Comings & goings
Jeremy Ragent is the new executive director of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. Ragent previously served as assistant director of Hillel at Stanford, where since 2010 his work has included community engagement, fundraising, staff leadership, strategic planning and more. Last year he was honored with the Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award, Hillel International’s highest professional honor.
David Kaufman of Tiburon is the new board president of the American Technion Society’s San Francisco chapter. ATS supports the growth and success of the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, whose main campus is in Haifa. Kaufman is also founder and co-chair of GlobalSF, a nonprofit focusing on international economic development in San Francisco, and serves on the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee. He is also on the boards of the ICA Cristo Rey Academy and the S.F. Chamber of Commerce. Kaufman is Nixon Peabody’s director of global strategies and runs the international practice at the 600-lawyer firm based in San Francisco.
Dylan Tatz is leaving his role as president of the Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust in January. In 2024, he will remain affiliated with BCT as a special adviser. Tatz plans to launch his own philanthropic advisory and nonprofit consulting practice in January.
Honors
Leah Bloom of Oakland has been selected for Hadassah’s second class of Evolve Leadership Fellows. The two-year leadership development program was launched in 2022 to inspire and train the next generation of Hadassah leaders. Bloom is the fundraising vice president of Kesher Oak, a Hadassah chapter in the East Bay for women in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
Happenings
Several local men’s clubs and synagogues participated in the Peninsula Jewish Community Golf Classic on Oct. 29, raising $23,000 for Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ food banks. Participants included Peninsula Temple Beth El, Peninsula Temple Sholom, Peninsula Sinai, Congregation Beth Jacob and the Peninsula JCC. The tournament has been running for 13 years.
The American Jewish Committee San Francisco hosted its annual Diplomats Hanukkah on Dec. 12. The theme was “Shaping the Future of Jewish Advocacy” and honored exemplary advocates for a safer Jewish and global future. Honorees were Mark Klebanov and Yael Wulfovich Oberndorf, who each received a Lloyd R. Sankowich Award for Young Leadership, and Palo Alto High School senior Ori Cohen, who received the Inaugural Emerging Leadership Award for his efforts to engage Jewish teens in the fight against antisemitism. Diplomats from Bay Area consulates helped light the Hanukkah candles.
Several Bay Area residents attended the annual White House Hanukkah party on Dec. 11. President Biden, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff were joined by nearly 800 guests. Among the locals were Sarah Levin, executive director of of JIMENA; Tova Ricardo, West Coast community manager of JDC Entwine (and a former J. intern); Analucía Lopezrevoredo, founder and executive director of Jewtina & Co.; Tyler Gregory, CEO of JCRC Bay Area; Joy Sisisky, CEO of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund; Paula Pretlow, chair and trustee of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, and Manny Yekutiel, civic leader and owner of Manny’s cafe. Guests also included Holocaust survivors, members of Congress, state and local officials, entertainers and Jewish religious leaders.
Debra Boogards of Mill Valley, who has participated in three bike ride-alongs with Friends of the IDF, has organized a fundraiser for a cycling team whose members come from towns in the western Negev impacted by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. One of the team members was killed, and others lost their homes and bike gear. The campaign has raised over $41,000 toward the $50,000 goal for the Lamdan challenge team, and the funds will pay for cycling jerseys, bibshorts, tri shorts, caps, gloves, socks, shoes, headgear and other needed equipment.
Opportunities
Berkeley Moshav, a multigenerational Jewish cohousing community in Berkeley that has been in the works for many years, is hosting a round of online information sessions, including on Dec. 27 and Jan. 14. The one-hour Zoom meetings are for those interested in the project’s vision, its building plans and/or living in the community-to-be on San Pablo Avenue and Channing Way in West Berkeley. Get more details here.