Comings & Goings
Jamie Simon has been named interim CEO of Foundation for Jewish Camp. She previously spent 17 years at Camp Tawonga, including six years as its CEO, before becoming chief program and strategy officer at FJC in 2023. Jeremy Fingerman will step down as CEO in March after 15 years with the organization.
Honors
Taube Center for Jewish Studies writer-in-residence Maya Arad received the Neumann Prize for a lifetime of achievement in Hebrew literature, awarded by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. This is the only major Israeli prize offered to Hebrew writers living in the diaspora. “The finest living author writing in Hebrew is in exile,” went one description of Arad’s work. “The Hebrew Teacher” recently made waves with its English translation; her latest novel is “Happy New Years.” The Hebrew edition was just published, and the book will be available in English in August 2025.
Aviv Elor, 27, and Ash Robbins, 28, were featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list in the health care category as co-founders of Immergo Labs, Inc. The Mountain View company uses artificial intelligence and virtual reality to enable physical therapists to work via 3D telehealth with patients anywhere in the world. Both are graduates of UC Santa Cruz with degrees in robotics engineering. Elor also has a Ph.D. in computational media; he works as an adjunct professor of computational media on campus. He is the older brother of OIympic gold medal wrestler Amit Elor of Walnut Creek, who was an early tester of the Immergo platform.
Adam Swig, founder of the philanthropic and cultural nonprofit Value Culture, was honored by the City of San Francisco with Adam Swig Day on Dec. 29. The proclamation by the Board of Supervisors was presented by former board president Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman at the “Winter Wonderland Hanukkah Celebration” at Chase Center, hosted by Value Culture.
Adam’s grandmother, philanthropist Roselyne “Cissie” Swig, received recognition from San Francisco as well on Jan. 3, when she was presented with a key to the city by outgoing Mayor London Breed to honor her legacy of philanthropy, leadership and dedication to women’s empowerment, social welfare, education and the arts.
Rabbi Zvika Krieger, spiritual leader of Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley, was ordained by Aleph: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal. This is his second rabbinic ordination and his first Renewal ordination. Krieger is a rabbinic entrepreneur fellow at the Center for Rabbinic Innovation and has served in board and leadership positions for Sukkat Shalom/Milk+Honey camp at Burning Man, Jewish Studio Project, DC Minyan and Temple of the Stranger. He previously worked as Facebook/Meta’s first-ever director of responsible innovation and as senior vice president of the Center for Middle East Peace in Washington, D.C. Krieger has a BA from Yale University and studied at the American University in Cairo and Yeshivat Sha’arei Mevaseret Zion near Jerusalem.
Three local educators are among a cohort of 80 fellows chosen for M2: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. They are Roy Meron, co-director of Jewish studies at Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School in Foster City; Rory Katz, children and family educator at Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley; and Analucía Lopezrevoredo, founder and executive director of Jewtina Y Co. in San Francisco. M2’s fellowship brings together Jewish educators from around the world to reimagine the field of Jewish experiential education, providing fellows with the educational frameworks and pedagogical approaches needed to inspire meaning and purpose in Jewish life.
Two Bay Area college students were chosen for the Bronfman Fellowship’s Campus Commons program, which aims to help students break down barriers and build bridges across differences on university campuses. Clementine Leonard, a Berkeley resident studying at UC Santa Cruz, and Lauren Tapper of Stanford University were selected to participate in the first cohort of the program.
Philanthropy
San Francisco philanthropist and Jewish community lay leader Nancy Grand donated $2.5 million to SF Hillel in honor of her late husband, Stephen Grand, a longtime Hillel supporter who died in 2021. SF Hillel serves both graduate and undergraduate students at nine campuses across San Francisco. As recognition for the gift, the SF Hillel house will be known as the Nancy and Stephen Grand Building. The funds will allow necessary renovations to the house at 33 Banbury Drive, including security upgrades and ADA accessibility.
The gift and start of construction are contingent on SF Hillel raising $2.9M by June 30, toward the overall campaign goal of $8.2M.
“Stephen understood that San Francisco Hillel serves all Jewish students who attend secondary education in the city,” Nancy Grand said in a press release. “It is my hope that the renovated building will serve many more students at a time of critical need.”
Happenings
Miriam and Brachie Ferris climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s tallest freestanding mountain. The mother-daughter team made the trek up the 19,341-foot mountain in Tanzania to raise funds and awareness for Friendship Circle, a nonprofit serving special-needs children. Miriam Ferris co-directs Chabad of Berkeley with her husband, Rabbi Yehuda Ferris.
The Jewish Film Institute-supported film “Coexistence, My Ass!” will have its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The film, directed by Amber Fares, follows Israeli comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi as she struggles to create a comedic one-woman show about racism, sexism, war, peace and… her ass. The film is the recipient of a JFI Completion Grant and the 2024 Envision Award, which recognizes a film’s ability to envision a world free of prejudice and hate.
A delegation of young Jewish leaders from San Francisco attended the Chabad Young Professionals International Jewish Leadership Summit in New York City over MLK weekend. The gathering brought together 700 young Jewish leaders representing 100 cities and 30 countries worldwide. The San Francisco representatives participated in expert workshops and thinktank sessions tackling pressing issues such as rising antisemitism, dating and relationships, mental health, the Middle East and Judaism’s relevance in the modern world.
Opportunities
Applications for the San Francisco-based Jewish Film Institute’s Completion Grants are open. The grants provide resources for filmmakers finishing the final stages of their independent film and media arts projects that probe nuanced and surprising corners of Jewish life, history, culture and identity. Apply by Feb. 21. jfi.org