Steve Leder | |
---|---|
Title | Senior Rabbi |
Personal | |
Born | Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, United States | June 3, 1960
Religion | Judaism |
Nationality | American |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Leonard and Barbara Leder |
Denomination | Reform Judaism |
Alma mater | Northwestern University |
Synagogue | Wilshire Boulevard Temple |
Residence | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Steve Leder (born June 3, 1960) is an American rabbi, scholar, author and Jewish community leader. Twice-named in Newsweek Magazine's list of the ten most influential rabbis in America, [1] Steve Leder is the Senior Rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, which serves approximately 2,400 families at three campuses. Rabbi Leder joined Wilshire Boulevard Temple in 1987, and succeeded Rabbi Harvey J. Fields as Senior Rabbi in 2003. [2]
Leder holds a degree in writing from Northwestern University, where he graduated cum laude. He also studied at Trinity College, Oxford University. He then obtained a master's degree in Hebrew Letters in 1986. He received his Rabbinical Ordination in 1987 from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, OH. [3]
In 1987 Leder became the Assistant Rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple. He also taught Homiletics at Hebrew Union College for 13 years. In 2003 Leder became the Temple's Senior Rabbi where he continues to serve in that position. Wilshire Boulevard Temple was founded in 1862 and is the oldest synagogue in Southern California, serving over 2400 families at three campuses. These include the Erika J. Glazer Family Campus in Wilshire Center/Koreatown, the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Campus in West Los Angeles, the Steve Breuer Conference Center, Camp Hess Kramer and Gindling Hilltop Camp in Malibu, California. Wilshire Boulevard Temple schools include: The Erika J. Glazer and Mann Family Early Childhood Centers, Brawerman Elementary School East and West, and Gloria & Peter S. Gold and Edgar F. Magnin religious schools which serve congregants and the surrounding community.
Leder is a fellow in the British-American Project, an international gathering of over 1,200 leaders and opinion formers from a broad spectrum of worldviews. In 2012 he presented at the Aspen Ideas Festival. [4] He received the Louis Rappaport Award for Excellence in Commentary by the American Jewish Press Association and the Kovler Award from the Religious Action Center in Washington, D.C. for his work in African American Jewish dialogue. [5]
In 2008, Leder began a renovation and expansion project of Wilshire Boulevard Temple's historic Koreatown campus. In 2011, the temple closed for the first phase of the $225 million-dollar restoration and expansion. [6] Leder initiated and managed the capital fundraising campaign for this project. The historic sanctuary reopened for the High Holy Days in September 2013.
The second phase of the campus redevelopment included a 500-car parking structure, a sports complex for students, the renovation of the campus’ two school buildings and building the Karsh Family Social Service Center at the Temple's Koreatown Campus. [7] The Karsh Center provides free services, including a food pantry, medical, vision, dental and mental health care, along with legal aid, ESL and book distribution. Additional services offer support groups to assist with loss and trauma. Seasonal outreaches include Build-a-Bike, a daylong event where bikes are assembled for delivery to underserved kids; The Big Give, an annual distribution of Thanksgiving meals; Jews with Tools, a program that provides volunteers to build houses for low-income residents.
The third and final phase of Wilshire Boulevard Temple's renovation will be the Audrey Irmas Pavilion, an event center designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Rem Koolhaas. The Pavilion is scheduled to open in early 2021. [8]
Wilshire Boulevard Temple has a long-standing history of inter-religious collaboration. Nearby evangelical congregations partner with Wilshire Boulevard Temple and conduct joint bible studies. [9] Wilshire Boulevard Temple is also home to the largest annual gathering of Muslims and Jews in Los Angeles each year to honor the end of Ramadan. [10] Rabbi Leder's books are considered global in their application. Evangelicals and non-religious groups have welcomed Leder to appear as a guest on several Christian TV and radio broadcasts.
Leder is the author of five books. The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Things, More Money Than God: Living a Rich Life Without Losing Your Soul, and More Beautiful Than Before; How Suffering Transforms Us; The Beauty of What Remains and For You When I Am Gone: Twelve Essential Questions to Tell a Life Story. [11] [12] He has published essays in Reform Judaism, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, TIME magazine, Town and Country, Beliefnet.com, [13] and The Jewish Journal [14] where his Torah commentaries were read weekly by over 50,000 people. Leder is a contributor to Charles Barkley's book, Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man? In it, Leder discussed the connections between economics, religion and racism. [15]
Leder has been a guest on CBS This Morning, [16] ABC, NPR, PBS, [17] FOX [18] and The Steve Harvey Show , [19] two appearances on ABC's Politically Incorrect , NPR, Dennis Miller, The Tavis Smiley Show , Cavuto and Friends, Scarborough Country , Fox Family and Friends and ABC Overnight. He is the subject of the documentary film Restoring Your Tomorrow, [20] and his sermon on capital punishment was included in an award-winning episode of The West Wing . [21] He is a regular contributor to NBC’s The Today Show , TIME Books, and Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper.
