Synagogue Congregation Grieves in New Home After L.A. Fires

Rabbi Gold Jill Wright looked out at her congregation Friday night and uttered a simple statement, with a significant pause.“I noticed that you are … here.”That was because under the bright lights in the theater of the Mayfield Senior School, a Catholic school in Pasadena, members of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center had gathered for the first time in a borrowed space.For the congregation, which lost its campus and home of over 80 years to the Eaton fire, it’s just the beginning of a period of borrowing and wandering.The prayer books and prayer shawls and yarmulkes were all loaners from nearby synagogues.

One thing wasn’t: a Torah rescued from their burning building.At least a dozen families in the congregation lost their homes in the Eaton fire.But on Friday night, Rabbi Gold Wright and Cantor Ruth Berman Harris led a celebration of the community that was still there.

And for nearly 45 minutes, song washed over the exhausted and anxious families and friends who came together first for a potluck dinner, and then for familiar music and fellowship.“Let’s borrow the melody from the Saturday version of this one,” Cantor Berman Harris said.It was the more upbeat version of Mi Chamocha, a prayer praising God for deliverance.

“It’s the right one for tonight.”Finally, when the rabbi began the Jewish prayer for the vulnerable, the Hashkiveinu, the mood turned.She faced her congregation, crying.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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