Seeing freedom
Immigrant Point Overlook, a new scenic viewpoint in the Presidio, was dedicated recently when 23 foreign nationals from 18 countries took their citizenship vows there, thanks to George Sarlo and his wife, Sejong, who both came to this country as immigrants. The viewpoint overlooks the Golden Gate, a symbol of freedom to millions, the San Francisco philanthropist said. The Sarlo Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund paid for the overlook.
What’s in a name
You can’t get more haimish than this: In a naming ceremony, created by the Jewish Home’s Rabbi Sheldon Marder, Peter Neubauer took on his grandfather’s Hebrew name — Ya’akov — while his 93-year-old mom, Erna Neubauer, a Home resident, looked on proudly. The ceremony included Erna’s recitation of the Mother’s Prayer and a reading of the biblical story of Jacob wrestling with the angel of God. Peter’s late father, Erich, was also a Home resident. Yasher koach!
Anecdotally speaking …
Deborah Lopez, president of the San Francisco chapter of Hadassah, said there’s a party in store next fall whether or not Hadassah wins the Nobel Peace Prize (though she’s hoping it will). Maybe fellow nominee Bono will sing at the bash.
Ron Kaufman, developer, preservationist and author (his book “The Old North: Waterfront History and Rebirth of a San Francisco Neighborhood” was published last year) called the restored Old Mint “one of the premier preservation projects of this decade.” He and his wife, Barbara Kaufman, were among the guests at the Chicken’s Ball, a fund-raiser for the new San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, which will be housed in the Old Mint.
Zoketsu Norman Fischer, whose Everyday Zen Foundation includes both Jewish and Christian meditation, told a group at Congregation Rodef Sholom that he was a “whiz kid in his synagogue growing up.” He met Congregation Beth Sholom’s Rabbi Alan Lew years ago at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the two have collaborated for five years at Makor Or, the Jewish Meditation Center next door to the synagogue.
Shalom and farewell
Nancy Katz is returning home to New England in July to be closer to her 80-something parents after 25 years in the Bay Area. The Berkeley-based fabric artist extraordinaire hopes to come back periodically for projects, but invites visitors to her new home studio among the trees in western Massachusetts. She’s having a send-off party at the boathouse at Lake Merritt from 7 to 10 p.m. June 8, if folks want to come say goodbye. She currently has a piece in the show “America and I” at the Jewish Community Library through June 30 … Filmmakers Shirley and Giora Gerzon left San Anselmo last month to resettle in Florida. Their film “The Olympic Doll,” about a Holocaust survivor and the doll that gave her hope, premiered in Israel in March. Stay tuned for a date for a Bay Area premiere … Jewish Home development director Amy Rosenblatt Lui is moving to Minneapolis where her husband, David Lui, has already begun a new job.
Short shorts
Rick Zurow is the new Jewish Community Foundation’s associate director for the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay. He comes here after stints in federation foundations in Kansas City and Oregon, where he was founding executive director … Evelyn and Barry Adler, volunteers at the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services, were silver honorees of the MetLife Foundation’s Older Volunteers Enrich America award.
Suzan Berns, a freelance writer and publicist, welcomes your submissions of cute, poignant or informational anecdotes about you and your organizations at [email protected].