History

Congregation Beth Shalom, predecessor to our Temple, started in 1968 with a handful of Sun City residents looking for a spiritual home. Dr. Aaron Papermaster led the effort. In 1969 the Congregation began meeting at the Fairway Center in Sun City and moved to the Sun Dial Center in 1975.

The first Rabbi was a student Rabbi, Bernard Beliak, in 1970-71. In 1972, Rabbi Albert Michels became the first permanent Rabbi of the Congregation and was officially installed in 1972 with local Church and religious dignitaries participating in the ceremony. The first Beth Shalom Bulletin appeared in 1971, followed by the Beth Shalom Newsletter in 1973.

Dr. Papermaster and his wife presented the first Torah to the Congregation.

In 1976, land was purchased at the site of the present Temple and the ground breaking ceremony was held January, 1977.

As the Congregation grew, there were additions to the Temple building. The Social Hall was added in 1983, the auditorium and adjacent rooms, the porte cochere, as well as the choir area were added in 1989, and the office addition was added in 1998.

A religious school was formed in 2009 and continues for students K-8, including bar/bat mitzvah training.

The Rabbi’s which served Temple Beth Shalom following Rabbi Michels were Rabbi Bernard Kligfeld from 1982 to 1997 and Rabbi Arthur Abrams from 1997 to 2005.  Rabbi Abrams is now Rabbi Emeritus.

Temple Beth Shalom has been served by Rabbi Sheldon Moss since 2005. Rabbi Moss is retiring summer 2019 and will also be our Rabbi Emeritus. We are pleased to have Rabbi Dana Kaplan join us this summer.