Anyone who looks for a temple knows that virtually every temple with a website claims to be vibrant, diverse, and spiritually dynamic. We can’t speak for anyone else, but at Temple Israel of Greater Miami, those descriptions would be understatements. We are really different.

Our Location

For starters, there is our inner city location—we are not a suburban temple in any sense of the word. Our neighborhood is smack in the middle of Miami’s emerging arts district, five minutes from downtown and just blocks from the future Performing Arts Center. Until fairly recently, it was not a location that anyone would describe as gentrified, and we are probably the American temple with the least number of members residing in our own zip code. In fact, it’s often noted that everyone who comes to our services drives by at least one other temple (and sometimes a half dozen) to get to Temple Israel. We do this because we find something at Temple Israel that we can’t find anywhere else. Directions to our temple.

What we are trying to do?

Most of all, we are a temple of grown-ups. Yes, there are plenty of kids. But we do not practice "pediatric Judaism." Jewish learning at Temple Israel does not stop at the age of thirteen; it’s for everyone, and indeed adults and children often study together. As our rabbi has stated, "We are building a Judaism for adults, deep in its learning, honest in its wrestling with the Divine, with sincere compassion for the world about us. If we have such a Judaism in our lives, we need not worry whether the next generation will be Jewish or not. The children in our Temple family will grow up to be like us."

Our Clergy
Two big draws are our rabbis, Jody Cohen and Mitchell Chefitz. Neither of them came to us through a traditional route. Mitch was a leader in the havurah movement, a noted kabbalist, and the author of several acclaimed Jewish-themed novels before he joined our pulpit.  Jody was the Southeast Regional Director for the URJ for many years.  Both Jody and Mitch bring exciting new dimensions to our classic Reform tradition.  More information on our clergy.

Our Music
Whatever we’re doing, music is always crucial, and it’s always highly participatory. If you like to sing, you’ll feel right at home. Music Director Dr. Alan Mason creates music unlike that you have ever heard before. More information about our music.

Our Architecture
Our main sanctuary, built in 1926, is a gorgeous Moorish style structure. We also have a Gaudiesque jewelbox chapel, designed by Kenneth Treister. More information about our architecture.

Our Diversity
You want diversity? Some of our services are a tropical tzimmes of languages: English, Spanish, and Hebrew, with a little Yiddish, Ladino and Aramaic thrown in for good measure. We were the first local synagogue to reach out to the gay and lesbian community. On any given Shabbat, you might daven with local politicians and journalists, young singles, old hippies, new immigrants from Latin America, interfaith families, couples celebrating their 50th year together, people in suits and people in blue jeans. Some of our members grew up Orthodox, others grew up outside Judaism altogether; many men don’t wear a kippah, and some women do. Our congregants also include many of the pioneer families of Miami Reform Judaism. Unusual for a young city like Miami, we have many multigeneral families, whose older members remember the groundbreaking 80 years ago for the sanctuary where their grandchildren and great grandchildren are now becoming b’nai mitvah. See more information about our Gay and Lesbian programs and Spanish speaking community.

Our Social Action / Tikkun Olam
We are diverse enough to encompass the full political spectrum, but our temple has historically been known as a hub for liberal social action. Our rabbis and members have been at the forefront of every civil rights movement in Miami’s history, including those that were controversial at the time (for instance, we were almost alone among local synagogues to speak out against Anita Bryant’s anti-gay campaign in the seventies.) In 2000, when Jesse Jackson came to Miami to protest the counting of the presidential election ballots, it was our pulpit that he spoke from. More information on our social action programs

Our History
Unlike most synagogues in South Florida, we have a long history. We were founded in 1922, and have been in the same location since 1926. In some respects, the history of Temple Israel is the history of Miami. More information on our history