Jewish Congregation Plans a New Temple

A small congregation of Orthodox Jews that has spent its 10-year history renting space and gathering in other temples plans to finally build a home of its own.

Congregation Yad Avraham hopes to build a two-story synagogue on Chandler Boulevard on a site previously used as a public swim center, said Marc Stibelman of MS Development, the congregation’s contractor.

“This is a small group of people that has been gathering in different places, renting a storefront, and now they’re in a position where they can build their own place,” he said.

The new synagogue, which is expected to go before the city’s Planning Commission in early January for a conditional-use permit, is planned for a lot across from Beis Midrash Toras HaShem, which had its own synagogue rebuilt this year.

Yad Avraham congregants had also held services in the Toras HaShem facility, formerly the Aish HaTorah Institute, before it was damaged by two firebombs in 1991.

Congregation Yad Avraham joins several others in this Orthodox enclave in the North Hollywood / Valley Village area.

Stibelman said the large number of synagogues in the immediate area is the result of Jewish tradition that requires congregants to walk to Sabbath services and pray together.

The 5,500-square-foot synagogue is designed to hold 65 people for prayer. That is about the size of the Sephardic congregation--descendants of Jews who settled in Spain and Portugal and also hail from Israel and the Mediterranean region, Stibelman said.

If the synagogue’s plans are quickly approved by the city, Stibelman expects to begin construction of the $300,000 facility by late summer.