December 6, 2005

OU’s West Coast Torah Convention, December 22-25, to Explore Search for Harmony in Orthodox Judaism; Awards to be Presented to LAPD Commanders and to Councilman Weiss, Field Deputy Bourkoff

Panels Will Feature OU Shul Rebbetzins and Yeshiva H.S. Principals

With the theme of The Polarization of Orthodox Judaism: Finding Harmony in Diversity, and featuring a ceremony honoring the leadership of the Los Angeles Police Department, the West Coast Region of the Orthodox Union will present its 15th Annual West Coast Torah Convention, from Thursday, December 22 to Sunday, December 25, at locations throughout the Los Angeles area.

The Convention, which is regularly attended by hundreds of men and women, many of whom come from locations beyond Los Angeles and California, features an imposing team of Scholars-in-Residence, who will fan out over Los Angeles and surrounding communities to lead Sabbath study sessions. These Scholars-in-Residence include the rabbis of OU synagogues in the Los Angeles area, a delegation from the OU national headquarters in New York, and other scholars from outside of Los Angeles.

The Convention is regarded by those who attend it year after year as an extraordinary coming together of an entire community to engage in Torah learning and the discussion of Jewish issues in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

“We live in a world of conflict and unrest,” declared OU West Coast Chairman of the Board David Zeffren of Hancock Park. “The key to our survival as Jews is to foster and promote achdut, unity, among Klal Yisrael through the guidance of Torah. What better process to work towards this goal than to spend time learning together and listening to rabbis and scholars discuss these vital issues and present their ideas. While there may be differences of approach within the context of Torah-dedicated Jews, there must be unity of ultimate purpose. Once again the West Coast Torah Convention is bringing together an array of speakers to accomplish just that. Come learn with us!”

Convention Chairman Howard Shapiro of Westside Los Angeles emphasizes unity as well. “Orthodox Judaism represents a rainbow coalition of different kinds of congregations, different kinds of Jews, and different kinds of religious philosophies and outlooks,” he declared. “But political and social considerations should not override the unity of Am Yisrael. It is our hope that the Orthodox Union will continue to create more forums like this year’s convention which showcase the different colors of our single rainbow.”

“It takes a full six months of intensive effort to put this Convention together,” said Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, Director of the West Coast Region. “The results are well worth it. I know of no other community in which high-powered learning is spread out as far and wide as it is in Los Angeles, as our Scholars-in-Residence travel to Orthodox neighborhoods to spend Shabbat there and to share their insights with the congregations of the local OU member shuls.”

The Orthodox Union Scholars-in-Residence include OU President Stephen J. Savitsky; Executive Vice President Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb; OU Vice President Dr. David Luchins, Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Touro College in New York; and Director of Synagogue Services Rabbi Mayer Waxman.

For the first time, the Convention will feature a family fun night with games, food and arts and crafts, sponsored by Yeshivat Yavneh in Hancock Park. Last minute Judaica shopping for Chanuka will also be available at the fair.

The opening program, December 22, will include the presentation of Community Service Awards to the following officers from the Los Angeles Police Department “for the LAPD’s highly successful efforts in protecting the Jewish community against terrorism and anti-Semitism.”

Commanders: George Ibarra, West Bureau Station; Al Paniccia, Valley Bureau Station; Deputy Chiefs: Richard Roupoli, West Bureau Station; Michel Moore, Valley Bureau Station; Lieutenants: Armando Perez, Wilshire Community Station; Leonard Cross, Hollywood Community Station; Captains: Clay Ferrel, Wilshire Community Station; Richard Wemmer, Wilshire Community Station; Bill Williams, Pacific Community Station; William Sweet, Hollywood Community Station; Jim Miller, Van Nuys Community Station; John Sherman, West Valley Community Station; Carol Aborn-Khoury, West Los Angeles Community Station; Ron Sanchez, Hollywood Community Station.

Community Service Awards will also be presented to Councilman Jack Weiss, Fifth District, “for his continued support and commitment to the well-being of the Jewish community in these troubled times”; and to Field Deputy (Mrs.) Lindsay Bourkoff, Fifth District, “for spearheading the community forums to get out the word for efficient security preparations and concerns, especially over the High Holidays.”

Special panel discussions will feature OU shul rebbetzins discussing The Orthodox Woman’s Influence on Her Community, and Los Angeles yeshiva high school principals discussing Shuls, Schools and Parents: Are We on the Same Page?

In a “Fireside Chat” to be held at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills on Thursday, December 22, following the opening dinner, Rabbi Weinreb and Rabbi Avrohom Teichman of Agudas Yisroel of Los Angeles, will address the Convention’s theme with their talks on Common Goals, Common Dreams. The following evening, after Shabbat dinner, a “Public Forum” will be presented on How Fleixble Is Orthodoxy? Panelists include Rabbis Chaim Eisen, Yosef Kanefsky, Elazar Muskin, Dale Polakoff (from Long Island, NY; he is President of the Rabbinical Council of America), with Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, Director of Community and Synagogue Services for the West Coast Region as Moderator.

The Convention closes with a day of sessions on a wide variety of topics, to be held on Sunday, December 25 at the Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills, 1150 South Beverly Drive.

The Sunday sessions at the Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills will include:

• Torah and Science: When Two Worlds Collide, with Rabbi Reuven Bulka

• Challenges in Shidduch Dating, or Why Does He Want to Know if She Wears Open Toe Shoes? with Rabbi Dale Polakoff

• What Is the Attitude Toward Gentiles?, with Rabbi Benjamin Blech

• Torah Values and Western Values: Synthesis or Antithesis?, with Rabbi Chaim Eisen

• Is the Dream Lost?: Post-Gaza Zionism in Israel and the Diaspora, with Rabbi Yosef Blau

• Changing Attitudes Toward Secular Studies in the Orthodox World, with Dr. David Luchins

• Panel Discussion for Women Only: Bina Yeteira (greater understanding): The Orthodox Woman’s Influence on Her Community, with OU shul Rebbetzins Karen Geiger, Miriam Huttler, Sari Abrams-Kanefsky, Elana Kosofsky and Yael Weil, with Dr. Rivkah Blau as Moderator

• On Moral Grounds – a film (MCLE education credits available) 0.

• Do Chumros (stringent religious positions) Make a Person Frummer (more religious)?, with Rabbi Nachum Sauer

• American Yeshiva Perspectives: Then and Now, with Rabbi Gerald Werner

• The Re-Emergence of Traditional Tanach Study: Proponents and Detractors, with Rabbi Yitz Etshalom

• Is Yeshiva Education Accomplishing What It Should?, with Rabbi Levi Meier, and

Panel Discussion: Shuls, Schools and Parents: Are We on the Same Page?, with panelists Yeshiva High School Principals Rabbis Yosef Furman, Avi Greene, Dovid Landesman, Avrohom Stulberger and Sholom Weil, with Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsburg as Moderator.

For further information, contact Rabbi Alan Kalinsky at 310-229-9000, ext 200, or westcoast@ou.org.

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