This article appeared in the July 1, 2005 Jewish Advocate.

Jewish L.A.: A pacific existence

By Susie Davidson

With 650,000 Jewish residents, Los Angeles has country’s second-largest Jewish community, but upon arrival, one is struck by the diversification, rather than the numbers. While the Wiesenthal Center, Shoah Foundation, Skirball Cultural Center and the University of Judaism come to mind, Jewish L.A. is comprised of far more, in an amazing array of services, organizations, participants, and oh – that – weather.

According to Joel Kotkin, correspondent for the L.A. Times, the Jewish Journal and author of “The City: A Global History,” area Jews have been able to maintain social stature from the beginning, especially given their role in Hollywood, real estate and the garment district.

Fairfax Village’s largely Ashkenazic, significantly Orthodox neighborhood boasts womens’ thrift shops, Chassidic stores, Jewish bakeries and restaurants. The area thrives, unlike Boyle Heights (called the “Lower East Side of Los Angeles” from the 1910s to the 1950s, with a 90 percent Jewish population, but today an urban enclave, with formerly grand synagogues such as the Breed Street Shul mere facades).

But things are changing, says David Noubahar of Solomon’s Books, at 445 No. Fairfax: “The area has become less Jewish and generally worse.” Jaqueline Canter of the seminal delicatessen Canter’s Fairfax, at 419 No. Fairfax, differs. As President of the Fairfax Village Business Association, she oversaw $310,000 in recent Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative improvements, including new sidewalks and tree grates, trimmed palm trees, better median, whiter crosswalks and brighter lighting. Several clubs are open late; Canter’s 24-hour “Kibbitz Room” hops as well, with a whole other crowd than the daytime corned-beef and babka devotees. “The Wallflowers started here, and Nicholas Cage asked Patricia Arquette to marry him here,” says Canter, granddaughter of the original owner. She, dad Alan Canter, brothers and cousins are ever-present. Posters line the wall heralding celebrities, the 60’s, and all things L.A. “We never stop,” says Day Manager Diane Maxfield.

And that chocolate bubka is not to be missed.

The largest concentration of Persian Jews in the world (35,000) call L.A. home, as well as great numbers of Israeli, Russian, South African, Moroccan and South American Jews. Down Pico Boulevard, signs in varied languages herald Sephardi synagogues, schools, shops, restaurants and businesses, and free Jewish and Israeli-publication newsstands line the sidewalks, like a few dozen Harvard Streets strung together. Schools alone on W. Pico include Bais Chaya Mushka, Bais Chana, Yeshiva University High School, and Temple Isaiah Day School. Supermarkets bustle with Orthodox shoppers, delis with customers and Judaic posters, curio shops with exotic Judaica.

At Pico and Roxbury, Asian students enter the Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance, to receive a passport of a child who lived during the Holocaust. (Afterwards, they learn the child’s fate.) The museum, open since 1993, received over 3.5 million visitors by 2000. Its 35 interactive exhibits include a 16-screen civil rights movement video, and examinations of worldwide bigotry. A Memorial Plaza honors victims of the Holocaust. This week, a talk by former neo-Nazi Tim Zaal is featured, says Jeanette Goldberg, who mans the gift shop with a friendly, upbeat demeanor. “In Oxnard, where I grew up,” she says, “people never saw Jews, so I’d tell them I was Whoopie’s sister.” “Only in L.A.,” relates a nearby patron. “I’m shopping at La Brea Market and out comes a Chassidic man on a Harley.”

Jewish establishments spill onto Pico’s side streets as well. Heading toward Beverly Hills on So. Robertson Boulevard, one passes the Jewish Family Service’s Sova Food Pantry, Torat Hayim, the Anshe Emes Synagogue, and the Ohr Haemet Institute for Girls. At 1054 So. Robertson is the illustrious Kabbalah Centre, run by Rabbi Philip Berg and family and hangout to members Madonna, Demi Moore, Winona Ryder, Roseanne Barr, Paris Hilton, Elizabeth Taylor, Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears and other celebrity spiritual-seekers. The Chabad Israel Center is at 1520, Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles for Girls at 1619.

