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Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley is a Reform Jewish congregation serving the West Valley, all the Sun Cities, and Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Surprise and Tolleson, Tonopah, Waddell and Youngtown. Everyone is invited to join our congregation. Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley in the News Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley and Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan are featured regularly in the news media. Here are examples of the coverage: Sun City Independent (11.14.25) Sun City temple slates interfaith course Sun City Independent (10.31.25) How to protect against scams Sun City Independent (10.23.25) Sun City Temple hosts interfaith Thanksgiving service Sun City Independent (10.10.25) Sun City temple slates archaeological journey through the Middle East Sun City Independent (9.17.25) Sun City Temple to offer three-part course on antisemitism Sun City Independent (9.12.25) Temple Beth Shaloms costs "Kindness, Courage and Joy" course Jewish News (9.4.25) Valley rabbis share High Holy Day messages Sun City Independent (8.26.25) Area Temple invites non-members to High Holy Days services Sun City Independent (8.22.25) Sun City Temple slates Sundae Funday Open House Sun City Independent (8.5.25) Temple Beth Shalom course teaches how to forgive and let go Sun City Independent (7.29.25) Temple Beth Shalom presents High Holy Day course Sun City Independent (4.29.25) Sun City Temple commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day Sun City Independent (4.12.25) Sun City temple offers interfaith courses in May

All women Temple Shalom of the West Valley members are invited to join the Sisterhood. First-year Temple members receive a complimentary membership to Sisterhood. TBS Sisterhood Register and Pay

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley offers chavurah groups of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of sharing communal activities, experiences such as lifecycle events, or Jewish learning. Call the Temple office at 623.977.3240 for more information. Chavurah Are you interested in joining a Chavurah? What is a chavaruh? Small groups with like interests. It is only open to Temple Beth Shalom members and their spouses or guests. Temple Beth Shalom is looking for help in creating Chavaruh groups. Here are some suggestions, but feel free to add to this list: * The Lunch Bunch * Let's Go to the Movies * Grandparents Bragging Rights * New Yorkers or Clevanders (or wherever else in the desert) * Travel Club * Let's Play Games: Poker Club, Mah Jongg Group, Bridge, Canasta, Pinochle, etc. * Knitting Group * Cooking Together * Let's Talk Yiddish * Let's Laugh If you're interested or have suggestions, please contact Ellyn Ventura at eventura@dreamvacations.com or 602.595.9303. Please leave a message if it goes to voice mail. Let's socialize!!! 

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley's Social Action Committee provides members with a vehicle for working together as a community to try to help the lives of others. It is a very important Mitzvah that we should all participate in. To be a devoted Reform Jew is to make the world a better place. Social Action For over 150 years, Reform Judaism in America has placed emphasis on social justice, based on our ancient mandate of tzedek, tzedek tirdof - “justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley's Social Action Committee provides us with a vehicle for working together as a community to try to help the lives of at least a few people. Therefore, it is a very important Mitzvah that we should all participate in. We have been supporters of the Valley View Community Food Bank (VVCFB) in Sun City since it was founded in 2007. While donating food is always a necessity for the growing number of residents of the West Valley who are food insecure, we support the VVCFB in other ways as well. For a full year during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, in each week of the month, a quarter of our members pledged to financially support the VVCFB due to the exceptionally higher demand for services from this invaluable social service agency. In 2022 and 2023, we have featured the “Item of the Month” program. Our members are asked to bring a specific item to Friday Shabbat services that changes every month. We bring canned fruit, pasta and rice, canned meats, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and – lest we forget that almost everyone needs a pet – we also bring pet food one month.

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley offers something for everyone, including the weekly study of Torah with Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan, a four-week class on Kabbalah, or an interfaith study open to Jewish and non-Jewish members of the West Valley, or a Scholar-in-residence speaker on the Holocaust. Ancient Biblical Interpretation “Ancient Biblical Interpretation” is a new weekly study group which will be led by Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan meeting weekly from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays beginning Sept. 3. Using James Kugel’s “The Bible As it Was” as a text, the participants will discuss how the earliest interpreters of the scriptures radically transformed the Torah and made it into the document that has come down to us today. The course is designed for persons willing to make an on-going commitment to study. Using biblical stories we know well, we will ask how and why the writers of this formative age of interpretation – roughly 200 B.C.E. to 150 C.E. – assumed such a significant role. Mining their writings – including the Dead Sea Scrolls, works of Philo and Josephus and letters of the Apostle Paul, and writing of the Apostolic Fathers and the rabbinic Sages – we will read short selections from the actual texts that uncover this crucial interpretive process. Going over every detail in the Torah’s stories, prophecies, and laws, these interpreters let their own theological and imaginative inclinations radically transform the Bible’s very nature. Their sometimes surprising interpretations soon became the generally accepted meaning. These interpretations, and not the mere words of the text, became the Torah. New participants may join any time. Participants will need to provide a personal copy of Kugel’s book – “The Bible as it Was” and a copy of the Bible. The cost for the course is $20 per person per month for Temple members and $35 for non-members, or one coupon per month. Payment is required at the beginning of each month. Contact the Temple Office at 623.977.3240 or templebethshalomaz@gmail.com t o sign up for the course, purchase coupon books (if desired) and make payment before Sept. 3.

