{{Infobox religious building | name = Temple Beth Am | image = Temple Beth Am 2015.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Temple Beth Am, in 2015 | map_type = Los Angeles | map_size = 250 | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[Los Angeles]] | location = Corner of [[Olympic Boulevard (Los Angeles)|Olympic Boulevard]] and [[La Cienega Boulevard]], [[Los Angeles]], California | coordinates = {{Coord|34.05823|-118.37658|type:landmark_region:US-CA|display=inline,title}} | religious_affiliation = [[Conservative Judaism]] | rite = | region = | state = | province = | territory = | prefecture = | sector = | district = | country = United States | cercle = | municipality = | consecration_year = | status = [[Synagogue]] | functional_status = Active | heritage_designation = | leadership = Rabbi Adam Kligfeld | website = {{url|tbala.org}} | architecture = | architect = [[Ralph A. Vaughn]] | architecture_type = Synagogue | architecture_style = [[Modernist architecture|Modernist]] | founded_by = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | facade_direction = | established = 1935 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 1959 {{small|(existing location)}} | construction_cost = | specifications = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | materials = | nrhp = | added = | refnum = | designated = }} '''Temple Beth Am''' (Hebrew: בית עם, “House of the People”; formerly the '''Olympic Jewish Center''') is a [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] [[synagogue]] located on the corner of [[Olympic Boulevard (Los Angeles)|Olympic Boulevard]] and [[La Cienega Boulevard]], just south of [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]], in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], in the United States.<ref name="latimesfairfax">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-11-we-2870-story.html |title=Fairfax: Temple Beth Am Reunion |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 11, 1990 |access-date= }}</ref> Founded in 1935, it moved into a new building designed by one of the earliest African-American architects in Los Angeles, [[Ralph A. Vaughn]], in 1959.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wilson, Dreck Spurlock |title=African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945 |location=New York City |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |page=666 |isbn= }}</ref> The synagogue’s current clergy include Senior Rabbi Adam Kligfeld, Associate Rabbi Rebecca Schatz, and Cantor Rabbi Hillary Chorny.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clergy |url=https://www.tbala.org/welcome/senior-staff-leadership/}}</ref>
==History== Temple Beth Am was founded in 1935 as the Olympic Jewish Center.<ref name="pamela">{{cite book |author=Nadell, Pamela Susan |author-link=Pamela Susan Nadell |title=Conservative Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=1988 |pages=202-203 |isbn= }}</ref> It is the third oldest Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles.<ref name="templebuilding">[http://www.tbala.org/page.cfm?p=1142 Temple Beth Am: Building Our House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206120331/http://www.tbala.org/page.cfm?p=1142 |date=2015-02-06 }}</ref>
[[Jacob Pressman]] served as its rabbi from 1950 to 1985.<ref name="pamela"/><ref name="jewishvirtual">{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0013_0_12766.html |title=Los Angeles |work=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |publisher= |date= |access-date= }}</ref> Under his leadership, the synagogue took its current name, Temple Beth Am in 1957.<ref name="pamela"/>
The congregation has received significant donations from Holocaust survivor [[Sigi Ziering]] and his wife [[Marilyn Ziering|Marilyn]], and the building has been named in their honor.{{cn|date=November 2023}}
In 2012, the [[Sefer Torah]] nearly fell to the ground during a service.<ref name="jewishjournaljuliefax">{{cite news |author=Fax, Julie Gruenbaum |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/article/a_torah_falls_a_shul_bonds |title=A Torah falls, a shul bonds |work=[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]] |date=September 27, 2012 |access-date= }}</ref> As this is seen a traumatic event in the Jewish faith, rabbi Adam Kligfeld requested that members of the congregation share among themselves forty days of fasting to recover.<ref name="jewishjournaljuliefax"/>
==Notable members== * [[George Konheim]], real estate developer<ref name="latimes">{{cite news |author=McLellan, Dennis |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-dec-09-me-13165-story.html |title=George Konheim, 84; Leading Developer, Philanthropist |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |date=December 9, 2001 |access-date= }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|tbala.org}}
{{Synagogues in the United States}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beth Am (Los Angeles, California)}} [[Category:Synagogues in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1935]] [[Category:1935 establishments in California]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1959]] [[Category:Conservative synagogues in California]] [[Category:1959 establishments in California]] [[Category:Modernist architecture in California]] [[Category:Modernist synagogues]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Beverly Hills, California]]