Parade, day of unity mark Lag B’Omer

Published on May 1, 2013

Two major community events marked the relatively minor holiday of Lag B’Omer on April 28, bringing some bombast — and thousands of people — to local celebrations.

Doheny Kosher scandal: What took RCC so long? [UPDATED]

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on March 27, 2013

The Rabbinical Council of California (RCC) abruptly revoked its certification from Doheny Glatt Kosher Meats on March 24, but the RCC, Los Angeles’s leading kosher oversight agency, had first heard about the distributor’s suspicious practices years earlier.

Without shelter on Pico

By Ryan Torok
Published on September 27, 2012

It’s a Wednesday in September. Brad Baker stands in front of Elat Market on Pico Boulevard, holding out his baseball cap. People exit the supermarket, pushing shopping carts and carrying bags with groceries. Some look at Baker. Some don’t. For Baker, this is just another day.

We Grew Up With Bibi’s, and Bibi’s Grew Up With Us

By Louis Keene
Published on August 14, 2012

The seven-year cycle

By Salvador Litvak
Published on August 8, 2012

After seven and a half years of daily study, my voyage through the sea of Talmud ended with these words, as approximately 90,000 Jews filled every seat of MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to celebrate the completion of Daf Yomi in an event called the 12th Siyum HaShas. My voyage began with a miracle, and ended in transformation.

The Look: Shanghai Diamond Garden

By Louis Keene
Published on August 3, 2012

Unthinkable: Man opens bookstore

Published on July 25, 2012

If it weren’t for a small red neon sign that said “books,” I probably wouldn’t have made a right turn on Idaho Avenue last Saturday night to discover Tony Jacobs’ little storefront masterpiece. I was on my way to the Nuart to catch a late film with a friend, and we figured we would find parking on Sawtelle Boulevard.

From which seeps the essence of Jeff’s Gourmet

By Louis Keene
Published on June 29, 2012

LGBT Jews take pride in inclusiveness

Published on June 13, 2012

Before he told members of his family, Nathan Looney told members of his synagogue, Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), that he was transitioning from female to male. He says the encouragement he received is typical for members of this Pico Boulevard congregation.

Updated: Pico-Robertson and Valley Village Each Face Splitting in California Redistricting

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on July 20, 2011

Chabad Brings Brooklyn to L.A.

By Gaby Wenig
Published on April 1, 2004

Amid the kosher restaraunts, Judaica stores and storefront synagogues on a particular stretch of Pico Boulevard, a little piece of Brooklyn has just been built.

OK, the new three-story, 47,000-square-foot brown-brick building is hardly little, but it is straight out of 770 Eastern Parkway, the Crown Heights address that houses the central Chabad center and the headquarters of their former spiritual leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, otherwise known as "the Rebbe."

Westward Expansion

By Julie G Fax
Published on July 29, 1999

With its recent purchase of an office building near the corner of Pico Boulevard and Doheny Drive, Chabad has established a two-block stretch of facilities -- which the outreach group plans to call "Rebbe Square" -- in the heart of one of Los Angeles' prime Jewish neighborhoods.

Putting on the Shvitz

By Teresa Strasser
Published on December 10, 1998

City Spa is one of only a handful of old world saunas left in America. A tradition brought over by European Jewish immigrants, "the shvitz" was and still is a place for men to schmooze, bond and sweat. Now, though, women can see what they've been missing.

An Art Form

By Ruth Stroud
Published on November 12, 1998

Artists from places as far afield as Brooklyn, Baltimore and Tal-Shahar, Israel, and as near as Beverly Hills will be exhibiting at the 18th annual Festival of Jewish Artisans at Temple Isaiah on Nov. 21-22. Among the crafts on the display will be sandblasted glass, ceramics, gold and silver jewelry, textiles, calligraphy, papercutting, photography and inlaid wood. Eleven of the 28 artists are new to the festival, but many have been exhibiting in the social hall of the Pico Boulevard synagogue for years.