54 YEARS
We prosper and succeed because of our member volunteers who work tirelessly to keep our community thriving. Temple Beth El is the Shul that serves Santa Maria
was entrusted to our community in 1979 and
and the surrounding community. Founded in
is one of three such rescued Torahs on-loan
the late 1940s by a diverse group of Santa Maria
and now residing in Santa Barbara County.
residents, our current 49 member families include
Our part-time rabbi, Dov Gottesfeld, comprises
individuals from Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform backgrounds; Jews by birth and Jews by choice. English speakers and those more comfortable in Spanish. We are the Jewish community of the north and west Santa Barbara and south San Luis Obispo counties. We prosper and succeed because of our members and our people work tirelessly to keep our community thriving. We are proud to be the home of the Holesov Torah, #16;4 of over 1,000 Torahs rescued during the Holocaust from what was Czechoslovakia (and is now the Czech Republic). This treasure
our professional staff. The remaining work involved in the operation of the Temple is done by its members volunteers. Volunteering is us!! And with the hard work of those volunteers the Temple is able to provide the services and programs necessary for our membership. • Weekly Friday night services • Monthly Torah discussions • Saturday morning services for Spanish speaking members • Major holiday services and/or celebrations
Our Temple Beth El community
Orthodox backgrounds and
Our services and
has always been open to
several active families of
programs include:
new faces and eagerly looks
Sephardic/Spanish descent.
forward to meeting new people.
• Weekly Friday night services,
We are small but have managed
7:30 p.m. (temporarily on
to continue our activities
Zoom) Rabbi Dov Gottesfeld
throughout these pandemic
and a group of lay leaders
times and look forward to
provide leadership for our
getting back to “normal” soon.
Friday night services.
Although we are officially a Reform congregation, our members include members from Conservative and
32 | SHALOM SANTA BARBARA | 2021–2022
JEWISHSANTABARBARA.ORG
