I’m going to invite you to think about “being” Jewish and what that means. Either you or your partner is Jewish. You may be raising your kids Jewish. “Being” Jewish holds questions about identity and action and how they intersect.

Being Jewish is both entirely effortless and requiring of work to make anything of it. It’s like being born with a high IQ. You can walk through life a genius, but if you never learn to read, write or do math, if you never put your brains to any task, then your intelligence is wasted. If you are born a Jew, then that identity belongs to you effortlessly. (If you convert to Judaism, you create your own door into Judaism.) Now what to do with it?

Let’s take a familiar Jewish practice, kashrut (eating kosher food). If all you know is, don’t eat pork, then it seems pointless and stupid. If you learn more you find it is a dietary system. You control what you eat, you think about what you put in your mouth before you put food in there. What? Another form of Weight Watchers? Some foods are not eaten at all – yup, sounds like a diet. Some foods are not eaten together, yes, I’ve seen those diets too. You bless the food and thank some cosmic force for providing it. Hm, I’m not sure I believe in that cosmic force so why say thank you to it?

These are all beginner’s concepts. Let’s go deeper.

The concept of kavanah (intention) is working here. Rather than stuff food in your face, think before you eat. Have intention. I am going to eat what is good for me, I am valuing this, the only body I will occupy in this lifetime, I want to keep it healthy and able to sustain my spirit/consciousness.

I want to be grateful that, unlike the majority of the planet’s occupants, I have sufficient and delicious nutrition. I am grateful that someone else stooped in the fields to pick this. I won’t rush through food that they gave sweaty hours to harvest. Nor will I undervalue the fact that an animal died in order for me to eat this steak.

What if each time you ate you gave 30 seconds to thinking about how you are nourishing yourself and how that plays into the world around you?

Have you ever thought about meditating? It’s scientifically proven to do loads of good things for you. What if kashrut is an ancient way of creating a meditative moment? Sure, many people aren’t thinking of it that way. But who said you had to do things their way?

I didn’t make this stuff up. Talk to modern practitioners of kashrut and you’ll learn even more about connecting body, soul, and actions.
To get the most out of being Jewish takes effort – learning, practice (as in doing it over and over again until you’ve got it right for you) and it doesn’t hurt to have some fellow explorers (just like those gym buddies who suggest you take spinning with them).

If you’re going to BE Jewish, make it work for you.

EVENTS
The Outdoor Sanctuary (San Rafael)
Torah on the Trails (San Rafael)
Book Club (San Rafael)
Chocolate Chip Challah! (El Cerrito)
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story film (Berkeley)
A Film Unfinished film (Berkeley)
Let’s go to the Movies: Saviors in the Night (Berkeley)
Bagels and Blocks (Walnut Creek)
Bagels and Babies (San Francisco)

The Outdoor Sanctuary
Shabbat in Nature
Does being in nature make you feel connected to something bigger? Come and celebrate Shabbat outdoors this summer at China Camp State Park. We will be there at 5:30 pm and services will begin at 6 pm. All you need to do is bring your blanket, some lawn chairs, a picnic dinner, your readiness to participate, and a dessert to share. We’ll bring the challah.

Directions: We will be picnicking and praying at China Camp Village, just down the road from Rodef Sholom (4.6 miles), on the upper grass meadow adjacent to the parking lot and above the water. There will be a small fee for parking.

Date: Friday, July 16, Aug. 20
Time: 6pm
Place: China Camp State Park
Sponsored by Congregation Rodef Sholom, 170 North San Pedro Rd., San Rafael
For more information call the synagogue at 415- 479-3447
www.rodefsholom.org

Torah on the Trails
Join Cantor David Margules for some soul-lifting Torah and a short hike, weather permitting. Please meet punctually in the Rodef Sholom parking lot.

Date: Saturday, July 17
Time: 8:30am
Place: Rodef Sholom, 170 North San Pedro Road San Rafael
For more information call the synagogue at (415) 479-3441

Book Club
The Women of Rodef Sholom’s book club will be discussing The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson at the next gathering.

Date: Wednesday, July 21
Time: 7:15 pm
Place: Osher Marin JCC, Lefferts Community Library (2nd floor), 200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael
For more information about joining this dynamic club, contact wrs@rodefsholom.org.

