Temple Bat Yam | Berlin, MD |

The Traveling Ark
By Veronica W. Kahn

Jerry & Patti Selig Temple Bat Yam a Reform Jewish Congregation located in Berlin, near Ocean City, Maryland was chartered in 1989. During the early years, the congregation had a Torah, a hand-written scroll containing the history of Judaism, which was on loan, but no permanent home for almost ten years. The small group was on the move. They first met for Friday night services in the Art League of Ocean City on 94th Street Bayside. High Holyday Services were held at the Ocean City Convention Center, the Embers Restaurant and the Princess Royale Hotel. Community Passover Seders and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs were held at the Sheraton Fontainebleau Hotel, the Embers Restaurant and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church which was the second home for Temple Bat Yam.

The Torah is important to most of these occasions, so founding member Jerry Selig designed, and donated to the congregation an ark to hold the Torah, Sabbath candles, prayer books and other items used for services. And, it was on wheels. Yes, many people in Ocean City, without knowing what it was, witnessed a holy ark crossing Coastal Highway from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, where it was stored, to the Sheraton Fontainebleau Hotel where some of the special services were held. For the eternal light on top of the ark, Martin Nadelman, a dean at Wor-Wic Community College, created a stained glass star of David with a small light inside.

Temple Bat Yam’s traveling ark actually did journey beyond Ocean City when it became part of a traveling exhibition by the Jewish Museum of Maryland titled “We Call This Place Home: Jewish Life in Maryland’s Small Towns”.

Finally, in 1997, the congregation completed a building of their own on Worcester Highway in Berlin, Maryland. The traveling ark now has a special place in the temple library. It is home to books left to the temple by the founding rabbi, the late Rabbi Richard S. Sternberger, and items that serve as a chronicle of Temple Bat Yam’s history. If needed for services, the book shelves in the traveling ark are removable, and the ark can once again become home to the Torah. An ark for all times and all places, which was Selig’s vision when it was first built.

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