Happenings
Jewish Silicon Valley has joined the second cohort of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a group of organizations and leaders that advise a “lifeline fund” awarding grants to local nonprofits. “I am honored to represent Jewish Silicon Valley and the Jewish community in this capacity,” said Daniel Klein, CEO of Jewish Silicon Valley. “I look forward to contributing to the vital, transformative work the Silicon Valley Community Foundation drives every day.” The foundation awarded $590,000 in emergency grants to Santa Clara and San Mateo county nonprofits to help meet basic needs amid federal cuts in 2025.
The Jews of Color Initiative hosted “Black Power, Jewish Politics,” a conversation between CEO Ilana Kaufman and San Francisco State Jewish studies professor Marc Dollinger, author of “Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance in the 1960s.” Rep. Lateefah Simon welcomed the audience to the Feb. 26 event at the Magnes museum in Berkeley. Kaufman and Dollinger unpacked the intersections of Black and Jewish histories and how these stories continue to shape Jewish communal life today. “We dare to have a conversation where we can find common ground and still have differences,” said Kaufman. “In the United States, our destiny is to be a multiracial community. Black folks and Jewish people have this in common — the fact they have always been in motion.” The event was held in partnership with JCRC Bay Area and the SFSU Jewish studies department.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum presented “Rescuing the Hidden Michalovce Collection” at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco on Feb. 10, showcasing Holocaust-era artifacts left behind in a Slovakian attic by a fleeing family nearly 80 years ago. The family’s belongings, including personal letters, photographs, Hebrew prayerbooks, clothing and more, remained hidden until their discovery six years ago. The artifacts, which the museum holds but does not have on public display, were shown to the audience in a PowerPoint presentation.
Jewish Studio Project, a Berkeley-based organization founded by Rabbi Adina Allen and Jeff Kasowitz that hosts hands-on art workshops incorporating Jewish texts and holidays, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. “Ten years in, we’re seeing that creativity is not a luxury — it’s foundational, and it’s a capacity everyone can cultivate given the right tools and support,” said Kasowitz. The celebration culminated with “We the Process,” a national livestream on March 1 that invited participants to share stories, music and art. JSP also launched a $500,000 campaign to expand its impact and reach in its second decade.
The Jewish Bar Association of San Francisco honored International Women’s Day on March 5 with a fundraiser benefiting Shalom Bayit, a nonprofit organization that provides safety planning, counseling and advocacy for survivors of domestic violence within the Jewish community. The event raised $2,584 for Shalom Bayit, with the Jewish Bar Association matching donations up to $1,800.
Rabbi Yehuda Ferris celebrated his 70th birthday on March 7. He joined Berkeley Chabad in 1981 as education director, quickly becoming co-director with his wife, Miriam Ferris. A guitar player and singer who is frontman for The Ferris Wheels – a rock band with lyrics rewritten with Jewish themes — Ferris is always quick with a joke or a Torah snippet, as the occasion demands. “Whatever it takes to get a Jew to be proud of being a Jew,” Ferris told J. in 2003. “To give them an entrance ramp to the highway of being Jewish. That’s our job.”
Awards
Bernard and Barbro Osher were inducted into the Opera Hall of Fame in recognition of their philanthropy and advocacy for the arts. The ceremony was held at the Opera America Salutes awards dinner on March 20 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. A select number of individuals are inducted every year, nominated by members of the field and voted on by committee.
Janice Shapiro of Berkeley won a National Jewish Book Award for middle-grade literature for “Honoria: A Fortuitous Friendship,” a graphic novel set in 1929 France about the friendship between two young girls amid an adult world of glitzy yet troubled musicians and artists. Shapiro is also the author of the short-story collection “Bummer and Other Stories” (Soft Skull Press 2010), and has published stories and comics in a variety of publications. “Honoria” is her first graphic novel.
Jeff Nucera and Jonathan Ruane, directors of “Tight and Nerdy,” the documentary about the burlesque show inspired by “Weird Al” Yankovic, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the San Francisco IndieFest film festival. The film had its West Coast premiere during the festival on Feb. 7 at the Roxie Theater.
The Berkeley Jewish farm Urban Adamah was selected as an inaugural awardee of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund’s WE Initiative. The initiative awarded $500,000 over five years to each of 24 organizations in Oakland and San Francisco for their efforts to build and sustain community well-being. Urban Adamah describes itself as “an education farm and community school … that integrates the practices of Jewish tradition, mindfulness, sustainable agriculture and social action,” and hosts some 10,000 visitors each year.
Comings and goings
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC Berkeley has announced the appointment of Alissa Schapiro as its new senior curator. An accomplished art historian, educator and curator, she joins the Magnes from the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. With a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, an M.A. from the Courtauld Institute of Art and a B.A. from Harvard University, Schapiro began her art history career without a specific focus on Jewish culture. The overt antisemitism in the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, moved her to deepen that connection, according to the museum’s press release. Shapiro starts the job on April 20.
Sam Herzberg, senior planner at the San Mateo County Parks Department, retired in February after 35 years of service. He earned the Governor’s Leadership Award, the Planner Emeritus Award from the California chapter of the American Planning Association, and was one of Sustainable San Mateo County’s Sustainability Award winners in 2024. In April he will be recognized with a lifetime professional achievement award at the California Trails and Greenways Conference.
Opportunities
JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa invites educators and professionals working in the Jewish community to apply to its Sephardic Leaders Fellowship. Fellows participate in virtual and in-person learning sessions to strengthen programs, policies, and participant engagement. Applications are due March 31. Find more information at bit.ly/sephardicleaderssf2026.