Rabbi Yochanan Stepen transformed the Torah landscape of Los Angeles
His charisma had its source in his immense love and enthusiasm for Torah and Jewish children. As a mechanech and the educational director of Emek Hebrew Academy for 31 years, his bren for Torah set everyone around him on fire.
Erev Yom Kippur marks Rabbi Stepen’s fourth yahrtzeit, but his imprint on the Valley remains vibrant and thriving. When he started at Emek in 1973, the school had 70 students. Today, the student body numbers almost 1,000, with an immense campus and separate early childhood center.
How did one man accomplish so much?
For Rabbi Stepen a”h, a Jew was a Jew — no matter what he looked like or how little he knew. He understood that if a Jew isn’t religious, it’s because no one ever showed him the beauty of Torah.
Rabbi Stepen’s parents, the children of Russian immigrants, eked out a living in the dry-cleaning business in a rough neighborhood in downtown Chicago. The children went to public school, but Yochanan, the second child of three and the oldest boy, always felt drawn to Yiddishkeit.
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