Rabbi to the Stars
In Hollywood’s golden age, many Jews yearned for a way to maintain their Judiasm while assimilating into mainstream society. They wanted an Americanized Judaism. This form of Judaism was personified in Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s legendary Rabbi Edgar Magnin, a San Franciscan, whose liberal style upon taking the helm at Wilshire Boulevard Temple was extremely attractive to the Hollywood Jews . And he became one of them.
During his 69-year tenure with the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Magnin became the religious figure most closely associated with motion picture and television celebrities. He married them, buried them and blessed them. He befriended Louis B. Mayer, co-founder of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio and joined him for “royal brunches” in Santa Monica. Magnin’s cultivation of this relationship led to Mayer’s donation of the funds for the Main Sanctuary’s east and west triple lancet art glass windows. Through a combination of schmooze, oratorical brilliance, and wisdom, Magnin was looked to as moral guide to the Hollywood Jewish community.
Magnin envisioned a new Wilshire Boulevard Temple, with the main sanctuary’s interior like a theater. In a departure from Jewish tradition, Magnin sought support from the Warner Brothers to install a panoramic mural of the history of the Jewish people. The Warner Brothers commissioned Hugo Ballin, head of their studio’s art department to produce what are believed to be the only depiction of the human form in any synagogue in the world. The murals encircle worshippers with depictions of Jewish heroes, ceremonial objects, and elaborate Biblical scenes – a visual reproduction of Jewish history. Epitomizing the progressive notions of his day, Magnin wrote that "the day is over when liberal-minded people are likely to worship images and paintings, and so we decided to place them on the walls of our …Temple in such a manner as not to conflict in any way with the Jewish spirit, but rather to revive it."
Other Hollywood executives made significant contributions to the sanctuary building project: Carl Laemmle donated the spicebox chandeliers and Irving Thalberg donated the ornately decorated interior dome and Sh'ma oculus.
When Magnin, died in 1984 at the age of 94, he was eulogized by the many celebrities who knew him. "He was a wonderful man and a good golfer," Milton Berle said. "I knew him for more than 50 years. He had a wonderful sense of humor and could trade jokes with all the comedians during lunch at the club." (Hillcrest, the club Magnin helped found.)
In addition to officiating at the funerals of movie greats such as Adolph Zukor, Harry Cohn, Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny and George Jessel, Magnin also gave invocations at the inaugurations of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan. He was also a close friend of Bob Hope's and frequently participated in banquets given in Hope's honor.
Indeed, Magnin's notoriety extended beyond Hollywood and he was also known as the "Chief Rabbi of California." For many years, he wrote a weekly newspaper column and also had a radio show. Shortly before his death, Magnin summed up his life: "God has been good to me. I've been very fortunate in the choice of my ancestors and the choice of my friends."
