This is it my friends, the High Holy days are over and the entire Jewish community springs to life!  If you’ve been thinking of taking a class, now it the time to figure out what you want to take and where.  If you have any particular interest, feel free to contact me for help.  Take a look at www.lehrhaus.org.  The classes are located all around the bay area and cover many topics.

 

 

Sukkot will arrive on Friday night at sundown

Come to my Sukkah on Sunday!

This is one of my FAVORITE holidays!  Yesterday  my husband is constructing our sukkah.  Tonight I get to decorate it!  Super fun!  Again, I invite anyone who would like to, to come to my sukkah on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 3pm.  I’ll be having some friends over and you are welcome to come.  Just email me at dawn@buildingjewishbridges.org and I’ll send you the details.

 

 

Learn more about Sukkot here:

www.myjewishlearning.com (Click on Sukkot or just look at the images at the top.)  Lots of great details.

 

Decorating your sukkah or taking decorations to someone else’s sukkah

Traditionally a sukkah is decorated with fruits of the fall harvest but in modern times people don’t want to waste food when so many are going hungry.  So you can make paper chains (remember them!), cut out paper images of fruit and veggies.  Many people string their Rosh Hashanah cards and hang those.  You can drape fabric across the ceiling to make it look like a tent.  Let the kids go crazy on this one.  Invite your friends to come up with fun ideas.  Some years we’ve made paper tissue flowers and strung them together.

 

Set a table inside to hold your meals.  This can be a card table or any portable table you’ve got.  Invite friends to join you for a meal.  This weekend looks to be warm so it’s a great time to eat outdoors.

 

 

October/November Workshops

Let me know if you are coming to any of my workshops. Email me at dawn@buildingjewishbridges.org

 

 

Women in Interfaith Relationships (in Oakland, one session)

A discussion for girlfriends, wives, mothers and grandmothers

Join other women, Jewish or not, to examine interfaith marriage in relation to culture and gender.  What are the unique expectations and responses that a woman encounters as she creates a home and builds a family life in which her religion is not that of her partner?  Join a multi-generational discussion about the assumptions and possibilities surrounding our roles as sustainers of the family.

 

Date:    Oct. 11

Time:    12noon

Place:   Private home in Oakland

Cost:    $7/public; free to Temple Sinai members

Co- sponsored by Temple Sinai and Building Jewish Bridges.

To sign up and get directions call Dawn at 510-845-6420 x11

 

Women in Interfaith Relationships (in Palo Alto, two sessions)

A Discussion for Girlfriends, Wives, Mothers & Grandmothers

Are you raising a child with a partner of a different (or no) religious tradition? How does gender impact interfaith relationships? Society places expectations on women as girlfriends, wives, mothers, grandmothers, aunts and best friends. Even in the 21st century, the home is the domain of the female parent. How does that play out with Judaism, a home based faith? What if you are a lesbian interfaith couple; are the religious responsibilities any different?

Come explore the roles, expectations, pluses and minuses of being female in an interfaith relationship. Jewish or not, wife or grandmother, join us for a lively supportive discussion.

 

To register please visit www.paloaltojcc.org or call Heidi Stein at (650) 223-8605

Co-sponsored by Building Jewish Bridges and the Oshman Family JCC, Palo Alto

2 sessions: Sundays, 7:00pm  October 25 – November 22  

Tuition: $25; $20/members of OFJCC

Site: Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way Palo Alto, CA 94303, Palo Alto

 

 

Exploring Interfaith LGBTQ Relationships
Join us for an exploration of key issues that come up for interfaith couples: clarifying values, good communication, relationships with family and friends, finding community, and joyfully sharing each other’s traditions, holidays and religious observances. This class will be a combination of discussion, readings, and guided activities. All genders welcome.

Date:   Four sessions beginning Monday, Oct. 26
Time:   7:30 to 9pm
Place:  Kehilla Community Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont 
Cost:   $80/couple, no one turned away for lack of funds.
For more information call Dawn at 510-845-6420 x11.

 

 

How I Decided to Raise my Kids Jewish
How do non-Jewish parents decide to raise their children as Jews? What are their concerns?  Once the decision is made, how did they make it happen? Did they retain their own religion? How do they share their identity with their children?  Come hear a panel of non-Jewish parents as they discuss their journey to a Jewish home identity.

 

Date:     Nov. 1

Time:    10am to 11:45am

Place:   Beth Israel Judea, 625 Brotherhood Way, San Francisco

Cost:    $7; free to Beth Israel Judea members

For more information all Dawn at 510-845-6420 x11

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Here are some of the events coming up that anyone is welcome to attend.

