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Long Beach and Lido form ‘United Kehilla’

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The four Orthodox synagogues in Long Beach and Lido Beach have joined together as the United Kehilla.

The Kehilla celebrated its first event on Sunday during Labor Day weekend — a barbecue that attracted 200 people to the Lido Beach Synagogue. In addition to food, there was a petting zoo, pony rides and a DJ. Tropical storm Hermine mercifully kept its distance.

The participating shuls are the Long Beach’s Bach Jewish Center at 210 Edwards Blvd., Young Israel of Long Beach at 120 Long Beach Blvd., and Sephardic Congregation Benai Asher at 161 Lafayette Blvd., as well as the Lido Beach Synagogue at 1 Fairway Rd. in Lido Beach.

The spiritual leaders of each synagogue — Rabbi Moshe Greene of Bach, Rabbi Shaul Rappeport of Lido Beach, Rabbi Chaim Wakslak of the Young Israel, and Rabbi David Bibi of the Sephardic Congregation, recently met to coordinate formation of the consortium and to plan activities for the next few months.

“Instead of each shul working independently, we are now joining forces and combining resources, in order to provide a much more robust and engaging programing to Jews in the entire area,” said Rabbi Rappeport.

“This is such a wonderful neighborhood to live and raise a family in, which already has so many amenities and conveniences right here. Working together enables us to make [it] an even greater place for Jewish families to live.”

Some of the new programs include a Motzei Shabbat Selichot program with a guest speaker, a Kinus Teshuva during the aseret yemei teshuva where the four rabbis will address the community on the theme of teshuva, a grand Simchat Beit HaShoeva one evening of Chol HaMoed Sukkot.

There will also be a new approach to Torah learning in the community in which all of the shiurim offered will be coordinated through the United Kehilla and open to all members of the community.

Events will rotate among the different synagogues. The barbecue was held at the Lido Beach Synagogue. 

Anyone interested in spending a Shabbat in Long Beach or Lido Beach, or who would like more information about these communities, is invited to contact any one of the local shuls’ rabbis:

•Rabbi Greene, rabbi@bachyouth.com

•Rabbi Rappeport, rabbi@lidoshul.org

•Rabbi Wakslak, cwakslak@att.net

•Rabbi David Bibi, davidbibi@gmail.com