Anchor: "But now finding the right synagogue for you could be just a click of the mouse away. Channel 4's Cary Bergland's live in Hollywood with more."
The graphic says "Temple Ratings."
Cary stands outside Kol Ami, the gay Reform temple on Sunset Blvd.
Cary: "...Casual observers may be trying to figure out where they will spend the high holidays this year. The synagogue shopping has begun.
"This is Luke Ford and this is Luke Ford's website, Lukeford.net. This website is where, among other things, Luke rates and reviews Los Angeles-area synagogues."
Luke: "I want to go to every synagogue I can and check out the atmosphere and get a sense of the rabbi and the congregation... I want to get a feel for what it is like to be Jewish because I am new to this."
Cary: "To understand why Luke's website has become the most popular Jewish blogger site, you have to understand Jewish congregations. They each have distinct personalities..."
"Luke...says he's visited more than 50 temples in the L.A. area and he describes each one in detail on his site. So, if you're new to the area, newly out on your own... Luke's the go-to guy to find where the go-to temple is for you, even if you only go for the high holidays."
Luke: "Unless you form several close friendships in a synagogue, you're going to drop out."
Cary, live in Hollywood: "Luke says he's not always welcome in certain synagogues because of his reviews, but Rabbi Eger says today is the first day she's heard of him."
Adas Torah (O) 1135 South Beverly Drive Los Angeles, CA 90035 AdasTorah.org
It's largely composed of the black-hatted offspring of such Modern Orthodox shuls as Beth Jacob and Young Israel of Century City.
Adas Torah is starting a kollel (where married men will study Torah full-time). Not sure how much of a stipend these scholars will receive, but I suspect it'll be around $50,000 a year.
Adas Torah is the most talked about new shul in Pico-Robertson in many years.
Its lay leader is the beardless but black-hatted Mike Horowitz (son of Richard Horowitz, the lay leader of Aish HaTorah Los Angeles). Mike has all of his father's social skills. Mike went to the Mir yeshiva.
Lou writes:
This Kollel will be housed at Beth Jacob -- one of the shuls whose black-hatted offspring, as you report, now attend AT. How does one explain this sharing of facilities with a "competitor"?
You must first understand that this new Kollel, like Adas Torah, is a spin-off of a third, established, organization, the Los Angeles Kollel. One of the Kollel's leading rabbis, Rabbi Baruch Gradon, wishes to make inroads into the Pico-Robertson community. Rabbi Gradon's erudition, offered in a soft British brogue, is very appealing to the well-educated Pico-Robertson crowd.
Also, Rabbi Weil of Beth Jacob is a huge admirer of Rabbi Gradon. Nothwithstanding the Kollel's Lakewood affiliation, Rabbi Weil appreciates the intellectual gifts of the leaders of this venerable ultra-Orthodox institution. In fact, this coming Shabbat, Beth Jacob will host the Executive Director of the Lakewood Yeshiva, Rabbi Aron Kotler, who shares the same name as his grandfather, who founded this flagship institution of the Yeshiva world.
All very interesting, but there is also an element of BJ-YICC rivalry going on here. Adas Torah is perceived as a break-away from YICC, not as a break-away from BJ (which YICC was, a generation ago). The BJ offspring who attend AT left BJ long ago, when Rabbis Lamm and Weiss were at the helm. Now they are leaving YICC. Comes along Rabbi Weil, steers BJ to the right, accepts (and possibly encourages) a Lakewood-affiliated outpost in Pico-Robertson, and tells these young families who left YICC for something more serious: We support the goals of Adas Torah. And you can always consider Beth Jacob your second home.
The shul is run by Rabbi Gabay. It is a Sephardic synagogue so that a lot of the people you will hear on the TV and radio are not going to the be Ph.d. types you might find at a YICC or Bnai David. These are salt of the earth arabic jews who make a living in the garment and jewelry district. Rabbi Gabay is a saint as he runs a day school with an annual tuition of less than $10,000. His wife is also a very nice woman, she is a real estate agent. It has been around forever in the valley, it used to be even farther north on whitsett in a building the size of your apartment, but it moved to its present location probably 20 years ago. There is a mikveh at the shul, i think.
