Search Results

TBS Sisterhood All women Temple members are invited to join the Sisterhood. First-year Temple members receive a complimentary membership to Sisterhood. WE:  Are a group of Jewish women supporting our Temple.  Are an active, friendly group offering many opportunities for women.  Share our many talents and interests.  Provide activities that enable caring and bonding experiences.  Maintain the Judaica Boutique .  Send Yahrzeit reminders.  Provide Bereavement “Meal of Consolation.”  Raise funds all year to benefit Temple Beth Shalom through our many activities.  Meet the third Monday of each month from October through May.  Sponsor the Oneg Shabbat after the Friday night service. Dues are $25 per year. For more information, contact the Temple at 623.977.3240 or email the Sisterhood at tbssisterhoodconnection@gmail.com .

Social Activities To be a devoted Reform Jew is to do many things. One of the most important is to work toward making th e world a better place. Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley offers many ways to make new friends, celebrate and support one another through good times and bad, and volunteer to help the Temple and the entire community. So cial Action Committee : We work together as a community to try to help the lives of at least a few people. For example, we have been supporters of the Valley View Community Food Bank in Sun City since it was founded in 2007. Brotherhood: Our Brotherhood was established in 1979 at Temple Beth Shalom to promote fellowship and service to the Temple. Toward that goal, the Brotherhood sponsors Temple fundraisers and social events. Sisterhood : All women Temple members are invited to join the Sisterhood. First-year Temple members receive a complimentary membership to Sisterhood. Chavurah: Temple Beth Shalom members with similar interests get together to share communal activities and Jewish learning. Community Projects : From canned goods to cereal, Temple members make donations as part of the "Can Do" monthly campaign to benefit the Valley View Community Food Bank. Caring Committee: Our Caring Committee specializes in building connections with our congregants and their immediate family members during times of health crisis and beyond. Book Club : The TBS Book Club meets by Zoom the third Wednesday of the month at 2 p.m. Most books are Jewish-related fiction and non-fiction, but not always. Grief Group : Are you experiencing grief or depression? The grief group meets monthly (except during the summer) at the Temple for all members and non-members. For more information, the Temple office at 623.977.3240. A Jewis h Community for a Better You and a Better Worl d

Social Action For over 150 years, Reform Judaism in America has placed emphasis on social justice, based on our ancient mandate of tzedek, tzedek tirdof - “justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley's Social Action Committee provides us with a vehicle for working together as a community to try to help the lives of at least a few people. Therefore, it is a very important Mitzvah that we should all participate in. We have been supporters of the Valley View Community Food Bank (VVCFB) in Sun City since it was founded in 2007. While donating food is always a necessity for the growing number of residents of the West Valley who are food insecure, we support the VVCFB in other ways as well. For a full year during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, in each week of the month, a quarter of our members pledged to financially support the VVCFB due to the exceptionally higher demand for services from this invaluable social service agency. In 2022 and 2023, we have featured the “Item of the Month” program. Our members are asked to bring a specific item to Friday Shabbat services that changes every month. We bring canned fruit, pasta and rice, canned meats, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and – lest we forget that almost everyone needs a pet – we also bring pet food one month.

Friday Night Shabbat Services Watch Friday Jan 24th Shabbat Service Watch previous Friday Evening Shabbat services on Temple Beth Shalom's YouTube channel. Join us via Zoom or sign up to attend services at the Temple by calling 623.977.3240. We celebrate Shabbat every Friday night with a joyous service at about 7 p.m. which runs to about 8:15 p.m., followed by an Oneg. Our Shabbat services are led by Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan and Cantor Baruch Koritan. Most of the prayers we read are in English so a worshiper with minimal Hebrew should be able to participate actively. Many of the prayers that are sung are in Hebrew and our prayer book provides transliterations of 100% of them. The services are snappy and upbeat. We want to pray to God with reverence and sincerity but we also want to mix in a little bit of levity and humor. We read the Torah every Friday night. Sometimes the rabbi reads a short excerpt and simultaneously translates it into English, while at other times he attempts to chant and summarizes the biblical story after finishing. We have a Torah processional preceding the reading and the rabbi likes to give one of our two smaller Torahs to children to carry around the sanctuary. The rabbi speaks extemporaneously from notes rather than reading from a prepared text. He likes to come down from the bimah to better communicate and interact with all of us in the pews. Sometimes he engages us extensively in discussion and other times he delivers remarks stressing a particular point about Judaism and connecting it to the contemporary world. We sing Debbie Friedman’s Misheberach song every Friday night as part of our regular prayers for healing. Some of us may believe God can heal us and others may believe that marshaling the combined spiritual power of many people can create miracles. Either way, we want to focus our thoughts and bring forth our emotions in a determined effort to bring healing and wholeness to our friends and family, our community and nation, and ourselves as well.

Religious School Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley reopened its religious school in 2023, as part of the congregation's wish to create a multi-generational community. We welcome students from the entire West Valley. Kindergarten is free! Our small school allows us to provide individual attention. We have a team of volunteer teachers from our community who work with students under the guidance of the rabbi. Families of our religious school students are actively involved in the religious and social life of the Temple, including attending services on Friday nights. Our Temple is committed to providing a warm and caring environment for all students to explore their spirituality. We aspire to inspire each student to develop a love of Jewish learning and provide the opportunity for them to participate actively in Jewish ritual and holiday observances. Learning is both individualized and personalized. We also want to help each student to feel emotions related to the biblical stories and ritual acts they are learning about. Our educational experience is not just about learning facts but is centered on what those facts can and do mean for us as human beings. We also engage them with a series of values based on Professor Martin Seligman’s positive psychology. Temple Beth Shalom offers study opportunities leading to confirmation at a minimum age of 15, and bar and bat mitzvah at a minimum age of 13. As part of the confirmation process, the older kids will study advanced material dealing with various themes across Jewish studies. We're trying to build a distinctly Reform approach to Judaism that emphasizes personal religious autonomy while at the same time emphasizing the vibrancy and seriousness of religious commitment. With the limited hours available, American religious schools cannot teach students as much as they would really need to become highly educated Jews. What we do hope to do is to inspire them to want to continue their education into their college years and far beyond. Please contact the TBS office at 623.977.3240 for further information.

