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Tag Archives: Beth Jacob
Pico-Robertson In The 1960s
It was populated with faux yeshivas to get Orthodox Jews out of the Vietnam draft. By 1980, there were only two Orthodox synagogues in the community — Young Israel of South Beverly Hills and Beth Jacob. There wasn’t a kosher … Continue reading
An Original Mind At Beth Jacob
Rabbi Kalman Topp is giving a bunch of classes at Beth Jacob and he prepares original content for each one (just like the rabbis at Bnai David and the rabbi at YICC much of the time). Rabbi Topp is fluent … Continue reading
Rabbi Gabe Elias Knows The Pulse Of Mogen David
Rabbi Elias at Mogen David is a canny operator. He thinks things out many steps ahead of the pack. He’s skilled at anticipating underhanded behavior. He can read it from a mile away. He can out-maneuver you if he wants … Continue reading
How’s The Kollel Working Out At Beth Jacob?
On the surface, it looks like a mismatch. A source told me in September of 2007: This Kollel will be housed at Beth Jacob — one of the shuls whose black-hatted offspring, as you report, now attend AT. How does … Continue reading
How Is Rabbi Weil Doing With The Orthodox Union?
Rabbi Steven Weil ran Beth Jacob for nine years. The shul members who hired him thought he’d stick around longer than that. Rabbi Weil’s fundraising abilities helped the shul turn its finances around. He also brought in new members, many … Continue reading
In 20 Years, The Haredim Will Dominate Pico-Robertson
Los Angeles has little culture of Torah learning (except among the Haredim aka the traditional Orthodox). There are only two first-rate Modern Orthodox Torah scholars in Los Angeles — rabbis Yehuda Bukspan and David Rue. L.A.’s Modern Orthodox shuls don’t … Continue reading
A Miracle Of Grace
I emailed my Christian mother Sunday: "I finished my Orthodox conversion today [with the Los Angeles Beit Din]…more than 16yrs after finishing my conversion with a Reform rabbi…" She responded: "It’s a miracle of grace." Joe emails: "Welcome to the … Continue reading
If Rav Schachter Says March, They March
I was fascinated by the Meir Kin case. Not the messy details of the divorce, but the side issue of three Modern Orthodox shuls in Pico-Robertson repeatedly sending their members to picket outside the home of Meir Kin’s parents. I … Continue reading
Name Those Who Study Torah In Pico-Robertson
I’m talking about people who study it every day in the original. And I am not talking about rabbis or anybody who gets paid to study Torah. There are three at Bnai David-Judea (about 430 member families) — Shep Rosenman, … Continue reading
The Happy Minyan Comes Of Age
For the past couple of years, the Happy Minyan has an independent existence at the Karate Academy on Pico Blvd (near Rexford). Prior to this, it resided at Orthodox shuls (Beth Jacob, Mogen David) that tried to incorporate the group … Continue reading