‘Coffee Shop Rabbi’ sports buzz cut
Last April, Rabbi Ruth Adar was one of 72 Reform rabbis who shaved their heads to raise money for children’s cancer research. Eight months later, she is still sporting a No. 4 buzz cut. (To those unfamiliar with short-hair lingo — that’s a half-inch of hair.) The East Bay’s “Coffee Shop Rabbi” (so named because she meets at local cafés with people who have questions about Judaism) also raised more than $5,000 to support the cause, which was initiated by a rabbinic colleague whose 8-year-old son Sammy died from the disease. “It was a joy and a privilege to participate, and the feeling of solidarity with Sammy’s parents and the other rabbis who participated is still with me,” Adar reports. Though she recalled panicking as the barber wielded the razor for her initial shave, “Once the cutting began my head felt wonderfully light,” she said. Now if her hair is ever “long enough to get a grip on it, it’s too long.” There are no second thoughts now that winter is coming, either. “I wear a hat. I grew up in Tennessee where it’s natural to wear hats and I love them. And I wear a kippah when I study.” (Read J.’s story at www.tinyurl.com/ruth-adar.)
Oy vey, Winnie’s retiring
Reb Irwin Keller of Congregation Ner Shalom is retiring from his other job — as Winnie in the Kinsey Sicks, “America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet,” which he co-founded 21 years ago. Keller says he’s loved the combination of the careers but “has found the travel (and the shoes) exhausting.” His “drag swan song” performance in the group’s holiday musical “Oy Vey in a Manger,” on Dec. 14 at Sonoma State University, will benefit his Cotati congregation. “I’ve been able to walk this balance between sacred and profane, sublime and ridiculous,” Keller said. “In this next era I look forward to devoting more unfettered attention to my writing, my work in the Jewish community and my involvement in Sonoma County.” For tickets to the one-night-only show, visit www.shalomevents.org.
Football news from Israel
Rom Rosenblum of Albany reports that his son Avi Rosenblum has returned to Israel and is playing defense for the Ramat Hasharon Hammers football team for the second year. In the first game on Nov. 15, Avi made six tackles, one sack and a safety to help defeat the Beersheva Black Swarm 70–0! Avi has made aliyah and plans to serve in the army, after which he will assess his options. (Read J.’s profile at www.tinyurl.com/avi-rosenblum.)
Short shorts
Jed Rich has been named first manager of Engaging the Next Generation of Adult Jews (ENGAJ), a collaboration between Hillel at Stanford and the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. The program, supporting Silicon Valley Jewish graduate students and young adults, is funded by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s Impact Grants Initiative … Maielle Weinstock, Shelley Bauer and Barry Sovel produced a video history of their Petaluma congregation, B’nai Israel Jewish Center, for its 150th-year anniversary festivities. Featured were Ethel Forman, Charlotte Goldstein, Diane Dorfman, Sid and Gerry Lipton, Sylvia Schwartz, Selma Cader, Bill Sovel and Rabbi Ted Feldman. Some 195 people joined the celebration in October … Moldaw Residences, a retirement community on the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life in Palo Alto, celebrated its fifth anniversary — and its full occupancy — on Oct. 27. Larry Marks and David Steirman co-chair the board.
by Suzan Berns
This columnist can be reached at [email protected].