A Sold-Out Crowd Gathered for Jewish Silicon Valley's Annual Fundraiser, Powering Hope
Bringing together leaders and community members from across Silicon Valley.
Special guest, Mayim Bialik, shared touching and relatable stories of her Jewish upbringing, including the impact that federation summer camp scholarships had on shaping her Jewish foundation. Bialik also shared her journey navigating antisemitism in her roles as a famous actor, author, and neuroscientist.
Jewish Silicon Valley's Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Klein, announced that the organization has raised a transformative and significant 70% of its additive, three-year, $6.5 million fundraising goal. These funds will fuel Jewish Silicon Valley's commitment to supporting mission-driven initiatives, community collaboration, and inspiring the next generation of Jewish leaders.
"These funders put this money forward to show their belief in our work, our community, our mission and our plan to strengthen the community. Together we can chart a better path forward for our community and our children."
-Daniel Klein, CEO, Jewish Silicon Valley
J.
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MEMBERS Liz Berman, Alex Bernstein, Mark W. Bernstein (imm. past president), David Cornfield, Alexandra Corvin, Rabbi Joey Felsen, Howard Fine, Inna Gartsman, Alia Wechsler Gorkin, Samantha Grant, Steve Katz, Susan Libitzky, Rabbi Deborah Newbrun, Susan Sasson, Harmon Shragge, Peter Waldman
PAST PRESIDENTS Marc Berger, Lou Haas, Jon Kaufman, Dan Leemon, Adam Noily, Lory Pilchik, William I. Schwartz
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NEWS | EVENTS | PEOPLE
Haas Fund ends Jewish grants, adds anti-Zionist org to its list
EMMA GOSS | J. STAFF
The S.F.-based Walter and Elise Haas Fund, a major grantmaker to local and national Jewish nonprofits over the past 70 years, is winding down millions of dollars in annual grants focused on what it called “Jewish life.”
The change is part of an overhaul of the fund’s philanthropic approach in the last few years, which includes empowering young adults in the grantmaking decision process.
Now, a $100,000 grant to a San Francisco-based organization known for its strident anti-Zionist activism, chosen by the young adult fellowship, is angering some in the Jewish community — including the Jewish organizations whose funding has ended, or soon will.
The grant to the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) is counter to a central tenet held by the mainstream Jewish community — namely, solid support for Israel, and opposition to those who promote the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
AROC is an unsparing critic of Israel, accusing it of white
“This foundation went from funding bridgebuilding and protecting the Jewish future, to funding the arsonists trying to burn it down.”
Tye Gregory, CEO, JCRC Bay Area
supremacy, colonialism and, since Oct. 7 of last year, genocide. Its executive director, Lara Kiswani, encouraged activists to help “overcome Zionism” at the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit in May.
Naomi Tucker, executive director of Shalom Bayit, the Bay Area’s Jewish domestic violence prevention organization and a recipient of Haas Fund grants since 2001, said the choice to award AROC with a $100,000 grant gives the group more than financial backing. It’s an endorsement of AROC as an organization, she said.
“When you fund them, you are lending credibility,” said Tucker, whose nonprofit received its final $100,000 grant from the Haas Fund earlier this year.
Tucker calls AROC a proponent of violence and hate speech against Jews and Israel.
“We have seen the violence against the Jewish community that they have perpetrated and perpetuated since Oct. 7,” Tucker told J. “I don’t understand how anyone couldn’t see that.”
Tye Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, a multiyear recipient of Haas grants, told J. that the Haas Fund had done a “good job telling the community” that Jewish life grants were ending.
However, he considers the choice to fund AROC as a major “flip” in the fund’s values.
“This foundation went from funding bridge-building and protecting the Jewish future, to funding the arsonists trying to burn it down,” he said.
The Haas Fund declined to comment on Jewish community concerns, but did affirm its choice about the grants made to AROC and other groups.
“These grants reflect our commitment to bridge-building, inclusion, and advancing social justice across diverse communities, demonstrating our ongoing dedication to the values Walter and Elise championed — values that guide every decision we make,” a communications strategist wrote in a Dec. 9 email to J.
The Haas family has deep roots in San Francisco’s Jewish community.
Walter Haas Sr. was president and later chairman of Levi Strauss and Co. He joined the company in 1919 after marrying Elise Stern, a relative of Levi Strauss.
In total, the fund “exited” 112 grantees this year in the arts, Jewish life and racial justice categories. The Anti-Defamation League was among them.
“ADL is grateful for the many years of funding,” Marc Levine, director of the organization’s Central Pacific Region, told J. “Its grants have built the foundation upon which we are fighting antisemitism in the crisis we find ourselves in today.”
The Haas Fund, likewise, has been a critical financial backer for local and progressive nonprofit organizations, including Wilderness Torah, Jewish Youth for Community
Both Walter and Elise Haas were benefactors of the Jewish community, in addition to other causes like the city’s parks and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Walter Haas, who died in 1979, contributed to the Jewish Welfare National Fund, according to the fund’s website, Elise, who died in 1990, became the first female president of the board of directors of Mt. Zion Hospital, founded by San Francisco’s Jewish community in 1887.
Since 2019, the Haas Fund granted more than $11 million in the Jewish life category, according to its website.
In November 2023, however, the foundation announced it would “pause” accepting applications and awarding grants in several areas, including for Jewish life.
“The Fund is undergoing a strategic refresh of its programmatic work and has paused grantmaking in its Arts, Jewish Life, and Racial Justice program areas. This year, the Fund awarded $1,580,000 to Jewish organizations and $320,000 to interfaith organizations, including Muslim groups,” the communications strategist told J. in the Dec. 9 email.
Action, Shalom Bayit, Urban Adamah and dozens of other organizations across faiths that align with the Haas Fund’s mission “to help build a healthy, just, and vibrant society in which people feel connected to and responsible for their community.”
The fund’s “strategic refresh” has simultaneously included opening “possibility grants” earlier this year, aimed at providing $100,000 to each of 10 Bay Area organizations “deemed essential to building a more just and equitable society and actively working to challenge systems of oppression,” according to a Haas Fund press release.
The fund announced the 10 recipients of its possibility grants in October. The recipients were chosen not by the Haas Fund board, but by a small group of Bay Area Youth Fellows described in the press release as individuals ages 18-24 “who identify as BIPOC with lived experiences.” (BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous or people of color.)
The fellows reviewed 177 applications, according to an email viewed by J. They ultimately picked a range of
The Arab Resource and Organizing Center, protesting at Port of Oakland on Nov. 1, 2023, was granted $100,000 by the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. (COURTESY AROC)
Alameda County policy will advance BDS, opponents say
MAYA MIRSKY | J. STAFF
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has voted to move forward with an “ethical investment policy,” one that opponents say will advance efforts to divest from companies doing business with Israel.
The decision, which directs the county treasurer to write the policy, passed unanimously on Dec. 10.
During discussion before the vote, treasurer Henry Levy dropped a surprise announcement that he had in fact already made the first divestment — from Caterpillar, the U.S. construction equipment maker that has long been a target of the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
BDS supporters accuse Texas-based Caterpillar of selling machinery to Israel that the military uses to raze Palestinian-owned buildings and homes in the West Bank and Gaza. Although Levy did not explicitly say why he selected the company for divestment, he cited a policy from the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment calling for “heightened due diligence when conflict is occurring.”
“Alameda County has a longtime history of aligning our investment decisions with our values,” Supervisor Keith Carson said at the Dec. 10 meeting. “Many people point to South Africa, but also Burma in 1996, so this is not a new endeavor.”
It was Carson who introduced the recommendation, which says the treasurer will develop an investment policy that “reflects our county’s core values of sustainability, social responsibility, and compassion.” It also states that “companies with a persistent record of direct involvement in severe human rights violations, such as war crimes, apartheid and crimes against humanity” might fit “exclusion criteria.”
At least 100 pro-Palestinian activists, many wearing kaffiyehs, dominated the board room and the overflow room. They
used the time for public comments to support Carson’s recommendation, as well as to accuse Israel of a host of evils, including genocide and white supremacy.
Along with general comments, there was emotional and ugly rhetoric — the kind that has become commonplace in public meetings over cease-fire resolutions and
positions have already been sold.”
Levy also discussed his position more broadly, taking a personal tone.
“Because this involves the issue of Israel and Judaism, I would like to have a moment of personal privilege as the only Jewish elected official for the County of Alameda,” he said. “I feel a great sorrow that
measures condemning Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the start of the war in Gaza.
Levy, who has been the county’s treasurer and tax collector since 2017, told the supervisors that his decision to divest from Caterpillar fell under an existing investment policy from 2020 that allows the county to consider “socially responsible” investments, in addition to financially sensible ones.
“In my opinion, today’s discussion should be about creating better investment policy, not about divestment. However, it is on the table, so let’s get it out: I have initiated the sale of three bonds of the Caterpillar Corp.,” Levy said. “Two of our three
long histories of trauma have triggered fear, still trigger fear, and other emotions when issues like this emerge.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations celebrated the board’s vote, saying in a press release that it followed “months of advocacy” by a group called Bay Area Divest.
Israel supporters who attended the meeting described the public comments as an unfair malignment of Israel and a double standard.
Although the recommendation for an ethical investment policy mentions only South Africa and Burma, Israel advocates said it’s clear the policy will single out the Jewish state while ignoring the misdeeds of
many other countries.
“That selective outrage makes me crazy,” Rinat Fried, an Oakland resident who attended the meeting, told J. afterward. “There’s an inconsistency here.”
She called the recommendation an “impulsive, half-baked idea.”
Linda Press Wulf, who attended the meeting and serves on the steering committee of the Jewish Coalition of Berkeley, agreed Israel was being targeted.
“Not one speaker, except us, questioned if this means divesting from China because of the Uyghurs, or divesting from oil-producing countries in the Middle East because of their oppression of women and gays,” Wulf said in an email to J. after the meeting. “Instead, all the speech was ‘f— Israel’ and ‘genocide’ and ‘colonialist apartheid regime.’”
One Israel supporter, who spoke at the meeting over Zoom, said the supervisors had allowed speakers to make extreme accusations against Israel without pushback.
“You should be ashamed to allow this speech to be used in this meeting,” the speaker said. “If you wonder why there’s so few Jews and Israelis in this meeting in person, it’s because of this kind of hate and intimidation tactics that are constantly being used against us.”
Supervisor David Haubert earlier had challenged Levy, noting that Caterpillar is not a weapons manufacturer. Haubert said that he supports an ethical investment policy, but disentangling the Middle East conflict was “above our pay grade.”
“Some people have said that we want to step in and stop Israel in their tracks; other people have said Israel is trying to defend itself; other people have said this is a proxy war between Syria and Iran and all these other things,” he said.
When people booed, Haubert added: “We can agree to disagree, guys. We don’t have to be disagreeable.” n
Historic S.F. family fund winds down Jewish giving, gives $100K to anti-Zionist group
continued from page 3 organizations with a focus on youth leadership in Bay Area communities, including the Anti-Police Terror Project, the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants, Feed Black Futures, Dads Evoking Change and El/La Para TransLatinas.
They also selected AROC, described in the grant press release as a “grassroots membership-based organization working toward racial and economic justice and the dignity and liberation of Arab and Muslim communities.”
AROC has been at the helm of anti-Israel activism, particularly in Bay Area schools, since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war.
In November 2023, AROC led a “block the boat” protest at the Port of Oakland, rallying against U.S. military aid to Israel and causing a U.S. military vessel to delay its voyage. Last school year, AROC also led Oakland and San Francisco public school students in Gaza solidarity walkouts and teach-ins, upsetting Jewish parents.
The Haas Fund was an early and key funder of Dayenu, a national Jewish nonprofit founded in 2020 that seeks to reverse climate change. Dayenu’s current $300,000, threeyear grant ends in 2026.
“One of the things that I really appreciated about their support is that it felt like there was tremendous values-alignment,” Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, CEO and founder
of Dayenu, told J.
When asked if she thinks the philanthropy’s values have changed, Rosenn, based in New York, said she didn’t have enough information to comment. But she remains hopeful “that even as they’re closing their formal Jewish life program, that they will continue to support faith-based social justice work.”
JCRC’s Gregory, meanwhile, said he believes the Haas Fund’s support for AROC signals the beginning of a larger shift at the foundation.
“I’m worried about our work becoming harder because they’re emboldening those trying to undermine us,” he said. n
Anti-Israel activists at the Dec. 10 Alameda County board meeting in Oakland. (SCREENSHOT)
S.F. State alters investment policy after encampment talks
GABE STUTMAN | J. STAFF
Pro-Palestinian activists were celebrating what they considered a win for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement at San Francisco State University this month, even as a top administrator pushed back on some of their claims.
The SF State Foundation, which manages the university’s endowment and oversees a portfolio of upward of $160 million, voted Dec. 12 to approve a new investment policy following monthslong negotiations with campus protesters.
The vote followed more than a year of activism from students and faculty calling on the university to divest from Israel.
The policy does not name Israel or anything related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, it restricts investment in weapons manufacturers and companies that “facilitate or enable severe violations of international law and human rights.”
The vote, which was unanimous with one abstention, according to KQED, followed more than a year of activism
from students and faculty calling on the university to divest from Israel, accusing the country of being a colonial outpost that commits genocide and practices apartheid. Student activists at S.F. State have long pressed for the
university to divest from Israel, but those calls intensified after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
Activists heralded the Dec. 12 vote as a victory.
“Divestment vote passes,” read an Instagram post written in all caps from the General Union of Palestine Students at SFSU. “Following our encampment protesting SF State’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, SF State divested from four human rights abusers,” the post stated. Activists had called on supporters to “pack the meeting” where the vote was held at the Seven Hills Conference Center in San Francisco.
Jeff Jackanicz, president of the SF State Foundation, described private negotiations between the foundation and campus protesters in an interview with J. Jackanicz, who voted in favor of the new policy, said there were “back and forth” discussions between the
continued on page 12
THE CREATIVE SPIRIT OF SAN FRANCISCO
“Watchful altogether”
By Charlotte Boise
Artwork by the Residents of
Students demonstrate at S.F. State on April 29. (AARON LEVY-WOLINS/J. STAFF)
Spotlight on the Community Our Crowd
HAPPENINGS
Members of the organization Sharaka (“partnership” in Arabic) visited the Bay Area in November with the theme “Arabs Learn About the Holocaust: Rising Antisemitism and Peacemaking in the Middle East.” An interfaith event with the Bay Area Jewish Coalition and South Peninsula Hebrew Day School was held on Nov. 20 and attended by 200 people, including Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein. The visitors also met with state elected officials and community leaders and with Chabad SF’s Young Jewish Professionals at a Nov. 22 Shabbat dinner. The Sharaka team is made up of young leaders from Bahrain, Lebanon and Morocco who have become advocates for peace and coexistence in the Arab world.
H0NORS
Daniel Solomon a history Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley, won the 2024 Nathan L. and Suzanne K. Wolfson Merit Award from the Jewish Braille Institute. Solomon is one of five students recognized for their academic achievements and contributions to the Jewish community who are also legally blind and enrolled full time in an accredited college or university. A total of $75,000 in scholarships was awarded to the five winners, with individual awards ranging between $2,500 and $15,000 per year.
“Being Jewish and visually impaired are both constitutive elements of my identity,” said Solomon in a press release. “I strive to serve both of these communities as an academic and a writer in the public sphere.”
Solomon wrote an opinion piece for J. in February titled “Mob violence at UC Berkeley shows free speech doesn’t exist for Zionists,” days after protesters broke into Zellerbach Playhouse where an Israeli attorney and reserve IDF officer had been invited to speak.
Applications for next year’s scholarship are currently open to any college or graduate student who is legally blind, has a strong academic record and has demonstrated engagement with the Jewish community. Apply at wolfsonfund.org
Stanford Taube Center for Jewish Studies announced the achievements of fourth-year graduate student Ariel Horowitz and postdoctoral scholar in Jewish studies Rebecca Glasberg. Horowitz won the Levi Eshkol Literary Award for excellence in Hebrew literary writing. His novel “The Ghost Editor,” a bestseller in Israel, is about a renowned and charismatic academic who has a secret: He trampled over friends and colleagues while climbing his way to the top. Glasberg won the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Award for her literary translation work. The recognition came from the Modern Language Association for translations included in “A Jewish Childhood in the Muslim Mediterranean,” which she edited and annotated, bringing together stories of Jewish writers and intellectuals in the Muslim world.
