Don’t think of it as a business decision. Think of it as a statement on the advancement of women in our society in the past several decades.
That’s how Mattie Alperton pulls a silver lining out of the dark cloud of San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El shutting down its gift shop at the end of June after more than eight decades in business.
“Formerly, this shop was under the direction of the temple sisterhood, but, like many sisterhoods, they disbanded because of lack of membership. Women are working. And they’re not available to do active volunteering,” said Alperton, the shop’s volunteer director for the past five years.
“We have had problems getting enough volunteers. We have no one to take it over.”
But Emanu-El’s well-stocked gift shop had another problem, and it’s located a few miles down the road on California Street. Specifically, it’s Dayenu, the gift shop at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
In the past year, the Emanu-El gift shop’s profits are down 50 percent — and the store had cleared $35,000 to $40,000 in past years — which forced the temple’s hand.
Gary Cohn, Emanu-El’s executive director, said the opening of Dayenu exacerbated a problem that had been lingering for a while.
“Whether or not there was a store opened at the JCC, the writing had been on the wall here for a number of years. Three or four years ago, we toyed with hiring someone to work at the store, and paying someone, but we decided not to go in that direction,” he said.
“We just don’t have the volunteers to run it. We’re not a suburban congregation. Two years ago, we approached the preschool parent association to see if they wanted to provide parents to run the gift shop, and all the profits would go toward the preschool. But most people are either busy raising their families or with their careers.”
Cohn said closing the shop was a sad and difficult decision, and he felt especially badly for women like Norma Glick, an octogenarian who had been volunteering in the shop since the 1970s.
It was a sad moment for Alperton as well. When she first began working in the store, lines stretched out the door starting at 9 a.m. as Emanu-El’s gift shop sold discount matzah priced far below the supermarket rates.
And, in the shop’s last month, the lines and clamor have returned, as everything in the store is 50 percent off.
“It kind of makes you wonder where everyone was before the sale?” said Cohn, wryly.
For store hours through the rest of the month, contact Congregation Emanu-El at (415) 751-2535.