This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today.
Rabbi of Pasadena synagogue that burned in Eaton Fire: 'We're no strangers to crisis'
The Eaton Fire destroyed buildings at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center a year ago.
(
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
)
Listen
5:19
Rabbi of Pasadena synagogue that burned in Eaton Fire: 'We're no strangers to crisis'
The Eaton Fire destroyed the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, where over 400 families would gather to worship and which has served as a Jewish community space for over 100 years. On the anniversary of the fire Wednesday, Josh Ratner, the senior rabbi at the temple joined LAist’s AirTalkprogram to speak about the congregation.
The Eaton Fire destroyed the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, where over 400 families would gather to worship and which has served as a Jewish community space for over 100 years.
On the anniversary of the fire Wednesday, Josh Ratner, the senior rabbi at the temple, told LAist’s AirTalk program that the congregation has been gathering at the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena.
“ It has certainly been a unique challenge," he said, "in a sense of us going through a double crisis, a double tragedy of the loss of our building, which has meant so much to so many of our congregants, and the loss of so many congregants’ homes.”
Thirty families of the congregation lost their homes, while another 40 families have had to relocate.
As the fire raged, Cantor Ruth Berman Harris raced to save all 13 sacred Torah scrolls, pieces of parchment with Hebrew text used at services, including Shabbat. The scrolls are now being stored at the Huntington Library in San Marino.
Everything else in the temple was lost in the fire.
In 2019, UCLA acquired temple records, including newsletters, yearbooks, board minutes, membership directories, financial reports, booklets, photographs and video and audio recordings. Community members can access that information, tracing Pasadena’s Jewish history from the 1930s to present day.
Sponsored message
-
The city's housing authority says a pandemic-era housing voucher program could wind down by November, leaving thousands at risk of homelessness. -
The banner, seen on live TV, calls for a probe into the Eaton wildfire. -
If you work in law enforcement or the health care field, new state laws will regulate what you can and can’t do with AI on the job.
Ratner said that since the fire, he has leaned into what led him to becoming a rabbi — “the ability to provide pastoral care and love” as the congregation has grappled with losing their spiritual home.
“ The Jewish tradition and Jewish history is we're no strangers to crisis and to dislocation and to exile," Ratner said. "So there are a lot of themes from the Bible itself and the idea of the Israelites wandering for 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the promised land and living in that sense of dislocation and impermanence.”
From ancient times to the recent past, he went on, temples are destroyed and Jewish people are persecuted and forced to relocate.
”We have overcome so much before as a people. I think that that gives us some firm foundation to know that we can recover from this as well,” he said. “And not just recover, but really our histories of people is one of rebuilding even stronger than before. Each time there's been a crisis, we've been able to reinvent different aspects of Judaism and to evolve.”
A brief history of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center
- The building was built in 1932 and sits on a 91,000-square-foot parcel of land, according to L.A. County records.
- The congregation traces its roots to 19th century Jewish residents of Pasadena. Official incorporation of Temple B’nai Israel of Pasadena by the State of California happened in 1921.
- In the 1940s, the congregation purchased the a Mission revival building that later burned in the Eaton Fire.
- In 1956 the congregation changed its name to the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center.
- Rock singer David Lee Roth had his Bar Mitzvah at the center in the 1970s.
- In the late 1990s and 2010s, the congregation merged with synagogues in Sunland-Tujunga and Arcadia.
- In 2014 it became the first Conservative congregation to employ a transgender rabbi when it hired Becky Silverstein as education director.
Source: PJTC web site and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
Correspondent Adolfo Guzman-Lopez contributed to this report.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