Danielle Feldman of Santa Rosa, Tory Roman of Piedmont and Tess Wong of Mare Island have been selected for Hadassah’s 2024 class of Evolve Leadership Fellows. The leadership development pro -
left: Sinduja Rangarajan, Peter Waldman, U.N. Ambassador Isabelle Picco of Monaco, who presented the award, and “Water Grab” teammates Coco Liu, Kyle Kim and Elena Mejia at the U.N. Correspondents Association’s black-tie awards gala on Dec. 13. (COURTESY)
gram launched in 2022 to inspire and nurture the next generation of Hadassah leaders. Feldman is a substitute teacher in Sonoma County. She volunteers with A Wider Bridge, the national nonprofit that advances LGBTQ inclusion in Israel; Congregation Shomrei Torah, her Santa Rosa synagogue; and the JCRC Bay Area. She holds a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University and her bachelor’s in integrative biology from UC Berkeley. Roman, who has helped produce a number of NYC theater projects, originated the role of “Pat” in the Broadway hit “Kinky Boots.” She is a member of two unions,
SAG-AFTRA and the Actors’ Equity Association, and has a degree in musical theater from University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music. Wong is a nurse team manager at Kaiser Permanente and a staff nurse at Washington Hospital in Fremont. She is active in the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and holds a BS in nursing.
Bloomberg investigative reporter and J. board member Peter Waldman received the 2024 Prince Albert II of Monaco United Nations Gold Prize for Climate Change Reporting for Bloomberg’s “Water Grab” series. The series investigates how investors are moving to control profit from water sources as climate-fueled droughts become common around the world. Waldman said he and the Bloomberg team “donated the significant cash prize to the Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) to help secure the rights and safety of journalists to cover natural resource extractions by unscrupulous actors everywhere.”
Aliza Craimer Elias of Berkeley, interim CEO of the Institute for Curriculum Services, has been chosen for the Wexner Field Fellowship, a program for young Jewish community professionals who receive guidance on development, education, leadership and Jewish learning. Elias is one of 15 professionals selected from a competitive pool of applicants for the intensive three-year program. She has a master’s degree in modern Jewish studies from Oxford and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Calgary.
“Miri’s Moving Day,” co-authored by Stephanie Wildman of San Francisco and Adam R. Chang of Daly City, has been included in Tablet magazine’s list of best Jewish children’s books of 2024 and the S.F. Chronicle’s holiday gift list of Bay Area-focused kids books. Wildman and Chang decided to write the book after one of Wildman’s grandchildren asked at dinner one night, “Can I be Chinese and Jewish?” n
LEA LOEB | J. STAFF
Daniel Solomon
Tory Roman
Danielle Feldman
Aliza Craimer Elias
Tess Wong
Sharaka panel at South Peninsula Hebrew Day School on Nov. 20. (COURTESY BAJC)
From
THANK YOU FROM THE CJM
A big thank you from all of us at The CJM—the Board of Trustees and Staff— for coming out to enjoy the final weeks before our temporary closure, and for continuing to support The Museum. How fitting to close our galleries with you, our community, manifesting real connection—the very theme of the California Jewish Open! We now look forward to maintaining that bond as we embark on our next phase to reimagine The CJM and return with outstanding art and programs for you again soon.
SUPPORT US DURING THE TRANSITION
ENRICH YOUR MIND
Join Us for a
We believe in the power of art to inspire new ways of thinking, combat intolerance of all kinds, and build a more just, empathetic world. If you do, too, partner with us during our transition, and take an active role in bringing us back stronger and sooner.
Visit thecjm.org/donate to give today.
Tuesday, January 21, 2025 | 7pm at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco General $20; CJM Members $10; info at thecjm.org/events
The CJM and the JCCSF present Adam Gopnik for The CJM’s second annual Marilyn Yolles Waldman Distinguished Speaker Series. Hear the celebrated New Yorker writer and essayist reflect on the profound ways in which Jewish communities have shaped and been shaped by the cities they call home, with a special focus on San Francisco— a place where Jewish ingenuity, resilience, and life have long thrived.
Contemporary Jewish Art: A Guide for the Perplexed
The CJM’s iconic Daniel Libeskind-designed building is one of the most unique cultural landmarks in the city, and it remains available for private rentals.
Make an appointment today with rentals@thecjm.org to see elegant, versatile spaces for b’mitzvah celebrations, weddings, corporate parties, lectures, product demos, film shoots, performances, and so much more. L’Chaim!
Online course Wednesdays, January 22 and 29, 2025 Course Fee $30; CJM Members $15; advance registration required at thecjm.org/events
How does one start to uncover the many possible meanings behind contemporary art? Embark on a unique learning opportunity in partnership with New Lehrhaus and discover how art helps us interpret the world, focusing on works by Jewish artists today.
Shalom means both goodbye and hello! Sign up for our newsletter at thecjm.me/enews, follow us on social media, and stay tuned for more!
Images: 1) Courtesy Bruce Damonte; 2) Courtesy Adam Gopnik; 3) Photo: Gary Sexton Photography; 4–5) Photos: Genevieve Shiffrar
Special Evening with Adam Gopnik on Cities and Jewish Life
Federation hopes a smaller board will make a bigger impact
DAN PINE | CORRESPONDENT
When the new board of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund meets for the first time in January, it might want to use a smaller table.
e S.F.-based Federation is trimming its board from the current 25 to 15. at’s down dramatically from the dozens who in years past routinely sat on the board of the century-old institution.
Everyone behind the change agrees that a leaner board is the right move.
“ is is the first time in 125 years there’s been this kind of change,” said Melissa Blaustein, who will join the board as a new member when it first convenes on Jan. 15. “To be on a board with only 15 members, to have a big impact and to be able to move nimbly is terribly exciting.” e change, announced Dec. 17, is part of the Federation’s strategic plan. Implemented last year, it shi s the nonprofit’s focus from fundraiser and grantmaker to community foundation, emphasizing its philanthropic advisory role.
“Historically, federations have had very large boards,” CEO Joy Sisisky said.
“There are voices of people who have been with the Federation for years, and some who have never been involved.”
Melissa Blaustein, incoming board member
“Sometimes board meetings were like conferences. For us, what’s important is that every member plays a very active role.”
Laura Lauder, the incoming chair, said that with only 15 members, the board “will be totally focused on being responsive and collaborative, on being a convener and catalyst. We are not going to have an executive commi ee. e board is the executive commi ee.”
of people who look like the sta and the people served. It seems that’s what they’re working on.”
was motivated to join the Federation board partly in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel and subsequent torrent of global antisemitic hate.
Renee Rubin Ross, principal of the Berkeley-based Ross Collective, an independent firm that helps nonprofits bolster their boards but does not work with the Federation, sees value in its plan.
“It’s good that the board is smaller,” said Ross, a former program o cer with the S.F.-based Jim Joseph Foundation. “We recommend to our clients that a board should allow a group of people to be able to sit around a table and talk. In terms of diversity, a board should be composed
LOOKING FOR A RABBI
Another feature of the new board is its relative youth. ree of the directors — Blaustein, Aaron Mitchell Finegold and David Friedkin — are under age 40, making it proportionally one of the youngest boards in Federation history.
“As part of our strategic planning, it was important to bring outside voices,” Sisisky added. “Young, diverse and energetic.”
Finegold, 37, is a corporate marketing and communications executive who also sits on the board of S.F. Congregation Emanu-El. e Milwaukee native said he
Kol HaEmek (Voice of the Valley) is a small, warm, and welcoming congregation in beautiful inland Mendocino County.
We are looking for a Rabbi to lead us in the High Holy Days as well as monthly Shabbat services, Torah teaching, and other holidays. We have been serving Mendocino County since the 1970s. We are a diverse congregation that includes interfaith and multicultural families, singles, seniors, gays and lesbians, and participants in other spiritual traditions. If you are interested in learning more about our wonderful community, please contact Sherrie Ebyam, KHE Board President: ebyam@sbcglobal.net or 530-414-1104 (cell).
“ e climate in which we find ourselves is particularly challenging,” Finegold said. “Antisemitism has always been real, but it is felt very deeply and acutely in this moment, both in the Bay Area and the wider world.”
Finegold’s perception is that antisemitism is “overlooked and dismissed,” he said, “and that makes it distinct from forms of discrimination that I have felt as an LGBT individual and Asian American.”
Blaustein, 36, is a technology entrepreneur who currently serves on the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area’s development commi ee. She recently was re-elected to a second four-year term on the Sausalito City Council and, in 2023, became mayor a er fellow councilmembers elected her to a one-year term.
Blaustein said she believes that every Jew “has had to pause and question what it means to be Jewish in a post-Oct. 7 world, supporting each other, supporting tikkun olam and continuing to live out our values. is board is unique in that there are voices of people who have been with the Federation for years, and some who have never been involved. It presents a great opportunity to answer the question of who we are as a Jewish community.”
Among the returning board members with a long history of involvement is Tiburon a orney Michael Jacobs. In the past, he has served as Federation campaign chair, JCRC president and co-chair of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards national selection commi ee. He has also served
Melissa Blaustein
“As part of our strategic planning, it was important to bring outside voices. Young, diverse and energetic.”
Joy Sisisky, Federation CEO
on the Federation’s CEO search commi ee and governance task force. e North Bay native grew up a ending San Rafael’s Congregation Rodef Sholom, where he remains a member, and his children a ended Brandeis Marin.
Jacobs’ community involvement is part of his family legacy. His great-grandfather, Israel Rosenberg, was a prominent Orthodox rabbi who personally pleaded with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943 to help save Europe’s Jews from the Holocaust.
Regarding the landscape for Jews today, Jacobs said he believes “we have a houseon-fire emergency. Ranging from public
schools through university to the nonprofit sector to many areas we didn’t think we had to worry about, we are meeting a crisis of anti-Jewish sentiment. I think that as we meet the emergent needs, we will realize one of the most important things we can do is reinforce Jewish identity.”
ough the board itself is smaller, the Federation is looking for more people to
WITH WEIZMANN AND ISRAEL
participate in several advisory commi ees and subcommi ees, overseeing areas such as governance and leadership; business strategy focused on donor-advised funds and fundraising; and Jewish impact, focused on assessing community needs related to Israel and impact investing.
“ e smaller board enlarges opportunities for people to become much more
involved,” Lauder said. “ at’s one of the biggest di erences on this board compared to boards of the past.”
In addition to Lauder, Jacobs, Blaustein, Finegold and Friedkin, the other board members are vice chair Dan Safier, treasurer Jamie Weinstein, Galia Amram, Barre Cohn, Jennifer Friedman, Lily Kanter, Guy Miasnik, Karen Kaufman Perlman, Dara Pincas and Je rey Zlot.
Lauder already has a sense of the agenda once the new board starts meeting.
“Certainly addressing antisemitism. We are hiring someone to focus exclusively on it, working with JCRC, the ADL and AJC,” she said, referencing the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Commi ee.
“ e other major focus is impact investing. is is how we will reach the next generation from the perspective of a Jewish community foundation,” Lauder said.
Added Sisisky, “ is is a balance of things the Federation has done really well for 150 years and the uncharted territory going forward. All of this is possible only because of the board we have now that has spent the last three years working to see this come to fruition.” ■
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State bar to scrutinize actions of law students at protests
MAYA MIRSKY | J. STAFF
Law students who have taken part in campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war may be subject to “moral character” considerations before they take the California bar exam.
The State Bar of California noted in a report this fall that actions by pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel protesters may come under scrutiny during the “moral character” review, a requirement for anyone who wants to take the bar exam.
“Violence or other conduct that infringes on the rights of others may not be protected by the First Amendment, and is legitimate grounds for inquiry and consideration in the moral character process,” the report states.
The report came out of a request from the bar’s board of trustees in May, addressing the possibility there will be some taking the exam “who received disciplinary action by schools, or were subject to civil lawsuits, criminal arrests, or prosecutions related to their participation in these protests.”
A state bar spokesperson confirmed to J. that it has received “several complaints” from attorneys and the public about suspect behavior of law students who have joined protests over the war since Oct. 7, 2023.
Law students have been vocal and active in local protests, some of which have become violent.
In April, a pro-Palestinian law student interrupted a dinner for graduating students at the home of the UC Berkeley Law dean Erwin Chemerinksy and his wife. Law school graduation in May was repeatedly interrupted by
“Violence or other conduct that infringes on the rights of others may not be protected by the First Amendment, and is legitimate grounds for inquiry.”
From California State Bar report
pro-Palestinian chants. In September, anti-Israel activists left flyers denouncing Berkeley law professor Steven Davidoff Solomon at a class he was teaching. Later that month, a far-right Israeli politician was hounded at a talk hosted at Berkeley Law.
Protesting itself is protected political speech under the First Amendment, Chemerinsky told J., but illegal activity tied to protesting is not.
“Imagine, for example, that a student engages in vandalism as part of a protest, destroying property or injuring others,” he said. Such behavior can be considered in a moral character review for bar exam applicants.
“What is tricky is being sure that it is activity that is not constitutionally protected,” Chemerinsky said.
The basic underpinning for the “moral character” review is to ensure that attorneys practice law ethically once they’re licensed, according to the state bar. The review may be unfamiliar outside of legal circles, but to law students it’s a known
hurdle. Before taking the bar exam, aspiring lawyers must submit a statement offering their character for evaluation.
“‘Good moral character’ includes but is not limited to qualities of honesty, fairness, candor, trustworthiness, observance of fiduciary responsibility, respect for and obedience to the law, and respect for the rights of others and the judicial process,” according to the state bar.
If bar exam applicants have violated campus rules or committed criminal acts, the bar states, reviewers will examine several factors, including the severity and frequency of the actions. Lying about past actions can hurt an applicant.
The report surfaced publicly earlier this month ahead of a Committee of Bar Examiners meeting, where it was discussed. The report’s recommendation that moral character reviews “continue to consider protest-related activity” didn’t require a committee vote because it isn’t a policy change, according to the state bar spokesperson.
The report emphasized that the reviews must look at each case individually and cannot penalize anyone for protected political speech.
“The political beliefs that motivate an applicant’s participation in protests generally are not a proper basis for inquiry in the moral character process,” the report states, and an “applicant’s conduct during protests related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be considered without regard to the applicant’s political motivations.” n
S.F. State ends weapons investments, but no support for BDS
continued from page 5
student activists and administration over the summer. e protesters repeatedly called on the foundation to cut all ties with Israel as part of the boyco divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, but Jackanicz said the foundation refused to do so.
“ ey would come to us with certain demands,” he said Dec. 13. “We would push back and say we're not willing to entertain BDS as a possibility, nor are we willing to do anything that would essentially be a proxy for BDS.”
He added that there were “some areas where we do think we could make some changes that are consistent with our existing value set.”
Jackanicz characterized the decision on weapons manufacturers as a modest one that is “industry standard” among portfolio managers concerned with ethical investing.
“ e investment commi ee and I deliberated about it and decided that it was consistent with the values of the institution and the foundation,” he said.
Like at scores of universities across the country, pro-Palestinian students at S.F. State assembled a tent encampment over the spring to protest the war in Gaza. Roughly a week later, administrators began negotiating with protest leaders.
On May 6, seated on a folding chair ringed by more than a hundred student and faculty activists, SFSU
“They would come to us with certain demands. We would push back and say we’re not willing to entertain BDS as a possibility, nor are we willing to do anything that would essentially be a proxy for BDS.”
Je Jackanicz, president, SF State Foundation
President Lynn Mahoney and two other administrators listened to their concerns. Mahoney told the group that while the university would not entertain “region-specific” investment changes, she was open to a conversation about changing the investment policy “to be er align with our role as an agent of social justice.”
Activists viewed the foundation’s decision this week as the culmination of their e orts.
e foundation has already begun the process of unwinding its weapons investments, Jackanicz told J.
Over the summer, it divested from Maryland-based aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin, Italian
aerospace company Leonardo and Denver-based defense so ware maker Palantir. Jackanicz estimated the foundation’s holdings in those companies to have been “in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
e foundation also divested this summer from Caterpillar, a Texas-based heavy machinery company targeted by BDS activists. Jackanicz said the company was dropped because of its excessive carbon footprint — not because it sells equipment to Israel’s military.
Marc Dollinger, an SFSU Jewish studies professor who has been a supporter of the administration’s handling of campus protests, said that in his view, the foundation had sidestepped activists’ demands.
“I don’t see a single thing S.F. State passed which could be seen, in any way, as BDS,” he told J. a er the vote.
Regarding the protesters’ call for the university to divest from Israel, Dollinger added, “ ey got to make their case to the foundation board. ey made their case. e foundation board rejected it.”
Dollinger said he sees the foundation’s decision as aligned with the character of S.F. State, long a center of social justice.
“What happened is they did human rights screens, screens that I think any social justice-oriented university would do. Sure, San Francisco State University is not going to invest in weapons manufacturers. at’s a very S.F. State thing to do,” he added. “It has nothing to do with Israel.” ■
Oct. 7 pushed Silicon Valley Israeli expats out of their bubble
JUDY MALTZ | HAARETZ
Like many Israelis who descended on Silicon Valley at the start of the high-tech boom, Hagit and Oded Shekel were planning to stay for only two years. Nearly 25 years and four children later, they are still here.
And like many of their fellow expats, the Shekels have lived, for most of this time, in an Israeli bubble. They speak Hebrew at home, socialize mainly with other Israelis, send their children to the Israeli Scouts movement and make sure to take in every Israeli show that comes to town.
"We still get our news about what is happening here in the U.S. from the Israeli media," says Hagit.
Not surprisingly, they hardly ever took an interest in local politics.