EVENTS

Community Sukkot (Berkeley)

Sukkot Dinner (Walnut Creek)

Erev Shabbat/Erev Sukkot Family Service & Celebration (Oakland)

Tot Shabbat in the Sukkah!  (San Rafael)

Sukkot Festivities Around the World (San Rafael)

Harlots, Witches, Wives and Tricksters: Women of the Bible  (Oakland)

Sukkahpalooza!  (Oakland)

Brandeis Hillel Day School Kindergarten Tour (San Rafael)

Raising Jewish Children (Palo Alto)

Rock the Torah (Los Altos)

No Experience Needed Sukkot Dinner (El Cerrito)

Discover Judaism (Berkeley)

Shabbat Dinner and Mizmor Shir Services for 20s and 30s (Oakland)

Jewish Book Club (Palo Alto)

Bagels and Blocks (Walnut Creek)

Mothers Circle- Creating A Jewish Home (Los Altos)

 

 

 

 

Community Sukkot
Come help decorate, enjoy a meal, and learn about the holiday of Sukkot, from tradition to social action. Bring shelter items to give to those who do not have shelter: new socks and toiletries and clean blankets which will be donated to Youth Engagement, Advocacy & Housing (YEAH!).
Feel free to bring dessert and/or drinks to share under the Sukkah.

Date:    Oct. 2

Time:    Holiday Arts and Crafts – 4:30-6:00pm; Shabbat Service, Dinner and Fun – 6-8:30pm

Place:   JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley
Please RSVP to Lauren at laureng@jcceastbay.org or call 510-848-0237

www.jcceastbay.org

 

 

 

Sukkot Dinner

Our dinner begins at 6:30 pm, featuring delicious chicken and hot dogs with all the fixings, by chef extraordinaire Anton Ennik. All are welcome, members, non-members, family and friends of all ages are invited to attend. Come get make some new friends.

 

Date:    Friday, October 2

Time:    6:30pm

Place:   B’nai Shalom, 74 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek

Cost:    Adult is $15 per person, $8 per child 13-18, $5 per child 7-12, children 6 and under are free.

Services begin at 7:30. We are planning outdoor services if weather permits, so be sure to bring jackets and sweaters. Following services please join us for olive oil tasting and Oneg.

To make reservations for dinner, please contact the CBS office at (925) 934-9446, email officeassist@bshalom.org or

 

 

 

Erev Shabbat/Erev Sukkot Family Service & Celebration
It’s time for Ha’Hag – the BIG harvest festival, Sukkot! Come to Sinai’s Merritt Village for our “Outdoor in-the-Sukkah” Shabbat Service. Bring in the holiday with song and prayer, shake that lulav, and dance! We’ll also make decorations for the sukkah, and share an ice cream oneg. Bring a blanket to sit on during services.

Date:    Friday, October 2

Time:    6:30pm

Place:   Temple Sinai’s Merritt Village, 12500 Campus View Drive, Oakland

There are good directions on the website, www.oaklandsinai.org

Or call Gabby at 510-451-3263.

 

 

 

Tot Shabbat in the Sukkah!
Join Jonathan Bayer and our clergy for services outside in our shelter, our sukkah.  We will celebrate Shabbat together, and wonder why God would ask us to build and live in a shelter where the rain can get in and we can see the stars. What does living in a sukkah allow us to do that living in a house does not?

 

Date:    Saturday, October 3

Time:    9:30am

Place:   Rodef Sholom, 170 North San Pedro Rd., San Rafael

 

 

  

Sukkot Festivities Around the World

with Rabbi Capers Funnye (Michelle Obama’s Cousin)

Celebrate the global Jewish community in our sukkah. Rabbi Funnye will deliver a talk for adults, while Sukkot activities are provided for children. Rabbi Funnye is the spiritual leader of Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew congregation in Chicago and is the Associate Director of Be’chol Lashon. He was profiled in The New York Times Magazine article “Obama’s Rabbi.” 

 

Date:    Sunday, Oct. 4

Time:    4 to 6pm

Place:   Osher JCC and Rodef Sholom, 170 to 200 San Pedro Rd., San Rafael

Free and open to the public; register with the JCC at 444-8080.

Co-sponsored with the Center for Jewish Life at the Osher Marin JCC in association with Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue). 

 

 

 

Harlots, Witches, Wives and Tricksters: Women of the Bible 

with Devra Aarons*

Using contemporary and older art sources, discussion, [light] Torah study and a few movement exercises, we’ll explore the stories of Biblical women. How do these women inform our lives today? How do their stories reflect our stories?  And why is it that some Biblical women don’t even get names? Join us for a chance to actively engage in Jewish learning, all under the breezy palms of the Sukkah.  We look forward to seeing you there.  This event is open to all women! 

 

Date:    Sunday, Oct. 4

Time:    Continental Breakfast at 10:30am and program at 11am, finished by 12:30pm

Place:   Beth Abraham, 327 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland

Pull into the parking lot beside the synagogue and you’ll see the women gathering in the sukkah.

