S.F.’s only Orthodox Jewish high school closes after 47 years

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After 47 years as San Francisco’s only Orthodox Jewish high school, the Lisa Kampner Hebrew Academy will close effective immediately, according to an email to parents obtained by J.

The July 6 letter to parents signed by school president Robert Real and vice president Jerry Katzovitz said the school is closing because founder and dean Rabbi Pinchas Lipner is battling cancer and because the academy no longer can count on financial support from its main benefactor, Stanley Kampner of Hillsborough, who also is fighting cancer.

“Although we tried desperately to find a way to go on, leaving no stone unturned, we must now urge you to seek another school for your child(ren),” Real and Katzovitz wrote in the email to parents. “We will do everything possible, including preparation of transcripts and other school records, to make the transition as easy as possible.”

Lipner opened the Hebrew Academy in 1969, initially as a K-3 Orthodox Jewish day school. The academy graduated its first class of high school seniors in 1980. In 1986, it moved to its current location on 14th Avenue near Golden Gate Park.

Dan Pine

Dan Pine is a contributing editor at J. He was a longtime staff writer at J. and retired as news editor in 2020.