Sinai Temple (Los Angeles, California)
Encyclopedia
Sinai Temple in the Westwood
district of Los Angeles
, California
is the oldest and largest Conservative
congregation in the greater Los Angeles
area. Architect Sidney Eisenshtat
designed the current synagogue
building, constructed in 1956 and expanded in 1998. As of 2010, the senior rabbi
is David Wolpe
.
. Its founders saw it as a venue for the practice of traditional Judaism in an environment of assimilation. The congregation first met in a B'nai B'rith
hall on Figueroa Street
in downtown Los Angeles
, then from 1906 to 1925 in a building at 12th and Valencia, just west of what is now the Los Angeles Convention Center
, in a building that is now the Welsh Presbyterian Church.
Having outgrown this facility, the congregation relocated to the mid-Wilshire
district in 1925. This second building, located at 4th and New Hampshire, is now a Korean Presbyterian church.
Following the trend of its congregants, who were moving in significant numbers to Beverly Hills
and the Westside of Los Angeles, in 1956, Sinai Temple constructed its third facility at its current location at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard
and Beverly Glen Boulevard
in Westwood. The building has a striking interior marked by the use of stained glass; Eisenshtat's design has been compared to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright
. The building was expanded in 1998, under the supervision of architect Mehrdad Yazdani and Dworsky Associates.
In 1986, Akiba Academy, which had rented facilities for its kindergarten through eighth grade program at Sinai Temple since its inception in 1968, merged with Sinai Temple and became known as Sinai Akiba Academy. The school is affiliated with the Solomon Schechter Day School Association
and is the longest-accredited Jewish day school in the California Association of Independent School.
Sinai Temple owns and operates Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries
, a large Jewish cemetery in the Hollywood Hills
, which the temple acquired in 1967 from the neighboring Forest Lawn Memorial Park
. In 1997 Mount Sinai dedicated a second cemetery location in Simi Valley
.
article named him the most influential pulpit rabbi in the United States. Other notable clergy of Sinai Temple have included Rabbi David Lieber
, who later headed the University of Judaism
; cantor
and composer Meir Finkelstein
; and Rabbi Sherre Hirsch
.
Rabbi Laurence Scheindlin, headmaster of Sinai Akiba Academy, came to the school in 1977, when it had 170 students. As of 2010 the school had 560 students. He has published a number of articles on emotions and spiritual education. In 2009 Rabbi Scheindlin became the first school head to be elected president of the Solomon Schechter Day School Association, the national association of day schools that identify with Conservative Judaism.
"Friday Night Live", a lively, music-driven Shabbat
service intended to attract younger congregants, was initially developed by Rabbi Wolpe and musician Craig Taubman
at Sinai Temple; the concept is now replicated in other synagogues around the world. In June 2006, a Friday Night Live service at Sinai Temple saw an appearance by evangelical
Christian minister and author Rick Warren
, Warren's first appearance as featured speaker in a synagogue.
Sinai Temple has been notably impacted by the wave of Persian Jews
who immigrated to the United States after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran
. Prior to this event, the congregation had been overwhelmingly composed of Ashkenazi Jews
of Eastern European heritage. As many Persian Jews emigrated to Los Angeles, a substantial number joined Sinai Temple; over time the Persian Jews became more fully integrated into the congregation, which is now made up of about even proportions of Ashkenazim and Persians. Jimmy Delshad
became the first Persian Jew to become president of Sinai Temple in 1990; later in 2007 he was elected as mayor of Beverly Hills.
In 1999, Sinai Temple was the site of a "second bar mitzvah" for actor Kirk Douglas
, then age 83.
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...
district of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
is the oldest and largest Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
congregation in the greater Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area. Architect Sidney Eisenshtat
Sidney Eisenshtat
Sidney Eisenshtat was an American architect who was best known for his synagogues andJewish academic buildings.-Biography:...
designed the current synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
building, constructed in 1956 and expanded in 1998. As of 2010, the senior rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
is David Wolpe
David Wolpe
David J. Wolpe is an author, public speaker and rabbi of Sinai Temple . Named the "#1 Pulpit Rabbi in America" by Newsweek magazine , he is considered a leader of the Conservative Jewish movement. Wolpe was named one of The Forward's Forward 50, and one of the hundred most influential people in...
.
History
Begun in 1906, Sinai Temple was established as the first Conservative congregation in Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. Its founders saw it as a venue for the practice of traditional Judaism in an environment of assimilation. The congregation first met in a B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....
hall on Figueroa Street
Figueroa Street
Figueroa Street is a street in Los Angeles County, California named for General José Figueroa , governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835, who oversaw the secularization of the missions of California...
in downtown Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, then from 1906 to 1925 in a building at 12th and Valencia, just west of what is now the Los Angeles Convention Center
Los Angeles Convention Center
The Los Angeles Convention Center is a convention center in the southwest portion of downtown Los Angeles. The LACC hosts annual events such as the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show and Anime Expo, and is best known to video games fans as host to E3...
, in a building that is now the Welsh Presbyterian Church.
