ABOUT OUR UNIQUE SANCTUARY...

One of the reasons why our membership dues are so inexpensive is because we focus on caring, community, learning, and celebrating rather than focusing on real estate or an expensive building fund. For the past several years we have been meeting in a quite unique sanctuary that is conveniently located next to the 405 Freeway between Sunset Boulevard and Montana Avenue in Brentwood.

Members and visitors from the San Fernando Valley, from the Westside of Los Angeles, from Santa Monica, Fairfax, Westwood, Palms, Mar Vista, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Marina Del Rey, Culver City, and many other neighborhoods find this location quite accessible, especially on Saturday mornings when the traffic is lightest.

The sacred place where we hold Shabbat services and many of our holiday events and classes is called “The Gem in the Glen.” On Saturday mornings there is a Jewish congregation, Ahavat Torah, singing and celebrating in the main sanctuary. There is also a 12 Step meeting in the social hall.

On Sunday mornings there is a Lutheran congregation meeting in the same building. On Saturday nights there is a Sufi Muslim Musallah that meets in the same social hall.

The warmth and cooperation between each of these diverse Abrahamic religions began a few years ago when several of our members and our clergy were involved in a Cousins Club of women from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions that held dialogue conversations once a month for several years to explore our similarities and differences. From these honest conversations there arose a desire to create a model of peacemaking and partnership in which we each share the same physical location while respecting our diverse ways of praying and celebrating the Eternal One.