A self-described “all-dayer” at the annual Super Sunday fund-raisers, Susan Hamlin of San Mateo had long been active in Jewish Community Federation activities as well as in her synagogue.
But when her husband died several years ago, leaving her with two young sons, Hamlin suddenly became aware of the importance of such fund-raising efforts on behalf of Jews in need.
“It was then that I suddenly I found myself turning to the Jewish community for a range of services — the very services I had spent years raising money for,” said Hamlin, who took advantage of JCF-supported bereavement and employment counseling. She is currently working on a master’s degree in psychology.
During Shabbat services tonight, Nov. 8, the longtime volunteer will share her story of being on the “other side of the fence” at her synagogue, Foster City’s Peninsula Sinai Congregation. Her talk is titled, “What Being Jewish Means to Me.”
Israeli-born Liki Abrams, president of the North Peninsula region of the JCF’s Women’s Alliance, will also speak at the event, part of a larger program to promote Super Sunday, the federation’s upcoming annual phonathon held simultaneously in Palo Alto and San Francisco on Nov. 24.
Called Federation Shabbat, the program is co-sponsored by the Board of Rabbis of Northern California and the JCF. The goal is to educate congregants about the federation’s activities.
Rabbi H. David Teitelbaum, executive director of the board of rabbis, came up with the program as a way of “heightening awareness of the critical role of federation in the advancement of Jewish life in our community, in Israel and throughout the world.”
Last year, some $2.3 million was raised on Super Sunday, the Bay Area Jewish Community’s largest one-day fund-raising event. The money, which became part of the JCF’s annual campaign, was directed to more than 60 Jewish agencies and programs.
This year, at least 12 synagogues — from San Francisco to Marin and the Peninsula — have signed on to be a part of the new Federation Shabbat program.
At Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, Rabbi Alan Berg is using the anniversary of Kristallnacht, which by chance coincides with the Federation Shabbat weekend, as an opportunity to address “how the federation works to ensure that it will never happen again.”
In honor of Kristallnacht, Beth El synagogue member Judith Dobbs has organized a memorial service that will include special songs, prayers and first-hand accounts from congregants who are Holocaust survivors.
Dobbs came up with the idea for the program during a Shabbat service last year when someone requested that the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust be incorporated into the Kaddish.
“After the service was over, a 12-year-old boy spoke up, asking what the Holocaust was,” she said. “I was shocked and wanted to make sure that he, along with the other kids in our temple, learned what it was all about.”
Dobbs said it was difficult getting Holocaust survivors to share their stories. “It’s not easy asking them to go back into hell. But the alternative — to forget the Holocaust — is to be doomed to relive it.”
While the two Peninsula congregations are designating Friday night for their Federation Shabbat programs, other synagogues, such as Congregation Kol Shofar in Marin, will hold programs Saturday morning.
At Kol Shofar, Maxine Epstein, director of the JCF’s Marin office, will discuss the Torah portion. She also intends to inform congregants how Super Sunday dollars help provide such services as housing and medical assistance for the elderly; emergency food, shelter and cash for those in need; resettlement of immigrants here and in Israel; and help for people with AIDS.
According to San Francisco Super Sunday chair Karyn DiGiorgio, this year’s phonathon is based on the federation’s campaign theme of “a lasting tradition in a changing world.”
“No matter how much things change, whether here or in Israel, one thing remains certain: There will always be Jews in need,” she said.
South Peninsula Super Sunday co-chair Anne Steirman said there will be 10 additional phones in the South Peninsula this year and volunteers are still needed to work in both locations.
To find out more about volunteering in San Francisco, call the Super Sunday headquarters at (415) 777-0411. To volunteer in the South Peninsula, call (415) 494-8444.