It is in, for want of a better word, a crumby area. North of Oxnard in the valley is essentially the third world. The shul is in the middle of an area that would best be described as being in a clash of civilizations. There are fewer and fewer whites, with the rising tide of armenians and latinos mostly moving in. The Jews who do live in the area are more middle class than the upper middle class Jews who worship at Shaarey Tzedek just one mile south.
In the middle of the area are a few strip clubs that benefit from the lack of a strong home owner base that would prevent such establishments from operating. There is a general air of riff raff in the area, with lots of homeless or petty thieves around. All the banks in the area have extreme security measures, and all the nice stores have gotten the hell out. It is not a place you would want to be walking around after dusk without a sixth sense or a six shooter, and it is a testament to our latino mayor and the latino councilperson for the area that the area has only gotten worse under their control - no resources are allocated to the area at all - it is probably the only area in L.A. that offers a strip club notorious for prostitution and drug dealing and a church in the same parking lot. There is more garbage on the streets, more run down businesses, more chickens in the front yards, more massage parlors, etc. - a real source of latino pride.
Most likely the chap who figured he would cap some jews was a resident miscreant and in an intoxicated state, decided that his problems were due to Moroccan-born Jews who like to get up early to pray to God. It is a problem for synagogues in bad areas - the third-world mentality of living among garbage and therefore treating other human beings like garbage is incongruent with a Jewish holy place. Until the city of Los Angeles decides to remain in the first world, which is unlikely given our mayor and the mess of a city council, i say, in the immortal words of Rabbi Kahane "every Jew a .22".
Please come visit our synagogue and get a more accurate feel for what is going on. Temple Akiba is a dynamic place offering wonderful opportunities/activities for people of all ages. Check out our website. www.templeakiba.net.
We have the largest nursery school enrollment we have ever had. That has brought many young families to Temple Akiba. We offer Hebrew school, confirmation class, bar/bat mitzvah training with our full time cantor, talented and brilliant Lonee Frailich. We have a gifted staff of educators and a full time young rabbi Zachery Shapiro who we are so thrilled to have at the helm leading our congregation to greatness. Services every Fri eve and some Sat. mornings. We offer a sisterhood, men's club, havurahs, Bible Study, coffee with the Rabbi, a Wednesday lunch and learn with our clergy, relious school classes, nursery school, Day Camp, summer overnight camp at Camp Max Strauss for 2011, activities every day/evening of the week. Temple Akiba is a busy place every day with lots of people coming and going involved in many Temple activities. We are working on a capital campaign and are ready to begin the 1st phase of renovating and remodeling our buildings and gardens. Last Sunday's Mitzvah Day project brought over 350 people to Temple Akiba to participate in over 20 different projects of Tikkun Olam.
Prayer: A
Friendliness: A
Food: B
Singles: A
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: Outreach center. Passionate, excited, fervent shul. You either move into Orthodox Jewish observance and fit in within a few months or they will push you out.
Congregation Bais Bezalel/Chabad of South Beverly Hills (O); 8850 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 282-0444.
Prayer: B
Friendliness: A
Food: C
Singles: D
Decor: D
Average Age of membership: 40.
Beis Midrash Toras HaShem is now Young Israel Of Valley Village (O); 12422 Chandler Blvd, Valley Village, CA 91607; Phone 818-980-6934; http://torashashem.blogspot.com
Prayer: B+
Friendliness: C+
Food: B
Singles: D
Decor: B Average
Age of membership: 40.
Misc: Good kiddish and decent childcare. The shul is comprised of a few young married couples with mostly middle age couples and a few "alter cockers". People are generally friendly but not overly so. If you need a place for Shabbos dinner or lunch speak with the Rabbi or Gabbai. Was mainly a Kiruv shul over the last 25+ years but is moving away from that. Would be Centrist Orthodox at best. There are still a fair amount of learning opportunities for those that are interested. The shul has changed into a Young Israel of Valley Village. Stay Tuned.
Joe emails:
Your shul reviewer is about as useful as tits on a bull when it comes to Toras Hashem. TH is the old original aish that Rabbi Block founded. It was burned down about 20 years ago and rebuilt into a fairly decent structure that is there toda. Rabbi Block has changed many lives through that shul, but he is definitely slowing down. I had heard that TH had received a substantial bequest from a congregant that would ensure its finances for a long time.
