Honors

Lehrhaus Judaica is hosting an April 24 gala honoring Piedmont residents Moses and Susan Libitzky for their longtime support of Israel, Jewish education and Holocaust studies. The gala at the InterContinental Hotel in San Francisco will feature a musical performance by Hershey Felder, whose one-man show about Irving Berlin opens April 4 at Berkeley Rep. For more information, contact Julie Bernstein Klein at [email protected].

Sports documentary filmmaker Randy Gordon, middle-school sports coach and Camp Tzofim director Daryl Grace, former San Bruno councilman Harry Redlick and former Lowell High School coach Lee Silverstein were feted as winners of the Golden Bagel Awards presented by the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Northern California. The four were honored for their community service at the awards ceremony March 19 at the Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City.

The Bay Area will be well represented this year at BBYO, the national Jewish teen movement. Ron Hasson of Sunnyvale is international president of the Grand Board of AZA, the boys’ division of BBYO, and Palo Alto’s Noga Hurwitz is international vice president of Jewish heritage for BBG, the organization’s division for girls.

Happenings 

Mark Bernstein made an appearance on ABC’s “Shark Tank” earlier this month and got plenty of exposure (but no financial support) for his lozenge that prevents overeating. Bernstein was touting his MealEnders lozenge, which dissolves in the mouth and curbs appetite without any chemicals or stimulants. Bernstein, CEO and founder of the San Francisco-based company, was seeking $350,000 for 8 percent equity in MealEnders. “We went on for the publicity and sales boost, which we have experienced — sales are up 15 times since the show,” he said. Bernstein is a J. board member and also on the board of the JCC of San Francisco.

The Young Adult Division of the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation helped served meals at Glide Memorial Church earlier this month. Many of those who get the free meals are homeless, and Glide can serve up to 2,400 meals per day thanks to the help of volunteers.

Each Monday, some 20 seventh-graders from the Brandeis School of San Francisco walk a block to neighboring Alma Via, an assisted-living home, to spend a half-hour with residents. The students say in their blog that they “make paper flowers, write poems, talk about resolutions, tell stories and do so many fun things” with the elderly residents at Alma Via.

Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School students had their third annual STEM fair earlier this month, featuring projects developed by students in kindergarten through eighth grade at the Palo Alto school. Some of those projects, by Hausner middle-school students, were also slated for presentation at the Synopsys Science and Technology Championship on March 23 in San Jose.

Comings and Goings

Rabbi Jeremy Morrison is set to become the new executive director of Lehrhaus Judaica. In August, he will succeed Fred Rosenbaum, who became founding director more than 43 years ago at the school for adult Jewish studies. Morrison, 45, served as associate rabbi of Boston’s Temple Israel for 15 years, initiating the synagogue’s Riverway Project — a program aimed at engaging Jews in their 20s and 30s that has become a national model. Morrison moves to the Bay Area with his wife, Molly Schmitt, and their two children.

Quentin Kopp was appointed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to a six-year term on the city’s Ethics Commission. Kopp, a retired California Superior Court Judge, also has served in the state Senate and on the Board of Supervisors. He is a J. board member.

David Green has taken over as executive director of Kevah, a Berkeley-based organization that helps individuals and organizations build Jewish learning communities. Before moving to Kevah, Green led adult education programming at the JCC of San Francisco.

Hillel at Stanford has two new senior staff members. Shifra Elman is the new program director for Jewish life and learning, returning to Stanford after a stint as the assistant director of Hillel of Silicon Valley. Nathalie Landesman is the organization’s new program director for campus and community partnerships for global Jewish peoplehood.

New Israel Fund announced that its associate director for the San Francisco region, Hannah Ellenson, will be moving to NIF’s New York office in May.