Family of Monica Lewinsky belongs to California temple

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25 (JTA) — Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern alleged to have had an affair with President Clinton, is the daughter of a prominent Los Angeles Jewish physician. Dr. Bernard S. Lewinsky and Monica’s mother, Marcia, joined Sinai Temple, an upscale West Los Angeles Conservative synagogue, in the mid-1970s, and Monica later attended the temple’s religious school. The Lewinsky family holds a current membership at the temple. Monica grew up in Beverly Hills, Calif., and attended Beverly Hills High School, which is fictionally portrayed on the television show “Beverly Hills 90210.” She then transferred to Bel Air Prep, an exclusive private school from which she graduated in 1991. Monica attended a junior college in Santa Monica, Calif., and then transferred to Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., from which she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1995. The New York Times reported that Monica’s former neighbors in Portland described her as an outgoing young woman who studied a lot and babysat for families in the neighborhood. Dr. Lewinsky, now married to his second wife, Barbara, is an oncologist who lives in the upscale neighborhood of Brentwood in West Los Angeles. He is affiliated with the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and the UCLA Medical Center, and maintains private offices in Sherman Oaks and West Hills, two San Fernando Valley communities in suburban Los Angeles. Monica showed her support for the Democratic Party in 1996, when she donated $250 to its coffers. Her mother contributed $1,000 to the Democratic National Committee the same year.