David Lehrer, a longtime leader for Los Angeles' Jewish community and an advocate for civil rights, died at his home on Wednesday at the age of 75.
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Lehrer's first step into community advocacy came when he left his life at a law firm to serve as civil rights counsel for the Anti-Defamation League's Los Angeles Branch, later becoming the director of its Pacific-Southwest Region. After being an outspoken leader in combatting antisemitism and bigotry for 27 years at the ADL, with achievements such as helping draft the first hate crimes laws for California, Lehrer co-founded Community Advocates, Inc. (CAI) in 2002 with his friend Joe Hicks.
Community Advocates' mission was to improve civic engagement and ethnic relations between the diverse communities in Southern California. Since its conception, the group has been able to create civil dialogues and partner with local organizations to do just that, with LAist — at the time KPCC — being one of the many outlets to collaborate with Lehrer.
Longtime host Larry Mantle has been a contemporary and friend of Lehrer's. To begin the Oct. 26 broadcast of his long-running LAist 89.3 program AirTalk, Mantle shared this remembrance:
I’ll begin this morning’s program with the terrible news I received yesterday. My friend David Lehrer of Community Advocates, Inc. died suddenly yesterday morning at the age of 75. If you didn’t know David personally, you might recognize his name from many guest appearances on AT and from in-person events we co-presented with Community Advocates.
I met David more than 30 years ago, when he was head of the L.A. office of the Anti-Defamation League. He was a tremendous advocate for local Jews, but always measured and evidence-supported in claims he made. It’s not often you hear advocates cite dramatic improvements in areas where they’ve previously raised alarms. But that was David. When antisemitism declined, he celebrated it. That made his credibility all the greater when he expressed concern about rising attacks on Southern California’s Jewish communities.
After his time with ADL, he co-founded Community Advocates, working with L.A. civil rights veteran Joe Hicks. Joe had headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. David’s vision for a next-generation nonprofit to focus on local issues was shared by Joe.
KPCC, as we were then known, collaborated on a series of live events taking on the toughest of those areas of disagreement. David was great at getting top guests and coming up with compelling programs. One of my favorites was a mock negotiation for peace in the Middle East. I negotiated live between the then-consul general from Israel in L.A. and a leading advocate for Palestinian rights. We reached agreement on a two-state solution with borders they both accepted, transportation corridors between the West Bank and Gaza, and compensation to Palestinians for not exercising a right to return to land that’s now Israel. On our final issue, control of Jerusalem, we couldn’t reach agreement. I worked hard on a compromise, but hit a wall. Nevertheless, it’s one of my proudest moments on this program. The entire concept was David’s.
Since the onset of COVID, David Lehrer’s Community Advocates, Inc. has collaborated with the nonprofit, non-partisan, Jews United for Democracy and Justice on a series of weekly programs with big-name newsmakers. That “America at a Crossroads” series attracts thousands of livestream viewers around the world.
It’s a fitting testament to a man who embodied values I hold in the highest regard. He was a sounding board for me during times of frustration or uncertainty. David was someone I never considered dying. His life force was too strong and the need for his work too great.
David leaves behind a family and longtime friends who would each attest to his tremendous effect on their lives. He’s given so much to this region’s intellectual and moral life. I can’t thank him enough, nor fully express my sense of loss.
Following Hicks's death in 2016 and a volatile political climate after the 2016 presidential election, Lehrer would then help found Jews United for Democracy and Justice in 2017. Promoting civil discourse, the organization saw Lehrer work with local leaders in journalism and politics to create conversations that folks of any background could listen to. His colleagues still carry on Lehrer's legacy, with their Thursday broadcast being an example of the effect he had on the community, with many local leaders coming together for not only a discussion but a collective grieving.
David's funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Ariella, their four children and nine grandchildren.
