West Coast Happenings

The Ben Zakkai Honor Society’s NCSY National Scholarship Dinner on Sunday evening, January 26 in New York will celebrate the legacy of Anne Samson, a”h, of Beverly Hills, who was tragically taken from family, friends and the Jewish community she served so well in a horrific August automobile accident in Los Angeles.

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The Milken Family Foundation and the Board of Jewish Education (BJE) partnered in sponsoring the recent Jewish Educator Awards Student Essay Contest for middle and high-school students from BJE-affiliated schools.

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The Orthodox Jewish Chaplaincy Board (OJCB) of Southern California conducted Chanukah candle-lighting services with Jewish inmates at Men’s Central Jail (MCJ), Twin Towers Correctional Facilities (TTCF) and Pitches Detention Center (PDC) during this past Chanukah.

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In yet another sign of how popular kosher products have become, a symposium on kosher food production and certification recently took place in what may seem a most unlikely location: Hawaii.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has appointed attorney Andrew Friedman to the Commission on Local Government Services. L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich presented the motion of appointment.

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Janos Ader made West Coast history last week by becoming the first sitting president of the Republic of Hungary to visit a synagogue. Ader was accompanied at Congregation Bais Naftoli by his wife and a 14-member high-level delegation. Bais Naftoli president and attorney Andrew Friedman hosted a breakfast in the president’s honor.

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“We’ve had a relationship with the LAPD senior leadership for many years,” said Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, director of the OU West Coast Region. “And it is vitally important that we keep that alive as we show the Police Department that we care about them and the work they do.”

Deborah Raskin, principal at Or HaChaim Academy, an Orthodox elementary school for girls and boys with a middle school for boys in North Hollywood, is one of four recipients of the Milken Jewish Educator Awards.

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On Sunday, Oct. 6 Etta Israel’s 4th group home, the Aaron Bloom Home in North Hollywood, officially opened.

With more than 150 alumni establishing themselves in an array of professional and communal careers and 15 new graduates this fall, Yeshiva University’s Presidential Fellowship in University and Community Leadership is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Yitzy Frankel of Los Angeles has been selected for this year’s cohort.

During Chol HaMoed Sukkot, The Orthodox Jewish Chaplaincy Board (OJCB) conducted holiday programs for Jewish inmates at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail and Twin Tower Correctional Facility.

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As a result of more than 15 inches of rainfall over a matter of days in Boulder, Colorado and surrounding areas last month – killing seven people, causing damage to more than 15,000 others, and destroying nearly 2,000 homes – synagogues and its scheduled services took a major blow.

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This past summer, Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future Certificate Program in Experiential Jewish Education graduated its second group of students and inaugurated a third. The program is one of the few to focus on the unique role experiential Jewish education plays in the transmission of Jewish values and traditions. It arms practitioners with research, methodology and skills in order to increase their effectiveness on the job.

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After several years of negotiations, Yeshivas Bais Toras Menachem of Los Angeles and ORT-College of Los Angeles are joining forces in an educational endeavor.

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Alex Shloime Friedman, 93, departed from this world on August 18, 2013 (13 Elul 5773) to meet his Creator.

During the past few years Los Angeles has experienced a changing landscape in the area of Jewish education. Older institutions changed formats, such as Shalhevet – which expanded its doors to include a lower school and then reformatted back to a high school. Recently, educators experimented with new models; Yeshiva High Tech and Chabad of South La Cinega each have their own Jewish Montessori preschool. And the latest challenger to L.A.’s educational paradigm is Darko, a Jewish Montessori elementary school.

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After many Los Angeles high school graduates choose to spend a year studying in seminary or yeshiva in Israel, some return home confused about their next step in life. Some find jobs; others focus on continued education.