"We've been living in Sunnyvale for the past 14 years and had no idea even where the city council building was located or what it looked like," she admits.
That all changed a few weeks after Oct. 7, 2023, when the Shekels discovered that their mayor, along with several city council members, had signed a declaration condemning Israel for its actions in Gaza.
Equipped with Israeli flags, they staged a protest at the next city council meeting and brought along their Israeli friends and neighbors. From then on, they began showing up at every city council meeting.
"Nothing like this had ever happened before," recounts Hagit.
More than a year after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel, Jewish communities around the world are still reeling. But for Israeli expats, it has been an even bigger shock to the system. Not only because they are more likely to have known the victims, but, having been born and raised in a country where Jews are the majority, most of them had never encountered antisemitism before Oct. 7.
An estimated 40,000 Israelis live in Silicon Valley — the largest concentrations in Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Cupertino and Los Altos. Many of them, like the Shekels, arrived in the area on short-term relocation assignments and ended up staying. They give the region its moniker of “Silicon Wadi,” “wadi” meaning “valley” in Hebrew.
Among Israeli expat communities situated across the globe, Silicon Valley is perhaps the largest, most affluent and most successful.
Silicon Valley and the larger Bay Area are also known for very progressive politics — virtually synonymous these days with pro-Palestinian activism. Since Oct. 7, many of the anti-Israel resolutions passed in city councils across the country and many of the complaints about antisemitism in the public school system have originated here.
"As Israelis we're very familiar with terrorism, but not with antisemitism," notes expat Guy Miasnik, a tech investor and entrepreneur who also sits on the board of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. "Suddenly, we're getting exposed to it in our kids' schools, on their campuses and in city councils. So, for the first time I can remember, you have Israelis here in Silicon Valley becoming active in local politics."
Miasnik, who has been living in the Bay Area for nearly 25 years, describes the level of grassroots activism he has witnessed among local Israelis this past year as "unprecedented."
"These are people who before Oct. 7 had no idea what a school district or what a school board was," he says. "I mean these things don't exist in Israel. And suddenly they're
showing up at school board meetings and city council meetings and making lots of noise."
Ronit Jacobs, who runs the Israel department at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, moved to Mountain View with her American husband and three children 23 years ago. She helped set up the afternoon Hebrew-language school at the JCC that now serves 650 students, primarily children of Israelis, and has branches around the region.
"On Oct. 7, secular Israelis here suddenly understood that we are Jewish," she says. “It's not like growing up in Israel where you get your Judaism in the air and in the water. In Israel, you don't need to work on being Jewish."
She adds, "Oct. 7 was when we understood, whether American or Israeli, that we Jews are all in this together. We have experienced a big awakening this past year."
Ella Segev, a 16-year-old high school student, moved to Palo Alto with her family when she was 9. A few weeks after Oct. 7, she relays, a classmate came up in the school corridor and, to her utter astonishment, said, "Fuck the Jews."
"I was absolutely shocked," she recalls. "That's when I decided I needed to take action. So, I started showing up at school board and city council meetings to try to explain to local politicians what Jewish and Israeli students like me were going through." She eventually landed a private meeting with the mayor.
"I had never been an activist before," says Segev. "Before Oct. 7, I was just your average Israeli kid doing Passover and fasting on Yom Kippur. But what happened that day changed my life."
It was the shock of Oct. 7 that prompted Hagit and Oded Shekel, who until then had rarely mingled with
“On Oct. 7, secular Israelis here suddenly understood that we are Jewish. We understood, whether American or Israeli, that we Jews are all in this together. “
Ronit Jacobs, Oshman Family JCC
Jewish Americans, to seek out their company. "We realized we were all in this together and that by joining forces, we could affect change," says Hagit.
The couple founded the Bay Area Jewish Coalition, a grassroots association of Israelis and Jewish Americans committed to fighting anti-Israel and antisemitic initiatives in local councils and public schools. In typical Israeli fashion, it uses WhatsApp groups to mobilize members into action. According to Hagit, thousands have joined these WhatsApp groups over the past year.
"This was a first-of-its-kind partnership between local Jews and Israelis, with Israelis leading the way," notes Miasik, who helped win Federation funding for the coalition.
For many of the Israelis who have relocated here over the past few decades, the survival of their homeland was always taken as a given. In many ways, Oct. 7 and its aftermath have blasted that assumption apart.
"Most of us grew up in a world where Israel was a strong and stable place, and with all our love for the country and our attachment to its people, we didn't feel we needed to continue investing in the Zionist project," says Miasik. "What Oct. 7 taught us is that the Zionist project is not over and that there's still lots of work to be done."
Events of the past year have also caused many Israelis here to question where they see their future.
"On the one hand, you have those who feel they want to be back in Israel because that's where their family and friends are, and they even have guilt pangs about being so far away at a time like this," says Miasik. "On the other hand, I also talk to Israelis who are in absolute despair about what's happening in the country and feel they have no place to return to."
Oded Shekel doesn’tt know of many Israelis in Silicon Valley who are thinking of going back, but he knows of quite a few contemplating a move to other parts of the U.S.
"California has become too progressive for them," he says. "Israelis I know who have kids in middle school here in the Bay are telling me there's no way they're going to send them to high school out here."
"I don't remember anything like this ever coming up before," he adds. "I mean there are definitely Israelis who have left because life is too expensive here, but because their kids are having a difficult time in school being Jewish?” n
This article first appeared in Haaretz and is reprinted with permission.
Oded and Hagit Shekel, Israeli expats living in Sunnyvale, have become involved in local politics. (JUDY MALTZ)
THE YEAR IN IMAGES
Photos by Aaron Levy-Wolins
It was a complicated, di cult year for many Bay Area Jews. Documenting much of it was Aaron Levy-Wolins, who joined J. as sta photographer just over a year ago. We kept Aaron busy running here and there, crossing bridges and a ending events to capture images for stories showing campus protests, ba les over cease-fire resolutions, strife in schools, expressions of grief, love of music and more. Here is Bay Area Jewish life in 2024, as seen through some of Aaron’s best photos. — David A.M. Wilensky
▲Frayda Gonshor Cohen (right) tearfully hugs Elana Naftalin-Kelman during a memorial service for Hersh Goldberg-Polin at Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley on Sept. 1. Goldberg-Polin, who was born in Berkeley and grew up in Israel, was among the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. He was killed in captivity in Gaza on Aug. 31, prompting memorial services around the Bay Area, including at Beth Israel, the synagogue his family attended before moving to Israel.
▲Rebecca Feigelson, seen at her Oakland home with her children Jacob and Leia, moved her son out of Oakland’s school district and into Piedmont’s after anti-Zionist statements made by the Oakland Educators Association teachers union. J. broke the news in January that dozens of Jewish families were taking their kids out of Oakland schools, and we followed similar stories at school districts around the region all year.
Dorothea Dorenz (center) argues with pro-Palestinian demonstrators who surround supporters of Israel during a Berkeley City Council meeting on March 26. This was one of many local governmental meetings we covered this year, as politicians and activists sought to pass resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and measures divesting from companies that do business in Israel. Some were successful, others not so much.
(Sta writer Maya Mirsky is still maintaining and updating our map of local cease-fire measures at tinyurl.com/ceasefire-map.)
Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco had a chance to welcome organists from around the world on June 30 for the opening event of the American Guild of Organists convention. The synagogue had just completed the first phase of a major renovation of its historical 3,500-pipe organ.
Though pro-Palestinian protests and encampments dominated the national news, there were also pro-Israel rallies in response. On May 12 at Stanford, students and local community members marched across campus to show their solidarity with Israel and with Jewish students who felt the campus culture had turned on them.
This composite photo of Ari Kligman shows the Sacramento State Hornets star player winding up for a pitch at John Smith Field in Sacramento on Sept. 16. Ari and his younger brother Elie are Orthodox Jews and do not play or practice on Shabbat. They told J. the team has gone out of its way to accommodate their religious needs.
▼Sirgout Aga Badana, owner and chef of Desta Ethiopian Cafe in Oakland, prepares a platter of food shortly after the restaurant became kosher certified in January. As a vegan eatery, it was easy enough for Rabbi Gershon Albert of Congregation Beth Jacob in Oakland and Rabbi Yonatan Cohen of Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley to declare it kosher, making it one of increasingly few kosher joints in the Bay Area.
▼Drummer Mohini Vora (left) and oud player Sirvan Manhoobi practice a multilingual musical rendition of Hannah Szenes’ poem “Eli, Eli” in Oakland on Nov. 7. They were rehearsing for Singing Together, a benefit concert for Israeli and Palestinian organizations that help with food needs and women and children a ected by the war, held at Mission Dolores in San Francisco on Nov. 24.
SENIOR LIFE
Redefining normal: Our ageist beliefs are holding us back
DR. ADRIENNE GREEN | GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
Dr. Adrienne Green is CEO of the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living, which includes the Frank Residences, the Jewish Home and Rehabilitation Center and the Jewish Home and Senior Living Foundation.
As CEO of the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living serving over 500 patients and residents on any given day, I take pride in treating older adults with the high-quality care, dignity and respect they deserve.
As a physician, I ground my approach in compassion, data and evidence-based practices. As a Jew, I hold deeply to the values and tradition of honoring our elders. These perspectives inform my work — and fuel my frustration with ageist attitudes that persist in our society, even among older adults.
My 85-year-old father struck a nerve recently when he asked, referring to assisted living, “Where do the normal people live?” His friend who lives in a senior community chimed in, “We don’t eat in the dining room. It’s for people with walkers and wheelchairs.”
Their comments reflect a stigma I encounter too often — fear and judgment of aging itself. My first response was to take a big breath and let the comments pass. But when it came up again, I felt compelled to respond: “Everyone in our community is perfectly normal, as are the people eating in your dining room or needing a walker or experiencing memory loss.”
In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but think how deeply rooted and offensive this ageist mindset is and wondered, “What will you think when you find yourself needing a walker one day?”
I don’t mean to criticize my wonderful father or his friend, as their sentiments echo those of many older adults. Perhaps this is driven by the fact that adults over 40 feel much younger than their actual age. Our society’s reluctance to fully embrace aging often leads to resistance toward therapeutic interventions, like mobility and hearing aids. This hesitation also delays critical conversations and timely visits to explore senior living communities. If we are to truly honor and respect our elders, we need to shift our thinking.
Understanding some facts about aging helps set the stage. Let’s start with current statistics circulating among geriatric specialists about mobility:
• 80% of people over the age of 85 struggle with mobility, and 40% in this age group use a mobility aid such as a cane, walker or wheelchair.
• 50% of those over 80 experience falls each year.
• There are tactics to improve mobility and prevent falls, such as strength and balance training or tai chi, which has been shown to reduce fall risk by 43%.
It is well-documented that hearing loss can lead to social isolation, depression and cognitive decline:
• Hearing loss affects 40% of those in their 70s — and 80% of people over 85.
• Despite evidence that hearing aids have been shown to improve social and cognitive outcomes, 67% to 86% of those who could benefit aren’t using them.
Memory loss, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia exist along a spectrum:
• Memory loss is part of the natural progression of aging. MCI occurs in 10% to 15% of those between ages 70 and 79 — and 25% of those between 80 and 84.
• 25% to 45% of people who are 85 and older have dementia.
• Exercise is not only important for balance but also reduces the risk of cognitive decline.
• There are medications and non-pharmacologic therapies (music, for example) to manage symptoms of dementia.
There are other examples of changes that accompany normal aging, but these three — mobility, hearing and cognitive function — are core and provide much fodder for the stigmas that we observe.
We need to shift the narrative away from seeing someone as “broken” if they use a walker or hearing aids or have trouble remembering their medications. We should promote evidence-based interventions, such as assisted-listening devices, that mitigate the negative impact of hearing loss. Likewise, we should champion advanced medications and care techniques shown to improve function and quality of life for those with MCI and dementia.
times. These moments of celebration and collective care reflect our Jewish values of community, compassion and excellence. That isn’t something to fear, but rather to admire and strive for.
I read about a Hasidic master who said, “Jews are forbidden to feel old.” My dad would certainly subscribe to this wisdom. Let’s create a new paradigm where older adults in
We need to shift the narrative away from seeing someone as “broken” if they use a walker or hearing aids or have trouble remembering their medications.
Similarly, I hope that senior living facilities, where these interventions are ingrained, can be seen as places where people can thrive with purpose and joy, thanks to high-quality health care, exceptional caregiving and enriching programs.
The realities of aging are not deficiencies. They are opportunities to leverage tools and programs that enhance independence and connection. (There is also a great opportunity for innovation here.) Research shows that senior living communities improve quality of life, health outcomes and daily functioning. I see this every day.
Older adults, sporting both walkers and hearing aids, are connecting over meals, spending time with family, playing cards, studying Torah, creating amazing works of art and engaging in fitness and performing arts activities. They rejoice together and support each other through difficult
our community are not defined by age but by their incredible insight. Let’s ensure they feel valued, respected and acknowledged for what they bring to our lives because, as we all know, aging is a gift that not everyone is granted. n
Upcoming events at SFCJL
Lunch & Learn: Normalizing Aging—Dr. Adrienne Green discusses how to reframe aging as a natural, enriching part of life. She will offer a fresh perspective on aging and provide tools to enhance independence and well-being. At Frank Residences of the S.F. Campus for Jewish Living, 1 Avalon Ave. 12 p.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8. Free, registration required. bit.ly/ sfcjl_lunchandlearn
Social Connection as Medicine—Dr. Carla Perissinotto, UCSF geriatrician, will discuss how social interactions provide stimulation, combat feelings of isolation and contribute to a sense of purpose and belonging as people age. S.F. Campus for Jewish Living, 302 Silver Ave. 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30. Free, registration required. bit.ly/sfcjl_socialconnection
Residents and a staff member at the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living make challah during the High Holidays. (COURTESY)
Just in time for holiday enjoyment or gifting, we are offering a celestial deal on our acclaimed wine:
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$70 (normally $100), and $35 from each bottle sold will be donated to J.
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THIS HANUKKAH SEASON, SERVE YOUR GUESTS AND YOUR COMMUNITY.
Alone on a holiday? Swallow your pride and reach out
ACT TWO JANET SILVER GHENT
When I was a teenager without a date for Dec. 31, the song “What Are You Doing New Year’s?” would set my misery into motion.
My very worst New Year’s Eve was spent as a 20-year-old student in London’s chilly Euston Station waiting for a train I thought my boyfriend was riding. He wasn’t. Co ee with a proverbial milk skin and Cockney shouts of “’Appy new year, luv!” magnified my melancholy.
I remember all too well other times I faced the prospect of a holiday alone.
Some 30 years ago, a er a divorce and no place to go for anksgiving, I contemplated wallowing in sorrowful music. ink “All By Myself,” li ed from Rachmanino ’s Second Piano Concerto. My children were celebrating with their father’s family. My brother and my parents were visiting cousins in New Hampshire.
Finally, I swallowed my pride, phoned old friends and scored an invitation. My hosts, in turn, asked if I could pick up their grandson from the Oakland airport, which was minutes from my home, so we both did mitzvahs.
Asking can be humbling, as it involves admi ing need. Yet humility is no shame. In fact, it is a soul trait in Mussar, the Jewish ethical tradition. at lesson came home to me in a children’s book I reviewed for this publication in the mid-1990s called “What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street.”
Zeesie, a young girl in an immigrant neighborhood, a ends her first “package party,” a community potluck. A er dinner, she sneaks into the private “money room” in the back of the reception hall, expecting to find a treasure chest. While hiding, she discovers that the guests contribute to the money box or take what they need. Struck by the tears of a needy family friend, Zeesie adds her own gi money.
About 20 years ago, my second husband, Allen, and I decided to start hosting New Year’s Eve parties for folks who needed a place to celebrate.
Asking can be humbling, as it involves admitting need. Yet humility is no shame.
We began by hiring a pianist and inviting dateless friends to join us in singing in the new year. Over the course of two decades, folks arrived solo, coupled or in groups. Some dressed in jeans, others wore holiday finery. Our only proviso: What comes in with you goes out with you, whether it’s your dip or your date.
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Unfortunately, our event became a victim of its success. e growing guest list — with friends inviting friends — outgrew the size of our house.
At our last New Year’s Eve event in 2018, just weeks a er we returned from a trip to ailand, Allen was beset by what I thought was lingering jetlag. He slept while I put up the balloons, he slept while I arranged the food and drinks, and he slept during part of the party. A er that experience, which turned out to be an electrolyte imbalance, I put that party to bed.
Yes, hosting is a mitzvah. ink of Abraham opening his tent to visitors. ese days, when friends ask if we have room at our anksgiving or Passover table, we try to accommodate them. But there may come a point when we will need to recognize our limitations.
Such a recognition happened to my friend Kathy, who used to invite fellow choir members without plans to a end her Christmas dinner party. But a few years ago, Covid-19 and other considerations put an end to those open invitations. Now she and her husband enjoy Christmas dinner at a restaurant.
Fortunately, Allen and I have alternate plans for Dec. 25. His daughter includes us in her annual Christmas pajama party.
