Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock

TBI is situated on Monte Vista Street in northeast Los Angeles and serves the Highland Park and Eagle Rock neighborhoods.[1] Its approximately 3,800-square-foot building is the only building the congregation constructed and officially opened in December 1930.[1] Historical artifacts associated with the synagogue include 1930s lighting fixtures, an American flag presented to TBI in 1939, a wooden synagogue sign from the late 1940s, and stained-glass windows removed for safekeeping.[1]

In June 2025, TBI was described as belonging to both the Conservative and Reform movements.[2] TBI is also identified as a Conservative congregation.[3] Appendix B of a 2014 civic-engagement study lists TBI with a membership of 136.[4]

TBI was founded on December 23, 1923.[1] One founder asked the local mailman to supply the Jewish names and addresses of people along his route, using that information to recruit the congregation's first members.[1] The synagogue building opened in December 1930, and TBI never needed to construct another.[1]

Through the 1940s and 1950s, the congregation maintained an active communal life. TBI and a local B'nai B'rith lodge jointly published magazines during this period, including The Jewish Observer in Highland Park.[1] The postwar decades brought significant demographic change to northeast Los Angeles. Jewish residents began leaving Highland Park, Eagle Rock, and nearby Boyle Heights during the 1950s, relocating to western Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.[1]

By the 1970s, assembling a minyan had become difficult, and the congregation's struggles deepened through the 1990s.[1] Despite proposals to disband or merge with other congregations, TBI's members rejected these options and continued operating the synagogue.[1] Sass described this period as the congregation "hanging on long enough to see better times" and said that TBI's history challenged the notion that Los Angeles and California lack a Jewish history.[1]

By the early 2000s, TBI had begun attracting new families to northeast Los Angeles. Henry Leventon first attended a Sabbath service at TBI in 1976 at age 49, accompanied by his wife and three daughters. Born in Belfast, he served as congregation president from 1987 to 2005 and said TBI was experiencing an upswing with young families.[1] Delaine Shane, who chaired TBI's history committee, discovered TBI with her family in 2008 while considering a move from Sherman Oaks; their home in South Pasadena was a five-minute drive from the synagogue. She also organized a historical exhibition for the congregation's Hanukkah party. Shane characterized TBI as "very warm, heimische"—using the Yiddish word for "homey."[1]

At the time of a 2013 profile, TBI reported approximately 170 member families.[1] The congregation held services every Sabbath morning and two Friday nights each month, operated a Hebrew school, and offered b'nai mitzvah and adult-education classes. The synagogue had recently celebrated several bar and bat mitzvahs after having had none for decades.[1]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, TBI moved services to Zoom under Rabbi Jason Rosner, who was identified as the congregation's rabbi in September 2022.[5] Online programming included a Passover seder and High Holiday services, and Rosner prepared a customized siddur for digital use.[5]

Rosner also organized a citywide "shofar wave," with people across Los Angeles blowing the shofar simultaneously.[5] He read Torah from his grandparents' inherited dining-room table during online High Holiday services and deliberately restructured programming rather than simply reproducing in-person events in a virtual format.[5] Rosner reported that the pandemic led more congregants to engage in home-based Jewish practice, including building sukkot in their yards. He also emphasized the importance of returning to in-person participation to preserve the community.[5]

In June 2025, Alex Weisz was identified as TBI's senior rabbi.[2] Although only a few congregants lived downtown, many contacted him about mobilizing in response to federal immigration enforcement and the resulting protests. Weisz said members were motivated by the mitzvah of "loving the foreigner" and protecting people's rights. He described a congregation that included both members actively participating in protests and others who were troubled by the situation but were not inclined toward activism.[2]

Sources from different periods describe TBI's denominational identity in varying terms. A 2013 report indicated that TBI had originally affiliated with the Conservative movement before becoming independent.[1] A September 2022 report identified the congregation as Reform.[5] In June 2025, TBI was described as belonging to both the Conservative and Reform movements simultaneously.[2] The sources do not detail the institutional steps behind these changes.

Leadership also shifted over this period: Jason Rosner was identified as rabbi in September 2022, while Alex Weisz was named senior rabbi in June 2025. The sources do not explain whether this reflects a succession, different institutional roles, or another organizational change.[5][2]