An annual Chabad menorah lighting took place on the afternoon of Dec. 8 at the Spring Street steps of Los Angeles City Hall.\n
What Los Angeles City Hall needs is a strong Jewish woman.
Foreign conflict and human rights abuses were front and center in the minds of Los Angeles’ Iranian-Jewish community leaders who attended the 30 Years After 4th Biennial Civic Action Conference on Nov. 2.
During a press conference at Los Angeles City Hall on Aug. 5, the city’s top leadership expressed solidarity with the State of Israel.
Rabbi David Ellenson, immediate past president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), and Sue Neuman Hochberg, chair of the HUC-JIR Western Region Board of Overseers, were honored with a musical tribute at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Feb. 9.
At first glance, Jews might appear to be enjoying a renaissance of political influence in Los Angeles. Eric Garcetti is the first elected Jewish mayor and the two other citywide elected officials — City Attorney Mike Feuer and City Controller Ron Galperin — are Jewish, too. So are three City Councilmembers.
This most recent High Holy Days, I had the privilege of experiencing a dozen different synagogues in Los Angeles. They were for me days of awe — and days of discovery.
Controller Ron Galperin is City Hall’s new numbers guy, hoping to bring the era of Big Data to the creaking bureaucracy. His plan is to use computers to analyze huge amounts of information as is now done by police departments, baseball teams, other businesses and, infamously, the National Security Agency.
What do the recent city elections that saw Jews step into the three top citywide offices — mayor, city attorney and city controller — mean for the role of the Jewish community in Los Angeles?
In 2009, the Paul Koretz and Eric Garcetti were the sole Jewish voices in Los Angeles City Politics. As of 2013, there will not only will there be three Jewish Councilmembers in Paul Koretz, Bob Blumenfield and Mitch Englander, but the entire executive leadership of Los Angeles will be Jewish.
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