| March of the Living 2011 |
| On Monday, May 2, 2011 Jewish Life Foundation will broadcast live from Poland for the second year in a row. |
1. Los Angeles Before the Arrival of the Jewish Pioneers: Through 1850
Los Angeles founded in 1781 - Pueblo de Los Angeles
1850 - California becomes a state of the Union
1850 - First City Council elects a Jewish charter member
2. Getting Started - Eight Jewish Bachelors: 1850-1860
Birth of the Jewish Community in Los Angeles
Eight Jewish bachelors establish first charitable organization in Los Angeles - Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1854
First non-profit organization founded by any group in the city
First synagogue services held in City Hall
Marriage records relate origins of Jewish history in pioneer Los Angeles
3. Jews Find Foothold in Business and Politics: 1860-1879
Civil War: The effects of the war and recovery period
First Jewish settlement in downtown Los Angeles
The Hellmans and the birth of banking
First Jewish Chief of Police in 1870
4. First Wave of Immigration - Jews from Eastern Europe: 1880-1899
Two decades of boom and bust
Industrial Revolution brings sweeping changes to Los Angeles
Railroads radically alter travel and living patterns
Jewish Los Angeles pioneers philanthropy and social welfare
B’nai B’rith founded in Los Angeles
Community spreads from downtown to other areas
5. Turn of the Century - Ragtime Greets the New Era: 1900-1916
Americanization of the Jewish community of Los Angeles
Rise of Jewish neighborhoods
Jewish immigrants leave crowded conditions in New York City and other urban areas and migrate to West Coast
Small village becomes a city
1900-1916 - —establishment of the major Jewish organizations existing today,
e.g., Jewish Home, City of Hope, Jewish Federation, Vista Del Mar Orphanage
Beginnings of the Hollywood Studios: silent movies
Earliest Jewish film producers started nickelodeons in New York, took this entertainment form to Los Angeles giving birth to the “moving picture” industry
Ragtime bursts on the scene with Scott Joplin, introduces the boom of the 20’s
Philanthropy fundamental to Jewish history
Boyle Heights and the West Adams area emerge as centers of Jewish life and community in Los Angeles
6. World War I - Rise of Anti-Semitism with the Advent of Communism/Socialism: 1917-1938
Los Angeles Jewry confronts the Great Depression and the rebirth of the community
Jewish entrepreneurs dominate film industry
Los Angeles celebrates the booming 1920’s
Jewish businessmen rise in the Los Angeles community
7. World War II - Jewish Community and the World Stunned by the Holocaust: 1939-1945
* American Jewish soldiers leave home, see the world and return with new ideas and new ideologies
* Jewish communities focus on providing assistance to refugees
8. The Community Undergoes a Transformation: 1946-1952
* In 1947, 30-40,000 survivors arrive in Los Angeles and face challenges from the local Jewish community
* Refugees are shunned for their strange languages and customs
* American Jewish community re-invents itself, learning the lessons of the war and the new world order
* Holocaust ignored on the big screen, including by Jewish entertainment industry leaders
* Post World War I soldiers enter Southern California from Midwest, South, and East Coast, searching for better lifestyle, better climate
9. Building a Los Angeles Jewish Community: 1953-1960
* Advent and growth of Jewish social groups; e.g., B’nai B’rith Men and Women; synagogue brotherhoods and sisterhoods
* Jewish community needs to interact with each other for socialization, confidence, mutual identity, feeling of “belonging”
* Some Jews band together to fight McCarthyism, others hide
* Jewish assimilation into the American culture; many Jews ignore cultural heritage and mores
* Center of Jewish life disperses from Boyle Heights and West Adams area to Beverly-Fairfax area, Beverly Hills and the East San Fernando Valley
10. Jewish Los Angeles in The Modern Era - Years of Enlightenment: 1961-Present
* Era of Jewish pride, discovery and education
* Milestones: Exodus, in book and film formats, depicts the horrors of World War II as it focuses on the uplifting birth of Israel
* Sandy Koufax declines to pitch on Yom Kippur in 1965 World Series
* Six Day War in Israel - June 1967-- Israel transforms the image of the Jewish people from persecuted victims to brave, heroic people
* Expansion of Jewish Education—increase in Jewish day schools and high schools
* Survivors and their descendants become “ambassadors” for the Jewish community
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