August 17, 2023

For more than 25 years, there have been reports — unreliable reports — that Hollywood Temple Beth El would soon vanish. Often called “The Temple of the Stars,” the Conservative shul, has counted among its members the Warner Brothers, Louis B. Mayer, Carl Laemmle, Samuel Goldwyn (né Goldfish) and Edward G. Robinson (Emanuel Goldenberg) would be displaced by an apartment building.

“The news of the demise of the temple is greatly exaggerated — as Mark Twain said about news of his dying,” M. Elie Alyeshmerni, president of the Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) — the building’s current owners — said. “We just repaired the whole roof fully. We are about to renovate Sapper Hall. We have been doing everything we can to increase income, decrease expenses and keep the building in good shape.”

There’s been a near-constant death watch since the IAJF purchased the property from Hollywood Temple Beth El in 1998. None of the unconfirmed reports panned out. It’s happening again:

“The fate of Temple Beth El is uncertain after the West Hollywood Planning Commission approved the site for demolition,” the weekly Beverly Hills Press reported last month.

According to the Press, in February 2020, the Iranian American Jewish Federation “submitted a request to develop the property. On Nov. 17, West Hollywood’s planning commission approved a permit that would allow the site to be redeveloped with a new 90-unit, five-story residential building.”

Rabbi Norbert Weinberg led Beth El in the ‘90s and returned to the bima 10 years ago.

For much of that time he’s had to fend off, sometimes vigorously, against reports of its impending demise.

“Understandably,” he told the Journal, “our members are upset, but we are working with the Iranian American Jewish Center to keep the building.”

“Our members are upset, but we are working with the Iranian American Jewish Center to keep the building.”- Rabbi Norbert Weinberg

He noted that when the Iranian American Jewish Federation purchased the property from Temple Beth El in 1998, a condition was attached that has been called “confusing.”

For 15 years — until 2013 — when the IAJF completed its purchase — there would be a joint directorate, under theauspices of the IAJF,.

“At that point,” Rabbi Weinberg said, “we officially became tenants on a lease basis.”

The proposal to tear it down, he said, “only came to our attention last year.” The IAJC denied the report, according to the Beverly Hills Press.

The Press reported that a 2016 Commercial Historic Resources Survey did not find the structure, built between 1952 and 1968, to be eligible for landmark preservation.

West Hollywood Preservation Alliance board president Victor Omelczenko said the city should reconsider this decision.

“Temple Beth El warrants having a specific historic resource assessment conducted before any decisions are made about its demolition.”

Alyeshmerni told the Press that the fate of the property is far from sealed.

Geoffrey Buck, a member of Temple Beth El’s board of directors, said that when Temple Beth El sold the complex to the IAJC, it was done with the understanding that the temple would be preserved.

“When you destroy a building,” he said, “you’re destroying history. You’re just wiping it out.”

“We are not going to throw anyone out of the building,” Iranian Federation representative Shahla Javdan said. “We’re here to help.”

After living through years of rumors about Temple Beth El’s future, several longtime members told the Journal that its future could accurately be measured in years.

Perhaps they are reflecting the optimism of their rabbi, who is known for his sunny approach to life.

Hollywood Temple Beth El in West Hollywood, Rabbi Weinberg said, was “the first synagogue in Hollywood, founded by leaders in the film industry, has provided religious and social services to the Jewish and general community for the past century.

It has managed to keep up activities, adding live-streaming to a broader audience for the 21st century.” Echoing the IAJC’s Alyeshmerni, he said “the news of our demise is premature. We have been operating under the aegis of the Iranian American Jewish Center for some time.” There have been, he admitted, discussions “on the future of this historic building.

While we believe this historic structure must be and can be preserved, we will continue to work with the Center to serve the needs of the Jewish and the general community.”

Hollywood Temple Beth El, he assured his congregation, will continue to be open for services on Shabbat, and the Center will continue its active programming and events. “Our doors will be open for you on these High Holy Days, beginning Sept. 15.”

When Liza Sakhaie was in college and working at Bloomingdale’s, she decided to start dressing modestly. However, she quickly became fed up with shopping for clothing. 

“I was working on an experiential retail marketing team at Bloomingdale’s, conceiving new ways to capture customers,” she said. “Yet, in my own modest shopping experience, I noticed no one was doing much to try and capture me.”

When Sakhaie was shopping, she had to constantly sacrifice quality, style or budget. She spent hours searching for clothes that met her modest standards, only to receive a dress with a surprise slit and open back.

The modest clothing space — and consumers’ perspectives on it — wasn’t much better.

“Having grown up in an Iranian Jewish household, the stereotypes around modest dress greatly impacted my view on clothing, and as I started to change the way I dressed, I noticed how many other women felt that a modest dress code was outdated, ugly, frumpy and restrictive,” Sakhaie, who lives in New York, said. 

Sakhaie wanted to disrupt the fashion industry by bringing modesty up to trendy standards and giving women more options. That’s why, this summer, she started The Reflective, a modest fashion retailer. The online shop features more than 1,000 of the latest modest fashion items, sourced from prominent brands, boutiques and designers like Sachin & Babi and Baruni. Women can shop for everything from dresses to tops, sweaters, skirts and accessories like belts, jewelry, shoes and bags. 

“We launched The Reflective in order to change the way women feel about modesty by empowering them to see fashion as an external expression of individual values,” she said. “Our mission is to provide an elevated and attainable product curation while empowering our community through engaging and educational content, events and evolving experiences for the modern modest woman.”

The site is for women of all backgrounds, but Sakhaie said her main customers are observant Jewish, Christian and Muslim. 

“We’re honored to serve such a diverse community and begin to show women worldwide that we are not all that different,” she said. “We also serve a large population of ‘modest by choice’ individuals. These are women who choose to dress modestly for many reasons, including professionalism, safety, aging and even sun exposure.”

Sakhaie hopes to help women feel good about the modest clothing they’re wearing. Though she had a hard time adjusting to dressing modestly at first, today, she feels empowered.

“Initially, dressing modestly felt unnatural and uncomfortable,” she said. “I immediately noticed that when I swapped out my skinny jeans for a midi skirt, I became quieter and lacked my usual confidence.”

“My modest wardrobe allows me to express myself through my interests, my relationships, my spirituality and, of course, my clothes.” 

She continued, “Needless to say, five years later, I’m still here. My modest wardrobe allows me to express myself through my interests, my relationships, my spirituality and, of course, my clothes. Although it is still an immense challenge and commitment, I no longer feel shy. Rather, I feel a sense of elegance, femininity and humility.”

With The Reflective, Sakhaie’s goal is to make the modest clothing shopping experience easier and provide women with a wardrobe that helps them feel beautiful – inside and out. 

“We clearly value beauty and aesthetics,” she said. “We ultimately believe that your externality is just a vehicle for expressing your internal self.”