West Coast Happenings

Earlier this month the Jewish Family Services, Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and numerous L.A. political and community leaders hosted the rededication of the Raoul Wallenberg Statue.

Ohel Sara, a new seminary for women who’ve just completed high school or learning in Israel, will open in October. The program, to be housed at the Young Israel of Los Angeles, already has an enrollment of 19 students from outside L.A. – in addition to local students.

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A select group of Jewish leaders from various segments of the Jewish community recently gathered in Los Angeles to hear from visiting U.S. Sen. James E. Risch (R-ID).

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Rabbi Moshe Dear, headmaster of Yavneh Academy in Los Angeles since 1999, was selected to represent private schools as a 2013 National Distinguished Principal. This is the 30th year that the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) has presented this prestigious award. Rabbi Dear is one of only six private school principals from across the country, and the fourth yeshiva principal ever, to receive this award.

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At the recent seventh graduation ceremonies of Touro College Los Angeles (TCLA) at Sapper Hall on its West Hollywood campus, Touro’s president, Dr. Alan Kadish, referred to the graduates as pioneers who have laid the foundation for the future of Touro’s growth and its increasing service to the Greater Los Angeles Jewish Community.”

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A special recital of chamber music by a trio of musicians, including Rabbi Dovid Lipson on the piano, took place in Los Angeles recently. Funds raised at the recital benefited Kollel Aliyos Shlomo of Yerushalayim.

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Rabbi Pinchas Gruman is the new rav of the Minyan at Aish Tamid. One of the most respected Torah figures in Los Angeles, Rabbi Gruman has been described as “The Los Angeles link in the mesorah of the yeshiva world” by Rabbi Nachum Sauer. As a talmid in Lakewood in the 1950s, Rabbi Gruman received semicha from Rav Aaron Kotler, zt”l, and Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l. Soon after, he moved to Los Angeles.

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Etta Israel Center’s 11th Annual Dessert Reception took place recently in Los Angeles. Etta Israel’s well-respected programs include the Ner Yaakov class for boys with learning disabilities, founded in memory of Aharon Yaakov Kornwasser, z”l, and the Ner Shoshana class, founded in memory of Shoshana Hayman Greenbaum, Hy”d.

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Jewish Press columnist Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, founder and president of Hineni, the international Torah outreach organization, recently addressed an overflowing audience at the Beth Jacob Congregation of Irvine in southern California. Rebbetzin Jungreis’s address theme, “Making a Good Relationship Magical,” was apropos for the evening’s main mission: raising funds for the Irvine community’s mikveh.

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The Los Angeles community celebrated Israel’s 65th birthday recently with an early morning Walk for Israel, followed by a Celebrate Israel 65 Festival at Rancho Park.

The National Bible Contest, Chidon HaTanach, recently announced the names of the students who are qualified to compete in the national competition this Sunday at Yeshiva University in New York.

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On Sunday evening, April 7, the Yeshiva Aharon Yaakov Ohr Eliyahu was joined by parents, grandparents, and children for a communitywide commemoration honoring the six million kedoshim of the Shoah.

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The Ronald and Ethel Gruen Endowed Fund for the Advancement of Secondary Jewish Education has awarded $20,000 to YULA Boys High School. As one of eight grant recipients, the funds are intended to either provide need-based scholarships to students or to support the school’s mechinah (beginners) programs. The gift will be administered through Yeshiva University’s Institute for University-School Partnership.

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In honor of the 20th Anniversary of “Schindler’s List,” Universal Studios Home Entertainment has partnered with the USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education for the launch of the IWitness Video Challenge.

Andrew Friedman, president of Congregation Bais Naftoli, recently greeted Rav Chaim Halpern, rosh yeshiva of Ohr Yosef Novardik in France.

Yeshiva Day School of Las Vegas (YDLV) recently celebrated its sixth year of educational excellence with a banquet.

Last year, Gabriel Naghi (who has since graduated and is now studying in Israel) and Alex Fax, father of then-10th grader Yair Fax, pioneered the YULA Robotics Team, a co-ed squad that held biweekly meetings. Although the team built a robot that could have competed, all of the qualifying competitions were held on Saturday, restricting the team’s ability to progress.