His father was the first rabbi in Coral Gables
My Miami memories are not only vivid in my mind, but are also dear to my heart.
My family and I moved from Orlando to Coral Gables in 1949. My dad, Rabbi Morris A. Skop, was the first rabbi in the young Jewish community of Coral Gables. Our first home was an old, scorpion-infested abode on Minorca Avenue near Le Jeune Road.
Because of my dad’s religious convictions, my brother, Eli, my sister, Shirah, and I were forced to attend a private Jewish academy on South Beach. During my fifth and sixth grades, I attended Coral Gables Elementary. I loved assimilating with my new non-Jewish friends and became quite popular.
My dad’s first congregation was called the Coral Gables Jewish Center and was on Palermo Avenue. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism was rampant at the time and we constantly received phone calls imploring us to “Go back to the beach, Jew.’’ On one memorable Sunday while my friend Arnold and I were riding our bikes, we discovered a misfired stick of dynamite on the temple’s front lawn.
