Pauper Turned Prince Gives Bat Yahm Gift

By Andrea Adelson
Published on April 1, 2004

Isidore Myers and his three siblings had a less-than-carefree childhood. Their parents, penniless immigrants, eked out a living early in the last century in Akron, Ohio, where their barely literate father painted houses. Although the family managed food and shelter, they scrambled for odd jobs like peddling papers so they too could to contribute something to the household.

From such hardscrabble beginnings, Myers nonetheless recently made a gift of more than $3 million to Newport Beach's Temple Bat Yahm, the largest single contribution in the synagogue's 31-year history. To honor the philanthropist and his late wife, the 7-acre site recently was renamed The Isidore C. Myers and Penny W. Myers Temple Bat Yahm Campus.

Vocal Musicians Make a Joyful Noise

By Lauren Korduner
Published on January 1, 2004

Human voices converge on the same note, echoing a haunting harmony -- arousing complicated emotions.

This has been the buzz surrounding an award-winning Jewish a cappella group, Shir Appeal, a group of college students from Massachusetts, who will bring their hypnotizing harmonies to Orange County's Temple Bat Yahm (TBY) for Shabbat evening service, Jan. 16. The group was named after Tufts University's mascot -- Jumbo the Elephant. The Hebrew phrase shir hapeal means "song of the elephant."