With a building made of imported Jerusalem stone from the quarries of Israel, xeriscape hedging the campus, University Synagogue is a modern temple of intention for the Jewish faith.
Form follows function inside and outside the University Synagogue edifice, as a 26-year dream of renovation was completed in 2009 to provide universal access from wheelchairs to strollers.
“That message of accessibility and openness and welcome was very important to us,” said Rabbi Morley T. Feinstein.
As the only full-service Jewish congregation in Brentwood, University Synagogue has cultivated a close-knit community-based program since 1943 when its founding five families broke away from a traditional synagogue in Santa Monica to create the Reform temple.
Today, it’s not too big, not too small, but just right.
With a guiding principle of interfaith hospitality and a commitment to social justice in Los Angeles, the people behind the scenes at University Synagogue work with their congregants everyday to create an atmosphere of warmth and inclusion.
“One of the highlights of Reform Judaism is its open door welcome policy,” Feinstein said.
Everyone can find a spiritual home at University synagogue, from single Jewish people to married Jewish people to Jewish people married to a non-Jewish person.
“It’s not a question of how ‘religious’ you are, because every one of life’s issues, everything that confronts us, we have to somehow figure out how to comprehend them.
“Judaism offers a framework for understanding our lives irrespective of how religiously driven someone is,” Rabbi Feinstein said.
With that and its social justice outreach, University Synagogue regularly works with the libraries, schools, fire and police departments and other outlets in the community to breach the actual security wall between them and the rest of the world.
Feinstein said that within the congregation, there is a main core of active leaders, active volunteers and active supporters who hold a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to support the synagogue and sustain it for the next generation, whether they are active “synagoers” or not.
Feinstein would know of this type of fidelity; he’s had a lifetime of involvement in Los Angeles and the wider community of rabbis.
“One of the things that fulfills me is getting involved with other colleagues. There’s no one who understands what I do best than another rabbi,” he said.
A native Angeleno who was active at Temple Emanuel and graduated from Beverly Hills High, Feinstein went to University of California, Berkeley to study pre-med but soon realized his heart was in the clergy. He was ordained in Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati and served as senior rabbi of Temple Beth-El in South Bend, Indiana for 15 years.
Beginning his tenure as rabbi at University Synagogue in 2002, he now sits on the board of the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders, serves as President of the Southern California Board of Rabbis and involves himself in a number of interfaith pursuits, from being the only Jewish person to speak at the University of Notre Dame’s 150th anniversary to participating in the observance of the Armenian Genocide.
“Every one of those experiences allows me to bring the message of Judaism to the wider community,” Feinstein said.
To Feinstein, being a rabbi is the last outlet for a modern-day Renaissance Man; he teaches, he sings, he works with the youth and adults, he counsels, he does social work, he does interfaith work.
He works closely with the rest of the clergy, comprising Rabbi Joel Simonds and Cantor Kerith Spencer-Shapiro. The full team, including other emeriti clergy, interacts with congregants everyday and participates in various life cycle functions and rites of passage. Community activities for young families, empty nesters and seniors shape lifelong pastime and hobbies.
There’s also a pre-school, Religious School and confirmation program on site for children and teens.
You don’t have to be religious or even indoctrinated to be at University Synagogue.
Whether seeking services for the High Holy Days or guidance during stress or suffering (they have a social worker, career development specialist and lawyer available for free assistance), they strive to connect with every congregant or community member.
“We have to have a number of tools in the toolbox to be able to connect with our people,” Feinstein said.
University Synagogue is located at 11960 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information, visit unisyn.org.