Chocolate Chip Challah!
Join other families with young children to make and take home your own decorated bread, a yummy Jewish treat. We’ll also enjoy puppets, stories, and songs. You’ll take home your challah, the recipe, plus ideas about how to make Shabbat — the Jewish Sabbath — a special time for your family.
Open to all children age 0-5 years and their grown-ups.
Our gathering will be led by beloved early childhood specialist Mimi Greisman and Rabbi Bridget Wynne.
Feel free to invite friends who might be interested!

Date: Sunday, July 25
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm
Place: Jewish Gateways, 409 Liberty St., El Cerrito
For more information call 510-559-8140
www.jewishgateways.org

Temple Sinai of Oakland is co-presenting two films at the SF Jewish Film Festival.
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story
Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, this film celebrates the contributions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. More than a film about sports, it is a story of immigration, assimilation, bigotry and the shattering of stereotypes.

Date: Sunday, August 1 at 2:15pm
Place: Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley

AND
A Film Unfinished
Filmmaker Yael Hersonski discovers that the Warsaw Ghetto footage that we’ve seen in countless documentaries was actually staged by the Nazis using the actual Jewish inhabitants of the Ghetto as “actors.” This film is a rigorous and profound documentary that simultaneously exposes the perversity of Nazi image-making, honors its victims and pays tribute to the resiliency of the filmmaker’s own grandmother and the other survivors of the Ghetto.

Date: Sunday, August 1 at 4:15pm
Place: Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley

For ticket information, please contact the box office at 866-55-tickets or visit the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival online at www.sfjff.org.

Let’s go to the Movies: Saviors in the Night
Let’s go see “Saviors in the Night” at the SF Jewish Film Festival. Saviors is a true story about a German Catholic family who hid a Jewish family during the Holocaust.
Go online and buy your ticket at: www.sfjff.org
How about meeting at 5pm for a quick pizza around the corner from the theater? Email me if you want to join me for dinner before the film.

Date: August 7
Time: 7pm
Place: Roda Theater, Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison, Berkeley
Info: Contact me at 510-845-6420 x11 or email me at dawn@buildingjewishbridges.org

Bagels and Blocks
A Jewish Family Play Group with Sizzling Summer Fun!
Come join us as we explore, make crafts, sing and learn in a family environment.
Please bring towel and change of clothes for water play. The summer program designed for families with children 0-3 years. Siblings welcome! Bring a Friend!
Free and open to the community.
A light breakfast will be served at 10:15.

Date: Thursday, August 19
Time: 9:30-10:15am
Place: B’nai Shalom, Room 1, 74 Eckley Ln., Walnut Creek
For more information contact sarah@speigel.com or rabbijen@bshalom.org

Bagels and Babies
Join us for an opportunity for parents to interact with others while spending time with their little ones. We provide bagels, fruit and juice…there is some schmooze time, a circle time/discussion, and we always have a “guest” like one of our rabbis or it could be Andrea Alban, a children’s author.

Date: Friday, Aug. 20
Time: 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Place: Congregation Emanu-El, Two Lake Street, San Francisco
For more information contact Leslie Ticktin at (415) 751-2541 x167 or LTicktin@emanuelsf.org

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Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads – Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Lutheran, Atheist, Pagan, whatever and whoever you are! I rejoice that I get to be on this journey with you — as you make your relationship strong, articulate the core values you want to teach your children, give back to the world around you. I am proud to know you.

I hope you get a bit of pampering and a lot of love this Sunday.

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A volunteer for the Jewish Literacy Coalition reads with a young boy

Finding Meaning in Life
If you asked the proverbial Man on the Street, where can you go to find Jews? The most common answer would be, a synagogue. But statistically you’d be better off going to a food pantry or a homeless shelter. The reason for that is that more Jews volunteer than join synagogues. Whether a Jew self defines as religious or spiritual, secular or just Jewish, they are highly likely to define their Judaism in terms of actions. Those actions are usually about repairing the world.

How do you define your Jewishness?
Does it include actions like feeding the hungry, collecting coats for the homeless, reading to kids in underperforming schools and donating to save an endangered species? I won’t lose any money when I say, I bet it does.

