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May their memory be a blessing and a lesson for how we can live our lives. Nobuko Arakaki Albert Divack* Frances Egalka* Brendon Elbaz Donna Engel Ron Frankel Isadore Fuss Harold Gilbert Violet Goldstein Bertha Gordich* Betty Harlam* Joseph Harlam* Abraham H. Kabak Audrey Kaminsky* Matthew Katz Meyer Kirschner* Celia Leiman
Evalyn Levin* Samuel J. Logan* Louise McInnis Louis Miller* William Newman Pearl Parness* Anna Rosenberg* Anna Rosenbloom* Abner Rosenblum* Anne Shamroth Esther Simon* Gilbert Small Martha Starks Pauline Sylvester Annette Torop Valerie Weinberg*
the
Shabbat
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*Denotes plaque in Memorial Alcove
We’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us with any questions.
Amy L. Morrison - Rabbi 727-347-6136 - RabbiMorrison@TempleBeth-El.com Tara O’Donnell - Executive Director 727-347-6136 - Tara@TempleBeth-El.com Alexis Kelly - Director of Raymund Family Religious School 727-347-6136 - RaymundRS@TempleBeth-El.com Tracy Nash - Administrative Office & Financial Coordinator 727-347-6136 - Bookkeeper@TempleBeth-El.com Tovah Feld - Marketing & Communications Coordinator 727-347-6136 - Tovah@TempleBeth-El.com Nancy Stein - Membership & Community Engagement Coordinator 727-347-6136 - Nancy@TempleBeth-El.com Jay Miller - Temple President 727-347-6136
Parashat Yom Rishon shel Sukkot Leviticus 23:33-44, Numbers 29:12-16 Rabbi Amy L. Morrison & Joyce Liu #tbestpete
September 25, 2026
A Special Message from
Rabbi Amy L. Morrison
Sukkot invites us to step outside the permanence of our homes and into a sukkah, a temporary shelter that reminds us that security is never as permanent as we imagine. Traditionally, a sukkah has walls that provide shelter and a roof made of natural materials, called s’chach (palm fronds when in Florida), that allows us to see the sky. It is sturdy enough to gather in, yet deliberately incomplete. That tension is part of the lesson. The Shabbat of Sukkot deepens this invitation. Shabbat, too, is temporary. It arrives each week, creates a sacred pause, and then asks us to return to ordinary time. Neither the sukkah nor Shabbat is meant to last last forever. Their impermanence is precisely what makes them holy. They teach us to notice what we might otherwise take for granted: shelter, food, friendship, rest, and the simple gift of being together. As we continue through through Sukkot, let us practice dwelling in this temporary space with intention. Visit our temple sukkah. Share a meal, bring a friend, decorate it, or simply sit inside and look through the roof at the changing sky. At home, perhaps build or visit a sukkah, eat a meal outdoors, invite others into your space, or find another way to mark the festival. Sukkot asks us to embrace what is fragile rather than pretend it is permanent. May the rest of this holiday give us opportunities to pause, gather, welcome, and appreciate the temporary shelters that hold us, knowing that they will not last forever.
Announcements Sat., Sept. 26
10am - Market Minyan @ Pioneer Park 5pm - 6:30pm - ECC Sukkot Fall Festival @ TBE
Sun., Sept. 27 8:45am - Brotherhood Schmooze 9:30am - First Day of Sunday School 10am - Social Justice Committee Meeting 10am - Religious School Committee Meeting
Mon., Sept. 28 5:30pm - Nifty Over Fifty in the Sukkah
Tues., Sept. 29 5:30pm - Sisterhood in the Hut
Wed., Sept. 30 4pm - Sisterhood Mah Jongg (All are welcome!) 5pm - First Day of Hebrew School 6pm - Reel Good Sukkot @ Mullets Fish Camp & Market
If you are new to Temple Beth-El, welcome!
OPEN COMMUNITY CREATES ENGAGING & DIVERSE JEWISH PATHWAYS Located in St. Petersburg on Florida's beautiful west coast, Temple BethEl is a Reform Jewish congregation that has served this area since 1928 and is focused on strengthening relationships and making connections. We are a welcoming Reform community for Jewish and interfaith households to experience an uplifting and joyful sense of belonging as we seek to connect our members with each other and the greater community and world around us. Enjoy and have a Shabbat Shalom!
Torah Portion Parashat Yom Rishon shel Sukkot Saturday, September 26, 2026 / 15 Tishrei 5787 In In these these verses, verses, we we are are instructed instructed to to observe observe the the festival festival of of Sukkot Sukkot for for seven seven days. days. The The first first of of the the seven seven days days isis aa sacred sacred day, day, one one on on which refr which we we refrain refrain ain from from work. work. Our Our ancestors ancestors brought brought sacrifices sacrifices to to the tthe the Temple Temple on on each each of of the he days days and and lived lived in in aa booth. booth. Why Why would would we we be be expected expected to to dwell dwell in in aa fragile fragile booth, booth, exposed exposed to to the the elements? elements? Perhaps Perhaps itit isis so so that that we we do do not not take take our our possessions possessions for for granted. granted. Anyone Anyone who who has has experienced experienced aa hurricane hurricane or or aa fire fire in in their their home home knows knows just just how how fragile fragile our our dwellings dwellings really really are. are. We We are are told told of of the the lulav lulav and and the the etrog etrog and and we we are are commanded commanded to to rejoice rejoice on on each each of of the the seven seven days. days. How How wonderful wonderful to to be be commanded commanded to to celebrate! celebrate!
Ufaratzta ְו ּפָ ַרצ Ufaratzta yama vakedma vetzafona vanegba ְבה ָּ ו ּפָ ַרצְ ּ ָת י ּ ָָמה ו ֵָק ְדמָ ה וְצָ פֹנָה וָ ֶנג Translation: You shall spread toward the sea (west), and forward (east), and to the north and toward the Negev (south)