Stephen Wise Temple

{{Short description|Synagogue in Los Angeles, California, USA}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{For|Stephen Wise's synagogue in New York|Stephen Wise Free Synagogue}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Stephen Wise Temple | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = The synagogue building, in | religious_affiliation = Reform Judaism | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = | festival =  | organisational_status = Synagogue | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = {{nowrap|Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback}} | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive, Bel Air, Los Angeles, California | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = USA Los Angeles Metropolitan Area | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in Los Angeles, California | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coords|34.128247|-118.469413|region:US-CA_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = | architecture_type = Synagogue architecture | architecture_style = | founded_by = Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = {{nowrap|1964 {{small|(as a congregation)}}}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 1965 | construction_cost = | date_demolished =  | facade_direction = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | interior_area = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | site_area = {{convert|18|acre|ha}} | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = {{url|wisela.org}}{{dead-link|date=January 2024}} | module =  | footnotes = }} '''Stephen Wise Temple''' is a large Reform Jewish congregation in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the United States. Founded in 1964 by Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin, with 35 families, the congregation grew rapidly. At various times in its history it has been stated to be the largest,<ref name="Clash"/><ref name="Q&A"/> or one of the largest,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/682832082.html?dids=682832082:682832082&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+09%2C+1980&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Largest+Reform+Temple&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604223814/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/682832082.html?dids=682832082:682832082&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+09,+1980&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Largest+Reform+Temple&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |title=Largest Reform Temple |work=Los Angeles Times |date=October 9, 1980 |url-access=subscription |access-date= }}</ref><ref name="LAT25th">{{cite web |author=Dart, John |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-22-me-2015-story.html |title=Stephen S. Wise Temple: Still Growing at Age 25: 2,800 Families Make Hilltop Synagogue in Bel-Air the Second Largest in U.S. |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 22, 1989 |access-date= }}</ref><ref name="Name">{{cite web |author=Dart, John |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-09-09-me-43850-story.html |title=What's in a Name? Philanthropy: Wise Community School is now Milken High, thanks to a $5-million gift from a family that includes a famous felon. |work=Los Angeles Times |date=September 9, 1995 |access-date= }}</ref><ref name="website"/> Jewish congregations in the world, at one time having a membership of approximately 3,000 families, six rabbis, two cantors and two cantorial interns, and four schools on three campuses.<ref name="website">{{cite web |url=http://www.wisela.org/temple/home.aspx |title=Home page |work=Stephen S. Wise Temple |date= |access-date= }}{{self-published-inline|date=January 2024 }}</ref> {{As of|1994}}, it was the second-largest synagogue in the United States.<ref name="HS1994">{{cite web |author=Dart, John |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-06-we-59179-story.html |title=Education: Reform Jewish High School Moving to Hills |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 6, 1994 |access-date= }}</ref> The congregation was founded as the Stephen S. Wise Temple, in honor of Stephen Samuel Wise; and 2014 it was renamed as the Stephen Wise Temple.

==History==

Zeldin was raised in New York City, the son of an Orthodox rabbi.<ref name="LAT25th"/> Ordained at the Reform movement's Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 1946, he went to Los Angeles in 1953 as western regional director for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) and as dean of the College of Jewish Studies in Los Angeles, a UAHC program that was absorbed into Hebrew Union College in 1954. In 1958 he became rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills.<ref name="LAT25th"/><ref name="HUCbio">{{cite web |url=http://huc.edu/libraries/exhibits/cahistoryexhibit/dean1zeldin.htm |title=Isaiah Zeldin, 1st Dean |publisher=Hebrew Union College |access-date=March 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005145351/http://huc.edu/libraries/exhibits/cahistoryexhibit/dean1zeldin.htm |archive-date=October 5, 2011 |date= }}</ref><ref name="Golden">{{cite book |author=Dash Moore, Deborah |author-link=Deborah Dash Moore |title=To the Golden Cities: Pursuing the American Jewish Dream in Miami and L.A. |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-02-922111-2 |page=270 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXDxxDz1fykC&q=Zeldin |via=Google Books (excerpts) |access-date= }}</ref>

