It’s been an intense year. Over the past 12 months, J. staff photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins documented many of the moments that will stick with us: celebrations and memorials, incidents of antisemitism, trauma over the Israel-Hamas war and the installation of a new Jewish mayor in San Francisco. As the year ends, we invite you to reflect on Bay Area Jewish life in 2025, as preserved in these striking photos.
January
Faith and community leaders placed hands on Daniel Lurie for an interfaith blessing at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco the day before his inauguration as the city’s mayor.
Luba Grungras, who was 100 when her life story appeared in J., is believed to be the last living survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp residing in the Bay Area.
John Yerina waves Israeli and U.S. flags during a regular vigil on a Lafayette overpass calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
February
From left, Wyatt Sklarin, Gideon Witchel, Stanford Hillel Rabbi Eli Weinbach and Ben Stettin held etrogs ahead of Tu Bishvat at the O’Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm in Palo Alto.
Elisheva Basseri shows off her self-portrait made from everyday objects during a workshop led by Israeli artist Hanoch Piven (not pictured) at Yavneh Day School in Los Gatos.
March
A wicked “drunken grandmother” challah babka with a marbled poppyseed filling and a bourbon sugar syrup for Purim, made by recipe columnist Faith Kramer.
Josh Eibelman (left), playing the part of a groom, celebrates with his “bride” Lia Weiss (center) and Rabbi Tsipora Gabai during a henna party, which explores and celebrates Middle Eastern Jewish wedding traditions, at the the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life in Berkeley.
April
Layla Alsheikh (left), a Palestinian woman whose her 6-month-old son died in the West Bank in 2002 when an Israeli military raid on her village prevented her from taking him to the hospital, smiles as she holds hands with Mor Ynon, an Israeli woman who lost her parents to Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, as Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers who’ve lost loved ones share their stories at the JCCSF.
Miriam Peretz (left) and Lisa Tilton performed during “Mimouna: A Moroccan Jewish Celebration,” marking the end of Passover, at the JCCSF.
May
A worshipper chants from a siddur at Congregation Emanu-El as local Jews mourn the killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C.
Miss Gefilte Fish, also known as Noah Zweben, tries on glasses that turn lights into Stars of David during Value Culture’s Jewish American Heritage Month event at the Academy of Science in San Francisco.
June
Congregants circle an altar in the center of the room during Reveal, an all-night event celebrating Shavuot through spirituality and art, at Renewal congregation Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley.
Wearing hot-pink “Proud & Jewish” T-shirts and even temporary tattoos, Jews march down Market Street during the San Francisco LGBTQ Pride Parade.
July
Penina Eilberg-Schwartz and her mother, Rabbi Amy Eilberg, are featured in a story about communicating across their deep divide over the Israel-Hamas war.
Jewish artist Chance Rein performs at Brick & Mortar Music Hall.
August
Rabbi Zac Kamenetz, who took psilocybin mushrooms for the first time as part of a Johns Hopkins study, stands in the Giant Sequoia Grove in Berkeley.
Basil sits on the grass as Congregation Sha’ar Zahav hosts a Dog Shabbat in San Francisco’s Dolores Park.
September
People mingle in the courtyard during a reception and Shabbat service celebrating the reopening and renovation of Congregation Emanu-El’s building in San Francisco.
Sunny Schwartz sounds a shofar during Tashlique, a tashlich ceremony and celebration by Reboot and JCCSF, on Rosh Hashanah at San Francisco’s Crissy Field East Beach, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
October
The spire of St. Ignatius Church peeks through the slated sukkah roof at the University of San Francisco. The sukkah was built by USF’s Jewish Studies and Social Justice program.
Ava Chrysanthe protests against conservative New York Times columnist Bret Stephens while he speaks inside Congregation Emanu-El.
November
A robotic arm takes a board with bagels and puts it onto a rack at the Boichik Bagels factory in Berkeley.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, parents of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and former Bay Area residents, spoke at the Z3 Conference at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto.
December
Judith Kaminsky, owner of kitchen supply store Cookin’, will close her shop at the end of the year after more than 35 years on San Francisco’s Divisadero Street.
On the first night of Hanukkah at San Francisco’s Union Square, people hold candles to commemorate the 15 Jews killed in a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration that day at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.