Los Angeles today boasts a very different demographic than it did a few decades ago. An estimated one-third of Angelenos are now immigrants, predominately from Iran and Mexico. The Jewish community is no exception, with Persian-American Jews comprising a critical mass of local synagogues and Jewish schools.

In fact, today the Los Angeles Jewish community embodies a wealth of national and ethnic diversity: It is home to Jewish immigrants from India and Ethiopia, American-born Jews of Yemenite and Russian heritage, Jewish transnational adoptees from Thailand and Guatemala, mixed-faith, mixed-race Jewish families, and a host of other permutations of Jewish peoplehood.

To successfully integrate these many pockets of our community, we need ethnic and racial sensitivity, a sophisticated understanding of Jewish identity, a positive attitude towards Jewish diversity, and refined skills for navigating through cultural difference. We need the Community Integration Project -- a ground-breaking initiative that offers a comprehensive approach to Jewish multicultural awareness, understanding, celebration, and unity.

This initiative grew out of two years of intensive research at Stephen S. Wise Temple and is a collaborative effort of leading organizations throughout Los Angeles: The Bureau of Jewish Education, Center for Jewish studies at UCLA, Institute for Multicultural Counseling & Education Services, Iranian American Parents Association, Museum of Tolerance, Nessah synagogue, Sinai Temple, Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel, and Stephen S. Wise Temple.

The Community Integration Project strives to normalize Jewish multiculturalism, facilitate a sophisticated understanding of American Jewish identity, and promote understanding and friendship between Jews of diverse ethnic groups. We intend to achieve our goals through implementing five programs -- initially targeted to the Los Angeles Jewish community and ultimately serving the greater American Jewish community:

Professional Development Seminars will provide community leaders with a basic understanding of the history, culture, scholarly works, religious traditions, socio-political concerns, and American immigration & integration narratives of diverse Jewish ethnic groups. They also will help leaders understand the roots of and learn how to effectively address ethnic tensions that arise in the Jewish community.

Curriculum Enhancement Project will create and distribute time- and cost-effective tools for integrating Jewish multiculturalism into currently-existing curricula.  It also will provide training sessions for the most effective use of these tools.

Celebrity Panel Series will add glitz, glamour, and excitement to the exploration of Jewish multiculturalism. Each panel will feature one celebrity from a given Jewish ethnicity, presenting alongside educators, artists, writers, and community organizers from that same ethnicity -- discussing issues related to Jewish diversity.

Student Video Project will pair up Jewish students and professional filmmakers, with the objective of creating and screening short documentaries on the diversity of Jewish youth. Camera crews will follow Jewish students into their homes and schools, exploring complex layers of identity -- ethnicity, language, religious observance, class, sexual orientation, physical ability, political views, and so on.

Community Discussions & Celebrations will offer a series of Jewish multicultural programs with various themes – global Shabbat celebrations with prayer, song, and food from around the world; public forums on domestic violence, drug abuse, and other concerns in diverse Jewish communities; and so on.