American Jewish University

The Louis and Judith Miller Introduction to Judaism Program is an educational institute based at the American Jewish University in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. It has, since its founding in 1986, helped thousands of students explore and deepen their Jewish roots or prepare for conversion to Judaism. Based primarily at AJU’s Familian Campus in Bel Air, as well as at a number of other Southern California locations and throughout the United States, the Miller Program helps people of all backgrounds find a home in the Jewish community.The core of the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program is an 18-week course that surveys Jewish living and practice, including history, ritual, culture, texts, and values. Classes are designed to be highly interactive, with much time for discussion and questions, and include personalized instruction in reading Hebrew. In addition, the Miller Intro to Judaism Program offers its curriculum and resources to affiliates around the United States and Canada. During the 2018-2019 year, the Intro Program had more than fifty-five affiliates.In addition to classes, the Miller Program offers regular Shabbat services and dinners, a support group for new and potential converts, and ongoing programming for alumni. The Miller Program is also a Los Angeles partner for Honeymoon Israel, a new, national initiative providing highly subsidized, immersive experiences in Israel for couples between the ages of 25-40.The Miller Program is under the direction of Rabbi Adam Greenwald. Rabbi Greenwald is a "Rabbis Without Borders" Fellow with Clal, the Center for Learning and Leadership and is a recipient of the Covenant Foundation's Pomegranate Prize in Jewish Education. Before coming to AJU and the Intro Program, Rabbi Greenwald served as the Revson Rabbinic Fellow of IKAR. Supervision of the Intro Program is provided by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and Vice President of the AJU.The Miller Introduction to Judaism Program was named among the “Ten Best Classes in Los Angeles” by LA Weekly in its annual “Best of LA" 2012 edition. The Miller Program is endorsed by the Rabbinical Assembly of America, as well as by more than nearly 40 of LA’s top clergy—including Rabbi David Wolpe (Sinai Temple), Rabbi Sharon Brous (IKAR) and Rabbi Ed Feinstein (Valley Beth Shalom). Conversions performed under the auspices of the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program are recognized by the State of Israel for purposes of making Aliyah.

The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, informally known as the "Ziegler School" or simply "Ziegler", is the graduate program of study, leading to ordination as a conservative rabbi at the American Jewish University (formerly known as the University of Judaism). Founded in 1996, it was the first independent rabbinical school located on the U.S. West Coast. It ordained its first class in 1999. Located in Los Angeles, it has ordained about 100 rabbis, about half of them women. The school attracts an international student body, with students from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Israel, Mexico, Uganda, and the United Kingdom, as well as from every region of the United States. Upon ordination, Ziegler rabbis serve in every sector of the United States and Israel. Ziegler rabbis are automatically admitted to the international Rabbinical Assembly. The Ziegler School program requires students to participate in a year abroad in Israel.

Stephen Wise Temple is a large Reform Jewish congregation in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1964 by the late Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin, with 35 families, the congregation grew rapidly. At various times in its history it has been stated to be the largest, or one of the largest, Jewish congregations in the world, at one time having a membership of about 3,000 families, six rabbis, two cantors and two cantorial interns, and four schools on three campuses. As of 1994 it was the second-largest synagogue in the United States. The community was founded as the Stephen S. Wise Temple. In 2014 it was renamed the Stephen Wise Temple.

