Happenings
This year’s Sinai Memorial Chapel calendar is J.-themed! We have partnered with Sinai for many years on distributing the calendar. This year, Sinai will be distributing the 5785 calendars on its own, while recognizing J.’s role in the community. Each month features an image by J. staff photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins, along with brief information about the story it accompanied. Sign up to get your Sinai Memorial Chapel calendar for the Jewish New Year right here.
Several Bay Area Jews were invited to the White House to mark the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. Naomi Tucker, executive director of Shalom Bayit, Esta Soler, president of Futures Without Violence, and Richard Thomason, director of policy at Blue Shield Against Violence, were guests at the event. A number of national Jewish groups were present, including the National Council of Jewish Women, which helped write the VAWA with President Joe Biden in the 1990s. Biden spoke at the Sept. 12 gathering, and Attorney General Merrick Garland gave a keynote speech at a Department of Justice event the next day.
Cantor Arik Luck of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco has been appointed to the board of City Hope, a nonprofit that works with some of the Tenderloin’s most marginalized residents, helping to connect them to community resources, address food insecurity and ease isolation. Luck’s involvement with City Hope began several years ago when the seventh-grade youth and family curriculum that he teaches included preparing and serving lunch at the City Hope Cafe. (And in unrelated news, Luck sang the National Anthem at Giants Jewish Heritage Night on Sept. 12.)
Rabbi Shalom Bochner was installed Sept. 8 as spiritual leader of B’nai Israel Jewish Center in Petaluma. Bochner, who joined the congregation in summer 2023, previously served at Congregation Beth Shalom of Modesto and as director of Santa Cruz Hillel.
Honors
Jon Eldan of Oakland received AARP’s Purpose Prize in honor of his philanthropic work with the After Innocence organization, which provides free post-release support for individuals who were imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. The Purpose Prize recognizes extraordinary nonprofit founders who are 50 or older. The award includes $50,000 for each winner for their organization plus a year of technical support to help broaden the scope of their organizations’ work.
State Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco was named to Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in AI for his work shaping the future of artificial intelligence by introducing SB 1047, a bill that mandates safety measures in the next generation of AI models.
Comings & goings
Jennifer Miller and Jody Shapiro joined the Oshman Family JCC board as members and Adam Tachner became board chair.
Rabbi Ron Koas has joined Congregation Beth Ami in Santa Rosa, succeeding Rabbi Mordecai Miller. Koas attended the Rabbinical Academy in Woodmere, New York, and previously served at Congregation Beth El in Virginia and Marlboro Jewish Center in New Jersey.
JIMENA launched its inaugural senior-level educators cohort of the Sephardic Leaders Fellowship. Among its participants are Shirie Eshel of Oakland Sinai, Peninsula Temple Sholom and Peninsula Sinai Congregation, Yafit Shriki Megidish of JCC East Bay and Yael Krieger, Calev Adams and Tamara Beliak of Oakland Hebrew Day School. The cohort will explore a broad range of subjects from JIMENA’s Sephardi and Mizrahi Education Toolkit, and participants will benefit from the expertise of leading Sephardi scholars, rabbis and JIMENA educators.
JIMENA also welcomed Adam Eilath as its educator-in-residence. Eilath serves as head of school at Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School in Foster City and previously served as dean of Jewish Studies and Hebrew at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco.
Three teens from Palo Alto, Hillsborough and Pacific Grove are part of Moving Traditions 2024-25 group of Meyer-Gottesman Kol Koleinu Teen Feminist Fellows. They are among 44 young activists selected to create change in their communities through a Jewish and feminist lens.
Opportunities
Applications are open for the Consulate General of Israel’s social impact grants. Two $5,000 grants will be awarded to nonprofits dedicated to tackling social challenges and driving positive change in Santa Clara County. Apply by Sept. 30. israelimpactgrant.com
Applications for JFCS Holocaust Center’s new Conversation Circle are open for high school students. The Conversation Circle is a six-week study of the Holocaust through film, text and discussions with survivors. The class will meet Tuesday evenings, Oct. 15–Dec. 3. Apply by Sept. 23. tinyurl.com/jfcs-conversation-circle
The JMentors Program is accepting applications for both mentors and mentees. JMentors is a six-month program for Jewish young adults in the Bay Area that provides personal, professional and career development through a mentorship experience with Jewish business and community leaders. The program is a collaboration between J Leaders and the Jewish High Tech Community. Apply by Oct. 17. jleaders.org/mentorship