1910s
1910: Meeting held between members of founding charitable organizations to establish the Federation of Jewish Charities of San Francisco. The founding constituent societies included:
• Emanu-El Sisterhood
• Eureka Benevolent Society
• First Hebrew Benevolent Society
• Free Burial Society (Chevra Kedusha)
• Free Loan Association (Chevra Gemilus Chasodim)
• Hebrew Home for Aged Disabled
• Hebrew Ladies’ Sewing Society
• The Helpers
• Jewish Education Society
• Jewish Ladies’ Relief Society
• Ladies’ United Hebrew Benevolent Society
• Mount Zion Hospital
• Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home Society
First officers: Judge M.C. Sloss (first president); Jacob B. Levison, Meyer H. Levy, Albert Meyer, and Henry Sinsheimer. The board consisted of 48 people who represented each of the 13 charities.
By the end of its first year in 1910, the Federation had 993 subscribers who contributed $108,717 — double the amount that individual organizations raised prior to the merger
1913: Mount Zion Hospital opened a new wing with 114 beds from a $100,000 donation made by I.W. Hellman Sr. in 1908.
1916: President Woodrow Wilson declared January 27 Jewish Relief Day,
and the Federation of Jewish Charities held rallies and fundraising events to aid destitute Eastern European Jews.
1917-1919: The Federation funded its constituent agencies to support programs for new Jewish immigrants in San Francisco, who arrived during World War I and the Russian Revolution.
1920s
1921: New additions to the Federation’s constituent agencies: the Board of Jewish Education was established from the Jewish Education Society; and the Jewish Committee for Personal Service in State Institutions was founded to offer support to Jewish people in jails and mental institutions.
1922: Federation of Jewish Charities joined the Community Chest of San Francisco.
1924: YM&YWHA became a constituent society for the Federation of Jewish Charities, and Louis Blumenthal served as its executive director.
1925: Members of the Federation founded the Jewish National Welfare Fund (JNWF)
in order to create a central fundraising organization to manage national and international campaigns for the local Jewish population.
1930s
1933: SFJCC’s president, Lloyd Dinkelspiel Sr., presided over a well-attended opening ceremony for its new building on California and Presidio streets.
1936: Federation’s constituent agencies established local programs to care for new European Jewish émigrés.
1938: November 10: Following Kristallnacht, the JNWF began raising funds to support the newly formed United Jewish Appeal, which provided support for European Jews needing immigration and relief services.
1938: Eureka Benevolent Society was renamed Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA).
1940s
1941-1945: After the U.S. entered World War II, the Federation’s constituent agencies developed programs and provided facilities to support war efforts. Mount Zion Hospital developed a casualty aid station and trained nurses and doctors for emergency field teams, and half of its staff joined the armed forces. Emanu-El Residence Club’s young women participated in civilian defense work and held dances for service men. The
Hebrew Home for Aged Disabled residents created victory garden. The Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home Society children actively participated in salvage drives. The facilities of the Federation’s agencies were also made available for civilian defense organizations including Red Cross, air raid wardens and the Board of Health.
1948: Federation and the community celebrated the formation of the State of Israel.
1948-49: The Marin Jewish Community Center, and the Peninsula Jewish Community Center were funded to serve growing suburban populations.
1949: Lack of funds from the Community Chest required the Federation to depend on the JNWF for financial support of local Jewish constituent agencies.
1950s
1951: Federation of Jewish Charities formed
a Study Committee on Jewish Community Planning in order to evaluate its fundraising relationships and programming needs.
1955: Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula emerged with newly elected officers and board of directors to better enable the community to discharge its total obligations for local, national, and overseas welfare programs.
1959: New population study revealed that San Francisco’s Jewish population was estimated to be 46,600 people, an increase of 14 percent over 20 years. San Francisco’s Jewish population, markedly, moved out of the Western
Addition and into more western area including Twin Peaks, Park Merced, Inner Sunset and Outer Sunset. The Peninsula showed the greatest growth with approximately 16,700 Jews residing there. Marin County’s Jewish population showed growth with an estimated 2,700 Jewish residents.
1960s
1961: January 19: 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Jewish Welfare Federation.
1960s: Federation increased its financial support for a range of arts and education services from the Judah L. Magnes Museum to the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival to the Brandeis School in San Francisco.
