Early years Wilshire Boulevard Temple traces its origins to the first Jewish worship service in Los Angeles, held in 1851. In 1862, a small community of Los Angeles Jews received its charter from the state to found Congregation B'nai B'rith. Worship was led by founder and layman,
Joseph Newmark, until Abraham Wolf Edelman was hired in 1862 as the first rabbi. Long overshadowed by the more prosperous San Francisco Jewish community, L.A.'s Jews commissioned the congregation's first building, an impressive brick
Gothic Revival style synagogue built in 1873 at the corner of Second Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. It was described by the
Los Angeles Star as “the most superior church edifice in Southern California.” Ballin's murals consist of , murals depicting key moments in Jewish history. In deciding to include murals in the new temple, Magnin was inspired by his recent visits to great European cathedrals; the particular role of Los Angeles as the capital of the movie industry; and archaeological discoveries of the time that suggested that ancient synagogues used figurative art. Modelled after Rome's
Pantheon, the immense Byzantine Revival
dome is in diameter; its top is above the street. The block of Wilshire Boulevard where the temple sits was named Edgar F. Magnin Square in 1980 by the City of Los Angeles. In 1984, the Temple building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and historic significance. In response to membership growth on the
Westside of Los Angeles, the temple built a second campus at
Olympic Boulevard and Barrington Avenue in
West Los Angeles. It opened in 1998 as the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Campus, with a new Jewish day school and other educational and community facilities. Despite repeated reports that the temple would leave its historic building, Rabbi Fields restated the congregation's commitment to the location. Over the years the temple has hosted many notable speakers, dignitaries and singers, including the
Dalai Lama, who received the Bodhi Award and addressed the American Buddhist Congress at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in 1999.
Rabbi Leder and the main building In July 2000, the
J. Paul Getty Trust awarded a "Preserve L.A." grant to the temple as part of its effort to preserve the city's cultural heritage. Rabbi Fields retired in 2003 and was succeeded by Steven Leder, who has served the temple's congregation since 1987. In 2004, the congregation celebrated the 75th anniversary of the historic structure on Wilshire Boulevard. As the area surrounding its historic building has changed dramatically (becoming part of the rapidly expanding
Koreatown district), the temple faced the decision whether to sell the property and refocus its operations on the Westside, where most of Los Angeles' Jewish population had moved. Instead, because of a desire to maintain its landmark facilities and commit to its surrounding community, and also noting a trend for younger Jews to move into neighborhoods further east (such as
Los Feliz and
Silver Lake), the congregation decided to begin a major restoration of the sanctuary and redevelopment of the surrounding city block. The renovations began in 2008 under the leadership of Senior Rabbi, Steven Z. Leder. The temple began working with architect
Brenda Levin in 2005, developing an expansive master plan for what was envisioned as a campus, including a renovated synagogue, a new pre-school and elementary school, the Karsh Social Service Center, and athletic and community facilities. The renovation is documented in great detail in the film
Restoring Tomorrow, directed by
Aaron Wolf, a member of the temple and grandson to the late
Alfred Wolf. After the end of the 2011
High Holy Days, the auditorium was closed for a renovation project that lasted two years. In 2013, philanthropist Erika Glazer pledged $30 million through 2028 for ongoing restoration and redevelopment of the synagogue. The Wilshire Center facility is now called the Erika J. Glazer Family Campus. The sanctuary reopened in September 2013 for
Rosh Hashanah services. The temple has stated its intentions to provide community services for the non-Jewish, mainly Korean and Hispanic residents of the area, as well for the Jewish community. The community outreach has been recognized by local leaders, who hope it will become a model for other organizations as well. In 2013,
Judson Studios restored the sanctuary's neo-Gothic windows, the sculptor
Lita Albuquerque designed a memorial wall and the artist
Jenny Holzer crafted a series of benches. In 2009 the temple and its rabbi, Steven Leder, became participants in the Rabbinic Vision Initiative (RVI). This group of rabbis from large Reform congregations became vocal critics of the Reform movement's central organization, the
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). In 2011, Wilshire Boulevard Temple resigned from the URJ in what was perceived as a protest of the organization's perceived ineffectiveness.
Audrey Irmas Pavilion In 2015, more than a dozen architectural firms were considered for the Audrey Irmas Pavilion by a 15-person committee made up of congregation members, including philanthropists Glazer,
Bruce Karatz,
Eli Broad, and
Anthony Pritzker. The committee whittled down 25 firms to four, whom Broad paid $100,000 each. The temple received a $30 million pledge from
Audrey Irmas, after the $70.5 million sale of her
Cy Twombly painting. The pavilion, which cost $95 million, was completed in 2022. The pavilion's ground floor featured a , The second level contains a trapezoidal chapel and outdoor terrace.
December 2025 pro-Palestinian protest In December 2025, a lecture was held at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, which was intended to foster dialogue and share safety strategies between the Jewish, Israeli, and Korean communities. The lecture was violently disrupted when a group of protesters gathered outside chanting anti-Israel and antisemitic slogans, with several individuals infiltrating the event itself. Protesters inside the synagogue shouted slogans, with one smashing a glass vase and another yelling profanities, frightening the attendees. The groups involved were believed to include
Nodutdol and Koreatown 4 Palestine. == Rabbinical leaders ==