SIMI VALLEY : Revitalized Jewish Community Sought

Starting with a telephone survey last week, Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks and the Jewish Community Center Assn. of Greater Los Angeles joined forces to try to revitalize the Jewish community in Simi Valley.

After 30 years of operation, Nir Tamid, a Conservative temple in Simi Valley, dissolved last summer because its membership had fallen to about 60. Some members joined Temple Etz Chaim, also Conservative, and others joined B’nai Emet, a small fledgling Reform temple in Simi Valley.

“It left a void in the community, and that’s a very sad thing,” said Cheri Dekofsky, a spokeswoman for Temple Etz Chaim. Aside from B’nai Emit, the only Jewish outpost in Simi Valley is a preschool, Bet Shalom, that the Thousand Oaks temple took over when Nir Tamid folded.

Dekofsky said about 350 people in Simi Valley have been identified as Jews through preschool enrollment and other sources. The survey will determine whether additional services, such as Jewish education and recreational classes, would be used by those families.

Sylvia Fox of the Jewish Community Center Assn. said there are many services not being provided by the preschool or the small temple in Simi Valley. Yet space is available at the preschool for classes and other activities.

“We hope it will enhance synagogue membership as well,” said Fox, whose group provides such services as summer camp for children, a food kitchen, a festival, children’s programs, housing assistance, parenting classes and a singles group.

Fox said the survey results, which will determine which services may be provided, won’t be known for 90 days.