Koreatown is a neighborhood in central Los Angeles, California, centered near Eighth Street and Irolo Street.
Wilshire Boulevard ('wɪɫ.ʃɚ) is a prominent 15.83 mi (25.48 km) boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal east-west arterial roads of Los Angeles, it is also one of the major city streets through the city of Beverly Hills. Wilshire Boulevard runs roughly parallel with Santa Monica Boulevard from Santa Monica to the west boundary of Beverly Hills. From the east boundary it runs a block south of Sixth Street to its terminus.
The Saban Theatre is a historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California, formerly known as the Fox Wilshire Theater. It is an Art Deco structure at the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Hamilton Drive designed by architect S. Charles Lee and is considered a classic Los Angeles landmark. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 2012.
Wilshire Center is a neighborhood in the Wilshire region of Los Angeles, California.
Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. Wilshire Boulevard Temple's main building, with a sanctuary topped by a large Byzantine revival dome and decorated with interior murals, is a City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Moorish-style building, located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Wilshire Center district, was completed in 1929 and was designed by architect Abram M. Edelman.
Edgar Magnin was rabbi and spiritual leader of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. Magnin served at the temple for 69 years and was considered one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in the United States, sometimes called the "Rabbi to the Stars" because of his close connections to the Hollywood film industry.
Sinai Temple in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California is the oldest and largest Conservative Jewish congregation in the greater Los Angeles area. Architect Sidney Eisenshtat designed the current synagogue building, constructed in 1956 and expanded in 1998. Since 1997, the senior rabbi has been David Wolpe, the Rabbi Emeritus was Zvi Dershowitz, and since 2008, the head school rabbi has been Andrew Feig.
Temple Israel of Hollywood is a Reform Jewish synagogue in Hollywood, California founded in 1926. Services were originally held in the Hayakawa Mansion before the first Temple Israel building was established on Ivar Street under the leadership of Rabbi Isadore Isaacson. Temple Israel moved to its current location on Hollywood Boulevard in 1948. It has traditionally had a large number of film actors, writers, directors and producers as members.
Los Angeles City Council District 10 is one of the 15 districts of the Los Angeles City Council.
Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel, also called The Sephardic Temple, is a large, urban Sephardi Jewish synagogue located in Westwood, Los Angeles, California at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Warner Avenue. Established on February 1, 1920 as the "Sephardic Community of Los Angeles," it exists today as the merger of three major Sephardic organizations with approximately 600 member families.
As of 2008, the sixty thousand ethnic Koreans in Greater Los Angeles constituted the largest Korean community in the United States. Their number made up 15 percent of the country's Korean American population.
Wilshire Private School, previously called the Wilshire School, the Hankook School, and the Los Angeles Hankook Academy, was a primary and secondary school located in Koreatown, Los Angeles. It is in the Mid-City/Mid-Wilshire area. It was sponsored by the Korean Institute of Southern California. Its primary target students were Korean Americans. In 1994, the principal, John Regan, stated that Hankook School was the only educational facility that targeted Korean students in the United States.
Temple Emanuel is a Reform synagogue in Beverly Hills, California.
Harvey J. Fields (1935–2014) was an American Reform rabbi. He served as the rabbi of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, the largest synagogue in Canada, from 1978 to 1982. He then served as the rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the oldest synagogue in Los Angeles, from 1985 to 2003.
Audrey Irmas is an American philanthropist and art collector. She has donated millions of dollars to Jewish causes, especially the Wilshire Boulevard Temple. She is one of the largest art collectors in the United States.
Joseph Newmark (1799–1881) was a Prussian-American businessman in New York City and Los Angeles and a member of the Newmark family of Southern California. He helped found Jewish congregations in both cities and later became an ordained rabbi.
Max Webb was a Polish-born American real estate developer and philanthropist from Los Angeles, California. A Holocaust survivor born to a Jewish family, he was the co-founder of one of the largest real estate development companies in Southern California. He supported charitable causes in the United States and Israel.
Aaron Wolf is an American actor, writer and director best known for the feature documentary Restoring Tomorrow. He is the co-founder and President of Howling Wolf Productions based in Los Angeles, CA.
Restoring Tomorrow is a 2017 documentary film directed by Aaron Wolf that recounts the history and the restoration of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, California.
Liberty Park is a private park in Los Angeles, CA. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Koreatown Neighborhood. It is now considered a L.A. City Cultural Monument.
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