Saban Theatre Opens Free Seats For Striking Writers, Actors at High Holy Day Services

The Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre, known as the largest arts and entertainment synagogue in the U.S., has extended an altruistic gesture to striking members of the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA and their immediate families. The hallowed venue is offering complimentary seats for its High Holy Day Services on Rosh Hashanah, taking place on September 15 and 16, as well as Yom Kippur, scheduled for September 24 and 25. Normally tickets for non-Temple members for both services would involve a $500 price tag per head.

Rabbi David Baron expressed the temple’s inclination to stand alongside writers and actors during their ongoing strikes, stating, "As an arts and entertainment industry synagogue, we feel it is our moral duty to support writers and actors in our community and pray for a swift resolution to their present strikes."

Falling on Judaism’s holiest day of the year, this year's guest line-up for Yom Kippur is both diverse and intriguing. It includes Cristiano J. Zeledón, a former U.S. Marine, who will narrate his experience of being wounded during a Russian missile strike in Ukraine; 96-year-old Aron Bell, survivor of the Holocaust, and Jonny Daniels, head of From the Depths Foundation, who will shed light on the discovery of a 70-plus-year-old Torah Scroll in Poland.

The Yom Kippur services will also star Broadway performer Ilysia J. Pierce and well-known cantor and voice teacher Hazzan Nathan Lam. Other distinguished service readers include Mary Hart, former Entertainment Tonight host, Leonard Maltin, popular film critic, and Airplane! actress Julie Hagerty. Sharon Farber, the temple’s Grammy-winning music director will command a 12-member choir and four instrumentalists.

As part of the Yom Kippur schedule, Rabbi Baron will hold discussions with his High Holy Day invited guests. Also, audiences can look forward to vignettes from Survivors, a West Coast touring production written by Wendy Kout and presented by Arts For Change. The play explores Holocaust history, tolerance and acceptance through enactment by a diverse cast of Latinos, Asians, and African-American actors.

Additionally, attendees will be able to witness a 10-minute short film by Adi Eshman titled Anne. A panel discussion on “Standing up to Anti-Semitism” by John A. Mirisch, former mayor of Beverly Hills and current Beverly Hills City Councilman is expected to follow.

Members of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA who are in good standing are advised to reserve complimentary seats by placing a call to Edgar Tarango on (323) 658-9100 or emailing him at edgar@templeofthearts.org.

Moving beyond the purely factual, let's mull over the intersecting streams of faith, art and solidarity represented in this story.

Mind you, the entertainment industry and faith may seem like different beasts, but here, in the heart of Beverly Hills, they intertwine like threads in a well-crafted mezuzah. One could raise a skeptical eye to the Saban Theatre's magnanimous act of opening its typically $500-a-head seats to striking talent for free. Is this simply a publicity ploy in the optics-saturated millieu called Hollywood?

Well, I'm inclined to believe Rabbi David Baron's words. Sure, the Screenwriters Guild and SAG-AFTRA same ol' salary-and-work-conditions tiffs like corduroy in a 90s sitcom - predictable and not unexpected. But the real story brews in the Temple of Arts' firmly expressed solidarity with the creative souls caught in this tug-of-war.

This tale offers a refreshing pivot away from the staple Hollywood diet of conflict and scandal. It's a buffet of faith, goodwill, and resilience - served up with a side of Broadway tunes and Holocaust history. A preview of the temple's Yom Kippur bill reminds me of the Wizard of Oz’s Technicolor reveal - a vibrant mix of stories and characters whisked together under the high arches of the Saban Theatre. Just another day in La La Land, right?

If you ask me, anyone who bemoans Hollywood as a constantly churning, soulless machine clearly hasn't paid a visit to Rabbi Baron's sanctuary-cum-stage. Here, community and camaraderie weave a tale that is as charmingly Hollywood as it is wonderfully humane. Instead of just praying for a swift end to the strikes, the synagogue "puts its pews where its mouth is" so to speak, providing comfort to those affected.

In the spirit of their industry, let's wrap this piece with a thinly-veiled metaphor - Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts isn't merely offering a comfy seat to the beleaguered; it's stage-managing an act of unity under the spotlights of faith, fervor, and film. This is Hollywood with a human heart, folks, and it's indeed quite beautiful.