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley is a Reform Jewish congregation serving the West Valley, all the Sun Cities, and Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Surprise and Tolleson, Tonopah, Waddell and Youngtown. Everyone is invited to join our congregation. Become a Member Fill Out TBS New Member Application We invite EVERYONE – Individuals, couples, and families – to be a part of our congregation. At Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, we celebrate Shabbat together, study Torah together, volunteer for social action projects together, and connect to Israel through food, wine, and folklore. We are a Reform Jewish congregation serving the entire West Valley, all the Sun Cities, and Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Surprise and Tolleson, Tonopah, Waddell and Youngtown. Whether you are single or partnered, were born Jewish, are a Jew-by-Choice, in an interfaith family or are thinking about or interested in Judaism … there is a place for you to join our temple family. Worship with our rabbi and our cantor as we celebrate Shabbat with inspiring Friday night services at 7 p.m. Following services, we flock to the social hall for an Oneg. Join us for our monthly Saturday morning informal Shabbat with guitar service and a potluck brunch in a member’s home. With great joy we celebrate the holidays of the Jewish calendar from Sukkot to Chanukah and Purim to Passover. Come and visit … and stay! We’d love to hear from you! There’s a place here that only you can fill. Join Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan and Temple volunteers for the weekly Torah Study on Zoom. Contact the Temple office at 623.977.3240 for more information. Watch videos of F riday Evening Shabbat s ervices on Temple Beth Shalom's YouTube channel .

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley offers something for everyone, including the weekly study of Torah with Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan, a four-week class on Kabbalah, or an interfaith study open to Jewish and non-Jewish members of the West Valley, or a Scholar-in-residence speaker on the Holocaust. Temple Beth Shalom presents interfaith course about famous American Jewish women Three extraordinary American Jewish women helped reshape politics, social justice and Jewish destiny at the turn of the 20th century. Henrietta Szold, Emma Goldman, and Golda Meir shared immigrant roots and Jewish identity, yet chose radically different paths — religious renewal, political rebellion and national leadership. Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan will lead a three-part interfaith course exploring how each woman challenged the limits placed on Jewish women, and how their lives reflected competing visions of what it meant to be Jewish, American and modern. Classes will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 5, 12 and 19 at the Temple, 12202 N. 101st Ave. in Sun City. “Through vivid storytelling and discussion, we will meet a devoted founder of American Zionism, a fiery anarchist who terrified the establishment, and a future prime minister who learned politics on Milwaukee street corners. Together, their lives raise urgent questions about power, justice, faith, and belonging — questions that continue to shape Jewish and American life today,” Kaplan said. Meir was the first and only woman to be prime minister of Israel and she served from 1969 to 1974. In 1906, she immigrated from Russia with her family to the United States. She graduated from the Milwaukee State Normal School and became a teacher. While in Milwaukee, she embraced the Labor Zionist movement. Prior to becoming Israel’s fourth prime minister, she served as the labor secretary of the newly formed Jewish state, and the Israeli foreign minister. Szold, who was born in Maryland, founded Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. She used an ethical and pragmatic approach to improve the lives of both Jews and Arabs. After moving to Mandate Palestine, she helped shape education, health, and social services there. Goldman immigrated from Russia to America in 1885. She was a modern radical who took seriously the idea that inner liberation is the first business of social revolution. Her politics were based on resistance to that which thwarted the free development of the inner self. The cost for this series is $20 for members and $35 for non-members. A discount is available by purchasing a coupon book.The registration deadline is noon Feb. 2 by calling the Temple office at 623.977.3240 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley is a Reform congregation serving the entire West Valley, all the Sun Cities, and Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Surprise and Tolleson, Tonopah, Waddell and Youngtown. Everyone is invited to join our congregation. Become a Member Fill Out TBS New Member Application We invite EVERYONE – Individuals, couples, and families – to be a part of our congregation. At Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, we celebrate Shabbat together, study Torah together, volunteer for social action projects together, and connect to Israel through food, wine, and folklore. We are a Reform congregation serving the entire West Valley, all the Sun Cities, and Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Surprise and Tolleson, Tonopah, Waddell and Youngtown. Whether you are single or partnered, were born Jewish, are a Jew-by-Choice, in an interfaith family or are thinking about or interested in Judaism … there is a place for you to join our temple family. Worship with our rabbi and our cantor as we celebrate Shabbat with inspiring Friday night services at 7 p.m. Following services, we flock to the social hall for an Oneg. Join us for our monthly Saturday morning informal Shabbat with guitar service and a potluck brunch in a member’s home. With great joy we celebrate the holidays of the Jewish calendar from Sukkot to Chanukah and Purim to Passover. Come and visit … and stay! We’d love to hear from you! There’s a place here that only you can fill. Join Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan and Temple volunteers for the weekly Torah Study on Zoom. Contact the Temple office at 623.977.3240 for more information. Watch this video of F riday Evening Shabbat s ervices. Join us via Zoom or in-person at the Temple.