New Year’s Eve will be a di erent story. In our age bracket, big parties are a thing of the past. is year we may spend the night at a San Francisco hotel and a end a cabaret performance, as we did a couple of years ago. Or we may toast 2025 at home with a glass of champagne. It doesn’t ma er that much anymore.
On Feb. 13, Allen and I will celebrate the 25th anniversary of our wedding, which took place because a South Bay engineer answered my quirky ad in the then-Jewish Bulletin. Erev Valentine’s Day eclipses any New Year’s Eve for me. ■
Janet Silver Ghent, a retired senior editor at J., is the author of “Love Atop a Keyboard: A Memoir of Late-life Love.” She lives in Palo Alto and can be reached at ghentwriter@ gmail.com.
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I made a diagnostic error, and my patient reported me
HEALTH DR. JERRY SALIMAN
I had only been working at Kaiser for a few months in the early 1980s when a 60-year-old woman, whom I will call Ruth, came to my office saying she’d had right upper abdominal pain for one day.
It wasn’t severe, but she informed me that it was the same kind of pain that prompted the removal of her gallbladder a year ago. She was concerned that she was having another gallbladder attack. I told her that her pain could not be due to her gallbladder since it was no longer there and that most likely her pain was due to acid reflux.
I prescribed a medication to reduce stomach acid and advised her to go to the emergency department if her pain got worse. Well, the next day her pain did get worse. She went to the ER, and it was determined she needed emergency surgery.
The surgeon called me to say she had a condition called choledocholithiasis. He said a gallstone had lodged in the common bile duct, the tube that carries bile from the gallbladder into the small intestine. This stone may have been there for years, or a gallstone may have slipped into the common bile duct during her gallbladder removal the year before. He assured me that she should have an uneventful recovery.
A month later I received a summons from the California Medical Board to appear in person for a hearing. Ruth apparently had reported my diagnostic error, and I regretted the anguish I must have caused her.
Medical errors are common. A 2014 analysis from the National Library of Medicine determined that diagnostic errors affect at least 1 in 20 U.S. adults every year. Other common medical mistakes include surgical errors, medication errors, equipment failures, patient falls, hospital-acquired infections and communication failures.
The day arrived for me to appear before the medical board. Kaiser had arranged for me to meet with its head legal counsel beforehand. He told me to keep my answers short and, most importantly, not to volunteer information.
I felt my heart rate accelerate as I entered the medical board’s conference room, and I was directed to sit in the chair next to the chairman of the board. The hearing started abruptly. The chairman turned to me and fired, “Have you heard of choledocholithiasis?” Without hesitation, I responded “yes.” There was a brief pause as he mentally registered my response and then he said, “You can leave now.”
Two weeks later I received a formal notification from the medical board that my case was dismissed.
Even though the board absolved me, I did not absolve myself. I reflected that I had not behaved professionally with Ruth. I had felt too embarrassed to apologize, visit her in the hospital or even call her. I surmise that the encounter with the medical board probably would not have happened if I had demonstrated humility and acted responsibly. Early in my medical career, Ruth taught me a valuable lesson: We all make mistakes in life, but it’s how we behave afterward that defines who we are.
I learned another important lesson from this experience — to check with a patient at the end of a visit to see if expectations have been met. I now ask, “Have I addressed your concerns?” If I detect a patient’s needs have not been met, I may follow up and ask, “What were you hoping for from this visit?”
What can a patient do to avoid medical errors? Don’t be timid to ask your medical provider if you have questions about your diagnosis, medications or tests. If you don’t agree with a diagnosis, ask, “What else might explain my symptoms?” If you are unclear about followup, ask, “If I don’t get better as expected, what might be the next steps?”
While there are ways that doctors can be more attentive to their patients, the practice of medicine should be a team effort to provide the best care possible. As my case demonstrates, doctors must bear the responsibility to not cause any harm. Patients, too, must be active participants in their own care. n
Jerry Saliman, MD, retired from Kaiser South San Francisco and is now a volunteer internist at Samaritan House Medical Clinic in San Mateo.
Reality squashes plan to host Algerian tourists for holiday
THE MATZO CHRONICLES KAREN GALATZ
How does the old saying go? e best-laid plans of mice, men and hostesses o en go awry.
My husband and I were scheduled to host eight Algerian exchange visitors for a anksgiving meal last month. e group would be in town for a few days as part of a U.S. State Department tourism education program.
I’m on the board of an international exchange organization, so this was my “in” to host the group.
e dinner o ered Jon and me the chance of a longed-for return to anksgiving celebrations of old when extended family gathered in glu onous glory.
Such gatherings had become a thing of the past more than a decade ago. Deaths, distance, divorce and general discord contributed to the demise of the once-joyous annual gathering of the clan.
Even in our nuclear family, there’s been a seismic rupture. Our adult children dislike the historical and political symbolism of the holiday, plus one is a zealous vegetarian. So over time, we had come to focus on the meaning of family and gratitude and to plan a menu around starches.
Secretly, though, we yearn for turkey.
But now, this November, for the sake of “international harmony,” we jumped at the excuse — I mean, opportunity — to serve a traditional meal. Faster than you can say “jellied cranberry sauce,” Jon and I said, “Yes, yes, yes!”
We planned our turkey-centric menu, drooling like fowl-famished wolves.
I polished the silver till my arthritic fingers ached. I pulled Grandma’s hand-embroidered
tablecloth and napkins out of the linen closet. We dusted o the card table and chairs long ago relegated to the garage.
All systems go! en, it started ge ing complicated.
T-Day Minus 7: I got the bios of our guests. Only three spoke English! OK, we’d manage.
T-Day Minus 5: I received an email asking if our turkey was halal. Huh? I thought halal meant no pork and no alcohol. Wrong! Halal meat, like kosher meat, is about a specific form of ritual slaughter. So my hunt for a halal turkey — in Reno, Nevada — began.
e e ort to purchase a 17-pound halal turkey was arduous.
“So big! At this late date! Very di cult! Do you really need such a big bird? OK, I will try. Come tomorrow,” sighed the shopkeeper in a lovely Indian accent but deeply weary voice.
I showed up at 11 a.m. e sign said the shop opened at 10. e door was locked and the interior dark. I waited for a quarter-hour. A middle-aged woman, dressed in a sari, arrived, unlocked the door and turned the “closed” sign to “open.”
I waited a respectful 30 seconds and rushed in.
“Oh, you’re too early,” she said with a wave of her arm, bangles jingling. “My husband doesn’t have your big turkey yet.”
e next day — at a suitably later hour — I returned. e shopkeeper said, “I had to go to five places to get this big halal bird for you.”
I told him I would give special thanks for his e orts at our holiday meal. is satisfied him.
T-Day Minus 3: ree Algerians were out. Travel plan hitches.
T-Day Minus 1: Four of our American guests cancelled. Felled by the flu.
Meanwhile, Jon was busy in the kitchen. anksgiving is his one big cooking day of the year. He’d been prepping like an athlete training for the big game. He’d evaluated defrosting techniques, brining options and stu ng ideas. He was a man with a cooking plan.
Aside from pu ing food into the oven, he had most of his work done the night before.
My cooking duties were set to begin T-Day morning. I was on tap to make brownies, carrot sou e, green beans with almonds, a salad and an appetizer plate.
en, disaster hit.
I woke up shivering, actually quaking. I was coughing and sneezing. I ached everywhere and could barely stand.
We debated quarantining me in the bedroom and having Jon host solo. But what if I was contagious? What if Jon was germy and spread my “whatever” bug to our visitors?
So… we canceled our dinner. e sponsors of our Algerian guests saw that they were accommodated with dinner at a restaurant. ey were gracious, of course. Our other guests, likewise, had to fend for themselves.
e Algerians departed town before I was well enough to meet them.
ere is no great lesson to end this story. I can, however, o er a truly bad pun: e road to halal is paved with good intentions. ■
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Karen Galatz is an awardwinning journalist and author of the humor blog Muddling Through Middle Age.
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BENEFITS & SOCIAL EVENTS
FRIDAY | December 20
WINTER PARTY—Pre-Hanukkah celebration with Shabbat service, appetizers, beverages, latke dinner, sufganiyot, chocolate gelt and dreidel competition. At Congregation Shir Hadash, 20 Cherry Blossom Lane, Los Gatos. 5:30 p.m. $20 adults, $10 kids. tinyurl.com/ han-winter-party
THURSDAY | December 26
AFIKOMEN HANUKKAH PARTY—Singalong with Ben Kramarz and SingJam Friends, public menorah lighting, nosh and prizes. At Afikomen Judaica, 3042 Claremont Ave., Berkeley. 4-5:30 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/han-afikomen
BETH AMI LATKE DINNER—Hanukkah dinner with schmoozing, board and card games, service and music.
Bring menorah and candles. At Congregation Beth Ami, 4676 Mayette Ave., Santa Rosa. 4 p.m. Free, RSVP by Dec. 24. bethamisr.org
SATURDAY | December 28
MILLENNIALS’ HANUKKAH PARTY—Mendocino Coast Jewish Community presents Hanukkah schmooze for Jews in their 20s, 30s and 40s. With latkes, candy cap doughnuts and dancing. At Fog Bottle Shop and Wine Bar, 45104 Main St., Mendocino. 6:30 p.m. Free. mcjc.org
WEDNESDAY | January 1
HANUKKAH FLASHMOB—Menorah lighting and performance. Presented by One Tribe One Star, Flashmob4Israel and Chabad SF. At Union Square, S.F. 1-4:30 p.m. Free.
KIDS & FAMILY
SATURDAY | December 21
FAMILIES OF COLOR HANUKKAH— Olamim and Camp Tawonga present holiday gathering for Jewish families that include at least one person of color. With multilingual songs by Isaac Zones, potluck dinner, Hanukkah crafts and menorah lighting. At private family home in Oakland, exact location provided with RSVP. 4-7 p.m. Free. tinyurl. com/olamim-han
SUNDAY | December 22
“DREIDELS AND DOUGHNUTS”— Jewish Baby Network and Kehilla Synagogue Hanukkah party with singing, crafts, snacks, doughnuts and holiday-themed goodie bags. At Lake Temescal, 6500 Broadway, Oakland. 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. $18. tinyurl.com/jbn-han-party
“LOTSA LATKES”—PJ Library and Temple Beth Abraham present community Hanukkah celebration with crafts, kids activities, holiday songs and treats. At Beth Abraham, 327 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 4:306 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/lotsa-latkes
THURSDAY | January 2
HANUKKAH TRAIN—Holiday train ride through Santa Cruz with Hanukkah music, latkes, hot apple cider, games and more. Presented by Chabad by the Sea and Roaring Camp. Meet at merry-go-round on Santa Cruz Boardwalk, 400 Beach St. 5 and 6:30 p.m. departures. $35-$48. tinyurl.com/roaringcamp-train
TUESDAY | December 24
“KUNG PAO KOSHER COMEDY”—32nd anniversary show at a Chinese restaurant features Ophira Eisenberg, Matt Kirshen, Becky Braunstein and organizer Lisa Geduldig. In-person event includes Chinese food and Yiddish proverb fortune cookies. Livestream option available. Other shows Dec. 25, 26. Benefits Shalom Bayit and Chinatown YMCA Food Pantry. At Imperial Palace Restaurant, 818 Washington St., S.F. Times vary. $35-$117. KosherComedy.com
MUSIC BOOKS
SATURDAY | December 21
SAN FRANCISCO YIDDISH COMBO— Concert by classically trained musicians who put a fresh spin on klezmer by blending jazz, blues, folk and hip-hop. At Congregation Beth David, 19700 Prospect Road, Saratoga. 7:30 p.m. $20. tinyurl. com/BD-yiddish-combo
MONDAY | December 23
SONGS OF LIGHT AND JOY—The Jewish Folk Chorus of San Francisco performs Hanukkah concert with songs in Yiddish, English, Ladino
ON STAGE Calendar
WEDNESDAY | December 25
“THE FRISCO KID”—Screening of the Gene Wilder classic, with vegetarian Chinese dinner and menorah lighting. Wear Hanukkah attire, bring menorah and candles. At Congregation Beth Ami, 4676 Mayette Ave., Santa Rosa. 4 p.m. $30 general public, $25 for members of a Sonoma County synagogue, $15 for kids under 16. RSVP by Dec. 23. tinyurl.com/ frisco-kid-han
and Russian. At JCCSF, 3200 California St., S.F. 1-2 p.m. Free. tinyurl. com/songs-joy
MOSTLY KOSHER—L.A.-based eclectic-klezmer rock band performs Hanukkah concert and celebration with dreidels, gelt and other treats. At Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. 6:30 p.m. $25-$65. / tinyurl.com/mostly-kosher-han
FRIDAY | December 27
“HANUKKAH OY HANUKKAH”—Two Tribes and vocalist Lois Pearlman present holiday celebration and Yiddish concert featuring tunes in
Yiddish, English and Ladino. With holiday treats. At Books and Letters, 14045 Armstrong Woods Road, Guerneville. 7-9 p.m. Free. tinyurl. com/books-han
“A HOT KUGEL HANUKKAH”—Intimate concert and holiday celebration with menorah lighting. At Feldman’s Books, 1075 Curtis St., Menlo Park. 5 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/ hot-kugel-han
SATURDAY | December 28
“INTO THE DARK”—Communal celebration ritual honoring Hanukkah and Kwanzaa with music,
December 20-January 10
meditation and teachings with Lior Tsarfaty, Melanie DeMore, Bouchaib Abdelhadi and Laura Goldman. Ages 14 and up. At Chochmat HaLev, 2215 Prince St., Berkeley. 7-9:30 p.m. $39. tinyurl.com/into-dark
WEDNESDAY | January 1
“JAMS FOR JOY”—B’nai Israel Jewish Center presents menorah lighting and Hanukkah concert featuring songs of the Grateful Dead and “Hasidic rock” by the Ferris Wheels. At B’nai Israel, 740 Western Ave., Petaluma. 5-9 p.m. $18 in advance, $25 at the door. tinyurl.com/bnaiisrael-han
SUNDAY | December 22
“JEWISH CALCUTTA THROUGH MUSIC AND MEMORY”—Rahel Musleah discusses her book, which explores the distinctive heritage of the Jews of India and Iraq through the prism of her family’s story. Presented by Jewish Community Library and New Lehrhaus. Online. 2-3 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/jewish-calcutta
“SEEKING THE HIDING GOD”—Judaic scholar Arnold Eisen, former chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, discusses his new book exploring the nature of God, faith and doubt through Jewish rituals and traditions, examining our responsibilities as God’s partners and inviting readers to find personal and communal meaning in the search for ultimate truths. Fol-
lowed by Q&A, bagel brunch and book signing. Part of Congregation Kol Emeth’s scholar-in-residence weekend. At Kol Emeth, 4175 Manuela Ave., Palo Alto. 10:30 a.m.12 p.m. Free, registration required. tinyurl.com/arnold-eisen-2
TUESDAY | January 7
“TRANSLATING HEBREW, TRANSLATING ISRAEL”—Jessica Cohen, who has translated the work of many major Israeli writers, including Amos Oz, Dorit Rabinyan, Ronit Matalon and Etgar Keret, discusses issues around cultural translation that arise as she turns a Hebrew work published in Israel into a text that will circulate globally in English translation. Presented by Jewish Community Library. Online. 7 p.m. Free. tinyurl. com/translating-israel
HOLIDAYS & SPIRITUAL
FRIDAY | December 20
“LATIN JEWISH GOZADERA”—Olamim and Chochmat HaLev present Shabbat honoring the Latin Jewish community with music and gozadera (party) oneg featuring Latin potluck dishes, stories from Latin Jewish community members and dancing to Latin rhythms. At Chochmat HaLev, 2215 Prince St., Berkeley. 6-7:30 p.m. Free. tinyurl. com/latin-shabbat
“SHIR JOY: HANUKKAH”—Musical service with a Hanukkah choir. Followed by oneg with sufganiyot. At Congregation B’nai Tikvah, 25 Hillcroft Way, Walnut Creek. 7:30-8:30 p.m. Free, RSVP required. tinyurl.com/shir-joy-han
SATURDAY | December 21
TRI-VALLEY CULTURAL JEWS
HANUKKAH CELEBRATION—Holiday event with menorah lighting, dreidel spinning, games, crafts, music and latke making. Bring your favorite latke topping and a dish to share. Castro Valley location provided with RSVP. Email culturaljews@gmail. com. 5-7 p.m. $15, members free. trivalleyculturaljews.org
WEDNESDAY | December 25
HANUKKAH ON ICE—Holiday event with ice skating, Jewish music, giant menorah and kosher food. Presented by Chabad of Contra Costa. At Civic Park Ice Rink, 1365 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. 7:15 p.m. $25, free for nonskaters. tinyurl. com/chabad-cc-han
CHOCHMAT HALEV HANUKKAH GATHERING—Community celebration with singing, dancing, menorah lighting and vegetarian potluck. Bring menorah, candles and vegetarian dish to share. At Chochmat HaLev, 2215 Prince St., Berkeley.
