Kehillat Israel History
In 1950 a small group of young Jewish people in Pacific Palisades were seeking a community with their fellow Jews and lovingly planted the first seed that would blossom and grow into Kehillat Israel.
Under the spiritual leadership of our Founding Rabbi, Abraham Winokur z”l, KI was first called “The Jewish Community of Pacific Palisades,” then “The Jewish Congregation of Pacific Palisades” (JCPP), then “Kehillath Israel” and finally “Kehillat Israel” in keeping with the modern Hebrew pronunciation.
By the time Kehillat Israel had reached nearly 400 families 10 years ago, we had outgrown our old facility and the community responded by building our new, beautiful synagogue facility which was dedicated on October 26, 1997. Since that time we have more than doubled to over 1,000 diverse households representing all walks of life and a wide variety of Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds.
Through it all we have strived to maintain that same atmosphere of warmth, caring and community that inspired those early members to create the KI we love.
My Path to K.I. - Laura Kuper If you have an interesting path to KI or know someone you think would be a good subject for this new feature, please contact Michelle Morrow at michelle_jeff@roadrunner.com.
Laura Kuper: From Italy, con amore
Laura Kuper didn’t have to watch The Garden of the Finzi-Contini, Vittorio de Sica’s classic 1970 film, to learn about the perils of World War II on Italy’s Jewish families. She lived it. Her grandmother, in fact, was a Fortunata, part of the Finzi family.