In 1964 Zeldin and 35 families broke away from Temple Emanuel to establish a new synagogue in Westwood. The new congregation was named for the influential Reform rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise, under whom Zeldin had studied. The new congregation faced immediate controversy as the UAHC felt that some of its members had failed to honor existing commitments to Temple Emanuel, and the UAHC did not accept it for membership for the first five years of its existence.<ref name="Olitzky"/> The new congregation was intended to have a membership limited in size to maintain intimacy between the rabbi and the member families, and it met at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Westwood. A year later, the congregation acquired a site for a permanent home; the size limit policy was changed in 1969; and in 1970, Stephen Wise Temple absorbed the existing Westwood Temple, whose membership had been declining, in part due to disruption from the construction of the San Diego Freeway.<ref name="Olitzky">{{cite book |author1=Olitzky, Kerry M. |author1-link=Kerry M. Olitzky |author2=Raphael, Marc Lee |title=The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-313-28856-2 |pages=48–49 |access-date= }}</ref>

The temple's location, on a {{convert|18|acre|ha|adj=on}} site in Bel Air, near Mulholland Drive and Sepulveda Boulevard, contributed to its continuing growth and success. The location, in the Santa Monica Mountains between the Westside and the San Fernando Valley, meant that the temple attracted members from the growing Jewish population on both sides of the mountains. In order to develop the property, the temple was required to remove {{convert|50|ft|m}} of the existing mountain; the resulting dirt was then used to level the adjoining property, which was acquired for the new campus of the University of Judaism, then located on Sunset Boulevard.<ref name="Q&A">{{cite web |author=Finnigan, David |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/community_briefs/article/q_and_a_with_rabbi_isaiah_zeldin_20040213/ |title=Q & A With Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin |work=Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles |date=February 12, 2004 |access-date= }}</ref> The wild area around the Sepulveda Pass eventually developed into an "institutional corridor" with a number of schools and cultural facilities, including the temple's expanding educational ventures,<ref>{{cite web |author=Markman, Jon D. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-21-me-4455-story.html |title=Culture Shock Many Object to the Growing Sprawl of Institutions Atop Sepulveda Pass |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 21, 1995 |access-date= }}</ref> which came to include Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School<ref>{{cite web |author=Merl, Jean |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-29-mn-458-story.html |title=Are Private Schools Better? |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 29, 1992 |access-date= }}</ref> and a pre-school (now collectively called Wise School), and Milken Community High School.<ref name="Name"/><ref name="HS1994"/>{{efn|On March 25, 2011, Milken Community High School and Stephen S. Wise Temple announced that the school would become independent from the temple, effective July 1, 2012.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lowenfeld, Jonah |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/community/article/milken_school_stephen_s_wise_temple_severing_ties_20110325/ |title=Milken school, Stephen S. Wise Temple severing ties |work=Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles |date=March 25, 2011 |access-date= }}</ref>}}

The congregation became known for its extensive educational and service programs, parenting center, library, swimming pool, bus service, and other services designed for families at all stages.<ref name="Golden"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Holifield, E. Brooks |chapter=Toward a History of American Congregations |editor1=Wind, James P. |editor2=Lewis, James Welborn |title=American Congregations: New Perspectives in the Study of Congregations |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-226-90188-6 |pages=44–45 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqTZnZeFJrcC&q=stephen+s.+wise&pg=PA44 |via=Google Books (excerpts) |access-date= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Anderson, Douglas Firth |chapter=Toward an Established Mysticism: Judeo-Christian Traditions in Post-World War II California and Nevada |editor1=Clark Roof, Wade |editor2=Silk, Mark |title=Religion and Public Life in the Pacific region: Fluid Identities |publisher=Rowman Altamira |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7591-0639-0 |page=78 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GHrzY9OPha8C&q=stephen+s.+wise&pg=PA78 |via=Google Books (excerpts) |access-date= }}</ref> Under Zeldin and its education director, Metuka Benjamin, the temple was an influential proponent of the concept of the Jewish day school in the Reform movement<ref>{{cite news |author=Schatz Rosenthal, Sharon |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/la_woman/article/educator_combinestwo_passions_in_life_20030627/ |title=Educator Combines Two Passions in Life |work=Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles |date=June 26, 2003 |access-date= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1=Skinner Keller, Rosemary |editor2=Radford Ruether, Rosemary |editor3=Cantlon, Marie |title=Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America |volume=2 |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-253-34687-2 |page=904 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WPILfbtT5tQC&q=Metuka&pg=PA904 |via=Google Books (excerpts) |access-date= }}</ref> The temple and its cantor, Nathan Lam, also maintained an extensive program of commissioning new musical works.<ref>{{cite web |author=Wager, Greg |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-06-ca-1813-story.html |title=Film Composer Scharf, 78, Looks for New Challenge |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 6, 1989 |access-date= }}</ref>

