Parents and members of Temple Beth Shmuel’s congregation enjoy a student performance for Israel’s 61st birthday celebration. Photo by Olivia Bernardo

Temple Beth Shmuel Cuban Hebrew Congregation was once a fading congregation, but the rising number of students at the temple’s Jewish Montessori School helped revitalize the congregation.

With many original Cuban Jewish members aging and dying, TBS trustees Becky Cohen, Oscar Sklar, Micki Glinsky and Fabio Nick recognized the need to keep the temple alive, in numbers and spirit.

They realized a Jewish Montessori school, the first of its kind in Miami-Dade County, was the solution and granted automatic membership to all families of students attending the school.

“At the time, I was in the process of adopting two children from Russia and had to wait one year before I could bring them home,” said Cohen, vice president of TBS and chairman of the school board.  ”[The school] had been in the works for six years and it was time to make it happen.  The community was going to help raise my children.”

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The four founding members approached Rebeca Krys, who is now a 22-year Montessori teaching veteran, to help create a school that combined the teaching methods of Maria Montessori with Jewish ideals, such as family togetherness, respect for others and philanthropy.

“I am very fond of what I do,” Krys said as she kissed a student named Roxy on the head.  “I love it.  Just look at the faces.”

In 2004, Temple Beth Shmuel Montessori School opened its doors with eight children.

Cohen’s son Bernie, 7, was the first child enrolled at the school at the age of 2.   Today, the school is home to 56 students and has a waiting list of more than 100.

Many students who graduate from this school go on to gifted programs in public and private elementary schools.

“In [Bernie's] graduating class, he and several other students were hand-picked for gifted programs,” Cohen said.

TBS Montessori encourages its students to select daily activities according to their personal interests.  Different from traditional schooling, children have the freedom to choose what they want to learn in a Montessori program, independent from their classmates and teachers.

“You have to follow the child and understand what the child wants,” Directress Krys said.  ”You do not do what you want, but what the child wants.  It’s a better way to teach hands on.”

In the backyard of the school, students took initiative by planting a garden to celebrate the Jewish holiday Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish Arbor Day.

As the liaison between the temple and school, Cohen arranges four to six events throughout the year to maintain the connection between students and original congregation members.

The school most recently celebrated Israel’s 61st year of independence.  Students prepared with their Hebrew, music and dance teachers for two weeks for a performance at the “birthday party.”  Parents, grandparents, teachers and members of the congregation attended.

“We have new families bringing life to the synagogue and older members keeping tradition,” Cohen said.

Parents who attended the event credit the overall success of their children to the teachers.

“The teachers do a great job,” said Alison Heiss Mclaney, a TBS mother.  ”They really allowed my daughter Stella to blossom.”

Teachers have the opportunity to work directly with the children and learn their individual personalities during morning “work time” and lunch.

“I like lunchtime a lot, we have a lot of conversations going on,” said Romi Napartsek, 24, the Pre-K/Kindergarten teacher.  ”You get a lot from the kids and get to interact and laugh with them.”

Rabbi Abramowitz, leader of the congregation, also enjoys interacting with the students every Friday in preparation of the Sabbath.

“They call me the ‘Funny Rabbi,’” the 89-year-old said while displaying his jumping ability.  ”Judaism has to be fun too.  The best thing I have here is when [Krys] allows me to come into the classroom and sing with them, yell with them and run around with them.”

In the 1950s, Abramowitz became known as the “Cuban Rabbi” when he opened the doors of another synagogue, Temple Menorah on Miami Beach, to Cuban Jews who fled Cuba.

“The Cuban Jews weren’t accepted in Miami,” Abramowitz said.  ”Everyone thought they were rich.  They came with nothing more than coins in their pockets.”

Initially, members paid no dues, and children went to Hebrew school and could participate in summer activities for free.

He has led the Cuban Hebrew Congregation at Temple Beth Shmuel since 2006.

“One of the main philosophies of TBS is ‘l’dor vador,’” said Marcos Kerbel, president of TBS, who explained that in Hebrew, it means “generation to generation.”