Los Angeles Jewish Home resident Frieda Thompson celebrated her Bat Mitzvah as well as her 92nd birthday, on March 18.
The date also marked the 100th anniversary of when Judith Kaplan, at age twelve, became the first American girl to celebrate a bat mitzvah on March 18, 1922.
“When I was young, women couldn’t do it, but now I think it’s a wonderful thing,” Thompson previously told the Los Angeles Jewish Home.
Thompson, a Holocaust survivor, lost both of her parents during the World War II. She recalled one of her mother’s final actions was ensuring her brother became a bar mitzvah. She began studying and preparing for her bat mitzvah a few years ago, but COVID-19 prevented the community from gathering until recently.
During a kabbalat Shabbat service at the Jewish Home, Thompson was called to the Torah while her loving family as well as the center’s staff and residents looked on.
Los Angeles Jewish Home Director of Spiritual Life Rabbi Karen Bender highlighted the significance of the occasion.
“As a small child, Frieda was forced to raise her hand and call out ‘Heil Hitler,’” Bender said. “Today her voice rings out as a cherished leader among her peers.”
The leadership of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles recently led a humanitarian trip to the Poland and Ukrainian border, responding to the needs of the estimated 200,000 Jews living in Ukraine.
Los Angeles Federation President and CEO Rabbi Noah Farkas and Federation Campaign Chair Lynn Bider visited the region from March 13-16, helping support relief efforts for the refugees pouring into Poland from Ukraine and displaced by Russia’s invasion. The majority of refugees are women, children and the elderly.
“The Federation is deeply committed to being a part of the global Jewish response to this crisis,” Farkas said. “It’s imperative that we see what is happening in person on the ground so we can provide emotional and spiritual support and ensure the money we are raising is properly supporting our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. We are guided by the wisdom in our Talmud, ‘Whoever saves a single life, is considered to have saved the whole world.’”
The Federation is working with global partners American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and Jewish Agency for Israel on helping settle Ukrainian refugee families in Israel. Along with aiding with their documentation and travel logistics, Jewish organizations are providing refugees with much-needed medical and nutritional resources.
According to the JDC, more than two million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russian began its invasion last month.
A pre-Purim tree planting was held on March 13 at the Breed Street Shul in Boyle Heights.
Approximately 150 people turned out to plant 50 trees in front of the historic synagogue and on neighboring streets and to adopt 100 fruit and shade trees. The day of climate action and community celebration marked the holiday of Purim; the 50th anniversary of Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), the world’s first LGBT synagogue; and the complete preservation and transformation of Breed Street Shul over the next several years.
Breed Street Shul Project Founding President Stephen Sass and David Silvas of Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council emceed the event.
“As we begin slowly to emerge from the most recent COVID surge, and as our hearts are heavy with concern for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, and for our world, it can feel challenging to feel happy,” Sass said. “But this morning we can—indeed we must—hold both emotions at the same time, for Purim is synonymous with joy and hope and resilience.”
Speakers included L.A. City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Kevin de Leon; Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles Hillel Newman; BCC Rabbi Jillian Cameron and Cantor Juval Porat; and Rabbis Jason Rosner and Daniel Chorny of Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock.
Synagogues across the community held parties, megillah-readings, and spiels to celebrate the holiday of Purim on the evening of March 16.
At Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills, people of all ages turned out to the modern Orthodox congregation on Wednesday night to hear the reading of the megillah and wave their graggers whenever they heard Haman’s name. Later that night, young professionals dressed as Jedi Knights, Indiana Jones, Waldo of “Where’s Waldo” and countless other characters closed out the merry evening at Founders Ale House in Pico-Robertson. Young adult members of progressive community IKAR were also in attendance at the bar during a program dubbed “Purim on Pico.”
Members of dozens of other congregations, including Pacific Jewish Center, also known as Shul on the Beach; Sinai Temple; Kehillat Ma’arav and Stephen Wise Temple, gathered for the holiday.