MENORAH LIGHTING ON HAIGHT— Public menorah lighting with latkes and music. Presented by Chabad of Cole Valley. At Haight and Stanyan streets, S.F. 6-7 p.m. Free, RSVP by Dec. 25. tinyurl.com/ccv-han-24
JCCSF CANDLELIGHTING—Community menorah lighting in the atrium with live music, crafts and fried treats. Also Dec. 27, 30 and 31. At JCC San Francisco, 3200 California St. 4-5 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/jccsf-menorah
LAKESIDE LANDING MENORAH LIGHTING—Hanukkah event with games, hot chocolate and menorah lighting. Presented by Chabad of the Neighborhood. At Lakeside Landing, 2504 Ocean Ave., S.F. 4:45 p.m. Free. chabadneighborhood.square.site
SEBASTOPOL MENORAH LIGHTING—B’nai Israel Jewish Center presents second-night public menorah lighting. At Central Park/ Town Square, 6908 Weeks Way, Sebastopol. 5-6 p.m. Free. tinyurl. com/bnaiisrael-han
ALAMO MENORAH LIGHTING—Annual Hanukkah celebration with candlelighting, live music, juggling, latkes and doughnuts. Presented by Chabad of Contra Costa. At Alamo Plaza Shopping Center. 5 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/chabad-cc-han
FRIDAY | December 27
PETALUMA MENORAH LIGHTING—B’nai Israel Jewish Center presents third-night public menorah lighting. At Helen PutnaPlaza, 411411 Chileno Valley Road, Petaluma. 4-4:45 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/bnaiisrael-han
HANUKKAH SHABBAT SERVICE AND DINNER—Menorah lighting, festive Shabbat service and latke dinner. Bring your own menorah. At Temple Beth Torah, 42000 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont. 5:30-8 p.m. Free, RSVP by Dec. 26. tinyurl.com/ tbt-han
FAIRFAX HANUKKAH FESTIVAL—
Holiday celebration with giant menorah lighting, live music by Saul Kaye, children’s activities, hot drinks, latkes, soup and a collaborative art mural. Presented by Chabad of West Marin. At the Redwoods in Bolinas Park, 66-88 Bolinas Road, Fairfax. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Free, RSVP to enter raffle. JewishWestMarin. org/Fairfax
HANUKKAH SWEATER SHABBAT—
Shabbat service with kid-friendly activities, schmoozing, latke dinner, sufganiyot and community menorah lighting. Wear Hanukkah sweaters, scarves and other cozy holiday attire. Bring menorah and candles. At Congregation Shir Hadash, 20 Cherry Blossom Lane, Los Gatos. 5:30 p.m. Event is free, dinner is $10 for kids and $20 for adults. tinyurl. com/han-sweater-shabbat
“LIGHT UP THE NIGHT”—Jewish Gateways presents virtual Hanukkah event with singing, blessings and candlelighting. Online. 6-7 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/light-up-night
SATURDAY | December 28
B’NAI ISRAEL HANUKKAH
PARTY—Holiday celebration with storytelling, menorah lighting, dinner and live music with songs in Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino. At B’nai Israel Jewish Center, 740 Western Ave., Petaluma. 5-8 p.m. $25 before Dec. 20, $30 after Dec. 20, free for kids 12 and under. tinyurl.com/ bnaiisrael-han
A bounty of goodness
East Bay synagogues are teaming up with two regional food banks to raise money and provide holiday dinners to those in need. Every dollar from the drive donated to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano will provide two meals, and every dollar donated to the Alameda County Community Food Bank will be doubled by the Koret Foundation. Participating synagogues include Congregations Beth Chaim, Beth El, Beth Emek, Beth Jacob, Beth Israel, B’nai Shalom, B’nai Tikvah, Temple Beth Abraham, Temple Beth Sholom, Temple Beth Torah, Temple Isaiah, Temple Sinai, Temple Israel of Alameda, Chochmat HaLev, Kehilla Community Synagogue and Netivot Shalom. Participation by unaffiliated individuals is welcome and encouraged. Donate online through the end of the month. Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano: tinyurl.com/cc-food-drive; Alameda County Community Food Bank: tinyurl.com/ala-
SUNDAY | December 29
MCJC HANUKKAH PARTY—Mendocino Coast Jewish Community presents Hanukkah celebration with latke taste-off, menorah lighting, karaoke, raffle, dancing and music by Klezmishpoche. At Caspar Community Center, 15051 Caspar Road, Caspar. 4 p.m. Free. mcjc.org
HANUKKAH STREET PARTY—Chabad of Cole Valley holiday party with latkes, doughnuts, live music and activities for kids. At Shrader and Alma streets, S.F. 3-5 p.m. Free, RSVP by Dec. 25. tinyurl.com/ ccv-han-24
SANTANA ROW HANUKKAH CELEBRATION—Holiday event with menorah lighting, kids activities, live music and more. At Park Valencia, 3055 Olin Ave., San Jose. 4-6:30 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/santana-han
WINTER WONDERLAND HANUKKAH— Celebration with menorah lighting, music by Jerry’s Kosher Deli All Star Band, ice skating rink, treats, arts and crafts and more. Presented by Kaiser Permanente. At Thrive City, 1 Warriors Way, S.F. 2-5 p.m. Free, registration required. tinyurl.com/ kaiser-han
WEDNESDAY | January 1
CAR MENORAH PARADE—Car parade from Chabad of Cole Valley ending with a menorah lighting at San Francisco City Hall. Meet at the Chabad, 1300 Shrader St., S.F. 6-9 p.m. Free, RSVP by Dec. 25. tinyurl. com/ccv-han-24
HANUKKAH ON MAIN—Jewish Silicon Valley and APJCC present Hanukkah celebration with public menorah lighting. At Los Gatos Civic Center, 110 E Main St. 4:30 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/han-main
TAKE ACTION
ONGOING
THE GIVING KITCHEN—Seeking volunteers to cook meals for those in need at Chabad’s kosher community kitchen. At Chabad of SF, 496 Natoma St., S.F. Times vary. Registration required. tinyurl.com/ giving-kitchen
CLOTHING DRIVE—Congregation
Sha’ar Zahav is collecting blankets, jackets, and new or lightly used clothing and socks to be distributed to the homeless by the Gubbio Project. At Sha’ar Zahav, 290 Dolores St., S.F. Weekdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. shaarzahav.org
MONTHLONG HANUKKAH COAT
DRIVE — JCCSF is collecting new or lightly worn coats in partnership with Compass Family Services to help support unhoused and at-risk families in San Francisco. Through Dec. 31. Bring items to JCCSF lobby, 3200 California St. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily, or purchase items from Compass Family Services Amazon wish lists. tinyurl.com/jccsf-coat-drive
WEDNESDAY | December 25
HANUKKAH GIFT PACKING—Community for Jewish Seniors is looking for volunteers to put together Hanukkah gift bags for seniors. At Chabad of Cole Valley, 1300 Shrader St., S.F. 6-8 p.m. cjssf.org/volunteer
TALKS & WORKSHOPS
SATURDAY | December 21
JUDAIC SCHOLAR ARNOLD EISEN—Congregation Kol Emeth scholar-in-residence leads two discussions around his new book “Seeking the Hiding God.” “Doing Theology with Joseph” is an anal-
Volunteers packing boxes at the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. (COURTESY)
ART
ONGOING
OSHER MARIN JCC, 200 N. SAN PEDRO ROAD, SAN RAFAEL. MARINJCC.ORG
“Celebrating Jewish Life in Marin”—Retrospective photography exhibit by Norm Levin featuring framed color prints, depicting the wide variety of celebrations, holidays and ceremonies of Marin’s Jewish community. Through December.
ysis of the parashah Vayeshev at 11:15 a.m., and “Writing My Personal Theology and Yours” looks at why personal theology is so difficult and so worthwhile at 1:15 p.m. At Kol Emeth, 4175 Manuela Ave., Palo Alto. Free, registration required. tinyurl. com/arnold-eisen-1
David A.M. Wilensky lighting the Bill Graham “Mama Menorah” in Union Square in 2023. (GEORGE BARAHONA)
Come light the menorah
While there are many (many) public menorah lightings, the Bill Graham menorah lighting is one of the oldest regularly held such events in the world. It also happens to be the only public menorah that will be lit by J.’s own David A.M. Wilensky, director of news product and that guy who sends you a newsletter every Sunday. After you see David play with fire, come shmooze with J. staffers and enjoy sufganiyot, music, a dreidel house, kids crafts and more. Presented by the Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund and Chabad of SF.
Sunday, Dec. 29 at Union Square, S.F. 2-6 p.m. Free. tinyurl.com/ bill-menorah
Why birthright citizenship should matter to U.S. Jews
JOEL SNYDER | THE FORWARD
In his first interview since the election, President-elect Donald Trump repeated his claim that birthright citizenship is a uniquely American invention and vowed to rescind it. My Ashkenazi immigrant ancestors — and the children of immigrants I’ve spent my career teaching — would beg to differ.
While not uniquely American — 32 other countries also have birthright citizenship policies — birthright citizenship is essential to the American dream. Trump may not be able to stop a right that has been enshrined in the Constitution since after the Civil War, but his comments have a deeply negative impact on how Americans think and act toward newcomers.
My great-grandmother Kaley left Poland in 1905 fleeing violence. She landed in Chicago, working low-wage jobs and hewing closely to traditions and customs. Her son Martin — my grandfather — was a beneficiary of birthright citizenship. He was the first in the family to own a home. The next generation, my mom, further lived out the American dream: college and law school, a career in public service and a comfortable home in a pastoral suburb.
I’ve seen and heard echoes of Kaley’s arduous journey in my classroom for the last 20 years. As a 12th-grade teacher of American government in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood of Los Angeles, I’ve gotten to know families that came to America with dreams for a better life for the next generation.
They come here, in some cases under great duress, accepting that the low-wage, unprotected labor available to them is a necessary trade-off in exchange for the promise of a better life for future generations.
Consider Edward Hinojosa, my student in 2013, who wasn’t sure he wanted to go away to college. His parents immigrated from Mexico in the 1980s and met in Los Angeles. He and his siblings were beneficiaries of birthright citizenship. With guidance from his family and teachers, he set off for UC Merced. He’s now my colleague in the social studies department.
Almost a dozen other former students, whose parents set out from El Salvador, Mexico, and other countries fleeing violence or poverty, are now colleagues. As was true of my grandfather, their achievements are shared with their parents and will have ripple effects for generations to come. Their step into those first teaching jobs lays the groundwork for the foundation of a middle-class American life, imbued with American values.
Trump’s threatened birthright citizenship ban would close the doors of opportunity to those who look, speak or pray differently, all traits that my great-grandmother brought with her across the ocean. Florence-Firestone has a lot in common with Kaley’s Maxwell Street in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century: Less than 10% of adults have a college education, and more than 85% of households speak a language other than English as their primary language. My students and I share a similar story of migration and reinvention, I just benefit from being a few generations removed from the origin story.
We have an imperative to look out for the most vulnerable not only because our tradition and our texts teach us to, but also because we remember that we were once on that lowest rung, hanging on for dear life, dreaming of our grandchildren’s better future, just a few generations ago.
The imperative to stand up and say “no” to Trump’s proposed ban on birthright citizenship transcends policy. It is an assertion of the privilege we gained through our own citizenship, and an opportunity to preserve that same privilege for those in the next generation. n
Joel Snyder teaches social studies at a public high school in Los Angeles. This oped was originally published on the Forward and is reprinted with permission.
PICTURE THIS: A visitor makes their way through the lobby of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco on Dec. 15, the museum’s last day of operations for at least one year. Museum leaders hope the closure will be temporary, giving the institution time to stabilize its ailing finances. Much of the staff will be laid off. Read more at tinyurl.com/cjm-closure. (AARON LEVY-WOLINS/J. STAFF)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Forget doom-and-gloom fundraising
I am troubled by the recent commentaries of those who bemoan the current state of Jewish giving in the Bay Area. (“Some local orgs face ‘bleak’ funding landscape post-Oct. 7,” Dec. 13)
Far from seeing doom and gloom and a dire warning, I see a vibrant Jewish ecosystem — one of constant reinvention, changing delivery models, new services to meet evolving needs and enhanced revenue models.
For the past 20 years, I have worked as a consultant, board member and volunteer with a number of nonprofits, many of them Jewish. Each has faced growth and financial challenges and found ways both to meet ever-changing needs and to fund their critical work.
My synagogue, Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, for example, eliminated dues, communicated operational costs and set appropriate ask amounts for each household. The result has been a doubling of support over the past three years from “membership commitments.” Increased support has come from everyone, not just from a wealthy few. We also eliminated tickets for High Holy Days but encouraged voluntary support. The resultant funds now exceed those from purchased tickets and
the seldom-loved pitch from the bimah. These changes provide our community the opportunity to focus more on teshuvah and tefillah and less on tzedakah.
Sha’ar Zahav has also initiated select campaigns for projects that have each met with success, including the creation and publication of our own siddur that now provides annual fee-based income.
I could also cite many examples of success by Jewish Family and Children’s Services and the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. They have responded to the needs of the community with new programs and creative revenue models.
There is no silver bullet to ensure the vibrancy of our treasured Bay Area Jewish institutions. However, I remain confident that if we assume a community of generosity and stay creative, we can and we will ensure success.
MARTIN H. TANNENBAUM | SAN FRANCISCO
Funding anti-Zionism
The news in “Haas Fund ends Jewish grants, adds anti-Zionist org to its list” (see page 3) could not be more awful.
Extremism threatens Israel, and we must take responsibility
COBY SCHOFFMAN | THE FORWARD
It is time for the Jewish diaspora to confront the growing challenge of Israeli domestic extremism. In recent months, we’ve seen too many harrowing examples of the harm inflicted by extremist Israeli settlers, undermining the Israel we hold dear, including the tragic killing of a 4-year-old Palestinian girl and consistent news of mobs rampaging through Palestinian villages, vandalizing communities, and even violently attacking IDF soldiers.
The threats posed by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran are real and pressing. Yet so are the existential dangers posed by internal extremism within Israel. Numerous respected national security experts have highlighted this peril, which threatens to unravel the democratic fabric of the nation, physically harm Israeli civilians, IDF soldiers and Palestinian civilians alike, and tarnish Israel’s global reputation as a beacon of hope and democracy in a volatile region.
Between October 2023 and July 2024, there were 1,238 recorded Israeli settler extremist-led incidents that resulted in Palestinian casualties and damage to Palestinian property.
Extremist settler activity “creates a most significant risk to the region’s security,” Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security service, said last August. He warned that “we’re on the threshold of a significant, reality-changing process. The
The Oct. 7 responses of communities that had been aided by Jewish benefactors firmly demonstrates that many decades of positive support were counterproductive and that the Jewish community has no choice but to turn inward to support its own. Yet the opposite is happening. This is finding yourself in a deep hole and responding by feverishly digging downward twice as fast.
BDS is inherently antisemitic
Andrew Scharlach’s letter “Defining antisemitism” (Dec. 13) is an example of why the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition is so important. The IHRA definition has been adopted by many countries, as well as the State Department.
The claim that the definition is a tool to censor Palestinian rights is simply not true. Critics of the IHRA definition claim it will unfairly label critics of Israel as antisemitic. Along with all the examples of what is and what is not antisemitism, the IHRA definition makes clear that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, which Scharlach supports, also includes examples. In contrast to IHRA, the JDA definition states that the boycott, divestment and sanctions
damage to Israel, especially at this time, is indescribable.”
My hunch is that most Israelis agree. They disapprove of the violence in the West Bank and desire action to curb the criminal activities of extremist settlers. A recent poll found that 48% of Israelis support international sanctions against these extremist groups.
Resolving this issue is not just an Israeli responsibility — it is a global Jewish imperative. The attacks, as Bar pointed out, leave “a large stain on Judaism and on all of us.”
The consequences of domestic extremism reverberate across the Jewish diaspora, harming our collective reputation and complicating our efforts to unapologetically advocate for Israel as a pro-West, pro-democracy partner. When moral equivalence is drawn between Israel and Hamas, the violent actions of Israeli extremists often serve as points of reference. While there is no true equivalence between the two, this movement’s behavior places us in an indefensible position when it comes to addressing the issue of extremist settlers.
Historically, Israel-oriented diaspora philanthropy has focused on supporting vital organizations like Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces and United Hatzalah, both worthy and high-impact organizations. However, while this work is essential, we must also address the more complex and uncomfortable challenge of combating extremism within our own ranks through strategic philanthropy.
The American Jewish philanthropic community has long been at the forefront of combating hate and extremism in all its forms, exemplified by the establishment of transformative organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the American Civil Liberties Union.
It is time for the international Jewish community to step forward, funding initiatives that tackle this issue head-on. Philanthropists have successfully supported deradicalization and anti-extremist efforts in the United States and Europe, funding organizations like the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which has a successful track record implementing programs
movement is not inherently antisemitic. The JDA also excludes as antisemitic the denial of Jewish self-determination and comparisons to Nazi Germany. If you back BDS, deny Jewish rights to our ancestral homeland and want to compare Israelis to Nazis, you will want the JDA definition to become widely accepted. In reality, one only needs to criticize Israel fairly in order not to be labeled an antisemite.