Free
*Devra Aarons is currently the Director of Contra Costa Midrasha and an educator at Berkeley Midrasha.  She’s also been a Field Producer for CNBC, HGTV and the Food Network and was the Managing Director for Traveling Jewish Theatre.

Please RSVP (bsirull@comcast.net or (510) 606-5570)  so we have enough food for all! Contact Beth Sirull with questions.  

 

 

 

Sukkahpalooza!
Come for a free community wide event. There will be live music by The Ferris Wheels and Oakland Kosher will grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. This is a community-wide free event.

 

Date:    October 6

Time:    6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Place:   Oakland Hebrew Day School, 5500 Redwood Road in Oakland.

For more info contact  Melanie Marcus at mmarcus@ohds.org

 

 

Brandeis Hillel Day School Kindergarten Tour
Are you looking for the right kindergarten program for your child? Come and take a tour of Brandeis Hillel Day School and find out about the challenging academic program, the outstanding enrichment, and the diverse community our school has to offer.

 

Date:    Tuesday, October 6

Time:    9:15am

Place:   Brandeis Hillel Day School, 180 N San Pedro Rd, San Rafael

RSVP to Sheryl Denker at 444-8108 or sdenker@bhds.org.

  

 

 

Raising Jewish Children

Are you a parent of a preschool age child trying to figure out how to raise Jewish children? This three-session workshop could be what you are looking for. Discuss what it takes to create a Jewish home, how to develop positive Jewish identities in your children, and how to connect your family and your children to the Jewish people and community!  Dinner will be provided. Free childcare will be available with advance registration only.

 

Dates: Thursdays, October 8, 15, 22

Time: 6:00–8:00pm

Place:   TBA at the JCC

Cost:    $18 JCC members, $21 non-members

Contact: Caren Gans, Early Childhood Education Director, Phone: (650) 223-8642
Email: cgans@paloaltojcc.org

 

 

 

Rock the Torah

Simchat Torah 5770 – A Night As Big as Purim

Are you sorry that Purim comes just once a year? Want more of that laughter and fun? Take part in an ancient tradition done in riotous Beth Am style – Rock the Torah!

Don’t miss this BIG night of celebration as we complete the reading of the Torah and start all over again. There will be song, dance, food and an impressive array of spirits. In a debut engagement, Master of Ceremonies for the evening will be our own, incomparable Donnovan Yisrael.

If you go to the website and look up this event there is a little video at the bottom of the page that is hilarious of them practicing for the evening.

 

Date:    Friday, October 9

Time:    5 p.m., adult study session

Place:   Beth Am, Rooms 5-6; 6:15 p.m. service and party, Sanctuary/Social Hall, 26790 Arastradero Rd., Los Altos Hills

Call them at 650-493-4661 if this is your first visit and get the facilities map.  They have a large facility. 

 

 

 

No Experience Needed Sukkot Dinner

Ornaments hanging from branches, fragrant leaves, sparkly lights, it’s . . . Sukkot!  Join us for a no-experience-necessary celebration, and a delicious dinner. All are welcome.  Sukkot honors the fall harvest, and the ancient Jews who lived in makeshift huts as they wandered in the desert. The tradition is to build a hut outdoors called a sukkah, and to decorate it with ornaments, paper chains, gourds, strings of lights, branches, and whatever else you want.  It’s traditional to eat in the sukkah, and even to sleep in it. Celebrate with us in our Sukkah.  All are welcome, whether you’re Jewish or just curious.

Childcare free by reservation.

 

Date:    Friday, Oct. 9

Time:    6:15pm

Place:   Jewish Gateways, 409 Liberty St., El Cerrito

Cost:    First-time participants, potluck contribution or $7, RSVP required.

For more info: 510-559-8140

http://www.jewishgateways.org/

 Email:   rabbibridget@jewishgateways.org

 

 

 

Discover Judaism

Join this series of classes, designed to help you access the deep meanings of Judaism through a friendly, beginner-level journey. Participants can join one series at a time, and are welcome to begin at any point. Jews and non-Jews are welcome!

 

Part 1: Torah Discovery
With Rabbi Menachem Creditor
The Torah demonstrates the earliest dynamic conversations that became Modern Judaism. One book of the Torah, each with its unique style and content, will be discussed each session. We will also engage questions of Biblical authorship, interpretation, and theology. No Hebrew is required for this class.

