Temple History

In early 1991, five Jewish families with a common dream came together to establish a new congregation in Sarasota. That March, over 180 people attended the new congregation's first function, a community Seder. The following month, with a Sefer Torah graciously on loan from Temple Beth Sholom, 55 families attended Temple Sinai’s "Service of Beginning" at the Jewish Community Center. Membership quickly grew and the temple hired Rabbi Aaron Koplin to serve as its first rabbi.

Without a permanent home, the growing congregation held services at various locations around town. A dedicated group, nicknamed the "Sinai Shleppers," transported an ark, Torah and prayer books each week from place to place. By 1992, with over 300 families, Temple Sinai acquired a former church complex on Kenilworth Street and that became the temple's first permanent home.

In December of 1993, Temple Sinai welcomed our second Rabbi, Geoffrey Huntting, and his family to Sarasota and in 1995 we officially joined the Reform movement. The congregation continued to grow and expand its programming. In September of 2005 we moved into our current home on South Lockwood Ridge Road.

The year 2006 was particularly exciting as we hired our first cantor, Chazzan Cliff Abramson, and opened our early childhood school, The Gan at Temple Sinai. Since that time, the quality and scope of congregational life has both broadened and deepened. We particularly are proud of the community we have created in a relatively short time and look forward to an exciting future as we continue to meet the needs of our congregants while also participating in the communal life of the Sarasota-Manatee area.