And what of the non-Jewish partners? Do-gooders stick together. I’ve noticed that the Christians, atheists, Buddhists and Hindus who come through my office are teachers, civil rights attorneys, nurses, and social workers by profession — and volunteers by inclination. All of you regularly impress me with your good works.

Here is one of those universal meeting places for interfaith couples and families – go out and do good things together. You may not be able to agree just yet on how you’re going to handle the December holidays, but you can agree that an afternoon making sandwiches at a feeding site makes you feel good.

A young couple I know has gotten involved in fighting human trafficking. They came through a Building Jewish Bridges class, went on to join a synagogue. When they decided to fight slavery they had a community willing to support them. Their congregation, Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, is hosting an event they are working on. When you ask yourself, why join a synagogue, one answer is, because they will help you change the world.

Here is Carly and Matt’s program. Read on below to see other ways to participate in Jewish venues for Tikkun Olam, Repairing the World.

Human Trafficking: Global. Local. Stoppable.
From distant quarries to nearby restaurants, seedy massage parlors to sprawling plantations, the great evil of slavery is alive and well in our world. According to experts in the field, there are about 27 million slaves today.
Join Netivot Shalom as they host a night with Free is a Verb co-founders Nate and Laura Davis and several Bay Area organizations devoted to eradicating modern-day slavery. The Davises are soon to embark on a year-long visit to the Philippines in an effort to fight human trafficking, but there are many ways you can help locally. This event will include a description of the Davises’ work for the coming year, plus information from various Bay Area organizations committed to fighting human trafficking. Please join us for a night of light refreshments and loads of information.

Date: June 17
Time: 7:30 pm
Place: Netivot Shalom Social Hall, 1316 University Ave., Berkeley
Admission is free. Contributions are appreciated
More information at freeisaverb.org

Bayview Connect
Almost a quarter of the population in the Bayview neighborhood is living below the national poverty level. Bayview has the 2nd highest number of people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. Bayview is also home to many youth who are in the foster care system. Foster care youth are at high risk of becoming homeless; 50% who age out of foster care experience homelessness within the first two years.

This is the 3rd year bringing Project Homeless Connect to the Bayview. Come join in collaboration with Honoring Emancipated Youth, United Council for Human Services, Bayview Hunters Point Foundation and hundreds of others to help bring services to this community!

Date: June 11
Time: 9:30 am – 3:30 pm
We need your help.To volunteer visit- http://www.projecthomelessconnect.com/volunteer/

HaMotzi
We prepare and deliver nutritious meals to homeless shelters every Sunday.

Next Sunday will be June 13
Newman Kitchen at Sherith Israel, 2266 California St., San Francisco
www.sherithisrael.org

Volunteer Right In Your Own Workplace
Inspire a Middle School Student in Their Dream Job!
Congregation Emanu-El partners with Spark, which matches students with one-on-one apprenticeships in professions of their choice at local workplaces, and complements this with a rigorous leadership development curriculum. What is required? Take on a middle-school Apprentice who dreams of working in your profession and help them to re-engage in their education as they learn about their dream career! Students come to you for their apprenticeship, getting real-world, hands-on experience in your field. Recruiting For the Summer Session Now!

Jun. 17 – July 22, 2 x each week for ONLY 6 weeks in the early afternoon. Scheduling is flexible (Spark will work around your vacation)!

Contact Spark at volunteer@sparkprogram.org or (415) 626-5470 x111 with questions or to sign up! Spark Volunteers receive comprehensive training and support, free marketing on Spark’s website, and many opportunities to network with other Spark apprentice teachers.

Jewish Volunteer Day at St. Anthony’s Foundation
Join the Jewish community in a day of service and solidarity with the St. Anthony’s Foundation. Volunteers will begin with a discussion on St. Anthony’s advocacy efforts on behalf of San Francisco’s homeless and poor, after which they will offer hands-on service to St. Anthony’s clients. The day is a tailor-made experience created to educate and inspire and is offered exclusively to volunteers of Jewish Community Volunteer Day.

