Kosher and Jewish Life in Los Angeles

With more than 660,000 Jews in the metropolitan area (490,000 in city proper), the region has the second largest population of Jews in the United States. Many of Los Angeles' Jews now live on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley, though Boyle Heights and Northwest Los Angeles once had large Jewish populations. Many varieties of Judaism are represented in the area, including Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist. The Breed Street Shul in East Los Angeles, built in 1913, was the largest synagogue west of Chicago in its early decades. (It is no longer a sacred space and is being converted to a museum and community center) The Kabbalah Centre also has a presence in the city. Jewish Los Angeles started in 1841 with the arrival of the first Jew Jacob Frankfort by 1850 there were 8 Jews. Many Jews arrived in the 1910s and continued to arrive, by 1950 there were 300,000 Jews in Los Angeles. After 1979 many Iranian Jews arrived in Los Angeles changing the Jewish nature of the city.

With the fifth largest Jewish community in the world, Los Angeles has everything you need for kosher Jewish travel. There are more than 100 Synagogues and five mikvahs. The kosher restaurant scene is booming with almost 150 kosher restaurants and shops. Be sure to check out our listing of Passover Programs in the United States and Los Angeles area.