“Shabbat Shalom! Good Shabbos!” These are the greetings you hear echoing on any given Friday night, in the sanctuary and corridors of Kol Tikvah, a reform synagogue serving Parkland and the surrounding communities. From Rock Shabbats under the stars, to Paint & Sip Happy Hours, to Mimouna celebrations and social events, Congregation Kol Tikvah is the “synagogue that never sleeps.”
Boasting an early childhood center, teen nights, a caring committee, business networking events and social action (Tikkun Olam) opportunities with monthly PB&J sandwich collections for the homeless, the synagogue, sandwiched between City Hall and the Coastal Community Church on N. University Dr., is a hub of activity.
“As a reform congregation we can take more liberty in choosing what to participate in,” says Rabbi Melissa Stollman, Director of Lifelong Learning. “We don’t have the same sense of responsibility toward Jewish law, but focus on our responsibility toward one another. The heart of our community is the relationships people have with one another that take place in a Jewish setting,” she explains.
“We hear from many of our congregants that this is their home, this is where their “family” is – friends who’ve become family,” Stollman says. “This is where they feel comfortable bringing their kids, praying, with activities grounded in Jewish values. Everyone is seen and known and important.” The synagogue was birthed in 1991 when six Parkland families, including a Jew by choice, an interfaith couple and several adopted children met for Shabbat dinner and decided to establish a synagogue in the Reform tradition. In fact, president Jennifer Levin-Tavares likens it to the popular TV show, Cheers, comparing Kol Tikvah (which means Voice of Hope) to a synagogue where “everyone knows your name.”
With more than 350 families, this is not an easy task. One of those families is the Levine family Craig, a realtor, Jennifer, a physician and their three children, Benjamin, 12, Max, 11, and Rebecca, 5, who spent three years in Kol Tikvah’s Phyllis J. Green Early Childhood Center (ECC). The whole family is active and involved with Kol Tikvah. Craig is a board member of Kol Tikvah’s Brotherhood while Jennifer is involved with the synagogue Chavarim, which works to create and deepen relationships between members. Their oldest son, Benjamin will be a Bar Mitzvah this September and is working hard with Rabbi Bradd Boxman, Cantor, Malcolm Arnold and Mr. “B,” Fred Berkowitz, the Hebrew teacher. “In our ten years as members of Kol Tikva, we have felt warmly welcomed by the staff and members. We are impressed with the sense of community and our children have made lifelong friends,” says Craig Levine. “We are so happy to have found Kol Tikvah.”
President Levin-Tavares says what distinguishes Kol Tikvah from other Jewish institutions in the area is that Kol Tikvah functions as a community center, offering more than just religious school, Shabbat and holiday services. “We have an amazingly energetic, demographically diverse synagogue with a wide range of activities and programming for every age group,” Levin-Tavares says. Because the congregation is still young, “Our youthfulness allows us to change and evolve much more nimbly than more established institutions,” she says.
For Rabbi Stollman, who lived in 10 cities growing up, she says belonging to a reform synagogue was an oasis in the midst of her chaotic life and kept her connected to her Judaism and Jewish values. She says the same is true for Parkland’s Kol Tikvah.
“If you identify as Jewish or are curious about being Jewish and seeking a faith-based tradition, being connected on a deeper level, Kol Tikvah will welcome you,” says Rabbi Stollman. “You don’t have to look too hard to feel connected and feel a part of something.”
For more information visit: koltikvah.net or call: (954) 346-7878The next Rock Shabbat is scheduled for Nov. 1.