Thursday, June 17
9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Hosted by Jewish Community Relations Council

http://www.jcrc.org/commout_ccevents.htm

Caring Community Seeks New Volunteers
We need volunteers to join the ranks of the Caring Community. We are expanding our program of visiting homebound seniors beyond The Jewish Home. If you would like to spend a few minutes a month visiting a senior, please let us know.

You can also help by writing notes or calling bereaved families, visiting congregants who are recovering from illness or surgery or delivering a gift to families with new babies. Our Shabbat Dinner Chefs work in teams of two or three to prepare meals for families in times of need. Please contact the Caring Community by calling the temple or speaking with one of our volunteers.

If you are interested, please leave a message at (415) 751-2541, x116.
Emanu-el, 2 Lake St., San Francisco

Jewish Coalition for Literacy Trainings
JCL recruits, trains, places, and supports tutors in public elementary schools and after-school programs throughout the Bay Area.

Date: Tuesday, June 15
Time: 5:45 – 9:00 pm
Place: 131 Steuart St. #201 San Francisco (JUMA office)
For other Bay Area locations and to register, please visit www.jclread.org

East Bay Training:
Sunday June 13, 10 to 12:30
Jewish Federation, 300 Grand, Oakland
You must register at www.jclread.org

Temple Sinai in Oakland throws a birthday party once a month for the residents of Ursula Sherman Homeless Shelter.

http://oaklandsinai.org/community/social_action.php?page=19106

What about giving money? Read Rabbi Janet Marder’s thoughts on Giving:

http://www.betham.org/builder/?p=11814#more-11814

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The Jewish holidays have pretty well wrapped up and the summer stretches before us. What will you do over the summer? I have some suggestions.

Check out the synagogues
Do some shul shopping. Now with no pressure on, go to services, chat with a few people, see which places you like. That way, come fall, you’ll know where you want to go for High Holidays, where you want to sign up the kids for Hebrew school.

Try some Jewish Community Center programs
The JCCs have summer activities for kids and adults. Many of them have swimming pools too. Go online and google the name of your city and “JCC.” Then look at their website for classes and events.

Experiment with Shabbat
When my kids were younger we would do Shabbat at the park with another family. All four children liked soccer and we took soccer cones with us. We would have a game and then move over to the picnic tables to light the candles and begin dinner.

Volunteer
Recently I saw in the email from Rodef Sholom, “We urgently need help in feeding the homeless in our community!” You can help make sandwiches, drive seniors to appointments, read to a child. Call your local synagogue or Jewish Family and Children’s Services. They are involved in helping the community.

Do you have a skill that could help one of the many job seekers in the community? Many of the Jewish Family and Children’s Services offices are offering job workshops. Maybe you have skills you could perform to help them.

Summertime and the plants are growing
Do you live in the Lafayette area? Temple Isaiah has begin participating in a CSA project, Community Supported Agriculture. I asked and you don’t have to be a member to buy in. Look at the website and see if you want food direct from the farm.

http://www.temple-isaiah.org/groups-activities/community-supported-agriculture/

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There are many times when I talk to you about “interfaith life” but I don’t actually talk about religion.  This Saturday I will be leading a workshop on Shabbat (see just below) and while I will be talking about Shabbat as a ritual, you can generalize this information to other practices in your life.  I promised the participants one idea that will improve their life and the lives of their family members, but I will actually have several suggestions.  Let me give all of you one bit of useful parenting information right now.

 

Studies find that children who have rituals in their lives are more resilient.  The studies looked at kids who faced adversity.  God willing, our children will face less dramatic setbacks than those in the study.  But as the saying goes, into each life some rain must fall.  So how very good to create a home in which there are things that strengthen our children.  What is a ritual?  It is a repeated behavior that happens basically in the same way at a certain time and/or place.  It creates predictability and helps our children – and us – gain a sense of mastery.  I bet you have aimed to have bedtime rituals, mealtime rituals, homework rituals.  And for ourselves as adults, we shot for bill paying rituals, house cleaning rituals.  I hope you’ve also put in some self care rituals and socializing rituals.

 

On Saturday I’ll talk about the psychological gifts we give our children with rituals that also connect them to a larger community, a group of people to whom they belong.  If you have not decided which group of people you want to attach to, or you’re having a time of it getting that going, by all means come talk to me afterwards or contact me this coming week.

