The Temple Beth Am-Pressman Academy gala was held on June 14 in honor of outgoing Temple President Jacqui Jacobs and the outgoing chair of the Conservative congregation’s Education Cabinet Shani Fisher.
Appropriately, the event’s theme was “Leadership with Heart.”
Jacobs, the congregation’s outgoing president, joined Temple Beth Am in 2010 and, according to the synagogue’s leadership, “has enriched our community ever since.” Fisher and her husband, Seth, have called Pressman Academy and Beth Am home since relocating from New York in 2011. Their two sons have been raised at Beth Am and the community has been central to their family’s life.
A Conservative congregation, Temple Beth Am is located near Pico-Robertson. The congregation’s day school, Pressman Academy, engages students in general and Judaic studies.
Venice Beach turned into Tel Aviv at the end of June for an event hosted by Bubbela, a local initiative that engages Jewish young adults. Organized by sisters Karina and Alexa Zysman, more than 100 people came to the Tel Aviv-themed beach block party, which started at Dudley Market with wines and small bites, before heading to the beach for mindfulness, wellness activities, Spikeball, Matkot and beach volleyball.
“This was our love letter to a Tel Aviv summer day that we so fondly reminisce about,” the Zysman sisters said. “If you’ve ever spent a summer afternoon in Tel Aviv, you know the specific feeling we wanted to evoke. Sun on your face, turning strangers into friends, slowing down and nowhere else to be. We know not everyone made it to Israel this summer, so we’re doing the next best thing and bringing Israel to us.”
BUBBELA, an initiative of Mem Global, also partnered with Jumbo Time Wines to offer an in-person sampling and tasting of their best wine at the event.
“As someone who just recently moved to L.A. and has been looking to find my Jewish community, Bubbela events have become the thing I look forward to most,” one participant shared. “This one in particular, from the wine tasting to the reflective sound bath, captured exactly what makes these gatherings different from anything else out there.”