Dates:   Tuesdays, Oct. 13, 20, 27; Nov. 3, 10

Time:    7:30 to 9pm

Place:   Netivot Shalom, 1316 University Ave., Berkeley

Class fee: $50-$75 — (sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds)
For more information or to enroll call Netivot Shalom at 510-549-9447

 

 

 

Shabbat Dinner and Mizmor Shir Services

Are you in your 20s or 30s? This is for Jewish-Jewish and interfaith couples.  Join us for our upcoming Shabbat Dinner at Drunken Fish (www.gotsushiandsake.com) followed by a Mizmor Shir! Shabbat Service at the Temple Sinai. Single, partnered, with kids or without, we’d love to have you join us!

 

Date:    Friday, October 16

Time:    Dinner at 6pm and services at Sinai at 7:30pm

Place:   Dinner at Drunken Fish, 3314 Piedmont Ave, Oakland and services at Temple Sinai, 2808 Summit St., Oakland

RSVP to Jennifer at: voz37@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Jewish Book Club

Check us out, the People of the Books, the Etz Chayim Book Group. Please join us for the first selection of our new Book Group year is The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer. We are confident that this timely and absorbing book will encourage lively discussion. At this meeting we will also ask your input in choosing our books for the next few months. Our books contain Jewish ideas or themes, or are written by Jewish authors. And, we provide delicious and book-themed snacks!  Leaders Susan Gold and Linda Wittlin attend author lectures, stay current on published literature and attend other book groups for both inspiration and guidance for book suggestions and discussion.

 

Date:    Sunday, October 18 (every third Sunday of the month)

Time:    10:30am to noon

Place:   Etz Chayim, 4161 Alma St., Palo Alto

For more information call the synagogue at 650) 813-9094

 

 

 

Bagels and Blocks

A Jewish Family Play Group

Bring your 0-24 month old and join us for a fun and interactive jewish learning experience. A light snack will be served.  Free and open to the community. Siblings welcome. Bring a friend!

Meets monthly on Thursdays, fall dates: October 22, November 19, December 17

 

Date:    Thursday, Oct. 22

Time:    9:30-10:15am

Place:   B’nai Shalom, Preschool Room 1, 74 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek

For more info or to RSVP rabbijen@bshalom.org or sarah@speigel.com

 

 

 

Mothers Circle- Creating A Jewish Home

Welcome to an outreach program designed for non-Jewish moms in interfaith marriages or committed relationships who are raising Jewish children. 

 

Dates:   begins Sunday, Oct 25, 12 sessions

Time:    9:15 to 11:15am

Place:   Congregation Beth Am, in Los Altos Hills

Cost:    $55 for books, materials, childcare and refreshments.

Contact Frieda Haidt or Kaoru Hollin at motherscircle@betham.org for more information.

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Shana Tova!  Happy New Year!

 

Do Rabbis have a Sense of Humor about the High Holidays?

Take a look at this video and you tell me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE1Fxxv2cPc

That’s Rabbi Bloom of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland. You can join him for Yom Kippur or all year long on Shabbat.  Call the synagogue for more information: 510-832-0936 .

 

Sukkot is coming!

This is one of my favorite holidays. You build a hut (sounds like a fort to me!); your parents actually help you do it. You eat in it and sleep in it (if it’s not too cold). You decorate it.

Sukkot has everything – food, place, construction, decorating, family gathering, friends invited in. One thing that makes it REAL is to actually have a sukkah. You can buy a pre-fab one online. They aren’t cheap, ours cost $200, but then neither are a lot of terrific things. If you’re handy with a hammer you can make your own. But the prefab ones breakdown and store till next year.

http://thesukkahproject.com/thetubularsukkah.aspx

 

 

Sunset Magazine makes a Sukkah?

Imagine my surprise when I opened an email from Sunset and saw – a sukkah! Well, that’s what it looked like to me. They say it is a “billowy retreat” in your garden, Balinese style. The site has a plan for how to build it. Take a look:

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/article/0,20633,664105~708918,00.html

 

 

Ramadan

We are still in the month of Ramadan. I was talking to a Jewish woman on this list who told me that her Muslim husband has been fasting in observance of the holiday. I asked if he were tired or miserable. (We Jews only fast one day, Muslims fast for an entire lunar months worth of days, while breaking their fast each evening.) She said, no, he enjoys it. He feels that following the traditions of Islam help to keep him grounded. He is not a religious guy at all, but he feels that rituals create a framework for his life.

Many Jews will go to Rosh Hashanah and will fast on Yom Kippur for much the same reasons. The practices of our people are a culture that gives us a bedrock on which to build our lives, stories that give voice to our values. For Jews, the most important thing is what you do. Act. Therefore, it is natural that we “do” in order to lead us to good thoughts and more good deeds. The song says, “good deeds lead to good deeds; bad deeds lead to bad deeds.”

For this new year, 5679, let us join with Zubair and make an effort to find our own framework and work for a better world.

Here’s an easy thing – for one day, greet everyone you deal with as though they are a friend. Tell me how it went.

 

May the new year bring you increased contentment and peace,

Dawn

 

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