At Temple Beth Shalom, we celebrate Jewish religious holidays like Passover with meaningful rituals. We also commemorate national holidays like Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Thanksgiving. On Christmas Eve, we sometimes go out to a Chinese restaurant in Jewish fashion. Join us on Feb. 14, 2026 for Music through the Decades 50s through 80s! REGISTER AND PAY ONLINE We are putting word out on an outta sight shindig that’s going to be held here at TBS on Valentines Day, Saturday, Feb. 14th at 5 pm. Music Through the Decades will be an absolute blast from the past! To begin, there’ll be a super-duper dinner of utterly irresistible goodies like our favorites from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. When we're ready for something sweet, there'll be a dream team bake-off of the most loved desserts. Throughout the evening, we’ll be serenaded by nostalgic songs that’ll take you back to your own special moments from those good old days. Come dance and singalong with us, tap your toes, and cheer for the few brave souls who have the courage to tackle a karaoke song. I'd guess that some of you are already thinking about what to wear so you'll look really cool that night. Easy! Just dress up in your favorite decade or wear something radically red, after all, it’ll be Valentine’s Day. And yes, there’ll be a prize for the grooviest costume!RSVP is required along with payment by Feb. 11 . To register and pay, you can call the TBS Office at 623.977.3240, mail a check or drop a check off at the Temple. It's easy to register and pay online! Please go to tbsaz.org and click on the " Register and Pay Online" button . You also can click on the button above.

Helene Fox is synagogue administrator for Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, a Reform Jewish congregation that provides compassionate services to Jews in Glendale, Peoria, Sun Cities, Goodyear, Buckeye, Tolleson, Litchfield Park, Surprise, El Mirage, Avondale and Waddell. Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley Staff Patti Weiner Patti Weiner is the Temple’s Office Administrator. She is a professional with extensive working knowledge of administration, human resources, marketing and accounting fields. Patti spent a majority of her life in Chicago but relocated to Arizona six years ago to be closer to family. Her husband, Jeff, and their daughter, Amanda, live in Peoria, and they love the warmer temperatures and sunshine all year-round. Patti is thrilled to be a part of the Temple family and looks forward to meeting everyone.

At Temple Beth Shalom, we celebrate Jewish religious holidays like Passover with meaningful rituals. We also commemorate national holidays like Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Thanksgiving. On Christmas Eve, we sometimes go out to a Chinese restaurant in Jewish fashion. Celebrating Jewish and National Holidays at Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley At Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, we celebrate Jewish religious holidays like Passover with meaningful rituals, usually on the nearest Friday night. We also celebrate or commemorate national holidays such as Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Thanksgiving. This past year, we decided to mark Christmas Eve in traditional Jewish fashion by going out to a Chinese restaurant! Tickets are available for non-members for our High Holy Days 5785 services .

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley's leadership includes officers and trustees. Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan Leadership Te mple Beth Shalom of the West Valley's leadership members for 2025-2026 are: President: Sara Jane Feldman Past President: Steve Bold 1st Vice President: Gloria Bold Vice President: Mariane Anderson Vice President: Carmen Berkowitz Recording Secretary: Dave Katz Treasurer: Jonathan Green Financial Secretary: Warren Bentkover Board Members: Bernie Arum Lori Baker Richard Bass Bea Eisenberg Steve Hechler Nan Lieber Barbara Rudzin Ellyn Ventura Michael Zager Sisterhood President: Roz Goldstein Brotherhood Co-Presidents: Max Allen and Bernie Arum