Shabbat In LA

Shabbat was wonderful; friendly people and great weather.

On Friday night I spoke at an Oneg Shabbat, which was held in a private home; wonderful, attentive people and very friendly hosts.

Shabbat morning, I was the guest of Young Israel of North Beverly Hills, a small and friendly community which is in temporary premises while they rebuild. The only excitement was that they forgot to bring the Sefer Torah to the temporary location, so we had to wait while they borrowed one from another Shul (thank goodness for the eruv). The result was two sermons!

My final speaking engagement of the tour was at Se'udah Sh'lishit, where I spoke at Young Israel of Century City, which is where I have been davening each day since I arrived in LA. The very large crowd heard me launch the book and speak about the rainbow and diversity.

The week over, I am booked on the midnight flight back home.

Friday - Last School

After a day off, which I spent at the Getty Center and the Skirball Cultural Center, I returned today to 'work', with my final school lecture at Shalhevet High School in LA. Interesting place, with attentive kids and an unusual outlook.

Tonight, I will be the guest speaker at an Oneg Shabbat in a private home.

Wednesday - Two Large Schools in LA

Today I spoke at two large schools in the main Jewish area of LA, accompanied by Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, director of the Orthodox Union West Coast Region, which has sponsored my visit to the USA. Both of these schools have adopted the 60 days project.

First, I visited the girls division of Yeshiva University High School, where I spoke to 95 11th and 12th graders. I then moved to Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy, where I launched the book to a co-ed audience of 8th graders, who were quite a rambunctious lot.

Tomorrow is a day off.

Tuesday Evening In Calabasas

This evening I spoke for two communities in Calabasas, a suburb of LA about 30 mins from where I am staying near Beverly Hills. First was Young Israel of Calabasas, where I launched the book at their attractive small Shul. I then went on to the Calabasas Shul, where I repeated the performance at the home of one of the members of the community. 25-30 at each event, responsive and engaged audiences, and they even laughed at my jokes!

For those who are interested, I discovered that the kosher supermarket close to my hotel sells outstanding sushi at $5 a box.

Monday - San Diego And Irvine

San Diego has small high schools for Jewish children; this morning I had the pleasure of visiting first the Torah High School of San Diego for girls and then the Southern California Yeshivah High School for boys. Despite their very long names, they each have only around 30 kids, who were enthusiastic, polite and attentive.

I was then driven to Irvine, a smaller community 90 minutes north of San Diego, where I spent the afternoon (shopping).

In the evening, I was the guest of Beth Jacob of Irvine, where I launched the book project. The evening was quite well attended and the people were friendly and attentive. The rabbi had even used one of my books for a learning project and asked me to autograph it!

Sunday - Arrival And First Lecture

I am lecturing in Southern California on behalf of Tribe (Young United Synagogue) to coincide with the launch of the Holocaust memorial learning project '60 days for 60 years,' renamed for the US market as '60 days for 6 million.'

I shall try to give readers a taste of what I have been doing and where I have been. This is my first trip to the West Coast of the USA.

I arrived in San Diego to discover that the weather is hot and sunny. Spoke at Beth Jacob of San Diego to launch the book. Very friendly rabbi and community; several survivors in the audience. About 50 people came; a relatively quiet start.