Once upon a time, six rabbis and their families moved to Palo Alto from Israel in the hopes of offering more Jewish education to residents of the Bay Area.
Now, six years later, the Jewish Study Network’s crew of six has grown to 11, and will soon balloon to 14.
“I think it’s great for the community,” said Rabbi Mycal Copeland, who for the past several years has worked with JSN through Stanford’s Hillel.
“They’re a fabulous educational resource. They’re just looking to have more people engaged Jewishly, and provide more places to take questions about Judaism. I see this as a positive.”
The network’s growth is an indication of their success, said Rabbi Joey Felsen, director of JSN.
If you haven’t heard of JSN, you will soon. The coalition of young Orthodox rabbis and rebbetzins started up in 2001 to increase Jewish literacy in the Bay Area. Learning is the core pursuit, and they work with individuals and organizations in all streams of Judaism to lead classes and conferences.
Once people found out about their expertise and energy, Felsen realized they didn’t have enough manpower to serve the entire Bay Area.
“Since day one, we’ve been getting requests for our programming and classes in Marin and even Sonoma, and we’ve always had to say no, because to go there from Palo Alto is a big commute,” Felsen said.
But now, JSN will be able to work with communities across the Golden Gate because “we have people on the ground in San Francisco,” he said.
The newest members of the JSN team include Yosef Richards, a London-born rabbi, and Avraham Flacks, a Moscow-born rabbi. Both studied in Jerusalem.
Felsen said he’s particularly excited about Flacks’ ability to connect to the Russian-Jewish population, for whom there has been minimal learning opportunities, and for Richards, a young adult himself, to reach out to San Francisco’s young adult community.
Flacks — like most of the JSN rabbis — comes from a highly educated background (as does his wife, Michal). Before being ordained in Jerusalem, he studied physical chemistry from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. Later, he served as chief rabbi of Krakow, Poland.
The 40-year-old came to Palo Alto from Krakow just six weeks ago. What interests him most is helping Russian Jews become more knowledgeable — not necessarily become religious.
“I want to present people with an opportunity to get a taste of Jewish tradition and culture in a new form,” he said in Russian. “Maybe this is not something they’ve had a chance to do, to question a Russian-speaking rabbi.”
Richards moved to San Francisco in late summer after being ordained.
So far, his focus is on young adults — singles and newly married couples.
Right now he teaches at San Francisco Hillel, Congregation Adath Israel and at his home. Each Tuesday, he and his wife, Temima, invite the curious into their home for dinner and a Jewish discussion.
In the works are an ethics seminar and a Shabbaton. Eventually, Richards would like to establish a working relationship with synagogues in the three major movements.
“My hope is that people will walk away thinking about how they can use being Jewish as a way to really help them grow in life,” he said.
The new rabbis emphasized that they want to make sure they’re meeting the needs of the community. As such, they encouraged anyone to contact them with suggestions: [email protected] or [email protected].
Celebrate Jewish womanhood with JSN
The Jewish Study Network will bring together women from across the Bay Area on Sunday, Oct. 14 for a celebration of Jewish womanhood. The daylong event includes lectures, introspective workshops, a question and answer session and lunch.
Featured speakers include Jill Kaisman, a teacher and lecturer from New Jersey, and Dena Wolmark, the principal at Bais Yaakov, an all-girls Jewish high school in Los Angeles.
The event begins at 10:45 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. at the Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets cost $36. To preregister or for more information, visit www.jsn.info or call (650) 961-4JSN.