Sinai Memorial opens in Redwood City

Wayne Rose may have been the youngest funeral director in history when he began his career at age 18 more than 40 years ago. He now heads Sinai Memorial Chapel’s new office in Redwood City, 777 Woodside Road., the funeral home’s third location, executive director Gene Kaufman proudly reports. Wayne worked in the San Jose area for more than 40 years. He will be available to help residents of the Peninsula and South Bay make funeral and burial arrangements. Sinai Memorial Chapel has operated since 1915 and opened its current San Francisco location in 1937. A second location in Lafayette, serving East Bay residents, opened in 1993. The nonprofit agency allocates funds annually to synagogues and Jewish agencies for Jewish education and social services.

In other Sinai news, Stuart Seiler will be ratified as president 10 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, following the group’s 91st annual meeting at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. He succeeds Peter Samuels, who served a three-year term.

The power of three

Carol Traeger, Jamie Traeger-Muney and Jennifer Traeger epitomize v’dor l’dor (from generation to generation), one of the themes of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation Women’s Alliance’s Power of One. Mom Carol and her daughters are chairing the annual fund-raising and outreach evening, slated for Monday, March 7, at the Hilton San Francisco. Other mother/ daughter combos already signed up for the event include Shelley Porges/Ariel Pasternak, Elyse Weinstein/Becca Weinstein, and Joanne Arfin/Mimi Arfin and Maddy Chaleff.

The featured speaker is writer, editor and feminist activist Gloria Steinem (yes, she’s Jewish!) and Carol Saal will receive the Judith Chapman Memorial Women’s Leadership Award.

Welcome, chaverim

The East Bay federation’s Israel task force threw a hello party for David and Tamar Akov, Northern California’s new Israeli consul general and cultural attaché (respectively). Rob Ruby and Evan Traeger-Muney (husband of the aforementioned Jamie), who co-chair the task force, offered the groups’ official welcome. But it was actually a reunion for Evan and the consul general. The two worked together in the early 1990s when David was vice consul at the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta and Evan was the public relations/information officer there. Evan’s playing a similar role now as a lay leader Israel advocate — only he doesn’t get paid.

Short shorts

Luba Troyanovsky and Sam Budovsky are co-chairs of the fourth annual fund-raising gala of the Emigre Committee of Jewish Family & Children’s Services, held Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco. Development chairs are Marina Tikhman and Galina Miloslavsky. Gala proceeds will fund services for emigre seniors, children and youth, plus refugees in Israel. … Lawrence Helman, who usually plugs others through his PR agency — including many Jewish acts and events — was noted in Leah Garchik’s column in the Chronicle. A documentary he co-produced about porn star Peter Berlin premiers at the Berlin Film Festival. There’s absolutely nothing Jewish about it, he tells Faces. Mazel tov, nevertheless.

Suzan Berns, a freelance writer, was associate director of communications for the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation. She can be reached at [email protected].