All of Rabbi Block's kids are adults and all but one are married - he has the mind and the affect of a superstar - his pedigree is from the Mir under the grand Rabbi Shmuelevit, but the force in Rabbi Block is weaker than it once was.
It is a shul mainly for people who do not like Shaarey Zedek, but given that about 98% of the valley pisses on Shaarey Tzedek, there is a lot of competition for the disaffected and those who think SZ sucks can daven under Rabbi Eidlitz at Emek or even at the 8;15 minyan at SZ itself and harbor disdain for SZ.
As for a change to Young Israel of Valley Village, give me a break. If any shul opens in the valley without a right wing black hat rabbi, Obama Barack along with that dipshit of a wife of his will be invited to a communal seder.
Valley Village is so right wing right now that a Young Israel trying to be tolerant of newcomers and succeeding would be like nailing jello to a tree. The only group that might leave SZ are the right wing greaseball types that might take Rabbi Edelstein and try to rent some space on Burbank and Whitsett.
Temple Beth Am (C); 1039 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 652-7353; www.tbala.org
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: C
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: Gay and lesbian havurah! Large number of intellectuals, particularly at the Library Minyan. A minyan for most any taste. In case you are wondering, there is no sure fire synagogue in Los Angeles for meeting hot-looking single women. A new rabbi, the son-in-law of Rabbi Elliot Dorff.
Beth Jacob Congregation (O); 9030 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 278-1911; www.bethjacob.org
Prayer: A-
Friendliness: C
Food: B
Singles: C
Decor: B
Average Age of membership: 45.
Misc: The largest Orthodox synagogue west of the Mississippi. About 750 member families. The shul gets about 250 people to morning minyan and has about 50 members studying Torah daily, the highest percentage of any Modern Orthodox shul in Los Angeles. The new rabbi Kalman Topp comes as a relief after the intense Rabbi Steven Weil.
Beth Shir Shalom (R); 1827 California Ave., Santa Monica; (310) 453-3361; www.bethshirsholom.com
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: D
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 45.
Prayer: C
Friendliness: A
Food: B+
Singles: A
Decor: B+
Childcare: A
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: Best kiddish, best childcare in town. Tons of young married couples. Sermons on love and faith and piety. Only Orthodox shul in Los Angeles to do a lot of edgy things including show documentary on homosexual Orthodox Jews - Trembling Before God. Rabbi is the most active Orthodox rabbi in town in interacting with non-Orthdox rabbis and Jews. He got an award from Jewish Federation for it. Orthodox Jews typically shy away from the secular Federation.
Joe emails:
Bnai David Judea is this high powered modern orthodox synagogue - it has women on the board, it offers a weekly class on women's issues (no shiur on PMS which is a real shame), has an average educational level of ph.d., and a rabbi with a GQ pose on his bio. Its graphic popup is all about dignity for all of God's children, whatever that means, and its rabbi made the top 25 rabbis in Newsweek (very cool). The website has about as much Hebrew as a box of matzos. It seems designed to allow its board members to show nonobservant Jewish friends the site and prove that the orthodox do not walk with their knuckles dragging on the floor, even though they still do not tear toilet paper on Shabbat, will not eat at 99% of the restaurants in Los Angeles, and will not let their kids go anywhere near a public school. It is hoped that nonobservant jews seeing this site will say, wow, I thought orthodox was all about women having no education, men wearing funny black hats, and having tons of kids. Actually, it is this nice little society with classes called "nosh and drosh" kind of like a Jerry's Deli; how fun. Check the site out. www.bnaidavid.com - it looks like the website for a meet-up group. There is no daily torah study, no Jewish law, and a lot of hand-wringing over how much the shul supports Israel, even though there are precious few who are willing to leave Beverlywood for that other promised land.
The use of time and money to feed the local homeless population, which are mostly psychotics (any sane homeless person lives by the beach in Venice Santa Monica) is a waste of time and money. Yes, it is a good deed. But there are much more important good deeds that can be done. How about educating the Jewish children in the area that cannot afford Hillel/Shalhevet - Canfield Elementary is loaded with Jewish children whose souls could be saved. Why not spare some of Rabbi Kanefsky's dynamism to outreach to the parents there (and to the other local private schools loaded with Jewish younglings) rather than serving some mental defective some stew.
