U.S. Jews Welcoming Israeli Emigres

Until recent years, Jewish Israelis living in the United States were not particularly embraced by American-born Jews, and the emigres discouraged attempts to bring them into Jewish community life.

That attitude was linked to American Jews’ support for Israel as the national home of the Jewish people, the perception of Israel as “a country that fellow Jews should go to but never think of leaving,” according to Steven A. Gold of Michigan State University and Bruce A. Phillips of Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.

But after Israel adopted more benevolent policies toward its expatriates in recent years, “the American Jewish community has become more open to these migrants,” Gold and Phillips wrote in the 1996 edition of the American Jewish Yearbook.

The authors estimated that Jewish Israelis in the United States number 173,000 or 193,000, depending on which calculations are used.

The total U.S. Jewish population is estimated at 5.9 million by the American Jewish Committee, about 490,000 of them living in the L.A. area and 75,000 in Orange County.)

Israeli immigrants to the United States generally consider themselves temporary residents for educational or business reasons. But even when they become U.S. citizens, “their central political concern is supporting Israel,” the authors said.

Still, they contribute significantly to American Jewish life in the arts, professions, business and scholarship. “The Israeli film festivals in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and elsewhere are important events for Israelis, American Jews and film buffs of all stripes,” Gold and Phillips said.

“As Jewish fund-raisers discover that Israelis are both affluent and strongly Jewish, the notion of an Israeli division of the local Jewish federation no longer appears to be an oxymoron, as it did a decade ago,” they said.

HINDUISM

A trio of four-story-tall floats will move down the boardwalk from Santa Monica Pier to the Venice Beach Pavilion at 11 a.m. Sunday in the 20th annual Festival of the Chariots staged in the Los Angeles area by the Hare Krishna movement. The Venice festival, which ends at 7 p.m., will also feature 20,000 free vegetarian meals, classic Indian dance performances, puppet shows and cultural exhibits.

The cross-country festival parade schedule continues Aug. 10 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and Sept. 15 at San Diego’s Balboa Park.

This year marks 30 years since the Hindu group began in America and 100 years since the birth of founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who died in 1977.

LUTHERANS

Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks will hold concurrent conferences Thursday through Aug. 10, one for parish ministers in continuing education and another for young people considering the ministry.

Speaking to the clergy’s continuing education conference will be Jerry Schmalenberger, president of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley; Bishop Paul Egertson of Los Angeles; religion professor A. Joseph Everson of Cal Lutheran and the Rev. John Huber, director of the Lutheran Assn. for Continuing Education Services.

Schmalenberger will also address the fourth annual student conference, which will explore the duties of pastors, missionaries, music ministers and youth ministers. The charge is $95 for each conference. (805) 493-3936.

CONGREGATIONS

Wilshire Christian Church, one of the boulevard’s church-architecture gems, is literally “on the map” since the Metro Rail’s Red Line subway station opened in mid-July across from the church at Wilshire and Normandie. An official map lists noted sights along the expanded route, including the church, which is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Like many churches today, Wilshire Christian accommodates more than one congregation. This Sunday at 10:45 a.m., the English-, Spanish- and Korean-speaking congregations will hold one of the church’s periodic joint services. The Rev. Martin Garcia, pastor of Iglesia Cristiana de Wilshire, will lead the service this time. (213) 382-6337.

DATES

Ecumenical and interfaith leaders in San Diego will hold a prayer rally in Balboa Park on Aug. 11, the day before the start of the Republican National Convention in that city. The rally was organized by a foundation linked to the Interfaith Alliance Inc., a national group designed to offer alternative views of religion in public life to those of the conservative Christian Coalition, a powerful influence within Republican ranks. The 2 p.m. rally will include the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches. (619) 544-7030.

* Christian comedians Brad Stein, Adam Christing and Robert G. Lee will perform during the Christian Community Expo today and Sunday at the Pasadena Convention Center. The exhibition was organized by evangelical-owned enterprises. Admission for adults is $5. (818) 358-3988.

* Dave Berg, a writer for the satirical Mad Magazine, will be the guest speaker at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the men’s club meeting of B’nai Tikvah Congregation, 5820 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles. (310) 645-6262.

* Clarification: The Festival of Tibet, which will be held at the Pasadena City Hall Rotunda from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, is co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Friends of Tibet, a 5-year-old educational and cultural organization, and not by the Office of Tibet, the official representative of the Tibetan-government-in-exile.

FINALLY

An unusual lineup for a panel discussion, organized by the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council, next week will bring together a Wiccan priestess, a shaman, a synagogue rabbi and a deacon from a conservative evangelical church.

Discussing “spiritual healing in the new age” will be Marsha Smith-Shaw of Canoga Park, a priestess in the Wicca tradition; Amanda Foulger of Topanga Canyon, a practicing shaman; Reform Rabbi Harry Essrig, recently of West Hills’ Temple Solael, and David Diez, a deacon at Grace Community Church, a mega-church in Sun Valley.

The Rev. Jeff Utter, a council vice president, will moderate the panelists’ discussion and questions from the audience. The free event will be Thursday in his church, the Congregational Church of Chatsworth, 20440 Lassen Ave., starting at 7 p.m. (818) 718-6460.

Notices may be mailed to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or faxed to Religion Desk (818) 772-3385. Items should arrive about three weeks before the event, except for spot news, and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time.

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PEOPLE

Fred Goldman, the father of Ronald L. Goldman, who was slain in 1994 along with Nicole Brown Simpson, will receive the “Man of Courage” Award on Thursday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at Bnai Zion Foundation’s western region awards dinner. Goldman personifies the “pain and injustice felt by an entire nation,” a spokesman for the Zionist humanitarian group said. Bnai Zion supports a hospital, a library building project and two homes for retarded children in Israel. Bnai Zion is establishing the Ron Goldman Memorial Independent Living Program for disabled children in Jerusalem.

Also receiving awards will be Faye and Jonathan Kellerman, both popular mystery novelists, and Homa Sarshar, an Iranian-born Jewish journalist and playwright. Dinner tickets are $150. (213) 655-9128.

* Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, a world-traveling spiritual teacher from Bangalore, India, will hold “Healing Breath Workshops” next week at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The workshops are organized by his Art of Living Foundation, whose U.S. base is in Santa Barbara. Instruction will include techniques of breathing to eliminate stress and teachings on meditation. Donations of $10 a night are suggested for the sessions, which will run from Monday through Aug. 11. (310) 820-9429.

Known affectionately as “Punditji” and not to be confused with the noted sitar musician of the same name, Shankar will join an interfaith program at 7:30 p.m. today at the Agape Center of Religious Science, 3211 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, and will speak at 3 p.m. Sunday in an outdoor program at Unity Church of Tustin, 14402 Prospect. Ave. (714) 730-3444.