Cuban Hebrew Congregation

{{Short description|Synagogue in Miami Beach, Florida}} {{Infobox religious building | building_name = Cuban Hebrew Congregation | image = Cuban Hebrew Congregation.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Temple Beth Shmuel | map_type = USA Miami Central | map_size = 250 | map_caption = Location within [[Miami Beach]] | location = 1700 N. Michigan Avenue, [[Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach]], [[Florida]] | country = United States | coordinates = {{coord|25|47|32.3|N|80|8|22.3|W|region:US-FL_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | religious_affiliation = [[Conservative Judaism]] | rite = [[Nusach Ashkenaz]] | consecration_year = | status = [[Synagogue]] | functional_status = Active | heritage_designation = | leadership = | website = {{URL|http://www.cubanhebrew.com}} | architect = Oscar Sklar | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = | established = 1961 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | general_contractor = | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 1975; 1982 | construction_cost = | specifications = no | capacity = | length = | width = | facade_direction = | height_max = | materials = }}

The '''Cuban Hebrew Congregation''', or '''Temple Beth Shmuel''', is a [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] [[synagogue]] used by [[Ashkenazi]] [[History of the Jews in Cuba|Jewish Cuban]] expatriates, located at 1700 North Michigan Avenue, [[Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach]], [[Florida]], in the United States.

== Overview == "Approximately 94 percent of Cuba’s Jewish population fled after the [1959] Revolution."<ref>{{cite web |title=Cuba Virtual Jewish History Tour |accessdate=March 23, 2019 |first=Rebecca |last=Weiner |publisher=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/cuba-virtual-jewish-history-tour |date= }}</ref>

The synagogue was founded in 1961 by Felix Reyler, Oscar White, and [[Bernardo Benes]]. Its current location at 1700 North Michigan Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida, in the United States opened in 1975, with an expansion in 1982.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cuban Hebrew Congregation Timeline|url=http://www.cubanhebrew.com/templates/?a=11&z=1&ac=History+of+CHC|publisher=Temple Beth Shumel website|accessdate=August 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009113106/http://www.cubanhebrew.com/templates/?a=11&z=1&ac=History+of+CHC|archive-date=October 9, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The congregation is led by [[Rabbi]] Stephen Texon and Baal Koreh Jacques Malka. It currently hosts 170 member households and has a [[Montessori]] School.

The temple was designed by Oscar Sklar and includes [[stained glass window]]s of the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel]] designed by Inge Pape Trampler. Mexican artist Naomi Siegman designed the [[candelabra]]s beside the [[Bema#Judaism|bimah]]. The synagogue is named for Shmuel Schacter, father of [[Jack Chester]].{{fact|date=March 2025}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{official website|http://www.cubanhebrew.com}} *{{cite news |author=Betty Heisler-Samuels |date=January 17, 2001 |newspaper=Miami Herald |url=http://www.jewishcuba.org/miami.html |title=Forced to leave homes, Cuban Jews thrive in Miami |via=The Jews of Cuba}}

[[Category:Synagogues in Miami Beach, Florida]] [[Category:Conservative synagogues in Florida]] [[Category:Ashkenazi synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:American people of Cuban-Jewish descent]] [[Category:Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Florida]] [[Category:Cuban-American culture in Florida]] [[Category:Hispanic and Latino-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1961]] [[Category:1961 establishments in Florida]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1975]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1982]]