 

 

Here’s the Saturday program:

Making Shabbat Your Own

Would you like to start doing Shabbat? Need to start small or do you want to take it up a notch? Come learn easy steps to create “your” Shabbat. We’ll tell you how to have warm, homemade challah even if you work until 6pm. How to engage children of all ages. Ways to approach teens or other skeptics in your family. As a bonus, we’ll tell you how one simple ritual can improve your child’s and your health, happiness and well being. No kidding!

 

Date:            Saturday, Feb. 20

Time: 1:15pm

Place: Temple Isaiah, 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette

Free

Contact Dawn for more information at 510-845-6420 x11 or email me at dawn@buildingjewishbridges.org

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 Savor the moments of your life

When my youngest was a infant there was an evening when we had company over.  After dinner my husband took the adults into the living room to chat.  I took the baby into the bedroom to nurse, rock, and put to bed.  I wanted to get back to adult conversation and it seemed to be taking an eternity to get him to sleep.  I wished he would just fall asleep!  Then it occurred to me that he would grow fast and soon he, like his four year old sister, would no longer need to be rocked.  I paused and mentally recorded his small body, his length, his soft breathing; I relaxed into the moment and saved that memory.  From then on I noted how his legs got longer and rocking switched to rubbing his back in bed and finally to a good night kiss.  Now my “baby” is nineteen, thousands of miles away, having the time of his life and I am glad that I paused and lived in the moments.

 

Some of you are longing for a child, or happy without them, some are racing to meet schedules of pick up, homework, soccer or piano practice.  Some of you, like me, have graduated from the parent as manager/orchestrator to parent as consultant.

 

What you do matters, it matters immensely, to you as well as your children.  I want you to enjoy as much of every moment as possible – and no, not all parenting moments are enjoyable.  So slow down, enjoy the good times, learn from the hard times, and bask in the love of your children, your partner, your friends.  Do it now.

 

Making meaningful moments really isn’t hard.  Observing Shabbat can be a great way to create a moment.  Think about coming to my workshop, Making Shabbat Your Own, in Lafayette on Feb. 20 and we’ll talk about how to go from no Shabbat to something that enriches your family.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dawn

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Welcome to 2010!  Wow, an entire decade behind us and a lot of hope for the coming year.  A long time ago I worked for UC Berkeley’s adult evening education program.  What I was surprised to learn is that more people decide to plunge into a new class in January/February.  I had assumed most people would begin in the fall.  So, with that in mind, I encourage each of you to try something new right now.  Never really felt confident of your knowledge in synagogue or around one or more holidays, or think your kids know more than you do about Judaism?  Start a class this term.  I can’t help you with classes on Christianity, Islam or other religions because that’s not my field.  But I do encourage you to learn about the religious tradition of your spouse.  You can start by just going to the library.

 

Maybe you’d like to get more comfortable in your own interfaith family this year.  Come to a workshop.

 

Want to talk about where you are right now?  Call me.  Having a baby?  Looking for a rabbi for your wedding?  Trying to figure out how to give your child an identity that is about both parents?  It’s all manageable and other couples are thinking about the very same things.  Come to an interfaith/intercultural couples discussion group this spring. I can promise that you will be stimulated and supported. 

 

I am looking forward to seeing all of you this year.

 

Let’s get off to a great start!

Dawn

 

 

EVENTS

Introduction to the Jewish Experience: Torah, Memory, & History (Oakland)

Introduction to Judaism (Redwood City)

So This is Jewish Music?  (Redwood City)

Little Latkes Playgroup (Alameda)

A Jewish Celebration of Trees for Young Children (El Cerrito)

Jewish Practice and How It Works (San Anselmo)

The History of Reform Judaism (Lafayette)

What Makes Someone Jewish?  (El Cerrito)

Shabbat Shira (Sabbath of Song) (Walnut Creek)

Outreach Shabbat (San Francisco)

 

 

 

Introduction to the Jewish Experience: Torah, Memory, & History

Join Rabbi Ruth Adar for Unit 2 of this 3-part Introduction to Jewish Life. As Jews travel through history, we have recorded our experiences in various texts from the Bible to the Prayer Book. This course will begin with an overview of Jewish history, followed by an examination of how those texts illuminate Jewish life in the past, as well as in the present day. The class will culminate in a study of the Haggadah, the “script” of the seder, and a model seder.

