Greater Miami's first Jewish congregation was founded in 1912 as B'nai Zion, named for its founder, Morris Zion. Max Lehrman arrived in Florida in 1905 and married Rose Seitlin in 1913. Their wedding, the first recorded Jewish marriage in Greater Miami, took place at the home of Morris Zion. Their first baby, Nell, born in 1914, is believed to be the first Jewish girl born in Miami. In 1916 they moved to Fort Lauderdale, the year Rose gave birth to Sarah, who is believed to be the first Jewish baby born in Fort Lauderdale.

In 1916 the congregation was renamed Beth David to honor David Afremow, a department store owner who donated $5,000 to the congregation. In 1949 Beth David moved to its present location. Inside, the Beck Museum of Judaica features some 3,000-year-old antiquities, a 17th-century Persian Torah, and two bas-reliefs by Kenneth Treister, designer of the Holocaust Memorial on Miami Beach.

Information courtesy of Florida Division of Historical Resources, a division of Florida Department of State and the Florida Memory Project.