Temple Ahavat Shalom Northridge

Last updated

Temple Ahavat Shalom Northridge
Religion
Affiliation Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status Synagogue
LeadershipRabbi Becky Hoffman
StatusActive
Location
Location18200 Rinaldi Place, Northridge, San Fernando Valley, Southern California 91326
CountryUnited States
U.S. - Los Angeles Metropolitan Area location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Los Angeles, California
Geographic coordinates 34°16′36″N118°31′45″W / 34.2766598°N 118.5292724°W / 34.2766598; -118.5292724
Architecture
Type Synagogue architecture
Date established1965 (as a congregation)
Completed
  • 1973 (Martyrs Building)
  • c. 1980s(Rinaldi Place
Website
tasnorthridge.org

Temple Ahavat Shalom Northridge (transliterated from Hebrew as "Love of peace") is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 18200 Rinaldi Place, in Northridge, in San Fernando Valley, Southern California, in the United States. The congregation was established in 1965 and is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism.

Contents

History

Temple Ahavat Shalom Northridge, abbreviated as TAS Northridge, was established in 1965 as the result of a merger between Temple Beth Torah and the North Valley Reform Congregation, both Reform synagogues in the north San Fernando Valley. [1] Land was purchased to the south of the future path of California State Route 118, and a temporary multi-purpose building was erected in 1969. The founding rabbis were Fred Krinsky [2] and Shimon Paskow. They were succeeded by Rabbi Allen Secher, who served from 1967 to 1971 and was the first member of the clergy to introduce multi-media worship to the synagogue experience. [3]

Secher was followed in 1971 by Rabbi Richard Leviton, and in 1973 by Rabbi Solomon F. Kleinman. [4] Among Kleinman's major accomplishments were the establishment of a preschool and the completion of a sanctuary-social hall complex to coincide with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in 1978. The complex was designed by the architectural firm of Brent, Robbins and Bown. The ark, which contains a Torah rescued from the Holocaust, was designed by artist Joseph Young, who also designed the Triforium in downtown Los Angeles. [5] One of Kleinman's rabbinic interns from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion was Denise Eger. In 2015, Rabbi Eger became the first member of the LGBTQIA+ community to head the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the professional organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. [6]

After Kleinman retired in 1986, he served as rabbi emeritus until his death in 2015 at age 95. He was succeeded as senior rabbi in 1986 by Jerald M. Brown. Brown inspired the building of an education center, introduced confirmation for 11th graders, and initiated Tuesday morning Torah study. Barry M. Lutz, who became the temple's senior rabbi in 2008 and led congregational trips to Israel and sites of Jewish historical interest in Central Europe, left TAS Northridge in 2017. Two interim rabbis followed: Rabbi Liat Yardeni-Funk from January through June 2018, and Rabbi Arturo Kalfus from July 2018 through June 2020.

On July 1, 2020, Rabbi Rebecca Hoffman became the senior rabbi at TAS Northridge. Hoffman, a native of the San Fernando Valley, is a graduate of the University of California at San Diego, where she majored in Judaic studies. She earned a master's degree in education at American Jewish University and was ordained as a Reform rabbi through Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. The cantorial soloist is Elizabeth Kerstein. [7]

Rabbis in the larger Jewish community whose families were members of TAS Northridge and who spent part or all of their formative years at the synagogue are: Liora Alban, Benjamin Berger, Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik, Leah Doberne-Schor, Jason Gwasdoff, Jonathan Klein, Adam Lutz, Dalia Samansky, Lisa Vernon, Jill Gold Wright, and Rebeccah Birken Yussman. Cantor Rachel Goldman of Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, Texas, also grew up at TAS Northridge. [8]

Activities

Temple Ahavat Shalom Northridge is a full-service congregation. Hebrew school, Sunday school, youth choir, and bar and bat mitzvah training are available for children of elementary- and middle-school age. The synagogue youth group is known as TASTY, for Temple Ahavat Shalom Temple Youth. Confirmation is celebrated by students in the 11th grade, who are also invited to take part in an annual educational trip to Washington, DC.

Social action and adult education programs take place throughout the year. These include Sisterhood, MoTAS (Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom), weekly Torah study, adult and youth choirs, a Caring Community to assist congregants who are ill, bereaved or otherwise in need, collection of food items and other goods for deserving individuals or families, periodic blood drives, and a monthly book discussion group. The temple's Social Action/Social Justice Committee is assisting with the resettlement of one Ukrainian and three Afghan families living in the San Fernando Valley and has compiled a list of non-profit organizations in support of Ukraine.

Rabbi Hoffman led temple members on a tour of Israel from October 23 through November 3, 2022, and a tour of sites related to the civil rights movement in the spring of 2024. [9] [10] She conducted another tour of Israel in November 2024.

With social distancing in place since mid-March 2020 due to COVID-19, Hebrew and Sunday school classes, religious services, auxiliary meetings, weekly Torah study and other activities took place remotely via Zoom. By spring 2021, as immunizations increased and the rate of Covid infections in Southern California waned, the temple began to offer outdoor Shabbat services with mask-wearing and social distancing, in addition to live-streaming of services on Facebook. Services inside the sanctuary resumed in July 2021 but were temporarily switched to a virtual format from December 2021 through February 2022 during a surge of Omicron variant cases. [11] Religious services currently are held in the sanctuary and also are live streamed.

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References

  1. ↑ "History". Temple Ahavat Shalom.[ self-published source? ]
  2. ↑ "Archives". Los Angeles Times . October 18, 1997.
  3. ↑ "Home page". Temple Ahavat Shalom.[ self-published source? ]
  4. ↑ "Rabbi Solomon F. Kleinman, social justice advocate, founder of first synagogue for the deaf, 95". Jewish Journal. October 21, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Archives". Los Angeles Times . August 26, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Lesbian Rabbi is to Become President of Reform Group". The New York Times . March 16, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Elizabeth Kerstein - Academy for Jewish Religion | California". August 19, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Beth Yeshurun makes historic hire in new cantor".
  9. ↑ https://www.israelmaven.com/temple-ahavat-shalom-israel-experience-with-rabbi-hoffman-october-2022/
  10. ↑ "Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Becky Hoffman: She Knew Her Future Early". July 20, 2023.
  11. ↑ Leonhardt, David (December 16, 2021). "Expecting a Surge". The New York Times.
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