The religious practice at Stephen S. Wise Temple has been described as more traditional than at many Reform temples, as it uses its own prayer books rather than the official books of the Reform movement.<ref name="LAT25th"/> In 1995 the temple again faced controversy in its relationship with the UAHC: a dispute over dues obligations resulted in its expulsion from the organization for a time.<ref name="Clash">{{cite web |author=Dart, John |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-13-me-188-story.html |title=Rabbi Leads Grand Temple in Clash With Reform Officials |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 13, 1995 |access-date= }}</ref> {{As of|2010}}, the congregational database of the Union for Reform Judaism (as the UAHC is now known) stated that Stephen Wise Temple had 2,886 members, which was more than any other congregation in the database;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://congregations.urj.org/detail.cfm?id=C1172 |title=Congregational Profile of Stephen S. Wise Temple |publisher=Union for Reform Judaism |date=n.d. |access-date=March 21, 2010 }}</ref> {{as of|2012|02|lc=yes}}, the database reported Wise had 2,312 members, still among the largest congregations but smaller than several others.{{efn|As of 2012, the same database reported that Temple Israel (West Bloomfield, Michigan) had 3,383 members, Washington Hebrew Congregation had 2,781, and Temple Emanu-El (Dallas, Texas) had 2,546.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://congregations.urj.org/detail.cfm?id=C1172 |title=Congregational Profile of Stephen S. Wise Temple |publisher=Union for Reform Judaism |date=n.d. |access-date=February 13, 2012 }}</ref>}}

In 1990, Zeldin retired from his duties as Senior Rabbi and was succeeded by Eli Herscher, who remained Senior Rabbi until 2015. At that time, Herscher became Senior Rabbi Emeritus and was succeeded by Yoshi Zweiback. Zeldin died in 2018 at age 97.<ref>{{cite web |author=Tugend, Tom |url=http://jewishjournal.com/culture/lifestyle/obituaries/230173/stephen-wise-temple-founder-rabbi-dies/ |title=Stephen Wise Temple Founder, Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin, dies at 97 |work=The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles |date=January 27, 2018 |access-date= }}</ref> Rabbi Herscher remains on staff.<ref>{{cite web |author=Popper, Nathaniel |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/2801/ |title=Next Generation Of Pulpit Rabbis Shakes Up L.A. |work=The Forward |date=September 23, 2005 |access-date= }}</ref>

In March 2025, Stephen Wise Temple and Schools opened the Aaron Milken Center for Early Childhood Education, a $35 million facility named in honor of Aaron Milken, the deceased son of lead donors Lowell Milken and Sandra Salka Milken. It was built in collaboration of Abramson Architects.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wise Temple unveils Aaron Milken Center |url=https://beverlypress.com/2025/03/wise-temple-unveils-aaron-milken-center/ |website=Beverly Press |date=March 27, 2025 |access-date=March 28, 2025}}</ref>

== Notes == {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{oweb|http://www.wisela.org}}{{dead-link|date=January 2024}} * {{oweb|http://wise-school.org/|Official website of the Wise School}}

{{Bel Air, Los Angeles}} {{Los Angeles County Private Schools}} {{Synagogues in the United States}} {{Authority control}}

Category:1964 establishments in California Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States Category:Jewish organizations established in 1964 Category:Bel Air, Los Angeles Category:Reform synagogues in California Category:Synagogues completed in 1965 Category:Synagogues in Los Angeles