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Sinai Temple (Los Angeles)

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Coordinates: 34°03′59″N 118°25′45″W / 34.0663°N 118.4291°W / 34.0663; -118.4291
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For similarly named synagogues, see Temple Sinai.

Sinai Temple
Sinai Temple, in Westwood
Religion
AffiliationConservative Judaism
RiteAshkenazic/Sephardic
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusSynagogue
Leadership
  • Rabbi Nicole Guzik
  • Rabbi Eretz Sherman
  • Rabbi David Wolpe (Emeritus)
  • Marcus Feldman (Cantor)
StatusActive
Location
Location10400 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles, California 90024
CountryUnited States
Sinai Temple (Los Angeles) is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Sinai Temple (Los Angeles)
Location in Los Angeles
Geographic coordinates34°03′59″N 118°25′45″W / 34.0663°N 118.4291°W / 34.0663; -118.4291
Architecture
Architect(s)
TypeSynagogue
StyleModernist
Date established1906 (as a congregation)
Completed
  • 1956
  • 1998
Website
sinaitemple.org

The Sinai Temple is a Conservative synagogue located at 10400 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, in the United States. The Sinai Temple congregation is the oldest and largest Conservative congregation in the greater Los Angeles area.[citation needed]

Architect Sidney Eisenshtat designed the current synagogue building, constructed in 1956 and expanded in 1998.[1] Since 1997, the senior rabbis are Nicole Guzik and Eretz Sherman, the Rabbi Emeritus is David Wolpe, and from 2008 to 2022, the head school rabbi was Andrew Feig.

History

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Begun in 1906, Sinai Temple was established as the first Conservative congregation in Southern California. Its founders saw it as a venue for the practice of traditional Judaism in an environment of assimilation.[2] The congregation first met in a B'nai B'rith hall on Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles,[2] then from 1909 to 1925 in a building at 12th and Valencia, just west of what is now the Los Angeles Convention Center. That building then became the Welsh Presbyterian Church, and was named a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1977. In 2013, Jewish music impresario Craig Taubman bought the building and announced plans to convert it into "a multicultural and interfaith performing arts center and house of worship."[3][4]

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.[3]

Following the trend of its congregants, who were moving in significant numbers to Beverly Hills and the Westside of Los Angeles, in 1960, 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.[1] The building was expanded in 1998, under the supervision of architect Mehrdad Yazdani and Dworsky Associates.[1]

In 1986, Akiba Academy, which had rented facilities for its kindergarten through eighth grade program at Sinai Temple since its inception in 1968,[5] 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.[citation needed]

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.[6][7]

Notable people and events

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Rabbi Zvi Dershowitz delivers a speech at a baby-naming ceremony at Sinai Temple in 2014.

David Wolpe, Sinai Temple's former senior rabbi, is an author and leader of the Conservative movement. In 2008, a Newsweek article named him the most influential pulpit rabbi in the United States.[8] Other notable clergy of Sinai Temple have included Rabbi David Lieber, who later headed the University of Judaism; cantor and composer Meir Finkelstein;[3] Rabbi Sherre Hirsch,[9] and emeritus Rabbi Zvi Dershowitz.[10][11]

Rabbi Laurence Scheindlin, former 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.[12]

"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;[13] the concept is now replicated in other synagogues around the world.[3] 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.[14][15]

Sinai Temple has been notably impacted by the wave of Persian Jews during the 1980s. 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; in 2007 he was elected as mayor of Beverly Hills.[3][16]

In 1999, Sinai Temple was the site of a "second bar mitzvah" for actor Kirk Douglas, then age 83.[17][18][19] Also in 1999, the 14th Dalai Lama spoke to an overflow audience as part of the World Festival of Sacred Music.

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Sinai Temple was a filming location for the 2024 Netflix romantic comedy TV series Nobody Wants This, in which it doubled for the synagogue where main character Noah Roklov (Adam Brody) serves as a rabbi.

Sinai Temple is mentioned in dialogue during the 2024 movie Thelma, starring June Squibb in the title role. When Thelma is trying to place how she knows another older lady she meets at a gas station, the other woman asks, "did you go to Sinai?" and Thelma replies, "no, we were at Beth Am."

References

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  1. ^ a b c Gebhard, David; Winter, Robert (2003). An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles (revised ed.). Gibbs Smith. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-58685-308-2.
  2. ^ a b Olitzky, Kerry M.; Raphael, Marc Lee (1996). The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 47–48. ISBN 0-313-28856-9.
  3. ^ a b c d e Klein, Amy (May 18, 2006). "The Sinai Century". Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  4. ^ Torok, Ryan (February 6, 2013). "Finding holy ground in Pico-Union". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  5. ^ "Home page". Sinai Akiba official website. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  6. ^ Stroud, Ruth (March 20, 1997). "Westward Expansion". Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  7. ^ Valeri, Tracy (March 15, 1997). "Mount Sinai Park Dedication Set". Los Angeles Daily News.
  8. ^ "Top 50 Influential Rabbis in America". Newsweek. April 11, 2008. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  9. ^ Fax, Julie G. (June 29, 2003). "Rabbi Revolution". Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009.
  10. ^ Tugend, Ton (July 24, 1997). "Wolpe Reaches Sinai". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014.
  11. ^ Fax, Julie G. (November 30, 2006). "Class Notes: Camp Ramah celebrates Golden Anniversary". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014.
  12. ^ "Conservative school movement names board chief". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. March 11, 2009. Archived from the original on March 13, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  13. ^ Wolfson, Ron (2006). The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform Your Congregation into a Sacred Community. Jewish Lights Publishing. pp. 92–94. ISBN 978-1-58023-244-9.
  14. ^ Eshman, Rob (June 22, 2006). "Jesus' Man Has a Plan". Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  15. ^ "Pastor Rick Warren to Make First-Ever Appearance in a Synagogue". Religion News Service. June 6, 2006. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  16. ^ West, Kevin (July 2009). "The Persian Conquest". W. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  17. ^ Douglas, Kirk (2003). My Stroke of Luck. HarperCollins. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-06-001404-9.
  18. ^ Tugend, Tom (December 23, 1999). "Kirk Douglas—Bar Mitzvah Boy". Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  19. ^ Welkos, Robert W. (December 7, 1999). "Douglas Beats the Count". Los Angeles Times.
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