Monday, July 14, 2025
Repair the Sea is a Tampa-based organization that aims to share the “spiritual wonders of water and the sea from a Jewish perspective.” The group’s hope is to promote interfaith harmony, cooperation and raise awareness to the threats facing the oceans.
The organization held its first pre-Passover Bedikat HaMayim on April 6, its International Jewish Waterfront Cleanup.
Tons of synagogues and temples across the world took part in the day, including Congregation B’nai Sholom-Beth David of Rockville Centre, Congregation Beth Tikvah of Wantagh and the Merrick Jewish Centre. People from several communities gathered at Town Park at Point Lookout to clean up the beach together.
“It’s a really exciting thing, because this is actually the first year that numerous communities are getting together in order to try to figure out how to better the world,” Rabbi Boaz Tomsky of B’nai Sholom-Beth David said. “We thought this would be a good opportunity, not just because of the holiday coming up, but also because we want to make sure that our children, families, our community, are able to go to a nice, clean beach.”
People gathered in the afternoon on April 6 at Town Park and cleaned up pounds and pounds of trash on the beach. Bags, food scraps, boards, sticks and other garbage was found and removed, clearing up the sand.
“This was initially spearheaded by the Merrick Jewish Centre,” Tomsky said. “We’re relating it to the holiday of Passover because, just like spring cleaning on Passover, we make sure that our houses are clean from any leaven or bread. We thought this would be a good opportunity to search for things that need to be thrown away.”
This year’s Bedikat HaMayim cleanup was the second annual installation, and each year more synagogues and temples join the cause.
