BY SUSAN R. POLLACK
Special to the Jewish News
E
oneymooning in 1947,
Ruth Sapolsk,, and her
husband spent their
wedding night in a
Miami Beach hotel, only to discover
the next morning that it was
"restricted" or, off-limits to Jewish
clientele.
"We woke up to that,"says the
perky septuagenarian, who eventual-
ly settled nearby "We never said
what we were . . . and that's what
we woke up to."
Now, more than a half-century
later, Sapolsky still shakes her head
in disbelief as she shares her recol-
lections with visitors during an infor-
mal tour of the Sanford L. Ziff
Jewish Museum of Florida, marking
its fifth anniversary in a restored Art
Deco synagogue on the edge of
South Beach.
As a volunteer docent, Sapolsky
helps enliven the collection, which
showcases more than 236 years of
Sharing space in the sun with
shopping bag-toting bubbies in
Pensacola of three Sephardic Jews in
bermudas and zadies decked our in
1763.
polyester pants, white belts and flow-
"It makes me happy to be among
ered shirts is a snazzy new crowd
things that are Jewish and to be able
that makes the one-square-mile Art
to share their stories with others,"
Deco Historic District — 800
she says, pointing to such Florida
buildings on the National Register of
artifacts as a citrus crate label in
Historic Places — a veritable movie
Yiddish, a 1916 Purim
set-come-to-life. It's one
gown fashioned from
of the planet's greatest
The Marlin Hotel is
seashells and abhorrent
people-watching
places.
another restored Art
hotel signage, including
Against
a
tropical
back-
Deco hotel and the
"Always a View, Never a
drop
of
restored
Deco
site of many nation-
Jew."
hotels in pastel confetti
al fashion photo
Once an Orthodox syn- shoots.
colors with shimmering
agogue for Miami Beach's
neon trim, the passing
first Jewish congregation,
South Beach parade
the museum's beautifully-restored
includes waves of sporty convertibles,
1936 building, distinguished by a
roller-bladers, pooch-walkers,
Moorish copper dome, 80 stained
artists, film-makers, musicians,
glass windows and the original mar-
moguls, movie stars, impossibly-thin
ble bimah, is yet another success
models and assorted glitterati, some
story in the rags-to-riches renaissance
of them Spanish-speaking and many
of South Beach, which has trans-
glued to cell phones. Across palm-
formed itself in the past decade into
fringed Ocean Drive, visible from
a hip haven of surf, sand and cut-
umbrella-shaded cafe tables, lies the
ting-edge style.
wide, Gulf-warmed beach, where
Florida Jewish history and culture
dating back to the arrival in
li srou go:
For travel information, call 800-283-2707 or
visit www.miamiandbeaches.com on the Internet
Hotels: Contact The National at 800-327-
8370 or visit www.nationalhotel.com . For
Mery Griffin's Blue Moon, call (800) 724-
1623 or visit www.merv.com . Check out the
Island Outpost group at (800) OUTPOST
or visit www.islandoutpost.com .
Museums: The Sanford L. Ziff Jewish
5/26
2000
S20
Museum of Florida is at 301 Washington Ave.;
phone 305-672-5044; or visit www.jewishmu-
seum.com . On permanent exhibit, "MOSAIC:
Jewish Life in Florida," plus rotating special
exhibits. The Wolfsonian, 1001 Washington
Ave.; phone (305) 531-1001; special exhibit,
"Leading the Simple Life: The Arts and Crafts
Movement in Britain, 1880-1910" through Aug. 1.
Other attractions: Art Deco Welcome Center,
1001 Ocean Drive, offers guided tours by the
Miami Design Preservation League and informa-
tanned groups of gays or straights
gather to play volleyball, and perfect
specimens do sit-ups at water's edge.
If you haven't visited in some
time, you're in for a treat, notes
Margaret Weissman of West
Bloomfield, who says she's eager to
return to the "hopping" scene after a
recent four-day, 40th birthday foray
with her husband, Irwin Futernick,
and two other couples, Fred and
Felicia Neumann of Bloomfield Hills
and Susie and Jeff Davis of West
Bloomfield.
"I can't believe how many hotels
have been redone — it's wonderful,"
enthuses Weissman, who last visited
10 years ago. "We went walking one
night after dinner and you would
think it was prime-time at the Ann
Arbor Art Fair; there's so much ener-
gy and fun."
By day, when they weren't run-
ning or biking, they lounged in
hammocks or swam laps in what
Weissman describes as the "amaz-
ing" 205-foot long pool at their
oceanfront hotel, The National, sur-
tive self-guided audio-tours. Drop by or call 305-
672-2014 for schedule.
Eateries: For unbeatable people-watching and
dependable fare grab an outdoor table at the News
Cafe, 800 Ocean- Drive, in the heart of it all. Settle
in at the lively bar or lush garden at Wish, a Todd
Oldham-designed room with lovely lighting and
innovative fare in the Tiffany Hotel. On Lincoln
Road, try the sleek-yet-oothing NOA (Noodles of
Asia) or upscale Cuban dishes served by white-jack-
eted waiters at Yuca.