I know the PR value is that here is a synagogue caring for others - with the goal of said PR showing how good a citizen the shul is so that the shul gains political power. Such political power is necessary if the shul needs to expand, close the street down for a torah dedication, get relaxed parking restrictions, or, in a worst case scenario, as an argument against putting Jews on trains (which was all the rage last century).
In the midst of all this davening and shul I got a good look at the crowd and it seemed to be a middle aged to older crowd, most everybody appeared to be between the ages of 40 and 60, knitted yarmulkes dominated and I couldn’t see any black hats, though there was one guy I saw at kiddush who had daimond earings and a gangsta looking blue hat and my host wears a gray hat. Attire was mixed between suits and no suits. The ladies mostly wore hats and I think I spotted one sheitle, again the mechitza didn’t provide a view when we were sitting, so my options were limited.
I was kind of hoping it would be more liberal, the women didn’t give any speeches, open up the ahron and no girls got up to say adon olam or anything, so my assumption is that a bunch of people who don’t daven there or are very right wing have mistaked this shul as liberal while I would call it more centrist modern orthodoxy.
B’nai Tikvah Congregation (C); 5820 Manchester Ave., Los Angeles; (310) 645-6262.
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: B+
Decor: C
Average Age of membership: 45.
Chabad SOLA (O); 1627 S. La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035; 310-739-1890
Prayer: B
Friendliness: A
Food: B+
Singles: B
Decor: C
Average Age of membership: 35
The Chai Center (O); PMB No. 66861, Los Angeles 90066; (310) 391-7995; www.chaicenter.org
Prayer: B
Friendliness: A
Food: B
Singles: A
Decor: B
Average Age of membership: 35.
Misc: Rabbi Shlomo Schwartz is the best. Embodies the best of Chabad.
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: A
Singles: B
Decor: A
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: Centrist Reform. Used to have a rabbi who quoted from the Playboy philosophy till he left shul and went on to scandals. Now led by a scandal-free female rabbi, Laura Geller, perhaps the best known and most influential female rabbi in the world. This is an innovative temple. New programming. Adult learning.
Prayer: A
Friendliness: A
Food: B+
Singles: B+
Decor: D
Average Age of membership: 35.
Misc: Huge diversity of people. A lot of artsy-types. Tons of Torah, singing, best davening in town many Sabbaths. Inspired by rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Yehuda Solomon (lead vocalist for the Moshav Band) usually leads the davening. Shabbos hospitality. Happy minyan regulars regularly open their hearts and their homes to their fellows. Spiritual ecstasy. Sweet Torah from TV producer David Sacks.
Temple Isaiah (R); 10345 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 277-2772; www.templeisaiah.com
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: B
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 45.
Kahal Joseph Congregation (S); 10505 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 474-0559
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: D
Decor: B
Average Age of membership: 45.
Kehilas Yaakov 7211 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90036-2536 (323) 935-8572 KehilasYaakov.org
Prayer: A
Friendliness: C
Food: C
Singles: F
Decor: C
Average Age of membership: 40
Joe emails:
Now, turn to the website for a leading Los Angeles old school orthodox congregation - Kehilas Yaakov - this is a shul allied with the kollel (an institution where men, and only men, learn full time, being supported by the community to provide leaders and teachers and the erudite types that have made Jews about three bell curves ahead in IQ of any other group). The website is basic. It has the time for prayers, and tons of daily learning, all in Hebrew. The only English is a plea for donations on the front page and an erudite justification for the use of the eruv. A nonobservant person looking at this website would say one thing: "Neanderthal." There is no photo of the rabbi - his only presence are tapes of his lectures on the prohibition against gossip. It is surprising that the internet, which is based on gossip, can even be used to broadcast such a message. The site is www.kehilasyaakov.org and it has about as much in common with Bnai David's site as Barack Obama has with Glenn Beck.
Make no mistake, there is a subtle war under the covers of Orthodoxy. Those growing up in Bnai David will have a huge problem socializing with those growing up in Kehillas Yaakov. It is bad now, it will get worse. And the winner will be the far right wing due to the increased amount of children and the lock step following of its regime by those children.
It is said that Modern Orthodoxy is tolerant and apologizes for its authenticity, while right-wing Orthodoxy is intolerant and does not apologize for its authenticity. As a person who believes in the code aspect of Orthodoxy, the apologies for authenticity are as lame as if the US Marine Corps decided to cut back on rifle training to let more people advance.
