Longboat temple cleans highway for Rosh Hashanah

By Dana Kampa
| 5:00 a.m. October 2, 2025

Kelli Veit and Mindy Brandt help with a community cleanup on Longboat Key as part of Temple Beth Israel's new tashlich tradition.

Longboat Key
Neighbors

In recognition of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, leaders at Temple Beth Israel and Rabbi Jessica Spitalnic Mates signed a group up for the Adopt-A-Highway Program for a portion of Gulf of Mexico Drive near the temple.

She said the temple plans to hold such community service cleanups at least four times a year.

TBI member Jason Brandt said the volunteers cleared about 70 pounds of litter from the Key.

Those who stayed indoors participated in another eco-centric activity, writing their apologies and hopes for the future on pieces of paper embedded with flower seeds before tearing them up and planting them to grow into something beautiful.

Rabbi Peter Kasdan explains the tradition of tashlich and thought process behind writing apologies and hopes for the future on pieces of paper with flower seeds in them, to be torn up and planted.

Volunteers donned protection from traffic and the sun before heading out to join Temple Beth Israel's first Adopt-A-Highway event for Rosh Hashanah.

Doris Morgenstern and Nancy Eisenstat both helped with planting flowers for an environmentally friendly tashlich at Temple Beth Israel.

Temple Beth Israel member Jason Brandt explains some of the environmental motivations for volunteers' focus on giving back for Rosh Hashanah this year. He also laid out plans for a potential future compost-fueled garden at the temple.

author

Dana Kampa

Dana Kampa is the Longboat Key neighbors reporter for the Observer. She first ventured into journalism in her home state of Wisconsin, going on to report community stories everywhere from the snowy mountains of Washington State to the sunny shores of the Caribbean. She has been a writer and photographer for more than a decade, covering what matters most to readers.