For three decades beginning in the 1920s,...

For three decades beginning in the 1920s, the East Los Angeles neighborhoods of Boyle Heights and City Terrace boasted the largest Jewish population west of Chicago.

Above the kosher butcher shops, bakeries and delis on Brooklyn Avenue, second-story meeting halls were abuzz with Jewish educational, cultural, charitable and political organizations founded by the new immigrants. The Breed Street Shul and more than 20 other synagogues served the community. A double bill at the local movie house cost a dime.

This era in the life of Los Angeles Jewry will be relived when the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California holds “Boyle Heights Revisited,” an afternoon of reunion and reminiscence on March 1.

Among the scheduled speakers are 96-year-old Yiddish poet Dora Bayrack; physician Pauline Furth, who still practices in the “old neighborhood,” and Sid Levine, father of Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), who remembers when his father ventured all the way to Saugus to capture a wild horse to pull the cart he used in his Boyle Heights cooperage business.

Three social clubs from the old Boyle Heights days that still meet regularly--the Cardinals, Jasons and Wabash Saxons--are sponsoring the day’s events.

But the effort to preserve the colorful history of the immigrant neighborhood goes beyond the afternoon’s activities. With grants from the Jewish Community Foundation and the Ruth and Allen Ziegler Family Foundation, the Jewish Historical Society’s Boyle Heights Project is also compiling oral histories, producing a documentary film and publishing a special issue of the society’s journal, “Legacy.”

The public is invited to attend the reunion, which is the society’s annual meeting, and to share their recollections. People are encouraged to bring photographs and other memorabilia to be copied or donated to the society’s community archive.

The event will be held at 2 p.m. March 1 at Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Admission is $5 for members, $8 for non-members. Reservations should be made by Thursday. For information, phone (213) 653-7740.

CONFERENCE

“E Pluribus Unum: Religious Pluralism and the Common Good” is a two-day conference that will bring Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist leaders together to discuss a wide range of issues, including religious fundamentalism, health care, disarmament, economics, environmentalism and interreligious cooperation.

The conference, to be held Feb. 27-28 at three sites--the Islamic Center of Southern California, Wilshire Boulevard Temple and the School of Theology at Claremont--is sponsored by the Skirball Institute on American Values, the Religious Education Assn. and the School of Theology at Claremont. Lilly Endowment also provided funding for the conference.

According to Mary Elizabeth Moore, professor of theology and religious education at the Claremont school, “Interfaith dialogue is the heart of the conference. We’re a Christian school but we’ve always participated in interreligious dialogue because it expands our horizons, deepens our own faith and increases our participation with people in other faiths for the good of all humanity.”

Dr. Hassan Hathout, outreach director of the Islamic Center, said Islam traditionally has been absent from interreligious discourse in America, with the result that much of the information that reaches the public about Islam is negative. Now, he said, “People are realizing that the three monotheistic religions . . . are closer to one another than we ever thought. I am happy that bridges are being built.”

Former news anchorman Joseph Benti will moderate a panel discussion among civic leaders on Feb. 27 that will be open to the public. The panel will include television producer Norman Lear and Herbert L. Carter, former vice chancellor of California State University and president elect of United Way of Los Angeles County.

The public session is free and will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, 3663 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. For registration and information, call the School of Theology at Claremont, (800) 626-STC-3 or (714) 626-3521.

DONORS HONORED

The Beth-El Home and Foreign Mission, affiliated with the Church of God in Christ, will host an interdenominational tea this afternoon to introduce pastors and church staffs to the shelter and cafeteria for the homeless and indigent it operates in South Los Angeles.

The 5,500-square-foot building, a former health clinic, was recently donated to the Beth-El Home and Foreign Mission by Cigna Health Plans of California.

“We’ve been cleaning up the neighborhood in our own way since 1964,” says Bishop A.D. Bradley Jr., pastor of the Beth-El Home and the shelter’s founder. “Now we can do more. About 15 homeless people live here. We feed two square meals a day to some 60 to 100 people who just walk in. We have rooms full of clothes for whoever needs them.”

Bradley said he receives donations from local meatpackers, produce dealers and soft-drink bottlers, among others.

For information about the tea, which begins at 2:30 p.m., or the shelter at 805 West 57th Street, Los Angeles, call (213) 758-0883 or 294-9303.

DATES

The Most Rev. Manasess Kuria, archbishop of Kenya and bishop of Nairobi, will speak at a service on Monday at 7 p.m. at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 312 S. Oleander Ave., Compton. (213) 774-1831.

First Lutheran Church, Northridge, founded by six San Fernando Valley families in 1917, celebrates its 75th anniversary next Saturday and Sunday with a reunion of the church choir and choir rehearsal, open house, banquet and worship service. For the schedule or further information about the church at 18355 Roscoe Blvd., Northridge, call (818) 885-6861.

The Holman Choir will present its 33rd annual concert of spiritual music next Sunday, at the Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 West Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $10 to $50. Call (213) 731-7285.

The Immaculate Heart Community today honors artists Maggie Martin and Corita Kent with an exhibition of their students’ work, “The Greatest Show of Worth.” A $20 entrance fee includes a Corita reproduction and refreshments. Artworks are also available for purchase. The show will be from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Immaculate Heart High School Auditorium, 5515 Franklin Ave., Hollywood.

A leader of the Arab Druze community in Israel, Zeidan Atashi, will speak at evening services on Friday at Temple Beth Shalom in Long Beach. Atashi, a Muslim, is a former consul of Israel and a former member of Israel’s parliament. He is an advocate of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. Services begin at 8:15 p.m. at 3635 Elm Ave., Long Beach. Admission is free. For more information, phone (310) 426-6413.

Hollywood Temple Beth El will hold an “Honor Thy Children” Sabbath eve on Friday. A kosher buffet dinner will be followed by a musical program. The charge is $9 for adults, $5 for children; reservations must be made by Monday. The synagogue is at 1317 N. Crescent Heights Blvd., Los Angeles. Call (213) 656-3150.

Please address notices to: Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles, Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, 90053. To receive consideration, an item must arrive at least two weeks prior to the event announced.