King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain were greeted on the steps of the temple by Rabbi Ott, Dr. Seymour Eiseman, president of the congregation, Mrs. Raquel Bensimon, Senior Vice President and Mrs. Arlette Cohen, president of the Temple Sisterhood. When the royal couple entered the sanctuary they were honored by the blasts of six shofroth (rams horns) led by Cantor Isaac Behar and a jubilant congregation singing Havenu Shalom Alehem. It was for all a new page of history in the making. The Sephardim had waited, sometimes with hope, sometimes with despair for five hundred years to witness such an event. It was the first time in over five hundred years that a Spanish monarch had visited a Jewish synagogue and all in attendance enjoyed every moment.