A Hollywood Zionist: Max Nussbaum, “Rabbi to the Stars”

Affectionately nicknamed “The Rabbi to the Stars,” Rabbi Max Nussbaum was the leader of one of Los Angeles’ best-known synagogues, "Temple Israel of Hollywood," from 1942 to 1974. Nussbaum’s job gave him direct access to many of Hollywood’s producers and actors, and a perfect platform from which to provide Los Angeles’ Jewish community with an historical and religious appreciation of Zionism. With his extraordinary range of religious, political and diplomatic roles, plus a knack for converting gentile film stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Sammy Davis Jr. into Jews, Nussbaum was arguably one of the most influential Zionists on America’s West Coast during Israel’s formative decades.

This article examines Rabbi Max Nussbaum`s multifaceted Zionist activities of for some three decades, placing these within the framework of Hollywood’s wider relationship with Israel. Using American and Israeli sources, the paper critically analyses Max Nussbaum’s role and influence, highlights his and Temple Israel of Hollywood’s importance to the history of American Zionism, but also his ideological clashes with the Israeli government on the relationship between US Jews and Israel. The paper demonstrates that Hollywood’s relationship with Israel goes far beyond canonical movies to include philanthropy, public relations, religious exhortation and celebrity recruitment. And it argues that greater attention should be paid to Hollywood`s Jews when discussing the evolving relationship between the state of Israel and the American Jewish community.