I moved to Los Angeles in March of 1994 and started going regularly to Aish Ha Torah (on Pico Blvd and Doheny Blvd). I quickly met people I admired such as Richard Horowitz, Rabbi Nachum Braverman, Sam Glaser, David Sacks, another TV writer and others whose names I’m blanking on. I just met so many impressive people there, it was the number one factor drawing me back again and again to the shul.
Over time, I expanded my horizon tos Beth Jacob, Bnai David-Judea, Chabad and Young Israel of Century City. In every place, I met people I admired and wanted to emulate. They were writers and rabbis and doctors and lawyers, they were accomplished in Torah and in life.
While I had some intellectual objections to Orthodox Judaism, the experience of practicing Orthodox Judaism and the people I got to rub shoulders with me moved me so deeply that by the end of 2000, I was determined to live the rest of my life as an Orthodox Jew. I was intoxicated by Torah.
Since then, I’ve had many ups and downs in my practice of Orthodox Judaism. I’ve had long stretches that were grim and lonely. I’ve done and said many ugly tings. One thing that has never changed for me is the number of impressive people I’ve known who were Orthodox. When I think about people I want to be like, most of them are Orthodox Jews. The most impressive group I know are Orthodox rabbis. Sure, many of them are nothing, but many are worthy of admiration. When I go to Orthodox shuls, I get to rub shoulders with them.
