Nancy Sheftel-Gomes has happily led tours of San Francisco’s Congregation Sherith Israel across several decades.
“There’s a feeling in there,” she says of walking through the sanctuary and noticing the worn silk cushions on the backs of chairs, original from the synagogue’s earliest days on California Street.
“A lot of times I think about all of the people who have sat in that sanctuary,” Sheftel-Gomes, who retired in 2018 from her role as Sherith Israel’s longtime director of education, told J.
On Friday evening, the Reform congregation will begin a weekend-long celebration of its 175th anniversary with a Shabbat service, honoring its storied history since April 1851, just months after California became the 31st state.
“We’ve been here from the beginning,” Rabbi Jessica Zimmerman Graf told J. “There’s a real history of contribution to San Francisco and to California. Sherith Israel has always been a center of civic life.”
During services on Friday evening, elected officials including San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, State Controller Malia Cohen, State Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Stephen Sherrill will present proclamations and resolutions.
Rabbi Graf will deliver a sermon about Sherith Israel’s legacy across the 175 years, noting that nine children who grew up at the synagogue went on to become rabbis. Graf, the synagogue’s first female senior rabbi and 10th senior rabbi in its history, is the sixth of those children to become a rabbi. Assistant Rabbi George Altshuler, who returned to Sherith Israel as a rabbinic intern in 2022, is the ninth.
The evening will include a champagne toast and special oneg.
Cantor Diego Rubinsztein of Buenos Aires will be on hand as a guest cantor during the weekend, including for a Havdalah ceremony, concert and dessert reception on Saturday.
The anniversary events are free with registration.
Graf said the anniversary will focus on how Sherith Israel’s “nimble,” innovative spirit, is driving the synagogue toward a bright future.
“We’re a historic Gold Rush era congregation that now thinks of itself as a 175-year-old startup,” Graf said, quoting a congregant’s remark.
Altshuler said he’s excited to think about what lies ahead.
“As someone who grew up going to Sherith Israel, I’ve seen how the synagogue has both remained true to what it has been, and evolved,” Altshuler said in an email to J.
On Jan. 15, the celebration will continue, with a panel led by San Francisco historians Judi Leff and Joseph Amster, highlighting pivotal moments in Sherith Israel’s history.
Its domed building, constructed in 1904, served as a courthouse after the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and hosted a meeting for the 1945 founding of the United Nations. The synagogue is also known for its 3,500-pipe Murray Harris organ, which Sherith purchased for $18,000 in 1904.
The synagogue’s rich past is evident on its very walls. There is a “hall of history” with photos and mementos, including portraits of past presidents, board members and confirmation classes.
On any given weekend, Sheftel-Gomes said, she’ll see someone lingering over a photo in the hall, often recognizing themselves or a dear relative.
“That makes me feel like it’s all worth it,” she said, “The time, the keeping. It means a lot to people.”