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: B
Decor: B
Average Age of membership: 70.
Rabbi Gabe Elias knows how to maneuver. He's brought in a Sephardic minyan. Mogen David has an enormous endowment.
Synagogue for the Performing Arts (I); 11727 Barrington Court, No. 205, Los Angeles; (310) 472-3500; www.sftpa.com
Prayer: B+
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: C
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 55.
Ohev Shalom (O); 525 S. Fairfax., Los Angeles, CA 99048; (323) 653-7190. (No website)
Prayer: A
Friendliness: B
Food: C
Singles: D
Decor: C
Average Age of membership: 60.
Misc. Occasional good kiddush, otherwise very little fare. Siddur collection is eclectic. Very convenient to Park La Brea and Farmer's Market area. Shabbat services begin 9:00 a.m. Rabbi is David Tropper, who also teaches at various schools. The building was the shul scene for the movie "The Jazz Singer" in 1927.
Pete writes Sept. 24, 2007: "Having been a member for 15 years of the industry roving synagogue, Temple Shofar of the DGA and then having watched it dissolve before my eyes this past Yontif when the Rabbi from Argentina (by way of Israel and Sweden) introduced the African Drummer "Mr. Happy" to accompany us while we chanted our prayers and I whispered "I'm outta here!" to my equally shocked temple mate."
Shtibl Minyan (I); meets at Workmen’s Circle, 1525 Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 440-1262; www.shtibl.com
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: C
Singles: B
Decor: C
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: They have a rocking Simchat Torah night. Shul tends to attract intellectual lefties into Judaism.
Torat Hayim Synagogue (O); 1026 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 652-8349; www.torathayim.com
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: D
Decor: C
Average Age of membership: 50.
Ohr HaTorah (I); 11827 Venice Boulevard Mar Vista, CA 90066, (310) 915-5200; www.ohrhatorah.org
Prayer: A
Friendliness: A
Food: B
Singles: B
Decor: C (cramped)
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc. Led by the inspirational Rabbi Mordecai Finley aka the rabbi to the stars. Dustin Hoffman davens here and a lot of other Hollywood types. Rabbi Finley is the best teacher I know of the inner life. The temple attracts a lot of people into personal growth. A lot of therapists and psychiatrists and psychologists daven here.
Pacific Jewish Center (O); 2633 Lincoln Blvd., No. 516, Santa Monica; (310) 392-8749; www.pjcenter.com
Prayer: B
Friendliness: A
Food: A
Singles: B
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 45.
Misc: Founded by Michael Medved and Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Proud 30-year history.
Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel (S/C); 10500 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 475-7311; www.sephardictemple.org
Prayer: C
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: D
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 50.
Shaarei Yerushalayim (O); 12435 Chandler Blvd, Valley Village, CA 91607; Phone 818-980-9278
Prayer: B-
Friendliness: C-
Food: B
Singles: ?
Decor: B
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: Typical Israeli Sephardic shul. If you're ashkenazi it's not for you. Small intimate minyan on weekdays. A large number of Israelis.
Shaarey Zedek (O); 12800 Chandler Blvd, Valley Village, CA 91607; Phone 818-763-0560; www.valleyshul.com
Prayer: B
Friendliness: F
Food: B
Singles: D
Decor: B
Average Age of membership: 40.
Biggest Orthodox Synagogue in the Valley. Very crowded, lots of families and an average age in the 30s. Growing slowly, and the new building can hardly contain the membership.
Many young marrieds due to the relative affordability of homes in the area and the tendency of Valley kids to return home after marriage and the previous Rabbi and Rabbi's wife really catering to the younger crowd. Has three minyons on shabbos with very different types of style:
8:00 - the early minyan - black hat, but a touch faux, a very noisy affair with horrible decorum, very good for guys who are black hat because they like to be seen in black hats and despise people who do not wear black hats. If you are black hat because you are serious, sit close to the center. If you want to futz around, sit towards the back. Tries to dominate the shul and is succeeding pretty much due to demographics of the larger families of the early minyan and the ability to put asses in the seats. A rabbi gives a speech about the laws against gossip, not some flimsy sermon on the portion of the week and how it relates to current events. It is downstairs in the social hall, which is the worst room because it is all "toe up" from constant use and the seating is on chairs, not traditional pews so people tend to meander around while davening. Fields the biggest crowd of males and kids (very few woman attendees, most are still in their shabbos robes taking care of the kids), and usually has the best food - most of the time it is a kiddush or sitdown and there is cholent (if your stomach can handle it at 10:00 a.m.). It is the most vibrant service in terms of the growth of the synagogue. I recommend you make a point to try this minyan. You will either swear by it or against it.
