All That Glitters: Your Goal?

Aaron Dalton

Worth a visit: Worth Avenue

In 1992, the 18 members of the newly created Reform congregation of Temple Shaarei Shalom held services in the rented classroom of a Lake Worth, Fla., high school.

Today, that rented room would be a tight squeeze for the 800 individual members of the congregation, who now have their own 36,000-square-foot building in which to worship. The congregation's religious school alone enrolls more than 300 students!

The growth of Temple Shaarei Shalom reflects the growth of the Jewish population in the entire county, relocating from northern cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

In fact, the Jewish population of all of Southeast Florida, including those living in Broward and Dade counties, is said to now represent the third-largest Jewish community in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles.

Of course, the rarified social scene in the exclusive town of Palm Beach -- as opposed to the much larger Palm Beach County -- was not necessarily always so welcoming to Jews. Discrimination by exclusive non-Jewish country clubs was reportedly the motivating force that led Jews to found their own Palm Beach Country Club in 1959.

The Web site (www.newyorksocialdiary.com) also points out that Jews were only granted a charter to build the conservative Temple Emanu-El synagogue in 1963 after many years of holding services in an Episcopal church. Today, the town is also home to the Palm Beach Orthodox Synagogue, founded in the 1990s.

Whatever past obstacles it has faced, the modern Jewish community has grown into a powerful, vibrant, energetic and active force in Palm Beach County. This past December, for example, the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary. If film is not your thing, perhaps you'd prefer one of the comedy shows, lectures or day trips organized under the auspices of the Lore and Eric F. Ross JCC in Boynton Beach (www.jcconline.com); music lovers can catch a concert by the Klezmer Company Orchestra (www.klezmercompany.com), based in Boca Raton.

The Palm Beach County Jewish community is also fortunate to benefit from the largess of S. Daniel Abraham, the billionaire who made Slim-Fast a household name. These days, the Ewa & Dan Abraham Project works with the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County to fund free or low-cost Jewish education and outreach efforts throughout the county.

Worth a visit: The Boca Raton Resort & Club

True, Palm Beach County is full of Hebrew fabulousness, but there are plenty of secular attractions, too. For instance, there's the beach -- perfect for sunbathing, volleyball, walks or whatever other sorts of coastal activities you typically pursue.

Prefer to skip the risk of sunburn and ogle insanely expensive mansions instead?

Get the inside scoop on Billionaire's Row, swanky Worth Avenue and the Palm Beach upper crust on a private tour with Leslie Diver (www.islandliving pb.com). From the Kennedys to Rush Limbaugh, from novelist James Patterson to parrothead Jimmy Buffet -- Diver knows the details.

Beyond the bank accounts of its billionaire residents, what other sorts of riches do the town of Palm Beach and its eponymous county hold for visitors? The Morimoto Sushi Bar in the Boca Raton Resort & Club has some of the most delicious sushi this side of the Pacific Ocean. The resort itself is one of the classic grand dame hotels on Florida's Atlantic coast.

The palatial pink fantasyland even has its own croquet pitch, which reminded me of "Alice in Wonderland," except for the fact that none of the players fastidiously dressed in white were swinging a flamingo as a mallet.

While in Boca, relax your mind with a stroll of the 200-acre Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens, which provide a dose of Zen repose; then take care of your bodily needs with some good Jewish comfort food: matzah-ball soup, latkes or maybe a nice hot pastrami sandwich.

If money is no object, then you can't go wrong at the beachfront Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach (www.fourseasons.com/ palmbeach). Sure, it's opulent -- everything clad in marble and perfumed with orchids -- but it simultaneously feels like a low-key boutique hideaway.

Loll around the pool, stroll the uncrowded beach, sample an exotic massage at the spa, and do not miss the chance to try the divinely deconstructed strawberry-shortcake dessert in the hotel's restaurant.

All you history and architecture buffs out there should definitely set aside time to visit the Henry M. Flagler Museum (www. flaglermuseum.us), which sits inside the former home of the man who brought the railroad to South Florida and set Palm Beach on its path to becoming one of the most lush and luxurious resorts in the world.

For more information, see: www.palmbeachfl.com.