Upcoming events

Taste of IKAR is a curated event series designed to give our community a tangible “taste” of the kind of vibrant, creative, and soul-nourishing programming we will be able to offer in the new IKAR Center. Each gathering brings to life a different dimension of what’s to come—food, music, learning, art, and meaningful connection—offering an experiential glimpse into a future filled with dynamic Jewish life.

Join Morah Beth, Jacob Schatz (aka “Rabbi Dinosaur”), and Jacob’s parents Cantor Dale and Morah Tracy, for a special Bite Size Kabbalat Shabbat. Come in your PJs! We will picnic! We will sing and dance! We will play, and craft, and welcome Shabbat together! For families of kids age 0-5 years old (and siblings!).

Wind down and get ready for Shabbat. We are diverse: still working and retired; single, divorced, widowed, and in a relationship; have children, grandchildren, pets, plants, or none of the above; Angelinos and transplants. What we have in common is ikar, a multitude of experiences, and a desire to spend some of our time enjoying events and experiences with those in our age group (60+).

Every Saturday morning at 9am, join Dev Brous and/or Dr. Barry Goldstein for a meditation session on the Shalhevet rooftop. And find your way to sip some homemade herbal tea blends, FromSoil2Soul, near the coffee station in the kitchen.

We welcome everyone to our Shabbat morning services at 9:30am PT, no matter their level of observance, experience, or familiarity with Hebrew. Daven with us in person at Shalhevet, or join us virtually on YouTube or Zoom. Childcare is available during Services for kids ages 2-5. Stay afterward for our kosher, vegetarian community lunch! This week, Sen. Raphael Warnock joins Rabbi Brous in conversation about his new book, The Crooked Places Made Straight – Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America, which “examines six crises at the center of American life: voting rights and voter suppression, gun violence, mass incarceration, the persistence of poverty, dark money in politics, and the climate emergency.” Upcoming B’nai Mitzvahs: 6/27/2026 Milo Reid Greenberg-Creel 7/25/2026 Michael Goldstone 8/1/2026 Jonah Pulde 8/15/2026 Jonah YoonWoo Kend 8/22/2026 Noa Ellis Goldstein 8/29/2026 Archer Mekor Sroka 10/10/2026 Myla Vener 10/17/2026 Ayla Morchower 10/24/2026 Samuel Ethan & Joshua Gabriel Goldstein 11/7/2026 Lucille (Luci) Halpern-Fingerhut 11/14/2026 Henry Posalski 11/21/2026 Bo Mandell 11/28/2026 Ezekiel Mataan Brous-Weber 12/5/2026 Samuel Rafael Marquit 12/19/2026 Finch Rhodes

For families of all types and stripes with kids ages 0-5 (kids – don’t forget to bring your grown-up!) Whether you’re a rookie or a ringer, we invite you to tap into the age-old wisdom of Shabbat with your family. Join us as we slow down, reconnect, and rock out with our favorite clergy. What better way is there to end the week? Contact [email protected] for more information.

As we grow older, our longings can feel more present, more meaningful, and show up in new ways. Using the amazing Jewish Studio Process, we’ll come together to creatively explore the great power still available in our aspirations. No art experience needed. Join us for an afternoon of conversation, creativity, and reflection using the Jewish Studio Process to explore longing and its potential to energize our lives. Have questions? Please email Ann Bohrer at [email protected].

We are an intergenerational circle of men who support one another in becoming the men we want to be in the world. We focus on deepening our connection to Judaism, building community at IKAR, and forging bonds of brotherhood. Please register here by 1:00 pm on the day of any meeting you wish to attend.