1966: Jewish Family Service Agency opened its first branch office on the Peninsula to respond to the growing needs of the suburban Jewish population.
1967: Federation allocated emergency funds to provide relief in Israel following the Six-Day War.
1967: Federation established the Young Adults Division (YAD) to assure a continuum of leadership among the next generation.
1970s
1971-74: Federation provided a substantial increase in dollars allotted to assist Soviet Jewish émigrés including new integrated programs from constituent societies including the Jewish Family Service Agency, Jewish Vocational Service, United Jewish Community Centers and Mount Zion Hospital.
1972-78: To better serve the growing demographic, the Federation and its agencies opened new offices in Marin County, the South Peninsula and Palo Alto. They also provided financial support for new educational initiatives including the new Brandeis Hillel Day Schools in San Francisco and Marin County, Lehrhaus Judaica, and the Holocaust Library and Research Center.
1973: Federation raised emergency funds for Israel after Arab-Israeli/Yom Kippur War.
1974: Rabbi Brian Lurie was hired as an executive director.
1975: Frances D. Green became the first woman president of the Federation after being the first woman to chair the annual campaign in 1972, and worked on the first capital funds campaign in 15 years to support building and programs for BJE, Jewish Home for the Aged, Mount Zion Hospital, JCC and Camp Tawonga.
1976: Jewish Community Endowment Fund officially established to offer seed money for new and experimental programs like Jewish Vocational Service.
1980s
1981: Jewish Welfare Federation renamed itself the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.
1983: Federation adopted its second partner town, Kiryat Shmona, through Project Renewal.
1985: Federation inaugurated its new building on a recently purchased plot on Steuart Street. The Jewish Museum (a forerunner to the Contemporary Jewish Museum) was established and opened in the Steuart Street building.
1985: In Israel, the Federation developed an Amuta, a nonprofit organization, with an advisory committee established to oversee its grants and programs. In so doing, San Francisco was the first member of the Jewish Federations of North America to fund an office in Israel.
1989: Federation launched “Project Freedom” — a special campaign to raise $3 million to resettle émigrés in the San Francisco Bay Area.
1989: Federation provided relief in response to the Loma Prieta earthquake.
1990s
1990: Operation Exodus was launched worldwide to support related resettlement costs. The Federation held major fundraising campaigns and rallies that attracted 7,500 people in support of Operation Exodus.
1991: 350 S.F. Bay Area Jews traveled to Israel on “Shalom ‘91,” the Federation’s first mega-mission.
1991: Federation raised funds to support the resettlement of Ethiopian Jews following Operation Moses, which airlifted 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 48 hours.
1995: Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin — thousands in S.F. Bay Area morn loss of Israel’s former Prime Minister and the Federation’s annual campaign received overwhelming support.
1996: The Federation’s LGBT Alliance was formed, and in so doing it was the first member of the Jewish Federations of North America to have a dedicated group responsible for bolstering relations and programs for the LGBT community.
1997: Federation funded the Israel Center to open on Steuart Street.
1990s: Jewish Community Endowment Fund significantly increased its holdings through Phyllis Cook’s leadership as executive director, which provided additional support to Federation programs.
2000s
2001-03: The Federation funded major educational initiatives including the Jewish Community High School’s new facility at 1835 Ellis St. in San Francisco; Brandeis Hillel Day School’s state-of-the-arts building added to its facility on Brotherhood Way in San Francisco; and the Jewish Community Library’s new location on the JCHS campus.
2001 and 2005: Federation provided national emergency relief funds to help people and communities affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and to provide services to victim of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
2004 and 2009: The Federation supported new developments for the Jewish Community Centers: the new San Francisco Jewish Community Center opened at California Street and Presidio Avenue on the site where a smaller JCC building had served the community for 70 years; and the Oshman Family JCC and Moldaw Family Residences opened on the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life in Palo Alto.
2007: Federation’s beneficiary agency, the Jewish Home, opened Rosenberg Family Center with many new facilities including a synagogue, kosher kitchen, art center, fitness center and new research center.
2008: The Federation provided support for the Contemporary Jewish Museum’s new building designed by Daniel Libeskind, exhibitions and programs that allow diverse people to explore contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture, history, art and ideas.