Being from the East Coast, Chalef was used to a life infused with Judaism — and the south Peninsula, she said, was nothing like it.
“There was no sense of Jewish community or neighborhoods in Palo Alto,” said the Conservative Jew. “I had to go to San Francisco or San Jose just to buy kosher food. It was a real struggle.”
But over the years, Chalef’s initial frustrations melted away as the community in which her husband was raised transformed into a hotbed of Jewish activity. The growth of high-tech industries brought in an influx of Israelis as well as observant Jews.
New congregations and services sprang up — and already established institutions expanded. In addition, Stanford increased its offerings in Jewish studies, creating a stronger Jewish presence in the community.
“I have seen remarkable growth — from carrying kosher meat to increasing the Jewish education to holding the Jewish Film Festival here,” said Chalef. “There’s now a vibrant Jewish neighborhood and community on the Peninsula and a sense of pride and display of our culture.”
That sense of pride will be on display at “To Life! A Jewish Cultural Festival,” which takes place Sunday, Sept. 10 on California Avenue in Palo Alto. The event, a first-time endeavor for Peninsula Jews, is expected to draw between 10,000 to 20,000 people, according to Wendie Bernstein Lash, assistant director for New Bridges, a Peninsula Jewish outreach program.
RebbeSoul and other Jewish entertainers will perform, Judaica and fine arts will be on display, and participants can enjoy Israeli dancing and music, as well as ethnic foods. The event, which is sponsored by New Bridges, will also include activities for teens and children.
“We want to make the general community as well as the Jewish community aware of how vibrant and diverse our Jewish community is,” she said.
Bernstein Lash likened the Jewish community, particularly in Palo Alto, to New York’s. She said it is the perfect place to hold the festival.
“Like in New York, the Palo Alto community is rich with the opportunity for Jews to connect with one another. You get the feeling you’re not alone here — you’re not the only Jew on the block — [that] ‘I can have a sense of community beyond my congregation.'”
In fact, on Yom Kippur, the Palo Alto Unified School District will close the schools.
“If they stayed open, a third of the class would be out,” she said. “When you have a college like Stanford where education is prized, it attracts more Jewish families and schoolchildren.”
Along with a wide array of synagogues — including those of the major streams, Reconstructionist and independent — the south Peninsula also offers comprehensive Jewish programming for all affiliations.
“There’s a nice pluralistic environment here,” said Chalef. “The different movements in Judaism communicate and that’s rare and really exceptional.”
Chalef, for instance, participates in activities throughout the community. Her family belongs to Conservative Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City, her children attend the Mid-Peninsula Jewish Community Day School in Palo Alto. She is a board member at the day school as well as at the Albert L. Schultz Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto.
Her children formerly attended the Ta Enna Preschool at the JCC and continue to utilize the center’s summer camp and after-school programs.
“We love going to all the different cultural events, hearing the speakers, and attending study sessions combining together different congregations. It’s like there’s an ability to participate in Judaism not just in synagogue and home, but in the community as well,” Chalef said.
Bernstein Lash added that the Peninsula community provides ample Jewish activities for those Jews who do not wish to affiliate with a synagogue. As an example, she cited the Palo Alto School for Jewish Education, which enables unaffiliated families to send their children to a community Sunday school.
New Bridges also helps Jews new to the area along with those who are unaffiliated to connect to the Jewish community and even create their own Jewish groups.
The organization is sponsored by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation and is a beneficiary of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.
For people like Chalef, the opportunities seem endless.
“The variety of programs has really allowed the Jewish community here to blossom,” said Chalef. “More and more people are wanting to affiliate, wanting to participate and starting to take pieces of it and incorporate them into their lives.
“It took me a couple of years to adjust when I moved here, but I love it here now.”
“To Life! A Jewish Cultural Festival” takes place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10 on California Avenue, east of El Camino Real near Park Boulevard, Palo Alto. Information: (650) 569-3258 or [email protected].
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