The day-glo biblical mural along the Israel Levin Senior Adult Center at 201 Ocean Front Walk fits right in among the Venice Beach Rastafarian and hippie shops, tattoo parlors and veggie burger and smoothie stands. “If you belong to something, it’s a great community,” says Bronx native Muriel Drucker, who arrived 50 years ago. “I live in Beverly Hills now,” she says, to rousing protest from cohorts Nancy Klein and Peggy Molin. “Well, I live right on the border, so what do you wanna call it?” she retorts. The Center proudly stands by “150 years of dignifying seniors’ lives in L.A.,” according to director Rosalie Fromberg. Part of the Jewish Family Service, it holds computer, genealogy, exercise, dance, art and other classes, sponsors trips, celebrates birthdays and holidays and assists seniors with housing and other concerns.

Sy Gottlieb’s parents ran a deli in Mount Vernon, New York and moved to California 50 years ago to join his mother’s sisters. “The Jewish dream at the time was to go to California,” he says. An aeronautical engineer, Gottlieb worked for the Navy, earned a law degree and founded the international National Contract Management Organization. Four years ago, his nephew, a VP of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, located in Gottlieb’s North Hollywood neighborhood and on Fairfax, invited him to volunteer. He continues to assess phone inquiries for a mainly-Hispanic clientele.

Daughter Kim Gottlieb Walker of Laurel Canyon, who grew up in Long Beach and earned a UCLA degree in Motion Picture Production, did still photography for Cheers, Family Ties, and John Carpenter movies. Her two youngest attended preschool on the lot at Paramount Pictures. “Family Ties producer Gary Goldberg and Rhea Perlman of Cheers insisted on a child care center,” she recalled. She also took bar mitzvah photos for Cheers director Jim Burrows, at his later-life ceremony in the 1980s. Daughter Rachel is a third-generation NYU student, older son the California Commissioner for the World Adult Kickball Association, and younger son a student at Valley College. A National Executive board member of the International Cinematographer’s Guild, she photographed and hung out with many 60s/70s cultural figures including Jimi Hendrix, Woody Allen, Andy Warhol, Jerry Garcia and Bob Marley. (She catalogues her work on www.lenswoman.com.) “The culture of Hollywood has always been largely Jewish,” she says. “Of course, none live in the ‘flats’; they all live in the Hills, canyons, or in Malibu.”

That L.A. scourge of road congestion does not escape the community. People mainly choose synagogues and schools for proximity. Some synagogues hold services after rush hour, around 8 p.m.; others opt for 6, to catch commuters, with parking spaces included. And many celebs worship at the Synagogue For The Performing Arts, founded in 1973 and right off the 405 Freeway at The University of Judaism. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has written for Touched by an Angel and The Practice; Rabbi David Woznica directed the 92nd Street Y Bronfman Center for Jewish Life in New York.

Over the past 20 years, Jews have migrated into the Valley, where in Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Encino and other towns, it’s more of the same: long stretches of Kosher butchers, delis, Jewish schools and institutions. While Jews in the Valley tend to be more middle class, and those in Westside L.A. younger and/or more affluent, Kotkin feels that Jews tend to stay around cities, and will remain in L.A.

Kippot-clad groups can be seen walking everywhere, enjoying what appears to be a peaceable existence. Anti-Semitic activity in Fairfax? “I’ve seen occasional graffiti,” says Jackie Canter. “The police photograph and report on it, a Hollywood beautification team wipes it off. That’s the extent.” The MOT’s Goldberg agrees. “In my four years here, there have been no anti-Semitic incidents I know of.”

Aside from the obvious attractions of Hollywood, movies, stars and beautiful scenery, Judaic destinations are ubiquitous. One can learn Torah, visit museums, check out Kabbalah and, of course, imbibe in traditional delicacies. “Try the corned beef at Brent’s (in the Valley, at 19565 Parthenia St. in Northridge),” advises Peggy Molin. (“The best!” echo her companions.) “But forget that lean cut with no flavor. You can throw it away.”