Sepulveda Pass (elevation 1,130 feet (344 m)) is a low mountain pass through the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles. It is named after the Sepúlveda family of California, a prominent Californio family that owned the land where the pass lays. It connects the Los Angeles Basin to the San Fernando Valley via the San Diego Freeway (I-405) and Sepulveda Boulevard. The crossing experiences heavy traffic (over 330,000 cars a day) on a regular basis, commonly experiencing major traffic slowdowns lasting hours.I-405 was widened by Los Angeles Metro, the county's transportation authority. The project took three years to complete and concluded in December 2016. Additionally, funding has been secured to construct an expansion to Los Angeles's public transportation system through the Sepulveda Pass in the form of a new subway line or monorail, but the plan has not yet been finalized.The Sepulveda Pass on Interstate 405 begins just south of Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, climbing to just south of Mulholland Drive, then descending to just north of Sunset Boulevard, where I-405 and Sepulveda Boulevard enter the Brentwood and Westwood areas of West Los Angeles. Northbound I-405 has five lanes and a carpool lane (plus a seventh as the Ventura exit is approached), while southbound I-405 has four lanes plus a carpool lane (although on the ascending portion there is a climbing lane). Sepulveda Boulevard has two lanes in each direction and runs west of I-405 until the middle of the pass, where it crosses under and runs east of the freeway. Bel Air Presbyterian Church, founded in 1956, opened its church on Mulholland Drive in 1960. Beginning with The Westland School in 1965, a number of other educational and cultural institutions have located in the vicinity of Sepulveda Pass, creating an "institutional corridor" as an exception to the Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan's general prohibition of such development along the crest of the mountains. The institutions along Mulholland Drive now also include Stephen S. Wise Temple, American Jewish University, the Skirball Cultural Center, Milken Community High School, The Mirman School, Berkeley Hall School, and The Curtis School. To the south is the large campus of the Getty Center.

Ennis William Cosby (April 15, 1969 – January 16, 1997), the only son of American comedian Bill Cosby, was murdered on January 16, 1997, near Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, California. He was shot in the head by 18-year-old Mikhail Markhasev in a failed robbery attempt. Cosby was 27 years old. Cosby's death resulted in significant media coverage, public outrage and an outpouring of support for the Cosby family. Seeking the $100,000 reward offered by the National Enquirer, an acquaintance of the shooter provided information that led to Markhasev's arrest in March 1997.Subsequently, Markhasev was tried and convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery on July 7, 1998, and was sentenced to life in prison the following month. Markhasev maintained his innocence until 2001, when he admitted to committing the murder and asked that appeals in his case stop.

Milken Community School (originally Milken Community Schools, colloquially Milken) is a private Jewish high school and middle school. It is located on Mulholland Drive in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest Jewish day schools in the United States. Long affiliated with Stephen S. Wise Temple, a Reform congregation, the school is officially non-denominational, and became independent from the temple in July 2012. Despite the separation, Milken Community Schools continues to be the school in which many Stephen S. Wise students are enrolled. In 1998 it was the largest non-Orthodox Jewish high school in the United States. As of 1994 it was the only Reform Jewish high school in the United States and was a part of the only K-12 Jewish education program west of Chicago that was not a part of Orthodox Judaism.

Berkeley Hall School (BHS) is a coed independent school for Nursery through eighth grades located on 66 acres off Mulholland Drive near the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles, California, US. The school is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC).

Mirman School is an independent, co-educational school for highly gifted children located at 16180 Mulholland Drive in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, United States, with 330 pupils aged 5 to 14. Mirman School is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges WASC for grades K-8. Mirman is one of a handful of schools for the highly gifted (IQ of 138 or above) in the United States.

Bel Air Church (also known as Bel Air Presbyterian Church) is a Presbyterian (USA) megachurch, with its campus located on the famed Mulholland Drive, in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. An iconic Los Angeles church, it has been listed on the top 10 most visited churches in Los Angeles.

Westland School is a progressive, independent, private, coeducational, nonsectarian elementary day school located in the Bel Air community of Los Angeles, California, serving students from kindergarten through sixth grade. The school is located on Mulholland Drive across from the Bel Air Presbyterian Church. Westland is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) through 2016.

Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is named Mulholland Highway. The road is featured in a significant number of movies, songs, and novels. David Lynch, who wrote and directed a film named after Mulholland Drive, has said that one can feel "the history of Hollywood" on it. Academy Award–winning actor Jack Nicholson has resided at Mulholland Drive for many years and still lives there today.

Stone Canyon Reservoir and Upper Stone Canyon Reservoir are adjoining reservoirs in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. Situated in the Santa Monica Mountains at 847 feet (258 m) above sea level, the reservoirs lie in the Bel Air neighborhood, south of Mulholland Drive and west of North Beverly Glen Boulevard. The main reservoir is the Stone Canyon Reservoir with the much smaller, cone-shaped Upper Stone Canyon Reservoir adjoining it to the north. The two reservoirs supply the Westside water subsystem, including service to around 400,000 people in Pacific Palisades, the Santa Monica Mountains, and West Los Angeles.