July 22, 2022

Nothing inspires joy like the chirpy music from an ice cream truck on a sweltering summer day. This mobile beacon of happiness brings with it refreshing, sweet treats that appeal to all ages. 

And now everybody can enjoy kosher ice cream on-the-go, thanks to La Creme Dairy’s kosher ice cream truck, which serves Cholov Yisroel ice cream in La Brea, Pico-Robertson and the Valley. 

The truck offers soft serve vanilla, chocolate and swirl, along with toppings including rainbow sprinkles. Also on the menu are pareve bars, like watermelon sorbet and ice cream bars, such as strawberry, caramel swirl and vanilla dipped in chocolate. 

“Ice cream is something most people like,” owner Chaim Fyzakov said. “And it makes people really happy.”

Chaim and his wife Mariasha started La Creme Dairy three years ago, when they noticed the need for local, fresh, Cholov Yisroel milk in the Los Angeles area. They are currently between locations for their dairy and creamery, so starting a Cholov Yisroel ice cream truck made sense. 

“We were driving in the car with our kids, and my [7-year-old] daughter was like, ‘You should drive an ice cream truck,’” Mariasha Fyzakov told the Journal. “And we’re like, ‘That’s not a bad idea.’”

Chaim added, “We were doing milk, iced cappuccino, heavy cream, all the different fluid milks. Now we are taking the fluid milk and turning it into frozen milk that tastes good.”

Mariasha manages things behind the scenes, and Chaim drives the truck.

The joy for the Fyzakovs is giving observant children the experience of buying treats from an ice cream truck.

Cholov Yisroel, which literally means Jewish milk, is milk held to a higher kosher standard. According to Chaim, a rabbi on site makes sure the milk is coming from a healthy cow, that it’s being processed on kosher equipment and there are no non-kosher ingredients. 

“The same thing applies to ice cream,” he said.“We want to make sure all the ingredients that we use for this are up to standards. It’s kosherized.”

Chaim grew up in Denver, and the ice cream truck would always come on Saturday, during Shabbos. Then, after Chaim became Cholov Yisroel, the truck started coming during the weekdays. And he still couldn’t enjoy ice cream.

“Maybe, deep down, I wanted to do this is because it’s something I didn’t have as a child.” – Chaim Fyzakov

“Maybe, deep down, I wanted to do this is because it’s something I didn’t have as a child,” he said. 

“For the Orthodox Jewish community that keeps Cholov Yisroel, seeing an ice cream truck drive around your area and you can’t ever buy from it, there’s always disappointment,” Mariasha said. 

Thrilled to give this experience to their kids and other families, she brings their children (ages 7, 4 and 2) to the truck nearly every day. 

Ice cream lovers can find La Creme’s location through their WhatsApp status, Instagram (@la_creme_dairy) or the good old-fashioned phone (619-386-6027); customers message them, and they send back a flyer.

“Every day we’re somewhere else,” Mariasha said. “We make our schedule depending on where the events [like camps or birthday parties] are. We will then find a location close by, like a street corner. So if the camp’s in Pico, then we will stay in Pico.” 

The Fyzakovs started the truck in June and plan to continue for the rest of the summer; they like the idea that it’s something special for this time of year. They serve an estimated 300 to 500 people every day.

“A lot of people think they are just for kids, but I have 70-year-olds coming in for extra sprinkles,” Chaim said.

Mariasha got a call the other day, inquiring about prices for an event. “I asked how many kids. They said, ‘No kids. Actually, we’re an old age home.’”

Chaim thinks there’s maybe a “sprinkling” (pun intended) of other Jewish communities around North America that have Cholov Yisroel ice cream trucks, so it’s a novel thing.

“LA being the second biggest city in America and probably right after New York in terms of Jewish population, I thought it would be fitting to do it,” he said. “And I also get non-Jews who come up to the truck.”

“It makes me feel like we’re doing something good,” Mariasha said. “We’ve got people waiting for us and texting us and really wanting more.”

Due to the advocacy efforts of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and L.A. Federation partners, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recently signed state budget for 2022-2023 allocates more than $132 million to help fund issues affecting California’s Jewish community.

“It is safe to say this $132 million will impact the entire Jewish community.”
– Rachel Zaiden

“It is safe to say this $132 million will impact the entire Jewish community,” L.A. Federation Civic Engagement Director Rachel Zaiden told the Journal in a recent phone interview.

The L.A. Federation worked with the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, a group of Jewish and Jewish-supporting elected officials in the California legislature, to secure $40 million for rebuilding six California summer camps affected by devastating wildfires in recent years. The camps are both Jewish and non-Jewish.

“The California Legislative Jewish Caucus was the main driver and force for this,” Zaiden said. “So we are really grateful for their partnership.”

The Jewish camps that will receive funds are Wilshire Boulevard Temple Camps in Malibu; the Shalom Institute in Malibu; and the Union of Reform Judaism’s Camp Newman in Santa Rosa. 

The Woolsey Fire in 2018 devastated Wilshire Boulevard Temple (WBT) Camps as well as the Shalom Institute. The massive wildfire destroyed nearly all of the structures at WBT’s Camp Hess Kramer and Gindling Hilltop Camp, and it wiped out 95% of the Shalom Institute’s JCA Shalom campus. 

“Had our state not been ravaged by drought and wildfire we would not be in this position,” Zaiden said.

“Had our state not been ravaged by drought and wildfire we would not be in this position,” Zaiden said.

In a statement, Shalom Institute Executive Director Bill Kaplan said he was grateful for the state’s support and the Federation’s work on his camp’s behalf. 

“This new funding from the State of California has put us one big step towards turning our ashes from the Woolsey Fire into blossoms,” he said. “With tremendous gratitude, the Shalom Institute community thanks the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Jewish Caucus for all their support and efforts to secure these funds not only for us, but for five other camps destroyed in wildfires over the last five years.” 

The recent allocations from the state will help with rebuilding, Douglas Lynn, executive director at Wilshire Boulevard Temple Camps and Conference Center, said. 

 “The recognition from the State of California of the invaluable work camps do to help children, teens and even adults learn, grow and become better people is reflected in this financial support,” he said.

Signed by Newsom on June 30, the $308 billion state budget goes beyond supporting Jewish and non-Jewish camps. It allocates $50 million for the state’s nonprofit security grant program; $1.4 million to staff and fund the Governor’s Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education; $1.8 million to staff and fund the Commission on the State of Hate; $36 million for the California Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program, which is administered by Jewish Family Service agencies to support the aging survivor population; and $3 million for the renovation of the JFCS Holocaust Center in San Francisco.

The work of many partners made securing these funds possible, according to the Federation. 

“From the Federation’s standpoint, the idea that we could convene this broader coalition says where we want to go in the community – that we make an impact not just in the Jewish community but among the broader, diverse citizens of the state,” Zaiden said. “This was the first time we have been able to do that in a meaningful way.”