8:15 - the second minyan - held in a smaller room (about the size of a large classroom) a breakaway from the 8:00 for people who are black hat or non-black hat who want a more devotional service. No talking is allowed, and the Rabbi gives a very learned speech that sometimes does not make sense, but is still learned. Not for a casual visitor, more of an acquired taste, and the decorum is a vast improvement over the early minyan. If you went to yeshiva and liked the davening there (no melodies, no noise, but lots of bodies swaying, you will like it). A very small mini-kiddush afterwards and many of the attendees will learn with the Rabbi afterwards. About 5 women attend. Not quite sure how any of these guys get away with being absentee fathers for 3 hours plus on a saturday morning without telling their wives they are gambling addicts and have to play poker.
8:45 - the third minyan - this is the mainline service, replete with a cantor, a sermon from the head rabbi and a slightly older crowd. Very few black hats, mostly modern orthodox guys without the holier than thou chip on their shoulder. A while ago a Rabbi leading this service hectored the congregants to come earlier to the service, and one of the big guns in the synagogue took said Rabbi to the woodshed. A low key service, where guys tell dirty jokes, give stock tips and complain about their lives. Very few people will be talking about torah topics. The "evangelical" types of jews who are newly observant do not much like this minyan, there is very little fire and brimstone and too much chatting and gossiping. because less and less people are using this minyan, the food situation afterwards is paltry and there is often not a kiddush, just a mini kiddush.
Friendliness - Once you are in SZ, you have friends, but do not look to be invited for lunch just showing up off the street. There are lots of ways to get semi-involved - it is not like Young Israel of Century City where there is a committee on everything, but if you want to meet guys who learn torah, you can go to a class. You want to meet guys who play poker, hang out in the third minyan. You really have to make your own way at SZ, there is no outreach, and there is no need to do it. The membership grows a bit each year with no effort on anyone's part.
Vibe - Again, it depends on which service you go to. Friday night services are actually the best in a way as there is only one service and it is packed (half of the woman's section is closed and there must be 250 men praying. And it is very quiet and devotional. If you have kids, you cannot beat SZ because your kids have someone to play with, which might not be the case if you go to one of the offshoots in the Valley.
Singles - Very few. The singles there are either committed to be single, in the closet, or hideous. There are of course exceptions, but they prove the rule.
Rabbi - generally very good. The synagogue has had three in its existence. Rabbi Sugarman, very erudite but not too warm, but of high caliber intellect. Retired after about 30 years Next was Rabbi Aron Tendler, credited with growing the synagogue and brining a younger crowd (this might have happened anyways due to the affordable housing, but he certainly pushed the younger crowd to join and be active). Did about 20 years as associate Rabbi and 10 in the lead role. Left under a cloud regarding sexual misconduct issues. Rabbi Jonathan Rosenberg now, a superstar in the making.
Flaws - Lack of unity. Having three minyans means three shuls. They are just now starting to reunite behind a Rabbi and having a single fundraiser. Somewhat cliquish, which cannot be avoided, but you will find your clique. Somewhat unfriendly to the newcomer, but again, once you have arrived, you are family.
Prayer: B+
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: A
Decor: A
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: Most eloquent rabbi (and most highly paid?) in town - Rabbi David Wolpe. Innovative shul, active in outreach, interfaith dialogue, etc. You can get lost it is so big.
Stephen S. Wise Temple (R); 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive, Los Angeles; (310) 476-8561; www.sswt.org
Prayer: B+
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: B+
Decor: A
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: By membership, the largest synagogue in the world. Most beautiful music consistently in Jewish Los Angeles. With its founding rabbi Isaiah Zeldin retired, the temple's rabbis are unlikely to blow you away with their oratory. SSW is more Jewishly traditional than Wilshire Blvd. Temple.
