The Breed Street Shul Project Needs Your Help! A New Life for the Breed Street Shul

The Breed Street Shul Project is an all-volunteer organization. We deeply appreciate the outpouring of support, both in the Boyle Heights neighborhood and throughout , and look forward to working with volunteers in the future. We still need your help in both contributions and labor as we enter the project’s second phase. An additional $3 million will enable us to complete our work and revitalize this historic treasure in the heart of Boyle Heights.

To learn how to volunteer or contribute to the Breed Street Shul Project, please visit our website, www.breedstreetshul.org, or contact us at the address below.

Financial Supporters (as of October 2004): California Community Foundation; California Endowment; California Heritage Fund; Park Bond Act of 2000; Local Assistance Grants Program, California Department of Parks and Recreation; Federal Emergency Management Agency through the California Office of Emergency Services; J. Paul Getty Trust's Save America's Treasures Preservation Planning Fund; Jewish Community Foundation; Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles; Reinhard and Selma Lasser Family Fund; Allan and Nicole Mutchnik; Roth Family Foundation; Estate of Ralph L. Rubin; Bruce and Toni Corwin Foundation; Dorothy Corwin Charitable Directed Fund Breed Street Shul Project, Inc.

Don Schwartz Jewish Historical Society of Southern California Partners: Argus Contracting, Inc.; Autry National Center; Bill Aron Photography; Robert Berger Photography; Board of Rabbis of Southern California; Boyle Heights Neighbors Organization; Brooklyn Bagel Bakery; California Community Foundation; California Preservation Foundation; California Office of Historic The rehabilitation of a unique architectural treasure Preservation; Chattel Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Inc.; City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission; Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles; Clean and Green/California in a neighborhood that launched Conservation Corps; Dolores Mission/Impacto/Proyecto Pastoral; East Los Angeles Community Corporation; generations of immigrant populations Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; David Lawrence Gray Architects, AIA; Jean Farnsworth; Hebrew Union College School of Jewish Communal Service; Home Depot Supply; Japanese American National Museum; Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles; Judson Studios; Kamilar Celebrating the diverse Boyle Heights experience Creative; Krakower & Associates; Paul Lewis Landscape Architect; Living Legacies/Ellie Kahn; Los Angeles Conservancy; Los Angeles Family Housing Corporation/Chernow House; Monrovia Nurseries; National Trust for Historic Preservation/Save America's Treasures; Partners for Sacred Places; Public Counsel; Puente Learning Center; Mark Sauer Construction; S. Schreier & Associates; Don Schwartz Photography; Skadden, A cultural journey linking Los Angeles’ past, present & future Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; Temple Israel of Hollywood; Turner Construction Company; UCLA School of Public Policy; University of Judaism; USC School of Architecture; Valley Beth Shalom; YiddishkaytLA; Marlene Zimmerman, Artist ______“A hundred years from now, children will visit the

Breed Street Shul Project, Inc./ Breed Street Shul…They will take in what they see Jewish Historical Society of and hear, and leave with America’s legacy of rights Southern California and responsibilities, creativity, energy, and generosity

6505 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 370 firmly embedded in their hearts and minds.” Los Angeles, California 90048 First Lady (now U.S. Senator) (323) 761-8950 Hillary Rodham Clinton, 2001 [email protected]

www.breedstreetshul.org 247 North Breed Street, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles 90033 From Eastern Europe to East Los Angeles Survivor of Natural and Human Destruction

Congregation Talmud of Los Angeles (popularly known as the Breed Street Shul) Over its 90-year history, the Shul survived stands as a monument to Jewish families that migrated from Eastern Europe, via New earthquakes, vandalism, neglect, decay, and York with stops elsewhere in the United States along the way, to the East Los Angeles damage from rain, wind, and pigeons. The neighborhoods of Boyle Heights and City Terrace. stained glass windows, a precious and integral This proud neighborhood was once home to the architectural element, sustained a heartbreaking largest concentration of Jews west of . From level of damage by people and nature. the 1920s through the 1950s, the Breed Street Shul was the epicenter of this lively community, where In the first phase of rehabilitation, windows Yiddish-speaking Jews lived side-by-side with were painstakingly restored, hazardous Mexican-, Japanese-, Russian- and African-American materials removed, neighbors in a classic melting pot environment. the ceiling Stores, cafés, and theatres—along with pickle and reconstructed and a herring barrels—lined Brooklyn Avenue (now César new roof installed Chávez Avenue), reflecting the traditions and tastes of Boyle Heights’ Jewish residents. on the main The Shul was the grandest of some 30 that once dotted the area and is the building. The second phase of rehabilitation will address the last remaining building in the area under Jewish auspices today. Shul’s complete seismic retrofit (including the rear building), upgrade or replacement of all existing mechanical, electrical, By the 1960s, much of the Jewish population had migrated to West Los Angeles or to the plumbing, heating and air-conditioning systems, accessibility San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, leaving the Shul behind. The Breed Street Shul improvements, some minor modifications for reuse, and continued to serve its dwindling and aging population for decades. After the last services initial conservation of artwork (including hand-painted folk were conducted in 1996, however, the Shul did not fare well. By the turn-of-the-21st Don Schwartz art murals). century, both natural elements and vandalism had taken their toll, and the Shul rapidly deteriorated. Rehabilitation specialists Mark Sauer Construction, Simon Scheier & Associates, and structural engineer Mark Krakower worked on the Shul’s structure. Judson Studios, a The rehabilitation of this cultural and historic landmark pays tribute to the significant fifth generation family business specializing in stained glass design and restoration, contributions of the Jewish community to the City of Los Angeles. Many Los Angeles undertook restoration of the 47 stained glass windows, with direction from stained glass icons, such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Max Factor Cosmetics, Canter’s deli, and consultant Jean Farnsworth. Gold’s Gym, had their roots in Boyle Heights. A Bridge Between the Jewish and Latino Communities An Architectural Treasure in Boyle Heights A nonprofit subsidiary of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California (JHS), the The Shul’s Orthodox congregation, which dates to 1904, occupied Breed Street Shul Project, Inc. (BSSP) was established in 1999 to implement this project. two buildings on Breed Street just south of César Chávez Avenue. A BSSP galvanized the City’s Jewish and Latino communities to share in the rehabilitation wood-framed school/ was built in 1915, and the main process and to jointly plan for a multipurpose facility that will meet the needs of Boyle synagogue, facing Breed Street, was completed in 1923. The property Heights’ largely Latino population, while honoring its Jewish heritage. In this effort, is a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and is listed in BSSP has partnered with the National Register of Historic Places. the Boyle Heights Neighbors Organization, Architect Abram M. Edelman, son of Los Angeles’ first rabbi, Self Help Graphics, and designed the Shul in the Byzantine Revival style. Round arches, East LA Community elaborate columns, bas-relief Corporation, among other decorative work, and dichromatic brickwork groups. “Boyle Heights evoked an old-world, Central and Eastern Project: The Power of European look for its immigrant congregation. Place,” an exhibition Edelman also designed the Wilshire Boulevard celebrating the rich Temple, another important Byzantine Revival multiethnic history of the synagogue, and assisted in design of the Shrine neighborhood, will be Auditorium, both listed in the National Register. featured at the Shul soon. The Power of Place