Pico-Robertson 90035

Los Angeles, CA 90035
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Los Angeles Eruv Down

Posted by on Oct 27, 2011 in Eruv |

An eruv (string around a boundary) allows Jews to carry on the Sabbath without violating Jewish law.

YICC.com emails: Dear Members, The LA Eruv committee reports that they have lost several hundred yards of eruv boundary to construction along the 405, and they do not have the appropriate permission to replace it in a workable fashion. They are working on a solution, but will be hard pressed to have the problem fixed before Shabbat. Additionally, please note the Eruv may be down for next Shabbos as well. If the Eruv is down for Shabbat, one may not carry anything on Shabbat – including keys and pushing strollers. Please make alternate arrangements.

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Domestic Violence Calls In Beverly Hills

Posted by on Oct 27, 2011 in Beverly Hills, Crime, Persia |

Around 3 p.m., I was walking down Corning near Olympic in 90035 and noticed a police helicopter circling over head and three police cars with their lights flashing. They were tracking a domestic violence call. Some blonde woman had gone running down the street away from some guy with a ponytail.

My friend said that he had a friend on the Beverly Hills police force and every time he went out on a domestic violence call, it was usually to the home of Persian Jews.

I’m friends with many Persian Jews in Pico-Robertson. They tend to be louder and more expressive of their emotions than Americans born here. They’ll yell and scream like you and I would carry on a normal conversation.

They tend to have close families and they tend to fight a lot. By contrast with the natives, they tend to be more dramatic and more expressive and more bonded with their families. Persians are more likely to drive up to an apartment and start honking for their friends or family to come out.

I once had a Persian-Jewish therapist. When she asked about my family, I said we were average close for white people. I meant that the white people I knew tended to not have families as tight as the Persian ones I knew.

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Morry’s Fireplace Was Off The Hook Thursday Night For Simchat Torah

Posted by on Oct 22, 2011 in aish hatorah |

So I came out of the Happy Minyan about 9:30 p.m. Thursday and walked east on Pico Blvd. I noticed a huge crowd outside Morry’s Fireplace (operated by Aish HaTorah).

Aish used some sharp thinking to set up this meeting place. Instead of going to clubs, young Jews can hang out at Morry’s and meet each other.

So I think about 300 young Jews, average age of about 25, were milling around outside the place. I pushed my way in. It was jammed. There was a mehitza but it was pointless. The place was packed and the men and women’s sides were equally filled with the opposite sex.

I haven’t seen such a jammed Jewish event on Pico Blvd ever.

What caught my attention was that 95% of the crowd was Persian.

My theory and my experience is that Persians tend to need less personal space than those born in America. Your typical Ashkenazi Jew born and bred in America would look at this event and think, “Way too crowded. I’m out of here.” The typical Persian thinks, “This is crowded. Interesting. Wonder what’s going on?”

I notice most Israelis don’t have the same need for personal space as Americans.

I grew up a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant). I converted to Orthodox Judaism. WASPs tend to need more personal space than Orthodox Jews.

I spent about 15 years in Modern Orthodoxy before switching to Chabad a couple of years ago. I notice that the Modern Orthodox expect much more personal space than do Hasidic Jews.

Persians, Israelis and other Middle Easterners tend to push and shove and to need less personal space than westernized Ashkenazi Jews who in turn push and shove more than WASPs, who are known for their reserve.

Thursday night, many of the Persians were on their cell phones. This crowd was overwhelmingly non-observant, but they had shown up to a Simchat Torah event.

When your typical Western Ashkenazi Jew abandons Jewish observance, he stops showing up to Jewish events, but most Persian Jews in America tend to be traditional. They’ll still show up to Jewish events such as Passover even if they don’t observe Jewish law. They might go to shul Shabbos morning and then drive to soccer practice Saturday afternoon.

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Home Prices Down 25% From 2006 Highs

Posted by on Oct 12, 2011 in Real Estate |

Home prices in Pico-Robertson are down about 25% from 2006 highs. Overall, real estate in this neighborhood has held up pretty well as more people seek to move in.

Rents dipped in the 2008 recession, about 5%, but have overall stayed close to even the past five years. The high-end rents have dropped a tad but the rest are unchanged.

That’s what I’m hearing from people who buy, sell and rent real estate here.

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Vote “Jonny Boyer” for Jewish Community Heroes Award!

Posted by on Oct 5, 2011 in Happy Minyan |

Julie Boyer writes: Jon has been nominated for the Jewish Community Heroes Award!
He’s in it to win it (for our synagogue Happy Minyan) so please go to this link
http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/nominees/profile/jonny-boyer/
and click “vote”. Anyone, anywhere can vote as many times as you
like so please spread this message to all your cyber peeps. Presently,
Jon is listed as “Jonny Boyer” and his photo hasn’t been uploaded yet
but trust me, it’s him!

Voting for Jon is a meaningful way to give back to someone who does
so much for others. Thank you!

