Ohr HaTorah was founded by Rabbi Mordecai and Meirav Finley as a synagogue in 1993 with a very specific vision:  to create a community engaged in work for the development of virtue, thinking well, inner life growth and the spiritual search. An essential part of the vision was to create engaging religious services. 

 

Ohr HaTorah was noted for the beauty of its music and the depth of the teaching. The religious services were joyous and highly participatory. We had a thriving religious school, and many other successful programs, including Rabbi Finley’s classes, that usually focused in some area of Spiritual Psychology.

 

In 2008, Ohr HaTorah purchased and renovated a building in Mar Vista that came to be termed “The Hub on Venice.”  Our beloved Shabbat morning programming, religious school and other programs continued, but we added a café (Sophos Café), a Hebrew immersion preschool and many events that served the wider community. Sophos Café offered Mediterranean food, live music and comedy shows featured  weekly on Tuesday and Saturday nights. Additionally, truly amazing “Shabbaba” – a multisensory and interactive musical theatre was produced four times a year for youngsters and their families. 

 

We frequently had Rock Music dinner and dancing and other events, a Halloween festival and an array of other wonderful gatherings. 

 

Sadly, as COVID hit in March 2020, the live community aspects ceased, and we went online with both our Shabbat and holidays programs our classes.  

 

Ironically, being online allowed us to expand our classes, offering as much as four weekly classes. 

 

During that time, Rabbi Finley began to crystalize his teachings in spiritual psychology and renamed it Wisdom Works. After a being a guest of a few podcasts, the word got out on Wisdom Works, and attendance “zoomed.”

 

By the summer of 2023, it became apparent that the main focus of Ohr HaTorah had expanded into becoming a Center for Wisdom. With the Finleys moving to Israel in June 2024, Ohr HaTorah formally transitioned from being a membership synagogue to becoming a Center for Wisdom, supported by donations. We remain a California Religious Nonprofit Corporation, with our corporate headquarters in the Los Angeles area. The Finleys work and broadcast remotely from Israel.