Happenings
San Francisco Hillel has announced that it will break ground this spring for its new Nancy and Stephen Grand Building. After 40 years in its current facility, Hillel has outgrown the space. The building will be completely renovated and expanded to allow Hillel to better serve more than 1,000 students across 10 colleges and universities. The renovations will include upgraded security, and a perpetual endowment will ensure ongoing maintenance of the new facility. Leading gifts came from Nancy Grand, the Jewish Federation Bay Area, the Joseph Pedott Perpetual Endowment Trust, the Herbst Foundation, the Libitzky Family Foundation, Chris Larsen, the State of California and the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, and several significant anonymous donors. The final event in the current facility will take place in December, and then Hillel will take up temporary residence in San Francisco State’s library during renovations. Groundbreaking for the new facility is set for March 29, 2026.
Dayenu Circle of Jewish Silicon Valley held a climate fair on Oct. 12 during Sukkot, held inside a sukkah with interfaith and secular partners, including Interfaith Power and Light of California, Greenfaith and Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action. Rabbi Rafi Ellenson, assistant rabbi at Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos, spoke about Jewish values and the environment, and led the Sukkot rituals of shaking the lulav and etrog.
Honors
Sarah Levin is being honored with the Sephardic Young Leadership Award for her work as executive director of JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. The San Francisco-based organization educates about and advocates for Jewish refugees from Arab lands and Iran. Levin will receive the award in early December at the Sephardic Brotherhood Gala in New York City.
Awards
The Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest presented four Bay Area nonprofits with $5,000 grants to fund upcoming projects. The Israel-Bay Area Impact Grant Ceremony in October included remarks from Consul General Marco Sermoneta and representatives from the grant recipients: AWO, which seeks to uplift and tell the stories of people of color; Alive and Free, a violence-prevention nonprofit for young people; Loved Twice, which collects and distributes clothes for at-risk newborns; and the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley.
The Northern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame has announced its “class of 2025,” which includes the Hon. Quentin Kopp, who chaired the task force that brought Super Bowl XIX to Stanford in 1985; Amit Elor, Olympic gold medalist in women’s wrestling in 2024; and Roxy Bernstein, collegiate and professional sports broadcaster. In addition, Dennis Brown and Erica Arteseros are the recipients of the organization’s “Mr. & Mrs. Mensch” Award. Brown is a former S.F. 49ers Super Bowl champion. Arteseros is an assistant deputy chief in the San Francisco Fire Department. The Mensch Award is presented to non-Jewish individuals who embody the concept of tikkun olam by repairing the world through generosity and charitable service to the community. “In addition to this year’s superb induction class, the NCJSHOF will also celebrate and award 10 local youth with scholarships for their upcoming college careers,“ announced Steve Sockolov, NCJSHOF president. The 18th annual induction dinner gala (ncjshof.org) will take place on Nov. 23 at the Olympic Golf Club’s Lakeside Clubhouse in San Francisco.
Comings and Goings
Rabbi Ilana Goldhaber-Gordon is the new associate dean in the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life at Stanford University, with a special focus on the Jewish community. She previously served for 10 years as a rabbi at Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City.
Opportunities
JMentors is accepting applications for its 2026 cohorts. The six-month leadership and career mentoring program connects Jewish young adults (ages 22-35) with experienced mentors across industries. JMentors empowers the next generation of Jewish leaders to grow personally, professionally and communally. The program is accepting applications for its Bay Area cohort and its separate nationwide cohort. Both applications close on Nov. 20. Visit jleaders.org/mentorship for more information.