In six weeks, Irvine\’s University Synagogue this summer raised $60,000, enough to purchase an ambulance for the American
Red Magen David of Israel (ARMDI), the equivalent of America\’s Red Cross.
On a typical Shabbat morning at the Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills, there is seldom a free seat in the spanking new 1,200-seat sanctuary. At Nessah, like other traditional Orthodox synagogues in Los Angeles, men and women sit separately, men lead the services and they don\’t use a microphone.
A few years ago, the rabbi offered the following challenge to the congregation: Spend one full day without gossiping whatsoever. His definition includes saying bad things about people, things which may happen to be true. It wasn\’t easy. My sister and I almost made it out of the temple parking lot before we lost the bet. Being good just don\’t come natural to some people.
This High Holy Day season, the congregation at Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue has something to sing about, to the lively and devoted Marcelo Gindlin.
When Joseph Dabby arrived in America from Iraq in 1972, and found his way to Kahal Joseph Congregation in Los Angeles, he was shocked. \”It was like being back in the Old Country,\” he said.
\”It was full of people who didn\’t even speak the same language; they were very far removed [from their roots] but they maintained everything the same — the same melodies and the same traditions,\” said Dabby, now 56 and president of the congregation.
Having staved off the imminent demise of the area\’s only Jewish preschool, Simi Valley\’s Congregation B\’nai Emet (CBE) is poised to do far more — trade land donated to CBE to meet the needs and ensure the future of the area\’s entire Jewish community.
One of the great debates after I became engaged to a rabbi was how I would be addressed by my husband\’s congregation. I
On a blazing hot Saturday in the hills of Calabasas, the streets are deserted, devoid of the usual clusters of children playing ball or teens on bikes and scooters within this gated community south of the 101 Freeway.
Alan Rosenberg and Marg Helgenberger know playwright A.R. Gurney is perhaps the quintessential chronicler of WASP American life. So why are the Jewish actor and his lapsed Catholic TV-star wife performing Gurney\’s \”Love Letters\” June 9 at the Skirball Cultural Center to benefit West L.A. congregation Adat Shalom?\n\n\”It\’s a bit odd,\” says the willowy Helgenberger, 43, who\’s on the CBS smash hit \”CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.\”\n\n\”But theater is the purview of Jews more than any other group,\” pipes up Rosenberg (\”The Guardian\”). \”So the play wouldn\’t have been successful if Jews hadn\’t gone to see it.\”
Minnie Marvit stepped up to the bimah in Hawaii to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. This \”girl,\” however, was a 92-year-old bubbe. \”I wanted to do this for some time, but I waited until I moved to Hawaii,\” she said. \”I feel so at home here.\” Marvit is a member of Congregation Sof Ma\’Arav (\”The End of the West\”) in Honolulu, a Conservative synagogue that prides itself on educating \”children\” and preparing them for b\’nai mitzvah.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.