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: B
Decor: B
Average age: 40
Misc: Powerful establishment Conservative shul. Eloquent rabbis. Some who've turned Orthodox regret the years they spent at VBS bewitched by the honey-tongued rabbis.
University Synagogue (R); 11960 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 472-1255; www.unisyn.org
Prayer: C
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: C
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 45.
Westwood Kehilla (O); 10523 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 441-5288; www.kehilla.org
Prayer: B+
Friendliness: A
Food: B
Singles: B
Decor: B
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: Dynamic outreach shul, filled with Torah, young people, young rabbis, guest speakers.
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: B
Singles: B
Decor: A
Average Age of membership: 45.
Misc: Thin on Jewish observance, rich in Jewish culture and the oratory of its head rabbi. It's West LA branch is strong and has a great day school.
Pete writes Sept. 24, 2007: "I tried Wilshire Boulevard Temple and though it was okay, I wasn't 100% happy. I wasn't used to the massive organ (that's pipe organ!) and choir (a little goyishe sounding), nor was I prepared for what was essentially a very tightly rehearsed and choreographed service, down to the perfect Little Mermaid-like harmonies {albeit in Hebrew!} between the wonderful Cantor and his guest Cant-ress. So I finished out the New Year feeling very homeless and very dispirited."
Pinto Torah Center (S); 8660 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 659-6700
Prayer: B
Friendliness: A
Food: B
Singles: B+
Decor: B+
Average Age of membership: 40.
Young Israel of Beverly Hills (O); 8701 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 275-3020
Prayer: B
Friendliness: B
Food: C
Singles: C
Decor: D
Average Age of membership: 45.
Young Israel of Century City (O); 9317 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles; (310) 273-6954; www.yicc.org
Prayer: B
Friendliness: F
Food: B+
Singles: D
Decor: B
Average Age of membership: 40.
Misc: The establishment Orthodox shul, maintains high standards all the way round. High-achieving membership (both in secular and religious life). Affluent. Powerful. Rigorous. Intimidating. The least likely shul to have a scandal.
Joe emails:
WWW.YICC.ORG: YICC stands out as the big leaguer in orthodox shuls in L.A. It does not mess around. Its site is ridiculously detailed, and is very cold in that way. It is led by a Rabbi who believes that Rabbi Soloveitchik and his Lithuanian precision is still the model - it reminds me of an old joke that shows how heartless the lithuanian jews were - the story was that there was this new lithuanian rabbi who just got the job of watching the matza (unleavened bread) being made. This is a very strict process and the matza must be completed in a very short period of time - there is some window for error, but zero tolerance is to be preferred. So the new rabbi ask the old rabbi if there are any special idiosyncrasies the old rabbi followed - the old lithuanian rabbi said - yes - you should know that the women preparing the matzas are mostly widows who desperately need the money to feed their families. Accordingly, you should therefore be very kind to them because if you yell at them to move the process along, they tend to cry and those tears could get in the dough and the matza could leaven rendering the lot unkosher.
YICC is that way, very professional, but at the expense of some coldness. I have never seen a shul website where members post pictorials of their families with one-upsmanship about who has a more perfect life. The site has a book of its own proprietary customs with the most exacting methodology for when the leader of the prayers can or cannot repeat words. In one bit of exclusionary brilliance, the book says:
"Members of YICC who are mourners during the 12 month period of mourning always have precedence for the "Amud" even if there is a non-member who has "Yarzheit" for a parent or is in "Shloshim"."
In essence, like american express, membership has its privileges. I am sure there is a rock solid source for this custom, but even with a source, it does not seem very christian - if someone visits the shul in the immediate 30 days of mourning, i think the christian thing is to let the visitor pray and lead the congregation.
Unlike its competitor www.bnaidavid.com - there is no touchy feely crap. This is division 1 football as the man says. Yicc does not assist the local homeless [correction: it donates leftover food to a homeless shelter], instead, it has a ridiculous staffing level so that every age group is home at YICC, literally from cradle to grave. Bnai David favors the youth and has a great child's program so that the professional women can get some time away from their bratty kids and participate in the services. At YICC, your professional woman should be bringing in two to three hundred large (on top of the husband making 4-600k) and afford a nanny.
Moral of the site - what the hell was YICC thinking even letting you breathe in its general direction?