Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.

---

Honors

Charlotte Fletcher of San Francisco is one of 64 college students from around the world selected for the 2023 cohort of Birthright Israel Excel, a program that awards summer internships in Israel to the best and the brightest — the “next generation Jewish business leaders.”  The fellowship consists of hands-on work experience and a speakers series featuring leaders from across Israeli society, which is followed by membership in a community of peers focused on professional development, personal growth, Israel engagement and philanthropy.

Camp Tawonga was one of eight Jewish organizations to receive a Climate Action Fund grant from Adamah, which noted in a press release that it launched the more than $1 million fund by handing out “interest-free loans and matching grants to support Jewish community organizations in undertaking climate solutions that will reduce organizational greenhouse gas emissions.” Tawonga, which is located near Yosemite and has an office in San Francisco, is using its money for the installation of a 173-kilowatt ground-mounted solar array.

Hilda and Manfred Namm were featured in the summer 2023 issue of B’Yachad magazine, a publication of the Jewish National Fund. The Namms were prominent members of the Bay Area Jewish community and the feature honored their lives and legacies, including the bequest in their trust to JNF. Both were born in Berlin to Jewish families who fled the rising Nazi regime and landed in San Francisco by way of Shanghai. J. profiled Hilda in 2020 as part of its Honoring Survivors series. She died in 2022; Manfred died in 1995.

Rabbi Chaim Mahgel-Friedman of Berkeley, co-owner of Afikomen Judaica with his wife, Nell, has been accepted into the first Torah of Gathering Fellowship, a new project of the Pardes Institute of North America. Fellows gain practical tools that help them create gatherings that lead to connection and belonging in their communities. Rabbi Shani Gross of Berkeley, director of the Pardes Institute of North America, was instrumental in creating the new program.

---

Comings & Goings

Melissa Sherman has joined JCC Sonoma County as managing director. She formerly served as the manager for community-based programs and partnerships at Girl Scouts of Northern California and ran her own consulting firm. Also, the JCC of Sonoma County has announced the opening of its new preschool in Santa Rosa. Set to open in August, the school will have a play-based, Reggio-inspired setup, with opportunities for up to 24 children from ages 2 to 5 to engage in both structured and unstructured activities (such as music and movement, art and outdoor play), all while learning about Jewish culture and traditions. As of press time, an enrollment date had not yet been announced.

Rabbi Elana Zelony is the new senior rabbi at Peninsula Sinai Congregation in Foster City. Born and raised in the South Bay, she comes from Congregation Beth Torah in Richardson, Texas, where she was the Conservative movement’s first female rabbi to lead a Texas synagogue. She previously served at a congregation in Atlanta and as director of learning at Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco. “I’m delighted to join PSC,” Zelony said in a release. “It’s a blessing to lead such a closely knit congregation, and I look forward to growing and learning together.” Zelony is the author of the 2022 children’s book “Peril the Dragon Saves Chanukah.”

The San Francisco Public Library has announced the retirement of Susan Goldstein, who led the main library’s History Center and Book Arts and Special Collections for 28 years. J. interviewed Goldstein about her career in 2014. She began as the city archivist in 1995, and during her years of service shepherded many historic treasures — including such gems as Harvey Milk’s papers and the papers of San Francisco mayors (all housed at the history center). “On behalf of the residents of San Francisco, I want to thank Susan Goldstein for her incredible service preserving our city’s history,” Mayor London Breed said in a release. “Her commitment to this work will make it possible for future generations to learn and appreciate the people, places and events that have shaped our heritage and San Francisco into the great city it is today.”

The Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area has new board members: Lynn Bunim and Cathy Manshel, both of San Francisco, Randi Lachter of Mill Valley and Neal Rubin of Hillsborough. Jan Reicher of San Francisco is now president and Jennifer Wolfe of Mill Valley is the immediate past president.

Dr. Garry Rayant is the new board chair for the American Friends of Tel Aviv University. Rayant, a DDS, entrepreneur and philanthropist, is one of the co-founders, partners and editor-in-chief of Doctor magazine. He has been involved with S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services and its Center for Children and Youth, Tel Aviv U.’s international board of governors, the American Friends of Tel Aviv University and other organizations.

Dara Pincas of Berkeley has been appointed head of legal for Roche Pharmaceuticals. Prior to this global role, Dara served as the vice president, head of health care law at Genentech. Pincas recently visited Israel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the S.F.-Haifa sister city relationship in a group that included Mayor Breed. Recognized last year by Savoy magazine as one of the “Most Influential Black Americans in Corporate America,” Pincas is a member of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland, serves on the board of directors of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, and previously served on the executive board committees at Contra Costa Jewish Day School and the JCC East Bay. Pincas is also a 2022 Wexner Heritage Program fellow.

---

Happenings

Dozens of Israeli expats and American Jews rallied in front of the Israel Consulate in San Francisco on July 13 to oppose the judicial overhaul in Israel and urge the Biden administration to take a more active role ahead of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint session of Congress. The rally was organized by UnXeptable, a grassroots group formed in the Bay Area in 2020. It was synchronized with other demonstrations in Tel Aviv, New York, Washington, Boston, Atlanta, North Carolina, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas, Houston and Austin, Texas.

The California Teachers Collaborative for Holocaust and Genocide Education held its first Summer Institute for California Teachers over three days in late June in Los Angeles. The organization is the first statewide network connecting educators, genocide survivors and community leaders in order to support teachers in effectively teaching Holocaust and genocide education. It was created by the JFCS Holocaust Center. The institute featured 18 professional development workshops, in-person Holocaust survivor testimony and on-site learning at three L.A. sites: the USC Shoah Foundation, the Holocaust Museum LA and the Museum of Tolerance. Attendees received lessons, resources and strategies to teach about the Holocaust as well as the Armenian, Bosnian, Indigenous American, Cambodian and Uyghur genocides. It was offered at no cost to the teachers thanks to funding from Marin County Office of Education and the State of California.