SHEREE ROTH | PALO ALTO
I count as a Jew too
“Alameda County policy will advance BDS, opponents say” (see page 4) cites concerns that an ethical investment policy will foster antisemitism and unfairly target Israel. Both of these contentions are untrue.
When quoting one speaker’s remarks about how “few Jews” were at the board of supervisors meeting on Dec. 10, the author fails to mention that dozens of Jewish attendees raised their hands to contest this false assertion. We packed the chambers and the overflow room that was necessary to accommodate the massive crowd. We also listened and commented via Zoom.
The story does not quote a single Jew who spoke in favor of the policy. One speaker said, “As a Jewish American, it is my moral responsibility to stand for humanity, and I refuse to be a
to counter extremism in Europe and the U.S.
How can we credibly call for the deradicalization of Gaza to lay the groundwork for a lasting peace while ignoring the need to deradicalize elements within our own ranks? The double standard undermines our moral authority and weakens our case as an honest broker.
Addressing this issue is not about shaming Israel or giving fodder to hostile media eager to vilify the Jewish state. Rather, it is about upholding the values that have long defined the Jewish community, including introspection, accountability and a commitment to progress. By confronting difficult truths and striving for higher ethical standards, we not only strengthen the moral fabric of Israel, but also reaffirm the Jewish community’s dedication to justice and the universal principles that have guided us throughout history.
Post-Oct. 7, the Jewish community has mobilized over $1.4 billion dollars in support of Israel, showcasing resilience and unity on an unprecedented scale. Major Jewish philanthropic institutions and philanthropists must establish a fund, working with similar vigor, to convene the brightest minds in Israel (and Palestine) to develop solutions. This initiative must focus on establishing effective mechanisms for deradicalization, ensuring accountability for bad actors, and fortifying state infrastructure to confront this issue with resilience and resolve.
This is a call to action. The global Jewish community must lead by example, taking proactive steps to address the challenge of Israeli domestic extremism. By doing so, we can signal to the world that we are committed to safeguarding Israel’s democratic values and securing a future of peace and dignity for all its inhabitants. n
The views expressed on the opinion pages are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of
bystander to the genocide in Gaza.” Another added, “Stopping genocide and forced removal of people using U.S. weapons is not antisemitic.”
I was one of those Jewish supporters, although I did not have the chance to speak. I live in Alameda County and I am a descendant of survivors of the Nazi Holocaust.
The images I’ve seen from Gaza since last October are hauntingly reminiscent of the horrors that I heard about from my family members and in my community when I was a child. Jewish tradition teaches us to stand against injustice and to do what we can to repair the world.
Alameda County’s decision to stop investing our tax dollars in corporations that enable Israel’s human rights abuses is entirely consistent with those values. I, along with countless other Jewish Alameda County residents, wholeheartedly support it.
BRANDON
VESELY | OAKLAND
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
J. welcomes letters of no more than 300 words. Submissions are subject to editing. See guidelines and form at jweekly.com/letters, or email to letters@jweekly. com.
JASON JUNGREIS | SAN FRANCISCO
Coby Schoffman is a San Francisco-based founder of the Nation Foundation, which provides educational opportunities to youth across East Africa. This oped was originally published on the Forward and is reprinted with permission.
J.
Culture
Local musicians reanimate horror film classic ‘The Dybbuk’
FILM | DAVID A.M. WILENSKY | J. STAFF
Like the titular undead spirit in “The Dybbuk,” which inhabits the body and mind of the film’s heroine, a band of musicians took over and transformed the film itself at a screening of the 1937 Yiddish-language classic at the JCCSF on Dec. 11.
Although the film has an extant audio track of dialogue and musical score, “The Dybbuk” was presented with its original audio turned off. The audience read the dialogue as translated subtitles and listened as a band performed a new score live on a stage lined with pillar candles that gave the performance an appropriately seance-like vibe.
Well, I say a “new score,” but that’s not entirely accurate. Forest Reid, 27, a multi-instrumentalist and program coordinator for JCCSF’s Arts & Ideas series, led the music, which was based in part on selections from the film’s original 1937 score and on Eastern European Jewish folk melodies. S. Ansky, the revolutionary-turned-folklorist-turned-playwright upon whose stage play the film is based, recorded many of the folk tunes Reid used on wax cylinders in the early 20th century.
The resulting partly improvised score had a pulsating, fuzzily electrified, klezmer-ishsound driven by Reid playing electric guitar and slide pedal steel guitar and drumming from Conner McNesby that lent much-needed pace to the slow-moving film.
The rest of the band was filled out by former J. editorial assistant Daniel Bromfield on pump organ, Christian Reynolds on bass guitar and Edan Mor on saxophone, which filled the role often played by clarinet in Jewish folk music.
The slightly distorted electric guitar and pedal steel guitar gave an ethereal, uncanny quality to the music, which complemented the film’s eerie tale of kabbalistic spellcasting, dybbuk possession, rabbinic exorcism and ties that persist beyond the grave.
“The Dybbuk,” an adaptation of Ansky’s 1916 play of the same name, tells the twisted shtetl love story of Leah and Khonen. Their fathers were best friends, who pledged that their unborn children would one day marry. Khonen’s father drowns on the night of his birth, and his son ends up getting raised in another town.
When Khonen returns to his father’s hometown to attend yeshiva, he encounters Leah and they fall in love. They seem destined to be together, but a tragedy of errors keeps them apart, and Leah’s father engages her to another man. Khonen falls under the thrall of a dark strain of kabbalah and calls upon Satan (yes, there is a malevolent force in Judaism by that name, but it bears little resemblance to the Christian devil) to help him marry Leah. He dies in the attempt. Leah then visits his grave on her wedding day, inadvertently enabling his
In
spirit to possess her body.
Everything goes haywire from there, transforming from love story into horror.
There is humor too. In the funniest scene, the possessed Leah is brought before an aged, half-asleep rabbinic sage who grumpily demands that everyone just go away and leave him alone. He is, to borrow a phrase from a very different sort of movie, too old for this shit.
Visual trickery — cutting edge for the time — allows a ghastly rabbinic wanderer to fade in and out as he offers grave warnings to several characters.
In one memorable early scene, Leah’s father misses out on her entire childhood as he obsessively counts his growing fortune. The camera pans away from him to her as an infant, then back to him counting money, then to her as a young child, then back to him counting money — back and forth until finally she is an adult and he has missed out on getting to know his daughter. It’s an inventive and memorable scene.
There are a couple of dance scenes that vibrate with the energy of Jewish shtetl life, rendered on Polish soundstages just years before its destruction. The most visually exciting scene features Khonen in a synagogue chanting and writhing, surrounded by smoke, attempting to use kabbalistic magic to thwart Leah’s engagement.
The acting is stiff, barely having moved beyond the silent film era. At the JCCSF screening, the acting seemed even stiffer than it does when “The Dybbuk” is viewed with its original sound. (You can watch the full film for free on YouTube. It’s the same 2016 restoration we viewed at the JCC.)
So why did they present the film in this way? If Reid wanted to do a live score to an old Jewish-themed film, there are certainly other silent films that could benefit from the enhancement. I’ve seen several over the years, including a couple of screenings of “The Golem” with unnecessarily avant garde orchestrations that greatly distracted from the film; Reid and his ensemble could do a lot for “The Golem” and its ilk.
When I asked Reid why he chose live music with the original audio stripped out, he was upfront about the decision.
“I feel like it’s borderline a crime that we did that,” he told me over the phone a couple days later. “The restored audio is very good, it’s ridiculous. A few years ago, the audio available was trash; you could barely make it out. This recent restoration from a few years ago — the audio is phenomenal.”
Reid, who has a master’s in digital arts and new media from UC Santa Cruz, mentioned his studies in music, audio engineering and Yiddish folklore — all of which were clearly at work in his presentation of “The Dybbuk.”
For years, he said, he avoided the folklore about dybbuks. “The way it’s been digested into our pop culture is pretty dumb,” he said. They have become cliches, in other words — “Divorced from its roots, it’s become just a Jewish monster.”
So it was at a synagogue in Michigan a few years ago that he encountered a copy of Ansky’s play “The Dybbuk” in a stack of free books. He picked it up and devoured it on the flight home.
“I was floored. It leveled me. I was astounded by how moving and rich it was and how fresh it felt,” he said. “I also just didn’t understand 90% of the cultural references.” So he went down a rabbit hole of Eastern European Jewish history and kabbalah, learning to better understand and digest the depths of the tale.
But why rescore the film and remove its audio? I didn’t get a straight answer. The short version seems to be because he wanted to. And I’m glad he did. It’s a strange film, and Reid’s choices led to a newly strange, and not unenjoyable, presentation of it. n
the 1937 Yiddish-language film “The Dybbuk,” Leah visits the grave of her beloved only to have his spirit possess her.
The band for the “Dybbuk” musical score, from left, Forest Reid, Conner McNesby, Christian Reynolds, Edan Mor and Daniel Bromfield. (COURTESY)
Glide church welcomes ‘Jewish girl to run the gospel choir’
MUSIC | ANDREW GILBERT | CORRESPONDENT
The original version of this article first appeared in San Francisco Classical Voice at sfcv.org, Dec. 3, 2024. Reprinted by permission.
As an artist and human being, Zoe Ellis contains multitudes, so it’s not surprising that she was both a superlatively qualified and utterly unlikely choice to become Glide Memorial Church’s next director of music ministries, a role she assumed in November.
The Berkeley vocalist brings a wealth of experience and training to a position that puts her at the heart of the Bay Area’s civic culture, running an all-volunteer choir that brings uplift, joy and succor to every kind of occasion, from athletic events and community functions to memorials and, of course, Glide’s famously celebratory Sunday morning services.
With the death in April 2024 of the congregation’s iconic guiding spirit, Rev. Cecil Williams, the music ministry is more than ever the instrument that manifests Glide’s welcoming ethic around the region.
“We get calls from city hall to sing in the rotunda,” Ellis said, listing just one of the choir’s many appearances.
For 54-year-old Ellis, who describes herself as “a nice Jewish kid,” leading a gospel choir wasn’t so much embracing a familial legacy as following her muse. “I didn’t grow up in the church,” she said. “I chose to learn this tradition, and Glide might be the only place where a Jewish girl can run the gospel choir.”
President.
In high school, when her parents split up, Ellis and her mother found support within a tight-knit circle of Jewish and Israeli families in Berkeley “serious about High Holidays,” she recalled. “We still to this day celebrate holidays with the same group of people. At Shabbos, there’s something beautiful about those prayers being said by women all over the world.”
Ellis’ maternal grandparents moved to Israel in the early 1970s. She and her older brother, acclaimed saxophonist Dave Ellis, made their first Israel trip as kids “and we still have a lot of family there,” she said.
If she’s feeling the need for Jewish community, Ellis heads over to The Kitchen in San Francisco, where Rabbi Noa Kushner has forged ties with the Glide congregation.
“I love hearing her speak,” Ellis said. “It feels very similar to Glide. They set the room with music like we do. And Asher Levy is one of the best cantors I’ve ever heard, an incredible teacher and truly spiritual man. The last time I went to The Kitchen one of their singers didn’t show up and he just waved me into a chair. You realize this is in Hebrew, which I don’t read, the words are going 300 miles a minute and the text is ant-sized? I mostly kept up.”
Ellis didn’t grow up in the Black church, nor did she attend synagogue growing up. Yet she was drawn to the sense of community cultivated by singing worship music, and her identity as a Black Jew is mediated and embodied via musical expression.
Growing up in a secular academic family, Ellis found her own path, guided largely by music. Her late mother, Judith, was born into a Jewish family in the U.K. and graduated with a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics. She met Russ Ellis, an African American track star and jazz singer, while they were graduate students at UCLA. Judith spent nearly three decades working for the University of California’s Office of the
“I’m not particularly religious, but I deeply believe in the power of music,” she said. The path hasn’t always been smooth, but she’s walked it belting out tunes that have sustained both diaspora communities through the hardest of times.
“It’s not always comfortable to claim both [identities], but I am verbal about the fact that I am Black and especially Jewish,” she said. “I am the sum total of the trials of both sets of
people, and my connection is entirely in the tradition of music.”
While music was something of a birthright — her father was a longtime board member of Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp — her talent wasn’t immediately evident to her family until a family visit to the camp one summer when she was about 12. Zoe was performing and “We realized she had a voice,” Russ Ellis recalled. “We weren’t paying attention to her musically, but she was paying attention to music.”
Ellis started performing with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir in her late teens and counts the ensemble’s founding artistic director, Terrance Kelly, as one of her primary mentors. In the secular world, she’s thrived in the funkiest settings, starting with the Mo’Fessionals in the early 1990s, belting out uproarious R&B and soul. Ellis has kept a lower performance profile in recent years, but she’s always working on something musical, writing songs and recording studio tracks with bassist Darryl Anders’s soul combo AgapéSoul, for example.
She started singing with Glide around 2000, when her future husband wanted to join a choir, and she kept performing with the group after they divorced. Even after she left the church ensemble in 2004, she stayed in touch with the choir’s then-director, John Turk, and with his successor Vernon Bush following Turk’s death in 2018.
Bush kept the choir together through the first years of the pandemic, a herculean effort that left him worn thin. Ellis saw her friend’s fatigue, and she rode to the rescue, filling in for him when he took a sabbatical. The experience gave her a chance to develop trust with the ensemble, and after he returned,
she stayed on as assistant choir director and manager of the music department.
He was on another break when Williams died in April at age 94.
“I found myself in the middle of this really intense time,” Ellis said. “Vernon’s first day back was Cecil’s funeral, where the 80-member Legacy Choir performed. We made it through the enormous transition, and it was pretty beautiful.”
It’s no wonder that the Rev. Marvin K. White, who has picked up the mantle from Williams, changed her interim status to permanent. Ellis credits her brother, Dave Ellis, for providing emotional support and musical advice. She also sings the praises of jazz musician Joel Behrman.
“Vernon [Bush] kept it afloat at a time when it was in real jeopardy and when Zoe came on to assist she did an amazing job developing trust,” Behrman said. “She’s got those personal skills for connecting and conveying her love for them while pursuing her goals. She’s also got a great sense of picking music.”
Ellis’ love of the gospel tradition is shaping her ambitions for the musical ministry. In addition to adding some repertoire, she’d like Glide to start a children’s choir and relaunch a care choir that brought music to hospitals, hospice and transitional housing. Ultimately, Ellis wants to join forces with other gospel choirs in the region so that a contingent is always on call to answer the spiritual and musical needs of the community, “kind of a rapid response social justice choir,” she said. “I want to gather those choir directors and get together to learn three songs so any time there’s a moment that arises, we can respond: ‘Here’s the voice of the Bay.’ ” n
Zoe Ellis sings with the all-volunteer Glide Memorial choir. (PHOTOS/COURTESY GLIDE)
Ellis conducting the choir at the memorial service for the Rev. Cecil Williams.
New Lehrhaus class will unpack opera’s Bible story fixation
MUSIC | ROBERT NAGLER MILLER | CORRESPONDENT
From Venetian artist Tintoretto’s 16-century painting “Esther Before Ahasuerus” to filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille’s 20th century epic “The Ten Commandments,” the Hebrew Bible has long inspired Western culture.
So, too, it has been with operas and oratorios since the start of the Baroque era in the 1600s. Many have touched on characters and stories familiar to people, Jewish or not, who have a passing acquaintance with the Bible.
patronage of Kings George I and II, he composed no fewer than 15 oratorios, or large-scale musical works without costumes, scenery or staging. Most of them focused on Biblical characters, including Samson, Esther, Jephtha, Solomon, Deborah and Judah Maccabee.
The interest in this material among the English in the 18th century was tied to their empire-building mode, Cranna said.
That is why Rachel Biale, executive director of the adult Jewish education institute New Lehrhaus in Berkeley, has assembled a powerhouse faculty for a new course, “From the Page to the Stage: The Bible in Text and Opera.”
Nicholas McGegan, a conductor and early music expert, Kip Cranna, the San Francisco Opera dramaturg emeritus, and Robert Alter and Ron Hendel, longtime academics at UC Berkeley, will co-teach an eight-session class online, starting Jan. 14. New Lehrhaus is offering the class in partnership with Berkeley’s Cantata Collective.
Through the years, said Biale, there has been no dearth of Bible study and opera appreciation courses. So, she thought “let’s do something creative” and combine the two.
With Alter, a Hebrew and comparative literature scholar, and Hendel, a Hebrew Bible and Jewish studies professor, students will do close readings of passages pertaining to King Saul, King David, Jonathan, Esther, Jephtha and Samson and Delilah, and examine the historical and cultural contexts.
