Our Religious Institutions Part 4:
Beth Shalom and Desert Synagogue
Unique Options Offered for Coachella
Valley Jews
How
rich a Jewish community is in terms of
what it offers spiritually to its
members is perhaps reflected not in the
large institutions that
define it, but in the smaller ones that
round out the options.
Beth Shalom, a Conservative synagogue
located in Bermuda Dunes, and Desert
Synagogue, a modern Orthodox shul in
downtown Palm Springs, are two such
places. Both of these options offer
something a little special, something a
little unique.
Beth Shalom, whose spiritual leader is
Hazzan Lance Tapper, has Friday night
and Saturday morning services – with an
8:30 am minyan on Mondays and Thursdays.
Its atmosphere recalls the traditional
niggunim (melodies) of East Coast
Conservative synagogues and its
membership is a very active one. Most
Friday nights there are well over 100
people at services. Beth Shalom has an
active adult education program, along
with a small Hebrew/Sunday School for
its younger members. The photo, above,
shows students participating as the
‘Kosher Kids’ at a Relay for Life, in
honor of temple members living with or
having died from cancer. Many of Beth
Shalom’s Shabbat services and programs
center on music. One of their most
exciting, and moving services featured
the music and prayers of the Jews from
Morocco. Also, through Hazzan Tapper
Beth Shalom has partnered with the
Cantorial Assembly to offer the
extremely popular “Cantors in Concert”
programs which fill the auditorium at
Sun City, and bring many of the finest
Cantors from around the United States to
our community. Beth Shalom is
celebrating its “Bar Mitzvah” year as
the Conservative Congregation in the
East Valley.
Desert Synagogue is a small but warm,
welcoming congregation. It is the Modern
Orthodox option here in the Coachella
Valley. Men and women sit separately
during services. It began as an Orthodox
alternative service within Temple
Isaiah, and then incorporated as an
independent entity, moving to its
present location on North Palm Canyon
Drive approximately twenty years ago. It
offers weekly Friday night and Shabbat
services that are currently lay lea,
with rabbis brought in for holidays and
special services.
A special event in our community’s
experience was Desert Synagogue’s
welcoming of a new torah, commissioned
by their members Dr. David and Linda
Morrow. As I wrote in the February 2003
issue of the Jewish Community News, “How
very privileged I was to be counted
among those invited to witness the
completion of a Sefer Torah …. We
actually watched the scribe, Rabbi
Yitzchak Hershkovitz finish by hand the
last few letters … (then) … we carried
the completed Sefer Torah and sang our
way by foot to Desert Synagogue, its new
home. Jews joined hands and sang and
danced in the streets…. We stopped
traffic on Palm Canyon, while we sang
and waived our
Israel flags with pride and joy. The
significance of such an occasion goes
far beyond the joy with which the Morrow
Family made this gift to its synagogue.
It is a joyous occasion for all Jews
here in the desert and signifies, at
least for me, the continued growth and
maturation of our Jewish community here
in the Coachella Valley. This is a
Jewish community growing and stretching
and moving ahead with a new vigor in its
step.”
