Great American Jewish Cities #16: Los Angeles

The rich Jewish past of Tinseltown is worth at least a full length feature. The architects of Hollywood were Jewish immigrants, who were joined by many talented Jews heading west, who created an entire industry and cultural revolution.

Orthodox Judaism took a bit longer to strike roots, but Rabbi Simon Dolgin and other intrepid pioneers planted the first seeds which blossomed with the arrival of many survivors in the post war era. From Beth Jacob to YICC, from Toras Emes to YULA, from Venice Beach to Pico Robertson, LA has a Jewish story to tell.

Rav Simcha Wasserman built a Yeshiva named for his illustrious father, Rabbi Marvin Heir built the Wiesenthal Center, and philanthropists from Sam Menlo to Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz funded one initiative after another. One of the first community Kollels in the United States had a great impact on the community's growth as well.

 

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You can email Yehuda at yehuda@yehudageberer.com