The story has been told many times, how two families sat around a kitchen table in February 1994 to start a Clear Lake area Reform Jewish congregation. Michele and Clay Moliver and Lisa and Gary Hurwitz began taking baby steps to drum up support for this new spiritual quest. The first meeting was held at the Moliver’s home. The Moliver’s response to this first gathering was “we were bowled over by the number of people who showed up for the first meeting. It takes an effort to be Jewish in a non-Jewish area. You have to have a sense of consciousness to building Jewish awareness.”
Families began to call and still others were “recruited” as interest mounted. A core group of seven families began holding services in the cafeteria of Brookwood Elementary School. The first Reform Temple to serve the area between Galveston and Houston was created and families would no longer need to make the long drive to worship. Under the warm guidance of Rabbi Benno Wallach, the congregation enjoyed steady growth.
Rabbi Martin Levy was with the congregation from 1997-2002 and helped to broaden every aspect of the Temple Beth Tikvah Jewish experience.
Rabbi Daniel Plotkin came to us in the summer of 2002, right out of seminary. His diligent service within the temple and the community was appreciated by all. Having discovered his wife-to-be while in our service, the desire arose to live closer to her home. TBT was able to find another rabbi, so Rabbi Plotkin was able to pack up his cowboy boots, his new bride, and accept another position that would take them closer to her home, as well as provide continuing career development for himself.
Now, through Torah Study, Adult and Youth Hebrew classes, a Youth Group, Sunday School, Sisterhood and Men’s Club, and our monthly ChaiLights newsletter, Temple Beth Tikvah is a part of the ever-growing Jewish awareness throughout the greater Houston area. Temple Beth Tikvah has reached it’s first major milestone. The dedication of the Temple’s new building on May 20, 2001 (27th of Iyar, 5761) came as the culmination of years of hard work and dedication. This truly remarkable event could never have been accomplished by only one or two families. It took the volunteer efforts and “sacrificial giving” of many individuals.