Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) praises the Breed Street Shul Project in the 34th Congressional District as an important effort to preserve Jewish American history in Los Angeles.  

The ongoing multi-million preservation effort is dedicated to saving and restoring the historic synagogue built in Boyle Heights in 1915 and expanded in 1923.  Once completed, the Shul will serve as a showcase for preserving Jewish history in the community while housing critical social service organizations to assist Latino families who today make Boyle Heights their home.

“The Breed Street Shul is a federally designated national landmark,” said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard who, as a member on Appropriations, secured $250,000 in federal funding toward the project.  “I am so pleased that the preservation and restoration efforts will turn this visually stunning architectural gem into a community resource center to be appreciated and enjoyed by families throughout the Boyle Heights area.”

Congresswoman Roybal-Allard continued, “This Shul is the last remaining synagogue of the 30 that once dotted the area’s landscape when a large and thriving Jewish community lived in Boyle Heights.  When I was growing up in Boyle Heights, it was a community of ethnically diverse and multicultural groups such as Jews, Latinos, Japanese-Americans, Molokan Russians and Armenians who lived side by side as neighbors.  Today, a restored Breed Street Shul can be a catalyst for bringing our diverse cultures together to empower this community once again.”

Once restored, the renovated 18,000- square foot former synagogue will provide a community center where neighbors can gather for meetings and programs.  The facility will offer shared workspace where local non-profit groups can provide essential services to area residents. The building will also provide a large event/performance venue which is currently lacking in Boyle Heights and will provide opportunities to bring the Jewish and Latino communities together.  The Shul’s large exhibition space will be the permanent home of “The Power of Place” exhibit, which will re-tell the rich and unique story of Boyle Heights for current and future generations.

“The Breed Street Shul Project serves as a way to create bridges between the Jewish and Latino communities and for the two communities to share in the rich cultural heritage of both traditions and to learn from each other,” said Tsilah Burman, Executive Director of the Breed Street Shul Project.

Stephen Sass, President of the Board of the Breed Street Shul Project added that “Congresswoman Roybal-Allard’s strong support has been critical in our efforts to rescue—before it is too late—a priceless, one-of-a-kind icon as a real link to Los Angeles’ rich, colorful Jewish past and affords us the opportunity not only to preserve our history but to reinvent the Shul as a living asset that creates opportunities for the current residents of Boyle Heights.”

From 1910-1950, Boyle Heights was the largest Jewish community west of the Mississippi, with approximately 75,000 Yiddish-speaking Eastern European Jewish immigrants living side-by-side with neighbors from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Congregation Talmud Torah, affectionately known as the Breed Street Shul, dates from 1915 and was also called “The Queen of the Shuls” due to the soaring, visually stunning Byzantine Revival design of its front 1923 building.  After World War II, as five freeways bisected the neighborhood, the Jewish community moved to other parts of Los Angeles.

More information about the project is available at www.breedstreetshul.org.