A $5 million fundraising campaign is underway to renovate the Breed Street Shul, two Boyle Heights synagogues that together once served as the largest house of worship for LA's Jewish community, reports the Los Angeles Times. The synagogue plan--which hopes to not only spruce up the 1923 building (pictured) and a 1915 wood-frame structure, but add tutoring and legal services for the area's residents--is part of a larger Times story on the consuls of Israel, Mexico, and Japan launching an initiative to celebrate the diversity of Boyle Heights that existed in the late 1800s and first half of the 20th-century. Once full of Jewish, Japanese, Russian, and Latino immigrants co-habitating peacefully, the area is now almost entirely of Mexican heritage. "We want to revive this experience of togetherness, because this is a city of immigrants," Jacob Dayan, consul general of Israel in LA, told the Times. They had their first event event last week--a symposium on Boyle Heights' history and a Japanese food sampling. Other plans include a film festival and a family/cultural day. [Image via City of LA, Dept. of Planning]
· Boyle Heights Celebrates Its Ethnic Diversity [LA Times]
· Breed Street Shul [Official Site]
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