After our online Minyan on Monday mornings we open a short Grief Garden Circle, a sacred listening space, from 8.30-9.00am.  Please join us there if you are holding grief. To join our weekly Grief Garden Circle, click here Have questions? Please email [email protected] Schedule a 1-0n-1 Grief Support with Dev here: https://cal.com/devorah-brous/grief-support?duration=60

Disinheritance: The Rediscovered Stories of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927–2013) Join us for a conversation on the remarkable life and literary legacy of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, whose distinguished career included a Booker Prize and two Academy Awards. We are honored that Ruth’s daughter, Firoza Jhabvala, a member of IKAR, will join us to reflect on her mother’s work and enduring influence. In advance of the discussion, you are invited to explore one of the following related events: May 4 at 6:30 PM at Chevalier’s Books on Larchmont, where three authors will discuss Ruth’s influence on their own writing; or June 25 at 11:00 AM via Zoom with the Leo Baeck Institute, featuring director James Ivory, Ruth’s longtime collaborator, and Wall Street Journal book reviewer Sam Sacks in conversation about her work. To RSVP/join, please email [email protected]

The IKAR Writers Circle is a space for adult fiction and nonfiction Ikar writers to gather, share their work, and receive feedback. The circle is an intergenerational community that seeks to uplift Jewish writers and authentic Jewish stories removed from the pressures of writing and entertainment industries. Writers will meet once a month at 7:30 pm, on one of the last Mondays of the month. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

Sing your heart out to your favorite Hebrew chant with us! Whether you are an expert or a first-timer, we welcome you! Lay led by Antonia Lassar. Light snacks are provided.

Poetry can often heal, elevate the soul and awaken the heart. Come join IKAR’s Jewish Poetry Circle as we read Jewish poets — the Oneg Shabbos poets of the Warsaw Ghetto, Medieval Sephardic poets, Israeli and Jewish-American poets up to the present—the historical context of their writing, spiritual relationships, personal agonies and joys. The Circle is not an academic writing class but rather an informal experience of a committed group of participants to explore and hopefully bond with Jewish poetic expression and with each other.

What is the Grief Garden? Please join Dev Brous, a certified trauma-informed Compassionate Bereavement Care grief counselor, and herbalist. Join this safe, reflective space to hold, and to be held as we “garden” grief. Here, we share reflections on what we’re learning from grief through embodied weekly prompts that connect people to nature-based Jewish healing practices. To sign-up, please fill out this form. Here’s the link to join the Grief Garden FS2S What’sApp: https://tinyurl.com/2eacz8nc Schedule a 1-0n-1 Grief Support with Dev here: https://cal.com/devorah-brous/grief-support?duration=60  

NO SERVICES AT SHALHEVET. Instead, IKAR will join Temple Beth Am for Shabbat (1039 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035). Services start at 9:30am PT in person and on TBA’s YouTube. IKAR and Beth Am clergy will lead us in a blend of our musical and prayer styles. Note: Bring your IKAR name badge, if you have one. Parking is available in their structure and across the street. All parking is first-come, first-served, and there is also ample street parking in the area.

We welcome everyone to our Shabbat morning services at 9:30am PT, no matter their level of observance, experience, or familiarity with Hebrew. Daven with us in person at Shalhevet, or join us virtually on YouTube or Zoom. Childcare is available during Services for kids ages 2-5. Stay afterward for our kosher, vegetarian community lunch. 7/25/2026 Michael Goldstone 8/1/2026 Jonah Pulde 8/15/2026 Jonah YoonWoo Kend 8/22/2026 Noa Ellis Goldstein 8/29/2026 Archer Mekor Sroka 10/10/2026 Myla Vener 10/17/2026 Ayla Morchower 10/24/2026 Samuel Ethan & Joshua Gabriel Goldstein 11/7/2026 Lucille (Luci) Halpern-Fingerhut 11/14/2026 Henry Posalski 11/21/2026 Bo Mandell 11/28/2026 Ezekiel Mataan Brous-Weber 12/5/2026 Samuel Rafael Marquit 12/19/2026 Finch Rhodes

Explore China/Tibet – Hosted by Tamar Laks and Jay Silverstein in MidCity, address provided upon RSVP! 7:00 PM Shmooze & Wine, 8:00 PM Presentation Please join the Travel Circle for an in-person adventure to Vietnam with host Tamar Laks and Jay Silverstein.

