Nessah Synagogue

The Nessah Synagogue is a Mizrahi synagogue in Beverly Hills, California.

Nessah Synagogue
Religion
AffiliationJudaism
Location
Location142 South Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, California[1]
Geographic coordinates34.06568°N 118.39375°W / 34.06568; -118.39375
Architecture
StyleGreek Revival
FounderRabbi David Shofet
Completed2002
Website
Website

History

The synagogue was established in 1980 for the immigration of Persian Jews to Los Angeles County, shortly after the Iranian Revolution of 1979.[2][3] It was founded by Rabbi David Shofet.[2] His father, Yedidia Shofet (1908-2005), had served as the Chief Rabbi of Iran from 1922 to 1980.[2]

Persian Jews from the congregation initially worshipped at Beth Jacob Congregation, a long-established Orthodox synagogue in Beverly Hills.[2][3] Later, they met at the Saban Theatre, also in Beverly Hills.[3] Later, they moved into a building in Santa Monica, California.[3] The congregation moved into its current building (the former home of the First Church of Christ, Scientist[4] that now resides across the street) in 2002.[2] The building's remodeling was supervised by architect Hamid Gabbay.[5] It includes "Simcha Hall", a ballroom used for weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Brit milah, fundraising events, etc.[6]

It acts as a large religious, educational and cultural center, where Hebrew and Iranian Jewish history is taught.[2] It organizes three weekly Torah classes, daily prayer services, lectures, and three Shabbat services.[2] A 2011 profile of Nessah Synagogue in Tablet Magazine found that the congregation serves an important function as a "community center" for the Persian Jews of Los Angeles and as a bridge between traditions rooted in Iran and the mainstream American lifestyle most of them now lead, and also noted that many members maintain affiliation both with Nessah and with another congregation with a more mixed membership, such as Sinai Temple or Stephen S. Wise Temple.[7]

Inside the synagogue, the Torah ark is a replica of the one in the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam.[8]

In the early mornings hours of Saturday, December 14, 2019, an individual broke in and vandalized the synagogue, damaging a number of Torah scrolls, but the Torah scrolls for ritual use had been locked up and were not damaged.[9][10]

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References
  1. Nessah Synagogue website: Contact Info
  2. Nessah Synagogue website: History
  3. Karmel Melamed, Iranian Nessah Synagogue celebrates 30 years and honors founders, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, December 6, 2010
  4. Federal Writers' Project of the Works Project Administration, Los Angeles in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the City of Angels (University of California Press, 2011 reprint ed.), ISBN 978-0520948860, p. 201. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  5. Gabbay Architects: Nessah Synagogue
  6. Nessah Synagogue website: Ballroom "Simcha Hall"
  7. Allison Hoffman, "Persian Gulf: Thirty years after the Islamic Revolution made them exiles, the Persian Jews of Los Angeles are split in new ways by an old question: how much to hold on to religious and cultural traditions forged in a country that now hates them". Tablet Magazine, April 6, 2011.
  8. Karmel Melamed, Photo essay: real story behind Nessah Synagogue's new Torah ark, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, September 29, 2007
  9. "Beverly Hills Persian Synagogue Vandalized Over Shabbat". Jewish Journal. December 14, 2019.
  10. Parvini, Sarah; Sharp, Sonja (2019-12-22). "'Our worst nightmare': Vandalism at Persian synagogue stuns congregation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
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