Happenings
Local Hadassah members Karen Bloom of Oakland, Tory Roman of Piedmont, Leslie Deman of Half Moon Bay and Jan Jacobson of Saratoga traveled to Washington, D.C., for Hadassah’s Day of Impact on March 10. The day drew nearly 200 Jewish women leaders who attended more than 100 bipartisan meetings with members of the House and Senate on Capitol Hill, according to Hadassah, advocating for U.S.-Israel relations, women’s health and confronting antisemitism.
The Mobile Museum of Tolerance visited Calistoga Junior-Senior High School March 30-April 1, offering students interactive lessons about Anne Frank and the Holocaust, the Civil Rights Movement, the role of ordinary people and bystanders, and digital media literacy. The “museum on wheels,” a roving bus with multiple learning modules, is available to book for visits to schools and organizations in several states across the U.S. and is a project of the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
Awards
The Z3 Project, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, received a $400,000 grant from Jewish National Fund–USA’s Boruchin Israel Education Advocacy Center. Grants are awarded to organizations to accelerate Israeli and Zionist education and engagement.
“This generous investment from the Boruchin Center is a tremendous vote of confidence in Z3’s work to reshape the Jewish public square,” said Rabbi Amitai Fraiman, founding director of the Z3 Project. “Together, we are reinforcing the idea that global Jewish belonging is not a luxury — it is essential to our collective future.” The grant will fund Z3’s work in the Jewish public square, particularly at JCCs, with a focus on leadership development, think tanks and the annual Z3 Conference in Palo Alto and partner-led Z3 gatherings elsewhere in North America.
EarlyJ, a Jewish nonprofit that invests in early childhood education in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, has granted $350,000 to eight Jewish early childhood programs in the Bay Area to expand their full-day preschool programs. Helen Diller Family Preschool and Congregation Emanu-El Preschool in San Francisco, Leslie Family Preschool and Gani Preschool of Palo Alto, Gan Yiladim Preschool of Contra Costa, Gan Outdoor Preschool in San Rafael, South Peninsula Hebrew Day School of Sunnyvale and Shir Hadash ECC of Los Gatos will use the funds to increase their capacity for extended care, allowing more children to enroll in full-day programs.
Bay Area Friendship Circle, a Jewish nonprofit headquartered at the Oshman Family JCC, received $20,000 from the Palo Alto Community Fund for its work creating inclusive programs for children and teenagers with disabilities. The organization was awarded $5,000 last year, and its award was increased based on its strong track record and impact, according to Irene Wong, fund CEO. “At PACF, we are proud to support Bay Area Friendship Circle’s efforts to create a more inclusive community for neurodiverse children and their families,” Wong said. “Their work not only provides joyful, meaningful experiences for participants, but also strengthens connections across our community in a way that is both compassionate and collaborative.” Friendship Circle pairs volunteers with disabled buddies, offers family events, summer camps, afterschool programs, young adult peer circles and more.
Skylar Cohen, a fourth-grader who studies at Chabad of Contra Costa, won the top trophy in her grade at the JewQ International Torah Championship of Jewish knowledge. The annual competition tests children on Jewish knowledge, history and law, and is organized by CKids, for part-time Chabad Hebrew school students in grades 3-7 from over 25 countries.
Bay Area–founded Boichik Bagels won the award for best yeasted bagels at BagelFest West on April 12. The inaugural competition for the best bagels west of the Rockies, an offshoot of New York BagelFest, was held in Los Angeles and presented by King Arthur Baking Co.
Comings and Goings
Rabbi Rishe Groner will be the first rabbi/director of learning and transformation at Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley. Groner will work with Senior Rabbi Zvika Krieger and oversee adult learning, family and youth engagement, community and spiritual leadership. Groner was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary and currently leads Congregation Beth Ohr in Bellmore, Long Island, New York.