the entire Palm Coast community to join them. Members of the 50th Anniversary Committee, under the chairmanship of architect Alex Maller, have planned an amazing weekend for Oct. 27-29, which will include a Shabbaton (celebration of the Sabbath that includes prayer, learning, guest rabbis and music) and a festive Golden Jubilee Celebration on Sunday evening, Oct. 29 at neighboring Pine Lakes Golf Club.
More details will follow as the committee invites civic leaders, historians, local professionals and businesses, as well as the general public to participate. For further inquiries, feel free to contact Temple Beth Shalom at 386- 445-3006 any Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 9 a.m. to noon.
