Light Up The Night 7:00 pm
Come to a grand menirah lighting celebration with Chabad & Wells Fargo Bank

there will be Music Rides, face Painting, Food for Purchase, A Juggler & Tight Rope Walker Show, Gift for Every Child
Event Location: 8901 West Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035

I was walking down La Cienega Blvd a couple of weeks ago and I noticed a bunch of candles on the sidewalk, apparently a memorial.

Why would somebody die at La Cienega and Alcott, I thought?

Further on, I noticed another memorial.

Strange, I thought.

Now I realize what happened.

I now hear the police killed one suspect. He told his girlfriend he would not be taken alive and he wasn't.

I notice this Smoke N Shop tends to attract a bad crowd. So do marijuana dispensaries. Not good for the Jews.

More.

Dennis Romero reports:

Looks like bad guys robbed the wrong place in more ways than one.
Not only did they hit a Pico-Robertson smoke shop next to a marijuana dispensary (?), but the shop owner defended his business with a a gun.

One suspect was killed and another was wounded before an apparent retreat.

It all happened over the weekend only a few blocks south of Beverly Hills:

The shooting was reported at 9 p.m. yesterday at the Smoke 'N' Gifts shop on South La Cienega Boulevard and Alcott Street, according to authorities and reports.

The owner drew a gun after as many as a half dozen suspects stormed the place, according to witnesses and police.

One suspect was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center where he succumbed to is wounds, authorities said. Another was shot in the head and said to be in critical condition.

REPORT: The second suspect wanted for attempting to rob a smoke shop on La Cienega Boulevard on Nov. 20 was shot and killed by police last week after he took hostages and confronted an LAPD SWAT team in South Los Angeles.
The suspect, Lee Jefferson, 22, was killed in the shootout, which occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 23, according to Det. Herman Frettlohr, with the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Bureau Homicide Unit. Jefferson was being sought in connection with a robbery that occurred at the One Stop Smoke N Gifts, located at 1435 S. La Cienega Blvd., where the owner shot and killed one of the robbers, and a customer was also shot in the head. Initial reports stated that the owner had also shot the customer, but Frettlohr said Monday that authorities had not determined exactly what occurred.
“We don’t know who shot who,” Frettlohr added in regards to the unidentified 21-year-old customer. “He is going to survive.”
Frettlohr confirmed the owner had shot and killed one of the suspects, Dornice Washington, 23, of Los Angeles, at the scene. The second suspect, now identified as Jefferson, reportedly also fired his gun before fleeing the store. Frettlohr said Jefferson was a gang member.

This happened on the outskirts of Pico-Robertson, just south of Beverly Hills.

CBS reports: LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A 60-year-old man who threatened to kill himself in an upscale Westside apartment complex was taken into custody following a hours-long standoff with police on Tuesday.

The man was apparently despondent over his father’s health and threatened to kill himself inside his West Los Angeles apartment, police said.

The barricade began at 7:01 a.m. at 9500 Alcott Street in a section of Los Angeles just south of Beverly Hills, said LAPD Officer Karen Rayner.

A major factor in deciding where to go to shul is the catering. For instance, many of us love Bnai David-Judea for, among other things, the plentiful cholent (both meat and vegetarian varieties) on offer every Shabbat morning.

For years, Beth Jacob of Beverly Hills had but one caterer. Then a new rabbi came in and he decided that competition would be a good thing. So now the shul has several caterers who rotate and the quality of the food and of the service (for the same price) has improved dramatically.

Competition does that every time.

Joe emails: "Your post on caterers has many mistakes. If you want to have an event at Beth Jacob, you must use on of four caterers. The regular weekly kiddush is almost always catered by Edmond of Elegant Event. When there is a simcha or a big kiddush, the baal simcha may use one of the other caterers. A fancy event will be catered by Pats. Brenda also puts on some nice events."

Here's an email from Beth Jacob to its membership:

November 15, 2011

Dear Friends,

Beth Jacob has a long tradition of wonderful chazzanim who have led the davening in the Shapell Sanctuary. We have been particularly privileged over the past 3 years to have one of the rising stars in the Jewish community, Chazzan Nati Baram. Since arriving in Los Angeles from his home in Jerusalem, he has developed a devoted following, not only at Beth Jacob, but in the larger Los Angeles Jewish community
as well. In addition to his responsibilities at Beth Jacob, he has continued to perform as a soloist at concerts in the United States, as well as in Europe and Israel.

Last year Nati informed the Executive Committee of his decision not to seek renewal of his contract at Beth Jacob. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chazzan for his devotion to Beth Jacob Congregation, and for his many contributions to the shul. He will be missed by so many here in the community, and we wish him
hatzlacha raba in his future endeavors. We are convinced that we will be hearing more from him in the coming years.

As we reach the final months of his tenure at Beth Jacob, a Chazzan Search Committee has been formed to begin the difficult search for our next Chazzan. The committee will be co-chaired by Larry Stern and Zalman Harari, and will be comprised of members who represent a cross section of the congregation. We are committed to interviewing
the best possible candidates in the coming months. We would like to have the entire congregation involved in the search process, not only when it comes to the formal probe, but even at an earlier stage. If you have specific suggestions regarding a particular candidate, please feel free to forward them to us.

Sincerely,

Hugo Rose

President

Steven Tabak

Chairman of the Board

Joe* faxes me: This is not the first hazzan (cantor) scandal to hit this community. Ask around about what happened when Bnai David-Judea terminated chazzan Erblich.

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.