The Eatery: a Good, Fun, Happy Place

The Center for Jewish Life is excited to announce that Michelle and Robert (Bob) Merlin are naming the Eatery. The Merlins chose this legacy because the Eatery will be a place to make and to nurture the kinds of relationships that have been a highlight of their family’s multigenerational ties to Beth David.

Whether people will come to gather around a table with friends and family, make business connections, meet the future love of their life, or stop in for a quick coffee, the Eatery will bring the entire Central Miami community together.

Supporting The Center makes sense for a family whose relationship with Beth David dates back to the 1920’s, when Bob’s family joined the congregation. Three generations later, Beth David is their second family and a place they call home.

Read on to learn more about Michelle and Bob’s history with Beth David, why they support The Center for Jewish Life, and how they foresee The Center benefiting the community.

Q: As long term supporters of Beth David, why have you chosen to support The Center for Jewish Life?

Michelle: We love Beth David and we certainly want to see it continue as a religious institution within The Center. Beth David has been there for all of our life cycle events, starting with Bob’s Bar Mitzvah party all the way to our newest granddaughter’s naming ceremony, which Rabbi Jacobs just performed! Beth David has always been there for us - educationally for our kids, and as a place for the celebration of life’s milestones and for religious observance.

Bob: All of our children attended the Gordon School. Our oldest, who is 36 and now a successful attorney, started in the 2nd year of the school's existence at 18 months old, finishing as part of the 3rd graduating class from 5th grade! Our children made their best friends at the Gordon School. They are still very close and even stood up at each other's weddings!

I could see The Center coordinating educational programs and service projects where members and the entire community could get together. It’s going to help build relationships. 

Q: You chose to name the Eatery in The Center. Why the Eatery specifically? 

Bob: We like the concept of people gathering and eating together! It’s not far removed from my grandfather having a grocery store and a liquor store downtown - which actually was very close to the original location of Beth David. Naming the eatery sounded like a good, fun thing to do. We certainly want to make sure food is available for the students and provide a gathering place for the members of Beth David, the supporters of the Center and the community as a whole. 

Michelle: It feels like a place where people would be happy and we like the concept of people being happy in a place we helped to create. We like inviting people to our house and Beth David, in a sense, has become our home away from home. This is our way of bridging the gap between our physical home and our community home, for the entire community. 

Q:

What is a benefit you foresee The Center of Jewish Life being for Central Miami?

Bob: We’ve never lived close enough to a JCC or a place where Jews were able to gather and do physical fitness together. South was never an option for us or our families, and north wasn’t an option for the same reason, both were way too far from our home and work.

We think it would be wonderful for our grandchildren to have a place where they could gather with their friends, play sports, attend classes, and so on. When our children were younger, kids were playing in athletic leagues, even the Macabee games, and our children were never able to participate because it was too far away. There was no way we could get them from Coral Gables to the far regions of South Dade in after school traffic. With The Center being a central location, it seems like an ideal place for our grandchildren and the rest of the young people whose families are choosing to live in the Central Miami area. 

Michelle: Bob and I met at the Federation downtown when we were both in our 20’s. The Federation was a place where people could certainly meet other similarly aged and like-minded people, whatever their peer group was at a central location. With an emphasis on Judaism, it was an ideal place to get to know others who shared the same spiritual values. It’s hard to meet people at a certain age. My industry is not a typical Jewish field so there weren’t many people I was going to meet who shared my religious affiliation. Once you’re out of school it can be difficult to meet a “significant other,” and once you’re of a certain age, or no longer married, it gets even harder! Your options are basically the bar scene, online dating, or something more natural. And for us, the Federation was just a natural place to meet because the organization met our goals. I foresee The Center for Jewish Life being a central place for Jews and others to naturally interact and meet each other.

Q: What kind of programming would you like to see at The Center?

Bob: I’d love to see educational programs for the community as a whole and service projects where members and the entire community could get together to do things for the betterment of the community. I could see The Center coordinating these types of efforts.

Michelle: Hopefully The Center for Jewish Life is going to offer everything - the physical, the social, the educational, the religious, and what could be better? It’s going to help build community!

We are grateful to the Merlin’s for their early support and generosity. To learn more about The Center for Jewish Life naming opportunities, contact us at info@centerforjewishlifemiami.org or click the button below.