The Orthodox Union West Coast Division and its Department of Synagogue and Community Services will present its annual Community-Wide Shiv’ah Asar B’Tammuz (Fast of the 17th of Tammuz) Mincha/Maariv Service on Thursday, July 13, to which the entire Orthodox community of Los Angeles and surrounding areas is invited.
Seventeen Los Angeles-area OU member synagogues will be the hosts of the program. It will be held at Young Israel of Century City, 9317 West Pico Boulevard, from 7:40 p.m. to 8:25 p.m.
The fast day begins The Three Weeks, a period of mourning commemorating the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem, as well as other Jewish calamities. The Three Weeks culminate with Tisha B’Av (the Fast of The Ninth of Av), which falls this year on Thursday, August 3.
The July 13 program will include the Mincha service, a d’var Torah (Torah lecture), Tehillim (psalms), and prayers for the State of Israel, followed by the Maariv service. The d’var Torah will be given by Elie Ryzman. Mr. Ryzman studied at Yeshiva University in New York and the Chevron Yeshiva in Israel. He received his semicha from Rabbi Zalmen Nechemya Goldberg in Israel, and currently teaches very popular Shabbat afternoon lectures in the Hancock Park area, particularly for young marrieds.
“We have this event annually for members of the greater Los Angeles Orthodox community to join together because there is strength in numbers for our combined prayers,” explained Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, Director of the OU West Coast Division. “It gives people a sense of belonging to something bigger than their own synagogue.”
For more information, contact Esther Rothberg at the OU West Coast Synagogue and Community Services at 310-229-9000.