Under McGegan’s and Cranna’s expertise, the class will watch musical productions about these Biblical characters and learn why so many composers referenced them in their works. Those composers include George Frideric Handel, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Camille Saint-Saëns and American-born modernist Hugo Weisgall, whose “Esther: An Opera” was originally commissioned by the San Francisco Opera. Handel, said McGegan, is one of the luminaries of Biblebased musical compositions. Born in Germany, he spent most of his adult working life in London, where, under the
“They identified themselves with the children of Israel,” he said, “destined to be blessed by God” in their efforts to extend their sphere of influence around the world.
Cranna pointed to Deborah Rooke’s 2012 book “Handel’s Israelite Oratorio Libretti: Sacred Drama and Biblical Exegesis.” Rooke wrote, “To its people, Britain was the Israel of its day, preserving the true faith by God’s help against a bevy of infidels, just as the biblical Israelites had been chosen by God to preserve the true faith against all those who opposed them, from the Philistines to the Babylonians.”
This did not mean, Cranna and McGegan noted, that Handel, his contemporaries or later composers who wrote Bible-based operas and oratories remained true to the
original text. They often borrowed from other sources, such as Greek mythology, as Handel did in his “Jephtha” oratorio, which in some ways mirrors the story of Iphigenia and Agamemnon.
Because 18th-century audiences wanted “happy endings,” composers often deviated from Biblical accounts. Jephtha’s daughter in Handel’s opera, for instance, does not die, as she does in the Bible. Rather, she is consigned to eternal virginity.
Perhaps modern audiences would not consider this a “happy ending,” but it met the demands of the audiences for whom it was originally written, McGegan said.
Trading off with McGegan and Cranna on alternate weeks, Alter and Hendel will tackle the multiple meanings of the age-old Biblical tales. Their interpretations will extend beyond the literal, touching on issues of gender, sexual orientation, power, religious identity, parent-child relations and class.
For instance, they will explore what is meant by David’s proclamation of love for Jonathan in the Book of Samuel when he says: “My love for you surpasses the love of women.” Beyond its suggestion of homoerotic love, said Hendel, the question is political in nature, as it addresses matters of inheritance and succession. King Saul was Jonathan’s father. And who followed as monarch of ancient Israel upon Saul’s death? None other than Jonathan’s beloved, David.
The nature of human relations is fraught, and the Hebrew Bible is chock full of examples.
“There is a sophisticated articulation of the [Samson] story,” said Alter, in which “his weakness for women … leads him to danger and destruction.” Added Hendel, “Samson keeps falling for these Philistine [women]. I don’t think that Freud wrote about it, but he’d have had a heyday.”
So, too, is the Jephtha story replete with psychological ramifications. Not as well known as some of the other Biblical characters, Jephtha was the “son of a prostitute” who was
viewed by his half-brothers as a “third-class citizen,” Alter said. These half-brothers “drove him out of the house with the help of the community. [Jephtha] forms his own militia. Some of the elders then “implore him to help them against the Ammonites,” foes of the ancient Hebrews.
“He is successful on the battlefield and sacrifices his only daughter” as he’d promised to do if he prevailed, Alter said. “It is a reversal of the Abraham and Isaac story,” in which the father spares his son at the very last second. n
“From the Page to the Stage: The Bible in Text and Opera” 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Jan. 14 to March 11. Online. $90. tinyurl.com/page-to-the-stage
‘Kung Pao Kosher Comedy’ to honor host’s late ‘mamaleh’
COMEDY | NIVA ASHKENAZI | J. STAFF
Since her mother’s death in August, San Francisco comedian Lisa Geduldig has found it hard to hold back tears during performances.
“I’ve been onstage five times since she died, and I’ve cried each time,” the “Kung Pao Kosher Comedy” show host told J. “It is comedy, but I’m human, and it’s such a Jewish thing to be able to draw comedy from pain.”
Geduldig has produced and hosted the annual “Kung Pao” show since 1993. She schedules it on and around Christmas at Chinese restaurants in San Francisco’s Chinatown — building on the great Jewish American tradition of eating out at the only restaurants that are reliably open on Dec. 25.
For the past four years, Geduldig’s mother, Arline, was part of the event’s guest comic lineup. This year’s production, with six shows running from Dec. 24 to 26 at the Cantonese Imperial Palace restaurant, is dedicated to Arline’s memory and her sense of humor. All of the shows — one with dinner and one with cocktails evening — will take place in-person and on YouTube Live. J. is among this year’s “Kung Pao” sponsors.
The 2024 lineup features Ophira Eisenberg, former host of the NPR show “Ask Me Another,” and current host of the comedy podcast “Parenting Is a Joke.” Eisenberg has also appeared on CBS’ “The Late Late Show,” Comedy Central, HBO and “The Moth Radio Hour.”
British comic host Matt Kirshen, who came to the U.S. as a finalist on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” in 2007, will make his “Kung Pao” debut. Kirshen has also appeared on Comedy Central’s “@Midnight” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” He is a regular guest co-host of “StarTalk” with Neil deGrasse Tyson and hosts “Probably Science,” a comedy-science podcast.
Becky Braunstein, who riffs on growing up Jewish in Alaska, will be onstage too. A cancer survivor, she has used her experiences to write and produce a scripted comedy pilot called “Cancer Culture,” a 2022 finalist in the Yes, And Laughter Lab showcase. Braunstein has appeared on “Trinkets” on Netflix, “Chad” on TBS and “Shrill” on Hulu. She has been featured at top comedy festivals including SF Sketchfest and the HBO Women in Comedy Festival.
Although Geduldig remembered her mother as quiet and reserved when she was growing up, she discovered Arline’s sense of
humor while quarantined in her home in Boynton Beach, Florida, during the first 17 months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The two began making use of their mutual isolation by putting on a monthly show online called “Lockdown Comedy.”
Lisa kept the show running for the next four years. The final “Lockdown Comedy” show in September featured a compilation of her mom’s greatest hits.
“She was like my little wind-up doll in the last 4½ years living with her,” said Geduldig, who frequently returned to Florida to visit her mother after living there full time at the start of the pandemic. “My prized possessions these days are the videos of her. She was really funny. And she loved, loved, loved doing the show.”
That wasn’t the first time Arline took the stage, virtual or otherwise. During the third “Kung Pao” show in 1995, Geduldig recalled bringing her mother onstage to sing a duet of her high-pitched “Irv calls,” Arline’s preferred method for calling her husband to dinner.
As a result of her popularity on “Lockdown Comedy,” Arline returned to “Kung Pao,” starting online in 2020. Soon enough, Geduldig’s friends started calling her “mamaleh,” Geduldig’s term of endearment for her mother.
“Because on Facebook, I’ve posted about our relationship over the years… everyone refers to her as ‘mamaleh,’” she said. “I ran into someone the other day, and they said ‘I’m just thinking about your ‘mamaleh.’”
Similar to the recent tribute to Arline on the final “Lockdown Comedy,” “Kung Pao” will feature a clip of one of her past performances.
Since the second “Kung Pao” show in 1994, partial proceeds from ticket sales have been donated to local organizations and causes. This year’s beneficiaries are Shalom Bayit, a Bay Area nonprofit that seeks to prevent domestic violence in the Jewish community, and the Chinatown YMCA’s food pantry and grocery distribution programs.
“Last year, I realized that… even though I had been producing this event in Chinatown for 30 years, I wasn’t giving back to the community, except for supporting a Chinese restaurant,” Geduldig said. “So I decided to name the Chinatown YMCA food pantry last year [and] to support them again this year.” n
“Kung Pao Kosher Comedy” 5 p.m. dinner show and 8:30 p.m. cocktail show on Dec. 24, 25 and 26 at Imperial Palace, 818 Washington St., S.F. $71-$96 in person; $35-$81 YouTube Live stream. Reservations recommended. koshercomedy.com
You can take pride in the success of our particular match … we feel that it was “b’shert.” Dr. Lou F. in San Francisco
Best money I ever spent! True love is truly priceless. We can’t thank you enough. I.F. in S.F. Bay Area
Ophira Eisenberg Becky Braunstein
Lisa Geduldig and her late mother, Arline, in Florida. The two lived together full time for the first part of the pandemic. (WANDA ALTIDOR)
Latke contest was no ‘Chopped,’ but it was a
THE ORGANIC EPICURE ALIX WALL
Alix Wall is a contributing editor to J. She is also the founder of the Illuminoshi: The Not-So-Secret Society of Bay Area Jewish Food Professionals.
A latke competition inspired by the Food Network television show “Chopped” took place this month in Walnut Creek, where four groups worked feverishly with a “mystery basket” of ingredients — really just inside a paper bag under the table — to come up with the best-tasting latke in just 37 minutes.
Chaya Berkowitz, who hosted with a helping hand from her husband, Chabad of Contra Costa Rabbi Dovber Berkowitz, started her day at a bris, ran the Chabad preschool and then cooked up a ton of latkes for noshing on before the competition. She loves bringing people together around food.
The Dec. 12 contest was the second “Chopped” latke competition at the Chabad in seven years; I covered and judged the first one Berkowitz hosted, as well as this one. The mystery ingredients this time represented the five essential tastes in Japanese cuisine: sweet (date syrup), bitter (horseradish), salty (potato chips), sour (pickles) and umami (nutritional yeast).
On the long-running TV show, four chefs go head to head in three rounds, with one eliminated after each round, until one winner is left standing. Before they start cooking each round, they open a basket to reveal four strange ingredients. The chefs must incorporate all of the ingredients into their dishes in creative ways.
In Walnut Creek, there were four teams, each with five to seven women, and only one round. Contestants had free use of a pantry with a variety of vegetables beyond potatoes and onions, and many spices, vinegars, condiments and such. The two items Berkowitz forgot to include were applesauce and sour cream, but that only forced the teams to be even more creative with their toppings.
The competitors were given 30 minutes to create their dishes, but they ended up getting another seven minutes when time ran out and no one was near finished. (This would have never happened on the real “Chopped,” but the Berkowitzes were much more lenient than TV host Ted Allen.)
Two of the teams were made up entirely of Russian speakers, one mostly from Ukraine and the other from Belarus. The other two teams, which conducted most of their business in English, represented a blend of backgrounds. One was made up of Israelis and Americans, and the other was a multicultural mix of Israeli, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Russian women.
“Food is something that people get really excited about, because it connects them to Jewish tradition.”
Chaya Berkowitz, Chabad of Contra Costa
With groups of chefs cooking together with so little time, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity to talk strategy. Most teams ended up with one person leading and her teammates weighing in every so often on what to add or leave out of the mix, which led to some challenges.
“It’s a very Russian thing to believe there’s only one way to make a dish,” Irina Berkon told me.
Each team only had one burner and one pan. The food processors helped with the time-consuming task of grating, but most teams didn’t avail themselves of the shredding attachment, so nearly all of the latkes had textural problems.
The latkes were judged in three categories: taste, creativity in using the mystery ingredients, and presentation.
As someone who, admittedly, has watched her share of “Chopped” — it’s a go-to on airplanes when there’s not enough time for another movie and I just can’t read anymore — I know cheftestants get docked when mystery ingredients are just placed on the plate without being transformed. More than one team committed that sin, with a small mound of pickles, for example, or a dollop of horseradish straight from the container.
The date syrup was favored as a topping. The Ukrainian team made a sauce with red and yellow bell peppers, for example, with date syrup and lemon juice. And most teams used their nutritional yeast by adding a little to their latke batter, hoping its taste wouldn’t come through so much.
Hagit Gayer, who led a team of Israelis and Americans, said they were going for a pancake look with their latke entry.
Yelena Krupitskaya (left) adds bell peppers to a pan during a “Chopped”-style latke competition at Chabad of Contra Costa in Walnut Creek. (PHOTOS/AARON LEVY-WOLINS/J. STAFF)
Jewish slice of life
Melanie Brodskiy, on one of the Russian-speaking teams, told a wonderful tale when she introduced their plate. eir latke entry began along the Black Sea, “moving through the Strait of Bosphorus to the Mediterranean, combining the flavors of the Black Sea coast cuisine and Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine.” It was the best story, but alas, the latkes had a common but fatal flaw: lack of salt.
e team of Israeli and American chefs who successfully incorporated every mystery ingredient, along with the unorthodox flavors of lime and ginger, was the runner-up; the latke was oversized (team captain Hagit Gayer said she was going more for a pancake look) with a ring of date syrup encircling a lime zest twist on top.
“It’s a very Russian thing to believe there’s only one way to make a dish.”
Coming in first place was the multicultural team with a “vegetable forward” latke. ey made their own raw applesauce in the food processor (it had too much cinnamon, but points for e ort), as well as a savory sauce with the horseradish that tasted more “interesting” than “delicious.”
In presenting their dish, the chefs said they tried to incorporate flavors from all of their cultures into the latke and sauces.
Even though the winning latke had textural issues, falling apart from fork to mouth, it tasted the best of all four. Each person on the winning team took home a bo le of Invei kosher wine that Rabbi Berkowitz makes with winemaker Michael Kaye. Runners-up each got a copy of the book “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
e competition was hardly the point, though. Julia Povlak told me she had been to the first “Chopped” latke competition seven years ago with a group of her friends, and all eight were back to take part in this one, too.
Complimenting the Berkowitzes for their community building, she said, “I come more for the kibitzing. at’s what community is all about.”
To that end, Berkowitz said she frequently thinks up activities to bring women together.
“O en I’m suggesting, ‘let’s try some art, let’s try di erent things,’ but I always hear, ‘I love when you do food, please do food again,’” she said.
She admi ed that cooking isn’t one of her favorite pastimes (probably because she cooks so o en as a Chabad rebbetzin), “but food is something that people get really excited about because it connects them to Jewish tradition. It really makes people feel like they’re part of a family.”
Anna Levin, who co-sponsored the evening, shared a few words about her late mother-in-law, Irina Hmelnitsky, who loved to cook and entertain. Levin’s husband, Leo, stopped by later and shared his own words about his mother. He said that when she lived in Soviet-era Russia, she was an expert in cooking potatoes because sometimes that was all the family had. She could easily whip up a three-course meal, he said, with potatoes cooked di erent ways in each course.
SMALL BITES
For the past four years, Bardessono Hotel & Spa, a luxury spa in Napa Valley's Yountville, has been pu ing on a latke showdown, with area chefs going head to head and the proceeds going to charity. is year’s winner was Itamar Abramovitch, chef-owner of both Blossom Catering and Meat Carnival. His winning creation had three layers of latkes; he called it a “Mille Feuille of latke and creme fraîche” topped with salmon roe and tru e. ■
Irina Berkon, contestant
Chef Itamar Abramovitch’s winning entry in a latke showdown was a “Mille Feuille of Latke and Creme Fraîche” with salmon roe and tru le. (BOB MCCLENAHAN PHOTOGRAPHY)
BYU quarterback is new face of Manischewitz matzah
JACOB GURVIS | JTA
A er a historic football season at BYU, Jake Retzla ’s latest honor places him in the company of Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali: having his face grace an iconic box of food.
Retzla , the star quarterback at Brigham Young University, has nabbed a sponsorship deal with Manischewitz, the Jewish food company’s first-ever sports deal. e deal includes special-edition boxes of Manischewitz matzah emblazoned with Retzla ’s likeness.
Retzla , 21, who grew up a ending a Reform synagogue in Pomona, California, is BYU’s first Jewish starting quarterback and one of only three Jewish students at the Mormon flagship school in Utah.
His story has resonated with fans, Jewish and not, both because of his athletic prowess — he threw 20 touchdowns as he led BYU to a 10-2 record in the Big-12 Conference and a top-25 national ranking — and because of his public embrace of his Jewish identity. Retzla wears a Star of David necklace around campus and has taken on the nickname “BY-Jew.”
Retzla ’s sponsorship was negotiated through a three-year-old NCAA initiative — called “Name, Image, Likeness,” or NIL — that allows college athletes to profit from their personal brands. It will include a limited run of Retzla matzah boxes that won’t be available in stores but will be distributed in a giveaway, as well as social media and video content including Retzla and showcasing recipes and holiday traditions.
Manischewitz declined to share how much it is paying Retzla for the deal, which runs from Hanukkah through Passover. (A Washington Post investigation found that many athletes and universities do not reveal specifics of NIL deals.)
“Manischewitz has always been part of my life,” Retzla said in a press release. “I grew up with matzah with peanut bu er as my favorite snack, and every Passover, my family and I made matzah pizza together. At Chanukah time our tradition was making potato latkes.”
He continued: “Now, at BYU, I’m able to share these traditions with my teammates. is partnership is about more than football — it’s about creating connections and celebrating Jewish pride.”
In its announcement, Manischewitz, the kosher food brand founded in Cincinnati in 1888 and known especially for its matzah, highlighted Retzla ’s involvement in the local Jewish community in Provo, Utah — where BYU is located and where he has wrapped tefillin in the school’s stadium and led the city’s first public Hanukkah menorah lighting.
Retzla ’s agreement with Manischewitz follows in the footsteps of baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who in 1962 invested in a Los Angeles motel that renamed itself “Sandy Koufax’s Tropicana Motel.” In the decades since, Jewish athletes have struck sponsorship deals big and small, from MLB dra ee Elie Kligman’s yarmulke brand deal to WNBA legend Sue Bird’s long-running endorsement deals with Nike and American Express.
