Russian-speaking Jewish emigres in San Francisco flocked to Davies Symphony Hall and the Alexandria Theatre earlier this week not for entertainment, but for Yom Kippur services.
Rabbi Bentzion Pil led four sessions of prayer and repentance at Davies, drawing more than 2,000 people for the Yiskor service on Monday afternoon, according to his wife, Mattie.
It was the first religious ceremony of any kind — including weddings — ever conducted at the symphony hall, according to Horacio Rodriguez, the house manager at Davies. The concert hall has a main floor capacity of 1,300, with about 1,400 more seats in the balconies.
Anywhere from 700 to approximately 1,000 people turned out at Davies for the other Yom Kippur services, which were conducted by the Schneerson Synagogue of the Jewish Foundation for Learning. The JFL took over programs of the now-defunct Jewish Educational Center, which was founded by the Pils.
“People were very happy and very proud that we were able to have it in such a beautiful place,” Mattie Pil said Tuesday. “Where do you have services in Russia? Underground.”
At the Alexandria movie house in San Francisco’s Richmond District, approximately 900 to 1,000 people showed up for some or all of the Techiah Foundation services, according to Rabbi Shimon Margolin. He said about 600 people were at the Yiskor service.
“The community is really behind us and supporting us,” Margolin said. “It’s the reason we had our service in a movie theater. This year, we rented the biggest auditorium they had.”
Both sets of services were entirely in Russian and Hebrew and used Russian-Hebrew prayer books. However, Mattie Pil estimated that about 12 to 15 “Americans” showed up for services at Davies.
One of them was Carol Ruth Silver, a San Francisco supervisor from 1978 to 1988 and the former chair of the Jewish Educational Center. She attended Kol Nidre services Sunday night at Davies.
“Not only could I not follow in the book, but I couldn’t even ask my neighbor what page we were on,” she cracked.
Although tickets could be purchased for reserved seats at Davies, unreserved admission to both sets of services was free.
With approximately 25,000 to 35,000 Russian-speaking Jews in San Francisco, according to Margolin, there is no battle between the two religious organizations for adherents.
“You’d need maybe five or six rabbis to cover this Russian community,” Mattie Pil said. “He [Margolin] can get his people and we can get ours. There are a lot to go around.”
“The community of Russian-speaking Jews look at our organization as an alternative,” Margolin said. “We’re each serving a different segment of the emigre population.”
Margolin said Techiah, which means renewal or renaissance in Hebrew, serves a somewhat younger population that has more resources and time, people who are “not so burdened by the pain of resettlement and can turn their focus toward reclaiming their heritage.”
Schneerson Synagogue services, said Mattie Pil, were “especially for the older community; that’s the main focus.”
Much of the focus on Bentzion Pil in the past few years has been on his legal tangles. After pleading guilty in December to a felony charge of evading reporting laws on bank deposits, he faces the possibility of 18 to 33 months in prison.
Pil, who didn’t return a phone message this week, had a sentencing hearing scheduled for yesterday, but it was continued until Nov. 2 upon request of the defense.
It marks the fourth time his sentencing hearing has been postponed since its originally scheduled May date.
Mattie Pil said she and her husband, who has conducted High Holy Day services in San Francisco for 18 years, have been trying to rent Davies Symphony Hall for Yom Kippur for the past seven years.
“This was the first year it was available on Yom Kippur,” she said. Last year’s Yom Kippur services were held at the Russian Bear restaurant on Clement Street in San Francisco, with room for only 200 to 250 people.
She estimated the total cost of putting on this year’s services at $60,000, with approximately $11,500 going toward the rental of the hall and associated costs such as ushers, setup and cleanup.
Mattie Pil said much of the money to run the services and rent the hall “came from different sponsors in the Russian community.”
No microphones were used during the Orthodox services, but it didn’t seem to matter. “The acoustics there are unbelievable,” Mattie Pil said.
There was also a “beautiful” mechitzah constructed of plants and mesh down the center aisle to divide the men’s and women’s sections, she added.
For Rosh Hashanah, Schneerson Synagogue held its services at the Russian Bear restaurant and Techiah held its services at the Cabrillo Elementary School Auditorium in San Francisco.