{{Short description|Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles, California, United States}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2015}} {{Infobox religious building | building_name = Valley Beth Shalom | infobox_width = | image = Valley Beth Shalom.JPG | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Valley Beth Shalom synagogue | map_type = Los Angeles | map_size = 250 | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[Los Angeles]] | location = 15739 [[Ventura Boulevard]], [[Encino, Los Angeles|Encino]], [[Los Angeles]], [[California]] | coordinates = {{Coord|34|09|20.19|N|118|28|36.68|W|type:edu_scale:1000_region:US-CA|display=title,inline}} | religious_affiliation = [[Conservative Judaism]] | rite = | region = | state = | province = | territory = | prefecture = | sector = | district = | country = United States of America | cercle = | municipality = | consecration_year = | status = [[Synagogue]] | functional_status = Active | heritage_designation = | leadership = {{ubl|Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz|Rabbi Ed Feinstein|Rabbi Nina Bieber Feinstein|Rabbi Yael Aranoff|Rabbi Avi Kushlan}} | website = {{url|http://www.vbs.org}} | architecture = | architecture_type = | architecture_style = | established = {{circa|1950s}} | founded_by = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | facade_direction = | groundbreaking = | year_completed = {{circa|1980s}} | 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 = }} '''Valley Beth Shalom''' (informally called '''VBS''') is a [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] [[synagogue]] at 15739 [[Ventura Boulevard]] in [[Encino, Los Angeles|Encino]], [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], in the United States.<ref name="conservancyencino">{{cite web |url=https://www.laconservancy.org/collections/cruising-boulevard |title=Cruising the Boulevard |publisher=Los Angeles Conservancy |date= |access-date= |author= }}</ref> With approximately 1,500 member families,<ref>{{cite news |author=Popper, Nathaniel |url=http://forward.com/news/2801/next-generation-of-pulpit-rabbis-shakes-up-la/ |title=Next Generation Of Pulpit Rabbis Shakes Up L.A. |newspaper=[[The Forward]] |date=September 23, 2005 |access-date=April 17, 2007}}</ref> it is one of the largest synagogues in Los Angeles and one of the largest Conservative synagogues in the United States.
''[[Newsweek]]'' included the synagogue on its 2009 list of America's 25 Most Vibrant Congregations, saying, "Valley Beth Shalom continues to be one of America's most relevant and community-minded synagogues."<ref name="25cong">{{cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/americas-25-most-vibrant-congregations-77069 |title=America's 25 Most Vibrant Congregations |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=April 3, 2009 |access-date=April 5, 2009}}</ref>
== History == Valley Beth Shalom was formed in the 1950s through the merger of three small synagogues, and was initially named Valley Beth Sholom (''sic.''), located on [[Sepulveda Boulevard]]. In the 1970s, Rabbi [[Harold M. Schulweis]] became a driving force in the expansion of the congregation and the current synagogue was completed during his tenure in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=https://www.vbs.org/about/our-story |title=Our story: History |work=Valley Beth Shalom |date=2023 |access-date=6 November 2023 }}</ref>
==Overview==
The clergy include Senior Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz, Rabbis Ed Feinstein, Nina Bieber Feinstein, Yael Aranoff, and Avi Kushlan, and Cantor Jacqueline Rafii. Rabbi [[Harold M. Schulweis]], arguably one of the most influential and renowned rabbis of his generation,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/50-influential-rabbis-77133 |title=50 Influential Rabbis |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=April 3, 2009 |access-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> was rabbi for many decades as well, serving in this capacity until his death in 2014.
The synagogue launched the [[Jewish World Watch]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vbs.org/worship/meet-our-clergy/rabbi-harold-schulweis/sermons/globalism-and-judaism |title=Globalism and Judaism |author=Schulweis, Rabbi Harold M. |author-link=Harold M. Schulweis |work=Sermons |publisher=Valley Beth Shalom |date=September 15–16, 2004 |access-date=April 17, 2007 }}</ref> an NGO founded by Schulweis and Janice Kamenir-Reznik, and is a founding member of the [[Havurah]] movement.<ref>{{cite news |author=Fax, Julie G. |url=http://jewishjournal.com/culture/religion/11173/ |title=Courage and Innovation |newspaper=[[Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]] |date=March 31, 2005 |access-date=April 17, 2007}}</ref>
On [[Yom Ha'atzmaut]] 2003 (6 May), a [[Molotov cocktail]] was thrown through one of the synagogue's stained-glass windows. Mayor James K. Hahn said, "These are acts of terrorism, they're acts of hatred, and they tear at the very fabric of our community."<ref>{{cite news |title=4 California Fires Are Called Hate Crimes |date=May 8, 2003 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/us/4-california-fires-are-called-hate-crimes.html |access-date= }}</ref>
==Gallery == <gallery> Shavuot synagogue2.jpg|The [[Bema#Judaism|bimah]] of the main sanctuary before [[Shavuot]] 2008 </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.vbs.org}} *[http://www.vbsds.org VBS Harold M. Schulweis Day School] *[http://www.vbs.org/education/hebsch1.htm Etz Chaim Hebrew School] *[http://www.vbs.org/usy/usyis.htm Valley Beth Shalom USY] *[http://www.schulweisinstitute.org/ Schulweis Institute] *[http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/ Jewish World Watch]
{{Synagogues in the United States}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:21st-century attacks on Jewish institutions in the United States]] [[Category:Antisemitic attacks and incidents in California]] [[Category:Conservative Jewish day schools]] [[Category:Conservative synagogues in California]] [[Category:Encino, Los Angeles]] [[Category:Jewish day schools in California]] [[Category:Synagogues in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in the 1950s]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in the 1980s]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:1950s establishments in California]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in the San Fernando Valley]] [[Category:Synagogues in California]]