What happens when agricultural land is allowed to rest and recover? Nutrients return. Diseases disappear. Water penetrates the earth. Carbon reactivates the soil so that it can remain fertile and productive. A purposeful intermission yields to the promise of renewal. This is the basic premise of the Jewish tradition of the shmita year, a sabbatical…
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Education
Bay Area
Grand jury releases report on hate speech in San Mateo public schools
In response to several incidents of hate speech and antisemitism at public schools in San Mateo over the last few years, a county grand jury has released…
Education
Gov. Newsom rejects high school ethnic studies mandate
In the waning hours of the review period for bills passed during the 2019-20 legislative session on Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom broke with strong…
Bay Area
S.F. Hillel hosts vigil to counter Khaled event
Hours after Zoom, Facebook and YouTube deplatformed a San Francisco State University virtual event on Sept. 23 featuring Palestinian hijacker Leila…
Bay Area
Keeping college students connected during a pandemic
When Covid-19 forced UC Berkeley to cancel in-person classes this semester, Rabbi Gil Leeds knew it meant that he, too, would not be able to hold…
Bay Area
Leila Khaled event, briefly hosted on YouTube, is taken down
Updated: 4:40 p.m., Sept. 23, 2020 After livestreaming for about 23 minutes on YouTube, today’s roundtable conversation from San Francisco State…
Bay Area
Zoom will not host S.F. State event featuring Leila Khaled
Zoom announced late Tuesday afternoon that San Francisco State University will not be allowed to use its videoconferencing platform to host an event…
Education
A recent survey found young adults ignorant about the Holocaust — or did it?
A newly released survey that shows a significant deficit in knowledge about the Holocaust among American young adults produced flashy national headlines.…
Parenting
First day of school — a new state, new anxieties
From the moment I woke up, this morning was different. My alarm went off at 6:45 a.m., one of the only times I’d set it since the pandemic hit. I got up…