Strength of tradition and warmth of community are at the heart of our congregation, yet we are so much more.
We are a center for Jewish life, a home away from home where you and your loved ones can share with us in the life-long Jewish journey of learning and discovery. We celebrate life's joys and rally around each other in times of challenge. With Judaism at the center, we bring meaning to our lives and contribute to building a better world through acts of kindness (gemillut chasadim) and righteous giving (tzedakah).
Whatever your background, age, or stage of life, we invite you to get to know us by checking out our diverse programs, worship services and special events. We hope that you will find TBY at the center of your Jewish life.
Temple Bat Yahm Mission & Vision
To build lasting relationships.
To make these relationships into a community.
To create an environment of inclusivity.
To help each congregant develop a meaningful connection to Judaism.
-Poetry by Past President Patty Seyburn
We all have a vision of WHO WE ARE. Who we ASPIRE to be.
A vision requires IMAGINATION. A vision requires HONESTY.
A vision requires GROWTH and COURAGE. The ability to CHANGE.
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
To be a Jew in the 21st century is to live amidst the great people of the world.
To EMBRACE our neighbors, and set ourselves apart.
To UNDERSTAND our role in history. To SHAPE our role for the future.
If I am only for myself, what am I?
Our LANGUAGE, our holy BOOKS, the land of ISRAEL, our RITUALS, our COMMUNITY.
The joys and sorrows that CONNECT us with EACH OTHER,
with our BEST SELVES, with G-d.
Our AIM: to be a place on the edge of the sea where Jews can GATHER,
can CELEBRATE, can SUPPORT, can LEARN, can PRAY, can QUESTION.
Where we can do OUR SMALL PART in saving the world.
If not now, when?
TBY History
Temple Bat Yahm is a Reform congregation, affiliated with the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ).
The Temple was organized in June 1973 by eight founding families interested in starting a new Temple in Newport Beach. At that point,
services and meetings were being held at the UCI Interfaith Center, but once membership started growing and more space was needed, services were moved to the Zonta Club. Realizing that the growing congregation needed a permanent space, the Temple entered into escrow with The Irvine Company for a four-acre site on Camelback Street and Jamboree Road. At the same time, a savings and loan institution moved out of its prefabricated building in Newport Center, and the congregation purchased the building. In a historic procession at 2:08am on August 11, 1976, dozens of congregants followed the small structure as movers, working with artificial light, rolled the building down Jamboree Road to the Temple's optioned site. This became the first Jewish building on the Irvine Ranch.
The 30,000 square foot building was built in 1982. The building was dedicated on December 17, 1982. Membership grew to 300 members by the beginning of its second decade and added another 100 by 1985.
With every passing year, TBY adds more programs and activities for its growing, diverse membership. Temple Bat Yahm is fortunate to have invited many world leaders to address the congregation, such as: Yitzchak Rabin, Henry Kissinger, Elie Wiesel, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak.
To date, the diverse membership is made up of approximately 500 families including families with young children, young married couples, singles, empty nesters, interfaith families, and seniors. Temple Bat Yahm is lucky to still have members of the Temple's founding families.
Our Torah Scrolls
Back in November 2018, Rabbi Moshe Druin of Sofer on Site came to Temple Bat Yahm to repair and refresh a few of our Torah scrolls. Rabbi Druin's Torah Maintenance Program allows us to ensure that our scrolls are in the best condition, especially our older Torah.
According to Rabbi Druin, "the concept of maintaining a Torah is ultimately that we always want it to be in a state of a Kosher condition. And as we know what is unique to a Torah is that even if one letter is missing, broken, displaced, misspelled for that matter, the whole Torah is not considered Kosher until it is repaired." It is our responsibility to ensure that every few years, Rabbi Druin (who you may recognize as the Rabbi who assisted us in writing our very own TBY Torah back in 2010) comes to our campus and takes the time to upkeep our Torah.
This is an enormous undertaking and can be quite expensive if we don't do regular maintenance. Tributes made to the Torah Fund help us with this. With the generous donations to the Torah Fund, we are able to participate in the Torah Maintenance Program.
AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) works to strengthen the ties between Israel and the United States.
The MDA provides skilled and immediate emergency response to Israelis in need after disaster strikes.
The Jewish Federation was one of the American philanthropic arms that assisted Israel when it was founded and continues to support Israelis today.
JNF provides funds and assists in developing and strengthening the land and people of Israel.
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NA’AMAT is the largest women’s organization in Israel, at the forefront of improving the lives of thousands of women, children, and families through a critical network of women’s health and rights centers, a domestic violence shelter, daycare centers, youth villages, high schools, scholarship funds, legal aid bureaus, and more.
ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) is the single largest supporter of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and the Religious Action Center (RAC).
The American Technion Society (ATS) supports the growth and success of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, a global innovation powerhouse. Our investments in the Technion’s research, education, and innovation efforts advance critical breakthroughs that benefit the State of Israel and the global good.
Our Torah Scrolls
Back in November 2018, Rabbi Moshe Druin of Sofer on Site came to Temple Bat Yahm to repair and refresh a few of our Torah scrolls. Rabbi Druin's Torah Maintenance Program allows us to ensure that our scrolls are in the best condition, especially our older Torah.
According to Rabbi Druin, "the concept of maintaining a Torah is ultimately that we always want it to be in a state of a Kosher condition. And as we know what is unique to a Torah is that even if one letter is missing, broken, displaced, misspelled for that matter, the whole Torah is not considered Kosher until it is repaired." It is our responsibility to ensure that every few years, Rabbi Druin (who you may recognize as the Rabbi who assisted us in writing our very own TBY Torah back in 2010) comes to our campus and takes the time to upkeep our Torah.
This is an enormous undertaking and can be quite expensive if we don't do regular maintenance. Tributes made to the Torah Fund help us with this. With the generous donations to the Torah Fund, we are able to participate in the Torah Maintenance Program.
AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) works to strengthen the ties between Israel and the United States.
NA’AMAT is the largest women’s organization in Israel, at the forefront of improving the lives of thousands of women, children, and families through a critical network of women’s health and rights centers, a domestic violence shelter, daycare centers, youth villages, high schools, scholarship funds, legal aid bureaus, and more.
The MDA provides skilled and immediate emergency response to Israelis in need after disaster strikes.
ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) is the single largest supporter of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and the Religious Action Center (RAC).
The Jewish Federation was one of the American philanthropic arms that assisted Israel when it was founded and continues to support Israelis today.
JNF provides funds and assists in developing and strengthening the land and people of Israel.
Sat, December 21 2024 20 Kislev 5785