The Nessah Synagogue is a

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

synagogue in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

History

The synagogue was established in 1980 for the immigration of

Persian Jews Iranian Jews, (; ) also Persian Jews ( ) or Parsim, constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora. Dating back to the History of ancient Israel and Judah, biblical era, they originate from the Jews who relocated to Iran (his ...

to Los Angeles County, shortly after the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

of 1979.Nessah Synagogue website: History
/ref>Karmel Melamed
Iranian Nessah Synagogue celebrates 30 years and honors founders
''

The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', known simply as the ''Jewish Journal'', is an independent, nonprofit community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles, published by the nonprofit TRIBE Media Corp. I ...

'', December 6, 2010 It was founded by Rabbi David Shofet. His father,

Yedidia Shofet Yedidia Shofet (also spelled ''Shophet'', and often referred to as Hakham Yedidia; November 14, 1908 – June 24, 2005) was the former Chief Rabbi of Iran and the worldwide spiritual leader of Persian Jewry. Early life Yedidia Shofet was born o ...

(1908-2005), had served as the Chief Rabbi of Iran from 1922 to 1980. Persian Jews from the congregation initially worshipped at Beth Jacob Congregation, a long-established Orthodox synagogue in Beverly Hills. Later, they met at the

Saban Theatre The Saban Theatre ( ) is a historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California, formerly known as the Fox Wilshire Theater. It is an Art Deco structure at the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Hamilton Drive designed by architect S. Charles ...

, also in Beverly Hills. Later, they moved into a building in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. The congregation moved into its current building (the former home of the First Church of Christ, Scientist that now resides across the street) in 2002. The building's remodeling was supervised by architect Hamid Gabbay. It includes "Simcha Hall", a ballroom used for weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvah,

Brit milah The ''brit milah'' (, , ; "Covenant (religion), covenant of circumcision") or ''bris'' (, ) is Religion and circumcision, the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism, during which the foreskin is surgically removed. According to t ...

, fundraising events, etc. It acts as a large religious, educational and cultural center, where Hebrew and Iranian Jewish history is taught. It organizes three weekly

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

classes, daily prayer services, lectures, and three

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

services. A 2011 profile of Nessah Synagogue in ''

Tablet Magazine ''Tablet'' is a conservative American magazine focused on Jewish news and culture, featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, and essays. It was founded in 2009 by editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse and is supported by the Nextbook foundation ...

'' 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. Inside the synagogue, the

Torah ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...

is a replica of the one in the Portuguese Synagogue in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nessah Synagogue 1980 establishments in California Antisemitic attacks and incidents in California Synagogues in Beverly Hills, California Iranian-American culture in California Iranian-Jewish culture in the United States Synagogues completed in 2002 Jewish organizations established in 1980 Sephardi synagogues Sephardi Jewish culture in California 21st-century attacks on Jewish institutions in the United States