A Sense of Belonging : Ezra Center fills a vacuum for North County’s Jewish community with activities and fellowship.

ANAHEIM —  For those with an intellectual craving, there’s a spirited discussion on the meaning of God. For aching joints--a slow Tai Chi session off the synagogue community room. Come noon, a kosher spread awaits, followed by a film on Jewish humor and plenty of poker.

So unfolds a typical Monday at the Ezra Center, a Jewish adult activities facility operating from the halls and classrooms of Anaheim’s Temple Beth Emet. The newborn center is bringing a sense of belonging to North County Jews who have felt abandoned in recent years.

As Orange County’s Jewish community blossomed over the past decade, it pushed south, following the burst of housing tracts and lure of newer schools. The community’s heart now beats from the polished corridors of the Jewish Federation’s Costa Mesa campus.

Left behind in North County since the Costa Mesa campus was established several years ago were scores of elderly Jews unable or unwilling to make the trek south. Now, that vacuum has been filled.

The busy kitchen at the Ezra Center cranks out 35 to 50 kosher meals every Monday and Thursday, and more than 30 men and women gathered around school tables in plastic chairs last Monday to debate the meaning of a Jewish God.

“We know mankind and womankind were created by God,” said 81-year-old George Kushner, gripping his walker and pausing for effect. “Well, who created God?”

“George,” answered discussion leader Jerry Silverman, the center’s chairman, “I’m telling you you’re going to have to come to that conclusion yourself.”

“I’m not that smart,” quipped Kushner.

The turnout has been so good since the Ezra Center’s grand opening Oct. 3 that a new satellite is scheduled to open at Fullerton’s Temple Beth Tikvah on Jan. 15, and yet another is tentatively planned for La Mirada.

“There was a real need for it. There’s no question,” said Florence Sokoloff, 65, of Orange, as she enjoyed a catered lunch of boiled potatoes, herring, bagels and lox with her husband, 73-year-old Morris Sokoloff.

The couple has made the trip “once or twice” to the Costa Mesa campus, dedicated in 1995 after five years of planning, but finds it too far. The Ezra Center provides an opportunity for retired people to exercise, study, and just plain socialize with other Jews.

“I’m a life-long learner,” said Claire Brown, 63, of Anaheim, who has participated in the weekly “Finding God” discussion series, based on a book of writings by Jewish philosophers. “The friendliness and interaction of seeing the same people time after time--it’s made a difference. I like the warmth.”

The Ezra Center is staffed entirely by volunteers, except kosher caterer Anita Muchnikoff, who keeps meat and milk products strictly separate in accordance with Jewish law.

“This is the North County saying we have a need, and we’re providing this in response to that need,” said center chairman Silverman, 62, who is also president of the umbrella Ruth M. Kahn Center--the senior center run out of the Costa Mesa campus.

“What we’ve demonstrated by the turnout is there truly was a need,” he said. “Now, how do we make this thing truly live? The roots are shallow.”

The center opened after 2 1/2 years of laborious planning, said Silverman, a retired aerospace engineer who now devotes all his time to the center and leads the “Looking for God” discussions.

Silverman had approached the Ruth M. Kahn Center for help in establishing a North County branch, but the center had few resources of its own and was still getting established in Costa Mesa. Instead, about 25 people from the Jewish community came together last April to forge the North County center on their own.

Rather than funnel precious funds into a new center, Silverman reasoned, the Jewish community should use the synagogues already built and supported by fellow Jews. “After morning prayer and before afternoon Hebrew schools begin, these large facilities remain unused,” he said.

Last September, the group received $10,000 from the Jewish Federation of Orange County, which is also housed at the Costa Mesa campus and acts as the funding lifeline to the county’s Jewish community as well as Jewish causes abroad. That accounts for about 20% of the center’s budget, Silverman said.

The Ezra Center now operates as a satellite of the Costa Mesa center, as will the Fullerton center, Silverman said. Volunteers are eager to hear from residents who want to attend the Ezra Center but need a ride, as well as those wishing to provide transportation to those who can’t drive, he said.

For Goldie and David Garfield of Seal Beach, ages 77 and 85, the Ezra Center is just a short drive away. The couple has attended regularly, she for the Scrabble games and he for poker. The buffet spread is also a draw.

“Thank God we can still eat nicely,” said Goldie Garfield, laughing. “It’s something to be very grateful for.”