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley's History Arizona Jewish Historical Society photos A handful of Sun City residents looking for a spiritual home started Temple Beth Shalom in 1968 . In the beginning, the congregation would meet at the Fairway Center in Sun City before moving to the Sun Dial Center in 1975. Rabbi Albert Michels became the first permanent rabbi for the congregation, and was officially installed in 1972. In 1976, the congregation purchased land and began construction a year later. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Rabbi Michels said, “At last, we have a home. We no longer have to wander in the desert.” The congregation has seen tremendous growth in the West Valley and is still located on North 101st Avenue in Sun City. Since 1972, Temple Beth Shalom has had only five rabbis serving the congregation. Temple Beth Shalom Rabbis Rabbi Albert A Michels 1972-1982 Rabbi Bernard Kligfeld 1982-1997 Rabbi Arthur J Abrams 1997-2005 Rabbi Sheldon Moss 2005-2019 Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan 2019-Present

Prayer Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley's weekly Friday Shabbat service using the Reform Mishkan T’filah prayer book provides our worshipers with an opportunity to set aside sacred time for engaging with God through prayer and reflection – spoken and sung – and the reading of the Torah. Led by Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan and Cantor Baruch Koritan, our members are afforded the opportunity to participate in the service through reading prayers, blessing the lighting of the Shabbat candles, reciting the blessings before and after the reading of the Torah, or carrying the Torah during the Torah service. Services begin at 7 p.m. throughout the year. One Saturday morning a month, a small group meets at a member’s home for an informal participatory Shabbat service lead by Rabbi Kaplan. A guitarist sometimes accompanies Rabbi Kaplan during services. The service includes an abbreviated Shabbat liturgy, readings, and singing, followed by a potluck brunch and socializing. Watch Jan 24th Shabbat Service

Caring Committee Dr. Jack Pearlman and Phyllis Jacobs started our Caring Committee over 20 years ago. The Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley Caring Committee specializes in building connections with our congregants and their immediate family members during times of health crisis and beyond. Our congregants live in Arizona while most of our family members are scattered around the world. We do not wish any member to feel alone or afraid during any time of stress. Our professional Caring Committee Team is personal, physical, spiritual and loving. We have been dedicated for many, many years to our congregation. We reach out via telephone calls, visits and prayers. We are available to all at-risk congregants at any time of the day or night. Our Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan is also on OUR team. Prayers have marvelous healing powers. The close contact and gentle embraces we provide will help on your road to recovery.

Become a Member Fill Out TBS New Member Application We invite EVERYONE – Individuals, couples, and families – to be a part of our congregation. At Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, we celebrate Shabbat together, study Torah together, volunteer for social action projects together, and connect to Israel through food, wine, and folklore. We are a Reform congregation serving the entire West Valley, all the Sun Cities, and Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Surprise and Tolleson, Tonopah, Waddell and Youngtown. Whether you are single or partnered, were born Jewish, are a Jew-by-Choice, in an interfaith family or are thinking about or interested in Judaism … there is a place for you to join our temple family. Worship with our rabbi and our cantor as we celebrate Shabbat with inspiring Friday night services at 7 p.m. Following services, we flock to the social hall for an Oneg. Join us for our monthly Saturday morning informal Shabbat with guitar service and a potluck brunch in a member’s home. With great joy we celebrate the holidays of the Jewish calendar from Sukkot to Chanukah and Purim to Passover. Come and visit … and stay! We’d love to hear from you! There’s a place here that only you can fill. Join Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan and Temple volunteers for the weekly Torah Study on Zoom. Contact the Temple office at 623.977.3240 for more information. Watch this video of F riday Evening Shabbat s ervices. Join us via Zoom or in-person at the Temple.

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley in the News Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley and Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan are featured regularly in the news media. Here are examples of the coverage: Jewish News (10.16.24) West Valley synagogue hosts interfaith service to commemorate Oct. 7 Sun City West Independent (10.9.24) Religious leaders lead interfaith service in Sun City showing solidarity with Israel Sun City West Independent (10.9.24) Temple Beth Shalom holds fundraiser for residents Sun City Independent (10.3.24) Sun City temple hosts western BBQ, hoedown Sun City Independent (9.17.24) Sun City Temple invites non-members to High Holy Days services Jewish News (9.17.24) High Holy Day Services around the Valley and northern Arizona Jewish News (9.11.24) Antisemitism, Israel and taking action figure in this year's High Holiday sermons Sun City Independent (9.11.24) Sun City temple offers interfaith course Sun City Independent (9.5.24) Sun City temple hosts open house ice cream social Sun City Independent (8.12.24) Sun City temple offer High Holy Days classes Sun City Independent (8.8.24) Sun City temple slates interfaith class Jewish News (11.28.23) Sun City synagogue quadruples its “Little Jewish schoolhouse Jewish News (11.29.23) Retired entertainment attorney shares his love of television through teaching Jewish News (10.23.23) Interfaith prayer service in the West Valley draws tears and prayers for peace