Home Page of TBE

Temple Beth-El
of City Island
"your shul by the sea"

480 City Is. Ave, P.O. Box 188, City Is., NY 10464 (Updated on 1/18/2012)

About the Shul

About Rabbi Shohama

Special Sabbath Welcomes New

On Friday, November 11th, Jonathan Elias Davidowitz was formally and joyously welcomed to "Your Shul by the Sea".
At the November 11th Kabbalat Shabbat, members Anke and Joshua Davidowitz brought their five month-old son Jonathan Elias (Yonatan Chayim) to be officially welcomed into the community of Temple Beth-El of City Island.

TBE Member

The ceremony included the washing of Jonathan's feet, which coincided with that week's Torah portion, Vayaera where Abraham welcomed guests by washing their feet.

Jonathan's names were also explained as well as being blessed by Rabbi Shohama and Reb David into the covenant of the Jewish people.

The service was followed by an Oneg sponsored by Jonathan's grandparents, Karen and Martin Davidowitz.

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Joyous Simchat Torah Celebration at TBE

     On Friday October 21, about 50 congregants celebrated Simchat Torah at Temple Beth-El of City Island.
The services led by Reb David Markus included a wonderful mixture of prayers, music, dancing and poetry.
     The highlight of this special service was the removal of the Torahs from the Ark. Several in the audience
held and danced with the Torahs to rejoice in the completion of this year's reading cycle of the Torah.
      Reb David, Rabbi Shohama and congregants spread the scrolls for all to see while certain words and
sections were read and interpreted for those attending.

         At the end of the service, long time Temple Beth-El member and City Island resident
Miriam Kleinberg was presented with the New York Comptroller's Service Award, in recognition
of her outstanding leadership and community service.
     Unfortunately, Miriam was unable to attend the service and instead the award was accepted
by her daughter, Deborah Kleinberg of Silver Spring, Maryland. Deborah expressed Miriam's
gratitute for the special recognition and that she is most honored to be a recipient of the Service
Award.        (Above right, Deborah with Temple President Steve Slotmik.)

9th Annual Shabbat By The Sea Was Held on August 12th

City Island hospitality runs high among the membership of Temple Beth-El of C.I. -- aptly named "YOUR Shul by the Sea". And our sunsets aren't bad either, especially when they can be enjoyed during the Shabbat service.

Our 9th annual Shabbat by the Sea was conducted by Rabbi Shohama Wiener, accompanied by Reb David Markus and the Shul Band at the home (or should we say "backyard") of Ken Binder and Steve Roth at 2 Bay Street on Friday, August 12th at 7:30 pm. (See photo above.)

This year's pre-service Shabbos dinner was held at the Stuyvesant Yacht Club, 10 Centre Street, City Island. After dinner, many of us wound up taking the SYC launch to Ken and Steve's for the service -- leaving our cars at the yacht club. (Once again, J.J. Ruggieri, the club's steward, came through with several delicious dinners for us.)

(All the above photos were taken by Bob Berent.)