Comings & goings
Elyse Kaye has been appointed executive director of Mt. Zion Health Fund, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. Mt. Zion Health Fund is a philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing health equity and improving access to care in San Francisco. Kaye brings more than 25 years of leadership experience to the role.
Honors
Anita Friedman, longtime executive director of S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services and its Holocaust Center and board president of the Koret Foundation, will be honored for her leadership and dedication to combating hate, advancing education and preserving Holocaust memory by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum at its Western Region Tribute Dinner on March 19 in Beverly Hills. Friedman is the child of Holocaust survivors and is co-chair of the Governor’s Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education, convened by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The tribute dinner is co-chaired by Sam Lauter and Susan Lowenberg.
A.J. Sass of Oakland was awarded the Sydney Taylor Book Award silver medal in the middle grade category for “Just Shy of Ordinary.” The award is named for the author of “All-of-a-Kind Family,” the first in a series about a Jewish family living in New York’s Lower East Side near the turn of the 20th century. The award is administered by the Association of Jewish Libraries and recognizes titles for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience.
Alon Liubovitch, a student at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, was awarded the Shine A Light on Antisemitism Civic Courage Award, presented by the Jewish Education Project. Liubovitch founded his school’s Jewish Student Union and also serves as president and helps organize events to promote Jewish culture. When faced with antisemitic comments and threats, Liubovitch advocated for himself and his peers by collaborating with school administrators. The award recognizes students, educators, gamers and influencers who take meaningful action against antisemitism. He was one of two students nationwide to win the award.
Minna Stess of Petaluma was honored on the California Assembly floor by Assemblymember Damon Connolly of San Rafael. Stess, an 18-year-old skateboarder, represented the U.S. in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics in the women’s park event. Connolly presented the first-time Olympic competitor with a resolution to commend her achievements.
Contra Costa Midrasha will honor Devra Aarons for her 18 years of leadership at its annual gala on Feb. 22. Aarons serves as executive director of the midrasha, which provides an educational and social community for Jewish teens in grades 8-12. Aarons was the recipient of the 2020 Ruby Award from Jewish LearningWorks and earned an executive master’s in Jewish education from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2023.
Eitan Manhoff has been selected as one of five judges for the 2025 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards at San Diego Comic Con. Manhoff, who was featured in J. a decade ago, is the son of a rabbi and the owner of Cape and Cowl Comics in Oakland, which won the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retail award in 2023. Eisner was honored by the Jewish Museum in New York City in 2006 as one of the “Masters of American Comics.”
Jill Suzanne Jacobs, director of community relations at Claremont Hillel, and Hadar Aviram, a professor at UC Law San Francisco, were selected to participate in the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s inaugural class of students entering the rabbinical school through its new virtual pathway. Jacobs grew up in the Bay Area, attending Temple Isaiah of Lafayette. Aviram was born in Jerusalem and has written four books and dozens of articles examining the intersection of law, criminology and sociology.
Happenings
In observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, the California Legislative Jewish Caucus hosted the California Mobile Museum of Tolerance at the state Capitol for the first time. The mobile exhibit was created in partnership with the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and featured interactive exhibits and educational modules to foster respect, tolerance and human dignity. Mobile Museums of Tolerance also operate in Illinois, Florida, New York and Canada.
Santa Clara University, in partnership with Hillel of Silicon Valley and Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative team, hosted a regional one-day summit on Jan. 24 for administrators titled “Jewish Identity, Antisemitism, and Inclusion on Campus and Beyond.” Thirty-eight administrators attended from five college campuses, including De Anza College and San Jose State University. A key goal of the summit was to help administrators and staff better understand the needs of Jewish students, recognize the diversity of the Jewish community and address antisemitism.
The HaZamir Silicon Valley Chapter will perform with 35 other chapters from across the U.S. and Israel at Carnegie Hall on March 23 as part of the annual HaZamir International Festival. HaZamir is an international Jewish teen choir for high school students to sing classical, contemporary and popular Jewish music.
Opportunities
Nominations are open for the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund’s Judith Chapman Memorial Women’s Leadership Award, honoring women who are role models in the Jewish community. Nominees should demonstrate significant and sustained volunteer leadership, model the importance of tzedakah, have a significant connection with the Federation, demonstrate volunteer leadership in the secular community and mentor, motivate and encourage others to follow in their footsteps. A $2,500 grant will be awarded and designated to a nonprofit of the recipient’s choice. Nominations close March 3. tinyurl.com/judith-chapman-25
Nominations and applications for the EarlyJ Impact Award are open. The award recognizes the critical role of Jewish early childhood educators and celebrates educators’ dedication and contributions to the field. The award consists of two prizes: a $10,000 personal prize to support the recipient’s personal and professional growth, and a $5,000 prize allocated to the recipient’s preschool to support an initiative that the recipient will lead, designed to expand programming and enrollment. The award is open to early childhood educators currently teaching in a Jewish preschool in the Bay Area with at least three years of experience in Jewish early childhood education. Nominate or apply by March 10. earlyj.org/impact-award