Retzla ’s NIL deal was the brainchild of Jewish comedian Eitan Levine, who had been working with Manischewitz on other content projects and pitched the idea to each side.
Levine said connecting Manischewitz and Retzla felt like the perfect pairing — almost like a shidduch, the Hebrew word for a romantic match.
“First of all, Manischewitz is Jewish, Jewish is Manischewitz,” Levine said in an interview. “When you think of Manischewitz, I immediately think of Jewish culture.”
As for Retzla , Levine said, the quarterback not only has an “absolutely incredible” story, but he has been sha ering Jewish stereotypes along the way.
“I think that he does such a good job at representing Judaism and representing just the positive side of our community,” Levine said. “ ere’s not a lot of Jewish football players out there. He’s a DI, 10-win school that’s going to be going to a bowl game. And he’s very proudly and prominently Jewish.”
Food section is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky
Gather round the table, we’ll give you a … salad!
NOSH MICAH SIVA
Micah Siva is a registered dietitian, trained chef and cookbook author in San Francisco. She develops modern Jewish recipes inspired by her grandmother, with a plant-forward twist. NoshWithMicah.com
e holiday season is upon us! With Hanukkah just around the corner, I’ve wrapped our gi s, pulled out the menorahs and ordered my son a new pair of Hanukkah pajamas.
e last, and most important, item on my list is to plan my holiday menu. Last year, I welcomed my son, Ari, just five days before Hanukkah. is year, I’ve moved to a new home — meaning that Hanukkah has become for me the season of lots of change and extra planning. One thing that is constant, however, is my obsession with the perfect menu, regardless of whether I’m cooking for a party of 30 or my family of three.
When I think about my holiday menu, it’s all about balance. ere will always be a classic latke on my table, but I might also experiment with an added sweet potato or hint of ginger as I fry my way through the holiday. Given that much of our meal is centered around fried foods, I like to balance the heavy with fresh side dishes.
But how do you give a salad a Hanukkah theme? e combination of crispy potatoes, bright apples and sour cream serves as inspiration for this salad — but don’t be fooled into thinking this should only be in your rotation for Hanukkah. It’s great all year long.
e dressing, a sour-cream based ranch, has a touch of tahini for added richness, balanced with bright, fresh parsley, dill and chives. You can use dried herbs in their place, but fresh is always best. Double the dressing recipe to serve it alongside your latkes, chips or veggies. You can also make it with a plain yogurt, if preferred. e addition of bu ermilk and lemon juice help make it tangy enough to cut through the richness of the sour cream and the potato chip “croutons.”
ick-cut, ke le-cooked chips work best, as they are less likely to get soggy.
Lastly the crispy le uce, cucumbers, apple and a sprinkle of fresh herbs balance the rich dressing and oily chips. is ranch dressing will surely become one of your favorites.
HERBY SALAD WITH SOUR CREAM RANCH AND POTATO CHIPS
Dressing:
⅓ cup sour cream
¼ cup buttermilk
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. tahini
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 Tbs. finely chopped parsley
1 Tbs. finely chopped dill
1 Tbs. finely chopped chives
Salt and pepper, to taste
For dressing
Serves 4
Salad:
2 small heads Romaine lettuce, chopped
½ of an English cucumber, thinly sliced
1 medium Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
2 Tbs. finely chopped parsley
2 Tbs. finely chopped dill
2 Tbs. finely chopped chives
½ cup crumbled thick-cut potato chips
In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, bu ermilk, lemon juice and tahini. Add chopped garlic, parsley, dill and chives. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. in with 1 to 2 Tbsp. water, if necessary. Set aside.
For salad
In a large bowl, combine le uce, cucumber, apples, parsley, dill and chives. To serve, drizzle with dressing, and garnish with the crumbled potato chips.
Note: You can store dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. ■
NEW YEAR’S EVE AT
Reserve your table today to ring in 2025 with Chef Mark Dommen’s festive menu, sparkling wine, and Billy Philadelphia at the piano from 7pm to midnight.
First Seating: 5:30-7pm
The evening starts with a complimentary glass of bubbly, then onto your celebratory dinner so you can get home to watch the Times Square ball drop from your own living room.
Second Seating: 8:30-10:30pm
For the late night revelers, dinner and a midnight bubbly toast, with spectacular views of the fireworks right outside the restaurant (weather permitting).
See the menu and reserve your table at onemarket.com
THE FESTIVAL OF LATKES
Throughout December at lunch and dinner, we’re serving up nine delectable “loaded” latkes to celebrate Hanukkah season.
Come in for the Bodega Bay Smoked Salmon, Pastrami “Reuben” or the Steak Tartare, to name a few favorites.
Make this Hanukkah salad with sour cream-tahini ranch and potato chips.
(MICAH SIVA)
J. Life
The Torah column is supported by a generous donation from Eve Gordon-Ramek in memory of Kenneth Gordon
You can retire from a career, but you can’t stop serving God
TORAH | RABBI JOEY FELSEN
Vayeshev
Genesis 37:140:23
The parsha opens with what seems to be a relatively innocuous first verse: “Jacob settled in the land of his father’s dwelling, in the land of Canaan.” (Genesis 37:1)
It makes sense that a new chapter would describe the setting, or at least give the location, of where the narrative is about to take the reader. For some reason, the sages take the line in a very different direction.
“Jacob wanted to settle in tranquility, but the tragedy of Joseph pounced on him. The righteous want to settle in tranquility and God says, ‘is it not enough for the righteous that the World to Come has been prepared for them, they want to settle in tranquility in This World as well?” (Midrash Tanchuma on Genesis 37:2)
The Midrash definitely sounds troubling. Is it really so bad to want to just live with a little peace and quiet?
The implication of the sages is that since Jacob wanted to escape the hardships of the world, therefore he was challenged with the tragedy of the Joseph story. In fact, when Jacob does eventually make his way down to Egypt and meets Pharaoh, he tells him, “Few and miserable have been the years of my life,” (Genesis 47:9)
It would be hard to argue with Jacob. His life was a string of trials and tribulations. From his brother, Esau, wanting to kill him, to Laban, his father-in-law, trying to deceive him and then harm him, to the rape and abduction of his daughter, his life could not be considered “easy street.” He also had to contend with his wife’s death in childbirth, his son’s disappearance and a major famine that led his family into treacherous territory.
In order to understand the wisdom of the sages, it is important to remember that Jacob was the bearer of a great legacy. The Book of Genesis follows the life of Abraham and Sarah as they moved throughout the Land of Canaan digging wells and proclaiming the name of God. Abraham was on a mission his entire life to introduce monotheism and to eradicate idol worship. Isaac followed
in his footsteps and re-dug the wells that had been stopped up by the Philistines. He understood that he had a mission to accomplish.
When Jacob returns to the Land of Canaan after having been away for over 20 years, he builds himself a house and tries to settle. He purchases land in Shechem and intends to grow old there. The critique comes as a result of not continuing the family mission of introducing God to the
The message of the sages seems to be that one is never exempt from working toward spiritual goals.
world. It is likely that Jacob was hoping that his children would now step up and take on that new role. That might also explain why Jacob allows his children to speak up and suggest that the people of Shechem get circumcised to intermarry with the children of Israel. (Genesis 34:13) He sees his progeny as the new generation that will bring people closer to God.
The message of the sages seems to be that one is never exempt from working toward spiritual goals. Retirement is something that emanates from the material world. A person can decide that they have enough resources and thereby choose not to continue in a career or occupation.
When it comes to serving God and fulfilling the commandments, the obligations never end at any stage of life. One just has to walk the streets of Jerusalem and peek inside the batei medresh (study halls) in almost any neighborhood to see men in their 80s and 90s poring over Talmud. At the Kotel there are always dozens of women swaying over their prayerbooks and Psalms.
The same message should resonate when it comes to communal involvement. Whether that means joining a board of directors, volunteering for a charity or taking up any role that furthers the agenda of sanctifying God’s name in this world, one should always pursue opportunities to give. A person should pace herself or himself to avoid burnout, but ultimately the goal is not the rest and relaxation that so many people chase in today’s world.
We hope that the World to Come will provide us with the great tranquility that is promised to the righteous. n
Rabbi Joey Felsen is founder and executive director of the Jewish Study Network, founding board president of Meira Academy in Palo Alto, and a J. board member.
“Jacob Seeking the Forgiveness of Esau” by Jan Victors, 1652
THE NEWS CAN’T WAIT
—Dec. 17
As 2024 draws to a close, we need your help to meet our year-end goals. Demonstrate what vibrant, local Jewish journalism means to you with a donation today.
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Donate to J. to support our year-end 2024 fundraising campaign. Together, we can ensure that J. continues its essential role as both the chronicle and conscience of the Bay Area Jewish community.
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On behalf of J’.s board and staff, thank you and wishing you a peaceful and happy Hanukkah.
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The Obituaries section is supported by a generous grant from Sinai Memorial Chapel, sinaichapel.org
OBITUARIES
STELLA ETOILE CAMPBELL
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the sudden death of Stella Etoile Campbell at 5:14 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2024. Stella died peacefully in the presence of her children, Daniel Campbell and Zohra Campbell, and family after complications from pneumonia.
Stella was an active member of Temple Israel in Alameda for 50 years, a member of the Ritual Committee, chanted Torah on the High Holidays and sang in the choir. She was also a member of the East Bay Chevra Kadisha. Stella treasured the many friends and the community she had in Alameda.
In 2019 she moved from her home in Alameda to live closer to her children in Oregon. We were so lucky to have her close to us these past five years.
Remembrances may be sent to Zohra Campbell, drzohra@msn.com.
SERENA BARDELL
Sept. 11, 1932–Dec. 11, 2024
Serena Bardell (née Jutkovitz), daughter of the late Rose Semmel and Alexander Jutkovitz; sister of the late Howard and the late Elliot Bernstein; aunt of Lex, Donna, Steven, Dan, Dale, Adam, Mitchell, Matt, Rhoda, Eve, Ula, the late Andy Bernstein and the late Freda Bernstein Langbert; great-aunt of Rachel, Anna Rose, Sara, Doug, Drew, Juliet and Lee Bernstein; wife of Robert Douglas Bardell. Founder (1964), San Francisco Mensa Gourmet Group. Editor and publisher for eight years, first with dear friend Barbara Lee then with Bob: à la vôtre!, a bimonthly “little magazine” about wine and food. Author of SJ’s Winners: An Exceptional Approach to Round-the-World Wining and Dining in the San Francisco Bay Area (1982) and SJ’s 1984-85 Guide to San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants. Longtime “Chowhound” known as “Fine.”
Lifelong liberal Democrat, which, despite the tendency in recent times to say “liberal” and mean “leftist,” is not an oxymoron.
Passionate organic gardener, cook and baker devoted to making whole-grain, sustainable, low-saturated-fat, organic dishes that taste as delicious as the opposites. User and supporter of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Guides. Wine lover/collector.
Defender of the Mother Tongue and longtime member of the late Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature (SPELL). Freelance editor.
S.F. civil grand juror 1996-97. Founding director (2003-2006, 2008-2010) San Francisco Chapter, California Grand Jurors’ Association (CGJA) and director of the statewide organization (2003-2009). Chair, CGJA’s first-ever Annual Conference to take place in San Francisco (2007).
Longtime director and active participant, Golden Gate Valley Neighborhood Association.
Graduate of four Neighborhood Emergency Response Team Trainings (NERT). Founder and leader of 1900 Block of Filbert SAFE group (1994-2004).
Ever grateful for having been born a Jew and an American and for so many years of extraordinarily good health.
Thankful for the love and patience of many friends, including the late Joanie Scoggins, Jenny,
Don, Raven, the late Dorothy Whitnah, Barbara, the late Babs Spack, Zelda, Gaye, Eni, Dorothy H., and the steadfastness and love of both her late brother Howard and her husband.
She came to believe that it was essential to protect the earth and its oceans, air, and fresh water in the hope that the human race might someday evolve into worthy inhabitants.
If you want to honor her memory, please compost, recycle and donate to and/or volunteer for any group working to save whales, fish, rainforests, etc., and make mindful choices with every purchase. And never, ever say, “They invited my partner and I.”
From the J. Archives Vaudeville’s ‘red hot mama’ Belle Baker was a hit in S.F.
MAYA MIRSKY | J. STAFF
It’s 1929 and you’re looking for a night out in San Francisco. Maybe you’re in the mood for some lively entertainment. You’re in luck! You open the Emanu-El, as this publication was known at the time, and are overjoyed to find that Jewish vaudeville star and torch singer Belle Baker will be in town.
“Miss Baker is returning to the new RKO-Orpheum theater next week, beginning Friday matinee, September 27, in an entirely new act,” we announced.
Belle Baker was a star, and a very Jewish one. “For fifteen years, since she was graduated to the vaudeville stage from New York’s East Side, Belle Baker has had an increasing series of triumphs until now her name has become established from Coast to Coast as the ‘infinite variety artiste,’” we wrote.
Baker was born around 1895 (the exact year is disputed) in New York City into a family that arrived amid the great wave of Jewish migration from the Russian empire to the United States. In 1925, we ran a profile of Baker, written by Ray Bril:
“Belle Baker, the actress whose name has become a household word from coast to coast, first saw the light of day in a dingy room in the sordid tenement house at 72 Orchard Street. But for her sweet voice she was no different than hundreds of other Jewish baby girls born that year on the East Side.
“Her lot was destined even to be harder than that of some of the others. For at the age of nine the little girl who was later to bring laughter and cheer to men and women everywhere,
had to leave school and go to the factory. For there was a very sick mother at home and a family of eight children.
“But Belle was only able to remain a short time in any particular factory. She would sing at her work and her singing would keep the girls from working so she would lose her job and go to another factory.”
Baker herself put it this way: “I was just approaching my ninth birthday when one teacher in school one day asked me to bring my mother. ‘But my mother can’t speak English.’ I told her. ‘Then bring me your father,’ she said. ‘My father can’t speak English, either, but I have a big brother who can.’
“I heard my teacher tell my brother, ‘Your sister needs a new dress and a new apron.’ After that nothing could make me go back to school. I was determined to earn money somehow, so that I could have a nice, new, clean dress and apron, and so that my sisters after me could have nice dresses when they went to school.”
Having left school, she began her career at around 14 in Jewish music halls, singing in both Yiddish and English.
“A manager came to the music hall,” Bril wrote. “This time it was a man from the Keith Circuit [a chain of vaudeville theaters]. ‘Would she come and sing for Keith’s at a salary of two hundred dollars a week,’ he asked her as soon as he was able to see her backstage. The girl gasped. Another big moment had come into her life.”
By the time Bril interviewed her, Baker was a star. “Today when I saw her in her luxurious apartment on 92nd Street right off Broadway,” Bril wrote, “I found an exquisitely attired young woman singing a lullaby to a twenty-two-month-old baby.”
The child was from Baker’s second marriage, to Maurice Abrahams. But she kept on singing. In 1926, she starred in a Ziegfeld production of the Rodgers and Hart musical “Betsy,” and she appeared in several Ziegfeld Follies revues. She also debuted a number of Irving Berlin songs, including “Blue Skies,” now considered a classic.
Baker was known for her rich voice and comic timing and was a crossover hit-maker, yet one of Baker’s most famous songs was as Jewish as it gets: “Eli, Eli,” which was written in 1896. (To be clear, this is not the poem-song also called “Eli, Eli” written by resistance fighter Hannah Szenes in 1942.)
“It was Belle Baker who was the first to sing ‘Eli, Eli’ in vaudeville,” Bril wrote. “Now copies of that song with her picture on the cover grace Jewish homes throughout the
“I heard my teacher tell my brother, ‘Your sister needs a new dress and a new apron.’ After that nothing could make me go back to school.”
country. Into that song she pours all the fervor of her being.”
In 1929, we mentioned that “it is seldom audiences will allow her to finish her performance without singing the great Hebrew lament, ‘Eli, Eli,’ which was first introduced to the vaudeville stage by this celebrated delineator of song characterizations.”
Her career carried her through the transition from vaudeville to radio, radio to movies. In 1929, Baker starred in her first film, “Song of Love,” an RKO talkie that played at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco in 1930. Not many of Baker’s screen performances are easy to access, but there are a few clips online that give you a sense of her as a performer. Baker died in 1957, at the age of 62, in Hollywood. Her New York Times obituary described her as a “torch singer” and “one of vaudeville’s ‘red hot mamas.’”
In our profile, she told Bril what she considered to be the secret of her success.
“It was hard work, very hard work, that brought me to where I am now,” she said. “It is partly to that I attribute my success, and partly to the fact that I have always been true to my folks. Doing the right thing by your people and working hard will get you anywheres.” n
Belle Baker
Belle Baker (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)
Sheet music for Belle Baker’s hit “Eli, Eli” (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, IRENE HESKES COLLECTION)
An ad for a Belle Baker performance in San Francisco in 1929 that ran in this paper. (J. ARCHIVE)
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