You've heard about the "former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was arrested over the weekend on more than 40 counts of child sexual abuse."

What if we had a Jerry Sandusky-type in LA's Orthodox community? Could we have a powerful man who's able to isolate underage teen boys, invite them over for Shabbos, ply them with alcohol, molest them, and then have the rabbis orchestrate a cover-up for the good of the community?

That's the exact story I heard about in 2008 but the boy in question was told not to talk to me. The rabbis covered things up. The family of the boy did not go to the secular authorities. They did not press criminal charges or file a civil lawsuit or even go to a Beit Din (Jewish law court). The powerful man was protected.

In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky story, I tried again this week to get the boy to talk to me but found out he had committed suicide.

My new Alexander website.

My new Alexander website.

I kick it with Joey Kurtzman.

My new Alexander website.

The main minyan, the upstairs minyan, at Beth Jacob is fading fast.

This survey is an attempt to better meet the needs of the members.

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.

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.

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.

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.