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The Dramatic Divide Between East And West Of Robertson Blvd

Posted by on Oct 4, 2011 in Crime |

For many decades, respectable people were loathe to travel east of Robertson Blvd. It was the great divide between respectable and dangerous society. East of Robertson, particularly south of 18th Street, you get gangs and crime and violence. West of Robertson, you have Beverlywood and Century City. The lawns and homes are kept up nicely. There’s much less crime.

You don’t have to worry as much about parking your car overnight west of Robertson. There are fewer break-ins. The streets are safer.

Most of the big shuls, including all of the Modern Orthodox shuls in the hood are west of Robertson.

After living east of Robertson for the past 14 years, I’m now staying west of Robertson and the air is great. It seems cleaner! The homes and yards are nicer. The people are nicer. You don’t find the nasty ghetto west of Robertson.

I was walking Robertson Blvd tonight, coming home from the library. And it felt great to be on the safe side, the nice side, the respectable side of the great divide.

I looked in at the parking lot at YULA today and all the cars but one were nice. They were new and clean and some were luxury cars.

I want to belong to the respectable set. Now I just have to live a respectable life and hold down a respectable job and bingo! I’m there.

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Brooklyn Water Bagels Now Treif?

Posted by on Oct 4, 2011 in Kosher |

The short answer I thought was that the kosher supervisor for Brooklyn Water Bagel is EarthKosher, which is not recognized as a valid kosher supervisor by observant Jews.

I was wrong. Keep reading.

There’s an Italian pizza place on Pico Blvd (is it Brooklyn Pizza – across from Young Israel of Century City) that was kosher for a while. It was supervised by the RCC. The owner felt like the RCC was shaking him down for money and went treif (stopped his kosher supervision and stopped trying to abide by the dietary laws of Judaism).

Noah’s Bagels was kosher under Rabbi Bukspan then the RCC shoved him out of the way and took over the kosher certification, claiming they’d bring in more customers. That did not work out. Noah’s Bagels tired of dealing with the RCC and decided it would be easier to skip kosher certification.

From the YICC.com mailing list:

Dear Members,
Rabbi Muskin requested that the following two items be brought to your attention:
1 – The Brooklyn Water Bagels restaurant on Beverly Drive is no longer kosher. The
restaurant is now completely treif and no food should be purchased from this store.
2 – There is a new popular shoe called TOMS. The non-vegan style has a leather inner
sole and may not be worn on Yom Kippur.

Sam* emails: Dear Mr. Ford,

Since you seem to have a good ear for rumors in the Pico-Rob area, I was wondering if you heard anything about what really went on with Brooklyn Water Bagel becoming kosher and then quickly becoming not kosher again. It seems they got kashered, put out press releases, made a menu (you can still find it on google), and opened for business as a kosher place on Erev Rosh Hashana. Next thing you know, Rosh Hashana is over and they went back to being not-kosher. Is it possible they expected to have Orthodox Jews come in on Rosh Hashana and then panicked without realizing why no one was coming in? The whole thing makes no sense to me.

…1) EarthKosher is listed on Rabbi Eidlitz’s website as a recommended Kashrus certification (http://www.kosherquest.org/symbols.php Its listed under the New Jersey certifications), so I think that most observant Jews would abide by it (although being minor and on the East Coast they may not have head of it offhand). If observant Jews didn’t abide by it, Rabbi Muskin would not need to say that it is “no longer kosher.”
2) I am friendly with the owner of Brooklyn Pizza (Real Valera). He told me that the reason that he was no longer kosher certified (or under the RCC) is that the Mashgiach they appointed for him was stealing from him and that the RCC refused to replace him with someone else. I think that he even caught him on camera.
3) I think its unfair to blame the RCC for Noah’s Bagels on Pico not being kosher anymore. Noah’s bagels at one point had dozens of kosher locations, most of which were not under the RCC. They all lost their certification over time (except one place in Seattle) as a business decision by the company who bought the chain from the original Noah. Most of them were not under RCC. The company ended up in bankruptcy and closed a bunch of locations. Im fairly certain that the Pico location was one of those locations that had closed because of financial troubles. I dont remember if it was still under certification when it closed.

HERE IS A REPORT FROM SEPT. 28, 2011:

“By making the Beverly Hills location an all-dairy-kosher restaurant, we’re simply responding to the local community, most of which already loves our food. Now we’re expanding our reach so those who follow kosher principles can enjoy a Brooklyn water bagel,” says Steven M. Fassberg, president and chief executive officer of The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. “We will still have the best bagels in the Los Angeles area; they just happen to be kosher.”

The restaurant will be adding more smoked fish options to its menu, including smoked salmon and white fish flown in from Brooklyn. A new salad bar will allow guests to make their own salad, choosing their favorite fresh, locally grown, organic vegetables, cheeses, and dressings. The menu will also include new soups such as lentil, mushroom barley, and split pea.

“We’re not only offering delicious meal options for guests who are kosher, but a wonderful alternative for the large vegetarian community in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles,” says Chef Allen. “Going kosher makes The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. a natural choice for vegetarians groups and the many Jewish organizations in the area when they’re catering their next event.”

The restaurant meets the strictest standards of and is kosher certified by EarthKosher, which provides kosher certification to businesses around the world.

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