Judaica Archives

The Jewish News of Northern California

Nancy Katz unfolds one of the first chuppahs she made. (Alix Wall)

Art

Marin JCC wraps itself in Nancy Katz’s colorful silk

by Alix Wall June 24, 2026June 25, 2026

Rachel Chancellor first encountered Nancy Katz’s artistry at Camp Newman in Santa Rosa, where the young camper admired her colorful silk banners adorning the dining hall. Chancellor was so taken […]

A "smart mezuzah" designed by engineering student Tofic Esses won first place at the first annual Craig Exhibition of Jewish Engineering at UC Berkeley. (Courtesy)

Ideas

Light-up mezuzah snags first Jewish engineering prize at Cal

by Lea Loeb May 6, 2026May 6, 2026

The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, March 7, 2024. (Aaron Levy-Wolins/J. Staff)

Culture

Contemporary Jewish Museum to sell iconic S.F. building after 15-month closure

by Maya Mirsky March 18, 2026March 18, 2026

One of the learning features on Virtual Tikkun is color-coded trope. (Courtesy)

Ideas

From scroll to screen: A new digital tool seeks to aid Torah chanters

by Lea Loeb February 10, 2026February 10, 2026

A family in the Seduva shtetl, captured before the world they knew disappeared. The Lost Shtetl Museum offers an intimate look at religious, civic and cultural life in communities like these. (The Lost Shtetl Museum/collection of Anat Rosen)

Culture

Echoes of a lost shtetl: How sound is recreating a vanished Jewish world

by Leslie Katz January 26, 2026January 26, 2026

From left, the Fool, Magician and Popess cards from the 1650 Jean Noblet Tarot deck, which Stav Appel contends is full of hidden Jewish symbolism. (Courtesy)

Books

‘Torah in the Tarot’ author: Jews hid meaning in cards during times of persecution

by Lea Loeb January 13, 2026January 14, 2026

High Holidays

While most struggle to blow the shofar, this Oaklander can play music on it

by Alix Wall September 15, 2025September 15, 2025

Art

Magnes exhibit traces the flow of water through centuries of Jewish life

by Maya Mirsky September 3, 2025September 4, 2025

Judaica

Inside one man’s quixotic quest to preserve 200,000 Israeli tchotchkes

by Asaf Elia-Shalev August 7, 2025August 7, 2025

Judaica

After 21 years in S.F., Dayenu Judaica’s owner decides to fold

by Patricia Corrigan May 23, 2025June 13, 2025