Dedication Weekend at Congregation Kol Ami
Thirty-five people gathered in a living room to explore an idea that was to become Congregation Kol Ami, West Hollywood (California)’s only Reform synagogue. The congregation’s first Shabbat service also took place in a living room, though worship services were soon moved to the sanctuary of West Hollywood Presbyterian Church. WHPC has been a welcoming and supportive host for ten years, but finally the members of Kol Ami are wandering Jews no longer.
On October 29, 2000, ground was broken in the rain at the corner of Lexington and La Brea. Precisely one year later, over the weekend of October 26-28, 2001, Congregation Kol Ami dedicated its completed synagogue building under clear and sunny skies.
The festivities began with a Friday night worship service attended by approximately 350 people. On Saturday morning, a smaller but no less enthusiastic, group gathered again for the congregation’s first Shabbat morning and Torah service in its new sanctuary. Without a doubt, the highlight of the weekend’s festivities was the Sunday afternoon Torah march and dedication ceremony.
Members and non-members, Jews and non-Jews, gathered at the corner of Fountain and La Brea, and were inspired by the invocations of Rabbi Allen Freehling of University Synagogue and the Reverend Dan Smith of West Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Then, accompanied by the spirited sounds of live klezmer music and joyful cheers, Kol Ami’s three Torah scrolls were carried under the chupah to their new home and placed in the ark.
Speeches were made by such luminaries as California state Senator Sheila J. Kuehl, Assemblymember Paul Koretz, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman, Kol Ami’s Rabbi Denise L. Eger, and Kol Ami’s president Loren Ostrow. Mezuzot were placed on the doorposts, and copious, delicious refreshments were had by all.
Now that the congregation has a permanent home, it will be able to focus even more strongly on offering to the community the services that are at the core of Jewish life. With a full schedule of worship services and Jewish studies, adult and children’s educational programming, social action projects, social events, life cycle events, and holiday celebrations, Kol Ami is proud to be a house of worship and study, and a place for the gathering of a community. The congregation is known for its origins in the gay and lesbian community and continues to reach out to gay and lesbian Jews, their partners, families, and friends as well as to Jews and non-Jews who wish to explore Judaism and their own Jewish spirituality. Congregation Kol Ami invites you to come on down and see what’s in it for you.
Dr. Jane Drucker