Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. Wilshire Boulevard Temple's main building, with a sanctuary topped by a large Byzantine revival dome and decorated with interior murals, is a City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Moorish-style building, located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Wilshire Center district, was completed in 1929 and was designed by architect Abram M. Edelman (a son of the congregation's first rabbi, Abram Wolf Edelman). Wilshire Boulevard Temple is one of the largest Jewish congregations in Los Angeles, and has been led by several influential rabbis. Edgar Magnin has been described as the "John Wayne" of rabbis, and served for 69 years, from 1915 to 1984. The congregation has built a second campus on the Westside, following relocations among its people, and this opened in 1998. Despite repeated reports that the congregation might sell its older, landmark building in what had become known as the Koreatown neighborhood, the temple began extensive renovations of the historic facility in 2008 under the leadership of Senior Rabbi Steven Z. Leder. The remodeled sanctuary reopened in 2013. In 2018, construction began on the Audrey Irmas Pavilion, a major expansion on the original site designed by Rem Koolhaas. Construction was completed in September 2021. The building is "designed to host religious and cultural activities and performances...[with] three distinct gathering spaces that puncture through the building—a Grand Ballroom, a smaller Chapel/event space, and a sunken garden." The 55,000 square foot structure designed by the world-class architecture firm Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) History 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 Temple and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. It was described by the Los Angeles Star as “the most superior church edifice in Southern California.” By 1885 much of the congregation was pushing