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UNITED STATES · 34.0°N 118.2°W · CITY

Los Angeles

From the 1850s Bavarian merchants to Hollywood's Jewish studio founders to "Tehrangeles" - the second-largest US community, uniquely multi-stream (Persian, Israeli, Russian, Orthodox).

Modern locality anchor

Los Angeles

United States · City · 34.0°N 118.2°W

This anchor orients the sourced locality record. It is not a reconstructed historical position or border; the single map below provides geographic context.

View location

Where is Los Angeles?

Land geometry: Natural Earth 1:50m via world-atlas. Pins mark modern localities or representative regional anchors stored on Atlas place records, not historical borders and not reconstructed positions. · Sources & methods

THE COMMUNITY TIMELINE · EVERY NODE DATED

What happened to the Jewish community of Los Angeles?

1850–1920

19th-century founding families

1920–1960

Studio-era growth; Fairfax district

1979–2000

Post-1979 Persian Jewish influx (Westwood, Beverly Hills)

2000–present

Contemporary multi-stream community

Today

Today

Second-largest US community; Persian-Jewish capital ("Tehrangeles").

LANGUAGES & COMMUNITY

What did Los Angeles sound like?

Los Angeles Jewish Community
Yiddish (ייִדיש)Hebrew (עברית, Ivrit)Judeo-Persian

Yiddish (ייִדיש) is a language with its own grammar, literature, and history — not “broken” anything, and not a dialect of Hebrew.

AFTER · IN FULL COLOR

What survives today?

In Los Angeles

Second-largest US community; Persian-Jewish capital ("Tehrangeles").

  • Skirball Cultural Center

    museum · museum

  • Museum of Tolerance (Simon Wiesenthal Center)

    museum · museum

  • Wilshire Boulevard Temple

    synagogue · public landmark

    1929 landmark.

  • Fairfax district

    historic quarter · public landmark

In Israel & the diaspora

The community's story continued elsewhere — these places carry it now.

TehranShirazIsfahanNew York CityTel AvivMoscowSaint PetersburgKyivMinskOdessaHaifaJerusalemBeershebaBerlin

KEEP GOING

Related places & stories

Tehran

Iran

From the 16th-century Safavid mahalleh through Habib Levy-era commerce and the 1979 revolution's exodus; today one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world, practicing with caution.

Open the place story

Shiraz

Iran

City of the 1910 blood-libel pogrom (12 killed) and a rich Judeo-Persian manuscript culture; most emigrated after 1979 to Israel and New York/Los Angeles.

Open the place story

Isfahan

Iran

City of the Yahudiya quarter and Judeo-Persian poetry (Shahin), known for its many neighborhood synagogues (the kenesha); mostly emigrated post-1979.

Open the place story
Guided story · 6 stopsWhere Jewish communities are growing todayThe biggest Jewish story of the 21st century so far is growth — in places you might not expect. Where?Begin the route

SOURCES & REVIEW

  • 2021 Greater Los Angeles Jewish Community Study (NORC with Brandeis CMJS)

    Jewish Federation of Greater LA / Brandeis University CMJS · 2021

  • 1997 Los Angeles Jewish Population Survey (JFedLA; via Berman Jewish DataBank)

    Jewish Federation of Greater LA · 1997

  • Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed. (place entry)

    Macmillan Reference USA · 2007

Reviewed 2026-07-30

Reading about Yiddish (ייִדיש) and Hebrew (עברית, Ivrit)? Baba can help you understand the languages in context →