Once a month, TRIBE is creating our own Beit Midrash (house of study) for us to engage with Jewish text to find how we can live more fulfilling, meaningful lives as we navigate our 20s and 30s! Each session will take us on a journey of text exploration and introspective work. Part of the session will be studying in hevruta, or with a study partner, and part of the session will be taught by Rabbinic Intern Jacob Schatz. No previous text study required! Join us for dinner, study, and lively discussion. Timeline: 7 PM – Dinner 7:45 PM – Learning (indoor/outdoor)

Off-Mic Kabbalat Shabbat Services + Community & TRIBE (20’s-30’s) Dinner IKAR Event Space (1729 S. La Cienega Blvd), 6:30pm Services, dinner Come together for our tech-free (off-mic) Kabbalat Shabbat Services with a focus on lifting our voices in song as a community. Enter through our alleyway and down the ramp into our event space. For those with accessibility needs, you can be dropped off and enter through the front door. Following Services, join us for dinner and TRIBErs come for dinner, dessert, and board games!

Join us for a craft, and then drum and dance your way through our always awesome family service. Don't forget to bring your Shabbat dinosaur!

We welcome everyone to our Shabbat morning services at 9:30am PT, no matter their level of observance, experience, or familiarity with Hebrew. Daven with us in person at Shalhevet, or join us virtually on YouTube or Zoom. Childcare is available during Services for kids ages 2-5. Stay afterward for our kosher, vegetarian community lunch.

Join IKAR TRIBE and Minyan Tzedek for a guided tour of “Jewish Boyle Heights: Memories of Brooklyn Ave.,” a walking tour led by Shmuel Gonzales, the legendary “Barrio Boychik” and one of LA’s most beloved neighborhood historians. Together, we’ll explore the organizing, immigrant, labor, and multiracial Jewish history of Boyle Heights through the streets that shaped a generation of Jewish Los Angeles. From mutual aid networks to anti-fascist organizing, the tour offers a glimpse into our city’s long history of Jewish solidarity. *Metro is highly encouraged, we will meet at La Cienega Park to take the D Line together at 11am

Boy from the North Country: A Novel Monday, July 20, 6:30 PM PT Join us for a conversation on Boy from the North Country, Sam Sussman’s debut novel, a work of autofiction inspired by his own life. The story centers on Evan, a young man who returns home to care for his dying mother and begins to uncover hidden pieces of her past, including a possible romantic relationship with Bob Dylan, whom strangers say he resembles. The novel explores love, loss, memory, art, and identity as Evan grapples with his mother’s secrets and his own inheritance. To RSVP/join, please email [email protected]

We welcome everyone to our Shabbat morning services at 9:30am PT, no matter their level of observance, experience, or familiarity with Hebrew. Daven with us in person at Shalhevet, or join us virtually on YouTube or Zoom. Childcare is available during Services for kids ages 2-5. Stay afterward for our kosher, vegetarian community lunch. Stop by our Capital Campaign Lunch Table to learn about the IKAR Center and how you can support our future. 7/25/2026 Michael Goldstone 8/1/2026 Jonah Pulde 8/15/2026 Jonah YoonWoo Kend 8/22/2026 Noa Ellis Goldstein 8/29/2026 Archer Mekor Sroka 10/10/2026 Myla Vener 10/17/2026 Ayla Morchower 10/24/2026 Samuel Ethan & Joshua Gabriel Goldstein 11/7/2026 Lucille (Luci) Halpern-Fingerhut 11/14/2026 Henry Posalski 11/21/2026 Bo Mandell 11/28/2026 Ezekiel Mataan Brous-Weber 12/5/2026 Samuel Rafael Marquit 12/19/2026 Finch Rhodes