Having outgrown this facility, the congregation relocated to the mid-Wilshire
Mid-Wilshire
Mid-Wilshire is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Wilshire region.It mostly encompasses the area bounded by La Cienega Boulevard to the west, Melrose Avenue to the north, Hoover Street to the east and the Santa Monica Freeway to the south, although some...
district in 1925. This second building, located at 4th and New Hampshire, is now a Korean Presbyterian church.
Following the trend of its congregants, who were moving in significant numbers to Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
and the Westside of Los Angeles, in 1956, Sinai Temple constructed its third facility at its current location at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
and Beverly Glen Boulevard
Beverly Glen Boulevard
Beverly Glen Boulevard is one of three major routes that connects West Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley ....
in Westwood. The building has a striking interior marked by the use of stained glass; Eisenshtat's design has been compared to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. The building was expanded in 1998, under the supervision of architect Mehrdad Yazdani and Dworsky Associates.
In 1986, Akiba Academy, which had rented facilities for its kindergarten through eighth grade program at Sinai Temple since its inception in 1968, merged with Sinai Temple and became known as Sinai Akiba Academy. The school is affiliated with the Solomon Schechter Day School Association
Solomon Schechter Day School Association
The Solomon Schechter Day School Association is the organization of Jewish day school that identify with Conservative Judaism. The association provides guidance and resources for its member schools in the United States and Canada...
and is the longest-accredited Jewish day school in the California Association of Independent School.
Sinai Temple owns and operates Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries
Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries refers to two Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. The original cemetery is located at 5950 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. The cemetery was originally established in 1953 by the neighboring Forest...
, a large Jewish cemetery in the Hollywood Hills
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
, which the temple acquired in 1967 from the neighboring Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
. In 1997 Mount Sinai dedicated a second cemetery location in Simi Valley
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
.
Notable people and events
David Wolpe, Sinai Temple's current senior rabbi, is an author and leader of the Conservative movement. In 2008, a NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
article named him the most influential pulpit rabbi in the United States. Other notable clergy of Sinai Temple have included Rabbi David Lieber
David Lieber
Dr. David L. Lieber, rabbi and scholar, was president emeritus of the University of Judaism and the senior editor of the Etz Hayim Humash...
, who later headed the University of Judaism
University of Judaism
The American Jewish University, formerly the separate institutions University of Judaism and Brandeis-Bardin Institute, is a Jewish, non-denominational educational institution in Los Angeles, California....
; cantor
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
and composer Meir Finkelstein
Meir Finkelstein
Meir Finkelstein is a cantor and composer of contemporary Jewish liturgical music. He has composed more than 200 settings for the liturgy, as well as scored numerous television programs, made-for-TV movies, and documentary films. His tunes are sung in many Conservative, Reform, and...
; and Rabbi Sherre Hirsch
Sherre Hirsch
Sherre Hirsch received her Rabbinic ordination and Master's degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She also received a Master's degree in Hebrew Letters from the University of Judaism in California, as well as a BA from Northwestern University. She served as a rabbi at Sinai...
.
Rabbi Laurence Scheindlin, headmaster of Sinai Akiba Academy, came to the school in 1977, when it had 170 students. As of 2010 the school had 560 students. He has published a number of articles on emotions and spiritual education. In 2009 Rabbi Scheindlin became the first school head to be elected president of the Solomon Schechter Day School Association, the national association of day schools that identify with Conservative Judaism.
"Friday Night Live", a lively, music-driven Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
service intended to attract younger congregants, was initially developed by Rabbi Wolpe and musician Craig Taubman
Craig Taubman
Craig Reid Taubman is an American singer/songwriter and music producer based in Los Angeles, California. Through his independent label/production office, Craig 'N Company, he has produced 11 albums...
at Sinai Temple; the concept is now replicated in other synagogues around the world. In June 2006, a Friday Night Live service at Sinai Temple saw an appearance by evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christian minister and author Rick Warren
Rick Warren
Richard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American evangelical Christian minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States...
, Warren's first appearance as featured speaker in a synagogue.
Sinai Temple has been notably impacted by the wave of Persian Jews
Persian Jews
Persian Jews , are Jews historically associated with Iran, traditionally known as Persia in Western sources.Judaism is one of the oldest religions practiced in Iran. The Book of Esther contains some references to the experiences of Jews in Persia...
who immigrated to the United States after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
. Prior to this event, the congregation had been overwhelmingly composed of Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
of Eastern European heritage. As many Persian Jews emigrated to Los Angeles, a substantial number joined Sinai Temple; over time the Persian Jews became more fully integrated into the congregation, which is now made up of about even proportions of Ashkenazim and Persians. Jimmy Delshad
Jimmy Delshad
Jamshid "Jimmy" Delshad is an Iranian-American politician in the state of California. He became Mayor of Beverly Hills on March 21, 2007 and again on March 16, 2010. He is the first Iranian-American to hold public office in Beverly Hills.-Biography:...
became the first Persian Jew to become president of Sinai Temple in 1990; later in 2007 he was elected as mayor of Beverly Hills.
In 1999, Sinai Temple was the site of a "second bar mitzvah" for actor Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, then age 83.