When I came to Los Angeles in 1994, Aish HaTorah was a friendly outreach institution experimenting with different programming to bring in secular Jews. Since 1998, the shul has become less welcoming and more restrictive (though it is still more friendly than most and I recommend checking it out).
Now Pico-Robertson has an amazing outreaching shul in the LINK Kollel on Robertson Blvd, just south of Pico Blvd.
Over the past year, LINK has become the most talked about shul in the hood. How are the folks at Aish reacting? Are they having meetings?
It used to be that if you wanted to check out Orthodox Judaism in 90035, Aish was the only shul interested in helping you out. Now the hood is filled with Chabad shuls and I suspect that far more Jews are entering Orthodoxy through its portals.
A source says: “I think Adas Torah moving into the Victory furniture building on Pico Blvd is a much bigger deal for Beth jacob and yicc. It is going to be a huge shul with a strong, young, yeshivish following and a dynamic rabbi. I think link is really limited to the Baal Teshuva crowd.”
“It is friendly but it is not a beginner’s place. It is open but intended for people who are already frum, yeshivish, knowledgeable, adroit, not for the Aish crowd who are passionate but don’t know much.”
