‘I’m blown away’: Kol Ami representative responds to dual Jewish forums

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Rabbi Resnick

 

Whose side are you on? Are you confused? I was.

The West Hollywood Jewish Candidate Forum is scheduled for Wednesday, September 18th at 6 PM. The forum made news when ICAN, the Israeli Civic Action Network, and its CEO Dillon Hosier partnered with Rabbi Denise Eger to host the forum and invited 5 of the 10 candidates. We wrote about it here: https://wehoonline.com/2024/09/05/oped-one-sided-west-hollywood-jewish-community-forum/. This forum would ‘take sides’ and endorse two candidates.

After our article, the West Hollywood Jewish Candidate forum reached out to include all candidates; although Mayor John Erickson said he still had not been invited.

This week, all the candidates received another invite to the Congregation Kol Ami forum on Sunday, September 22nd at 3 PM. A forum that Kol Ami has hosted for many election cycles, sometimes partnering with ICAN. Rabbi Lindy Resnick will introduce herself to the community and welcome all the candidates. The open discussion of issues is non-partisan, and there will be no endorsements.

“I’m laughing, but I’m really not,” said a member of Kol Ami after an email forwarded to the Congregation proved Eger was ‘partnering with Hosier in competition with the temple Eger had served for over 20 years. Egar did not inform or consult with her former congregation or include the newly appointed Rabbi.

Congregation Kol Ami needs our support. Eger moved to Texas with a $1,000,000 pension which has set back the temple’s finances. Now Eger aims to compete with the temple as it rebuilds. This stuff is just not kosher!

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While I previously accepted the invitation to the ICAN/Eger West Hollywood Jewish Candidate Forum after meeting with Congregation Kol Ami today I have decided to decline.   I am going to attend the Congregation Kol Ami Forum and support Rabbi Resnick’s introduction and her voice in our community withot a filter, or confusion.    

I urge all candidates, especially the newer ones, to join me in supporting and welcoming Rabbi Lindy Resnick to our community.   I am looking forward to meeting Rabbi Resnick and listening to all of you in a heartfelt non-partisan discussion on anti-Semitism and human rights.    

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Richard Bernard
Richard Bernard
25 days ago

With the upcoming election there simply cannot be too many opportunities to get to know the candidates and the issues that we will be voting on. I’m proud to be part of a congregation that is so engaged and to have leadership, past and present, that is dedicated to ensuring that there are opportunities to be well informed and that reinforce the importance of our vote.

Peel
Peel
26 days ago

a one million dollar pension!?!?!?!

West
28 days ago

Looking forward to the 22nd! Thanks Larry for advocating for diverse voices. You do a lot for this community 😎🙏

Steve Martin
Steve Martin
28 days ago

No reason to be confused. These are two different forums. The forum set for September 22nd is meant to be a WeHo Community event that is being organized by Wendy Goldman, a WeHo NorthWest Neighborhood Watch captain. The idea was to focus on WeHo municipal issues and give people a chance to meet the new rabbi. All of the candidates were invited to the September 22nd forum. The only things these two distinct events have in common is their venue at Temple Kol Ami. See you on the 22nd.

Steve Martin
Steve Martin
27 days ago
Reply to  Larry Block

Great! So the ICAN event is NOT a temple event. That clears things up.