For nearly 30 years, ATJC has hosted over 3,000 people during the High Holy Days, including free services in Spanish during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rabbis Jonathan Berkun and Guido Cohen, spiritual leaders of the congregation, lead an active community, inspiring meaningful Jewish values and experiences.
Jewish people around the world will gather together on Sunday, September 9th for Erev Rosh Hashanah, the first night of the Jewish New Year, as the Book of Life is opened. ATJC members, like the millions of Jews before them, believe that these auspicious days are the time to commit to acts of loving kindness and other good deeds throughout the year. Ten days later, on Yom Kippur, Jews believe the Book of Life is closed after G-d has reviewed their actions over the last year as they ask for forgiveness from each other for the wrongs they have done. Personal introspection and community prayers mark the High Holy Days.
“I am honored to work alongside Rabbi Berkun and Rabbi Cohen to ensure we “don’t leave any Jew behind,” says Rose Rubin, ATJC’s newly- elected President. “Our ATJC mishpacha (family) is growing each day with new families moving to the area, and longtime residents who want to be part of a vibrant, progressive Jewish community.”
Rabbi Berkun added, “Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center is proud to serve as the center of our local Jewish community for authentic and engaging Jewish life.”
ATJC is home to Tauber Academy which boasts over 200 children in preschool; sold-out Camp Chaverim; Hebrew’s Cool & iLearn, the newly-redesigned religious school; and ever-expanding informal educational opportunities for teenagers and adults, snowbirds and retirees, offered in English and Spanish.
Friday Night Live, ATJC’s musical Friday night service, draws members and guests, including international tourists, to the synagogue weekly for family-friendly Kabbalat Shabbat services. Shabbat mornings feature international guest cantors, including a world-renowned choir from Jerusalem during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
ATJC’s famed history includes keynote addresses from US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and the late Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, and countless American and Israeli elected officials. ATJC will welcome Isaac “Bougie” Herzog, former Opposition Leader in the Israeli Knesset and current director of the Jewish Agency for Israel, for one of his first major addresses to Diaspora Jewry in his new role.
ATJC moved to its current campus in 1990 after being founded in a storefront on Aventura Boulevard during the 1980s, and immediately became the spiritual home for hundreds of Holocaust survivors. Inspired by their perseverance, the ATJC Holocaust Museum was built and dedicated to the continuity of Holocaust education. Thousands of public and Jewish Day school children have visited the memorial and heard testimonials from hero survivors. ATJC welcomes the Jewish community to join Aventura’s largest mishpacha throughout the year for Jewish celebrations and life-cycle events.
For more information, contact Jessica Ben Nun, ATJC’s Executive Director, 305.937.1880.
