Amid books on Modigliani and Kafka, kosher-labeled oven mitts, and a sentimental Jewish card collection, a Harley-Davidson sculpture made of smooth black wire might seem a bit out of place.
But with nine holes for candles, including one for a shamash, it fits right in with the rest of the assorted Judaica at Dayenu, a gift shop located in the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco at 3220 California St.
The store is situated at the very front of the building, so the carefully selected art, jewelry, music, cards and ritual items are among the first things JCC visitors see. Co-owners Eva-Lynne Leibman and Hiroko Nogami-Rosen certainly keep that in mind in selecting items for sale and arranging their display.
“When we’re buying,” says Leibman, “we don’t just think, ‘Oh, we need six seder plates.’ We really look for one-of-a-kind items with an affordable price.”
Both Leibman and Nogami-Rosen are artists, and their attention to aesthetic detail shows in the way they present their goods, which Leibman calls “beautiful Judaica.” Though books line standard shelves and jewelry sits in cases, original work by local artisans such as Aimee Golant, Susan Felix and Marcia Falk is mounted on the wall in more of a gallery style.
Though neither of the co-owners sells her own artwork in the store, Leibman, who does printmaking, drawing and ceramics, did design Dayenu’s logo, a stylized line drawing of two figures dancing. (The design was inspired after she took folk dancing at the old JCC.)
Nogami-Rosen is a skilled ceramic sculptor and does kimono painting, which, Leibman notes, “gives her a unique position as a buyer of tallitot.”
Dayenu’s offerings are elegant and tasteful — a result, Leibman says, of the compromises that come from constant (but good-natured) disagreements regarding what looks good and what doesn’t. As a result, the shop is a fusion of the co-owners’ artistic sensibilities.
The idea for Dayenu grew from both women’s desire to integrate their Jewish lives with their business lives.
Nogami-Rosen, who lived in Japan until she was 30, had never been religious before moving to the United States and meeting her husband, Ed, who is Jewish. Though she has not taken the final step and officially converted, she goes to services and is taking a Talmud class at the JCC.
She and Leibman met through Brandeis Hillel Day School, which their children attended. Nogami-Rosen says she felt incredibly welcomed by the community, crediting that feeling of acceptance as one of the reasons she has developed a deep interest in Judaism.
When her daughter and her classmates began having bar and bat mitzvahs, Nogami-Rosen said, she realized there were limited options for buying gifts and cards, a void that could be filled by putting her retail skills to work.
Leibman, meanwhile, had been retired but wanted to do something that allowed her to work and observe the Jewish holidays, a factor that canceled out the possibility of standard retail.
So the two, who had known each other for years through the day school, decided to start their own shop. Dayenu opened in 2004.
Leibman believes Dayenu has become an integral part of the Jewish community in San Francisco, working with congregations to meet their needs and bringing merchandise to Rhoda Goldman Plaza, so residents can shop without having to leave the premises.
“We try to be involved in the community rather than just expecting the community to come to us,” explains Leibman.