 

Dates:   Wednesday, Jan. 6 through Feb. 24

Time:    7:30-9:30 pm

Place:   Temple Sinai’s Merritt Village on the Merritt College Campus, 12500 Campus View Dr., Oakland

Cost:    $95; $80/members per unit. Register through Lehrhaus Judaica at www.lehrhaus.org or call (510) 845-6420.

 

 

 

Introduction to Judaism

Seven-week course for Jews, non-Jews, and interfaith couples who are interested in gaining knowledge of Jewish history, life, traditions, and culture. Study together for seven weeks, be a welcome guest for Shabbat dinner in a congregation member’s home, and top it off with a Rockin’ Shabbat.  (Friday, February 26 – Shabbat Dinner; Friday, March 5 – Rockin’ Shabbat and Dinner) Taught by Rabbi Ezray, Bill Futornick, and Cantor Barbara Powell.

 

Date:    Wednesdays, January 6 to February 17

Time:    7:30 to 9:00 p.m.

Place:   In Rabbi’s Office at Cong. Beth Jacob, 1550 Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City

Free and open to all.  Questions?  Call Eric at 650-366-8481, ext. 333, he is the very nice Exec. Director of Congregation Beth Jacob.

Details: http://www.bethjacobrwc.org/seriescourses.html#Introduction%20to%20Judaism

 

 

 

So This is Jewish Music?

This class will embark on a journey of musical exploration, from traditional liturgy to Broadway, from folk music to hip hop, in search of the answer to this question. Recordings, articles, and live music will be our tools of inquiry. No musical experience required, just an open mind. Taught by Cantor Barbara Powell.

 

Dates:   Wednesdays, January 6, 13, 20, 27

Time:    7 to 8pm

Place:   Congregation Beth Jacob, 1550 Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City

Call them for more info at 650-366-8481.  I email with Eric Stone, the Executive Director; he is extremely nice. 

 

 

 

Little Latkes Playgroup
A drop-in afternoon playgroup for infants and children age zero through 3 years with their parents or caregivers.  Free play for 45 minutes with a structured portion of singing, bubbles, mini-Shabbat service and getting to know each other better.  Open to all regardless of religious identity. Great way to meet parents with children of the same age group as your own.

 

Date:    Thursdays

Time:    3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Place:   Temple Israel of Alameda’s Social Hall, 3183 Mecartney Road, Alameda

Price: free to Temple Israel members, $5 for non-members.  Let’s play together every Thursday afternoon.

For more info email Stacy at StacyReid@mindspring.com

 

 

 

A Jewish Celebration of Trees for Young Children

 Join other families with young children to enjoy puppets, songs, and stories about trees, and to share bagels and fruit.  We’ll experience Jewish tradition’s annual “birthday of the trees” and celebration of the environment, Tu B’Shevat.  Open to all children age 0-5 years and those who love them . . . whether you’re Jewish or just curious. Feel free to invite friends who might be interested!  Our gathering will be led by Rabbi Bridget Wynne and beloved early childhood specialist Mimi Greisman. Space is limited. Early RSVP recommended.

 

Date:    Sunday, January 10

Time:    10:30am-12:00pm

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

Cost: Free for first-time participants, RSVP required.

http://www.jewishgateways.org/node/158/signup

Info:     510-559-8140 or email Rabbi Bridget at rabbibridget@jewishgateways.org

http://www.jewishgateways.org/

 

 

 

Jewish Practice and How It Works

with Rabbi Noa Kushner
It is not what you would expect but Jewish meaning doesn’t so much start with a set of things to believe, it begins with things to do. In this class, each week, over lunch, we will learn about a single aspect of Jewish practice: what it is, how to access it, how it might be meaningful. Also included in the discussion will be how to fit pieces of an evolving practice together, and how to begin to integrate those pieces in a modern, thoughtful life. Homework will involve a willingness to try Jewish stuff out between classes.

 

Dates:   11 Tuesdays, January 12 through March 23, (no class on February 16)

Time:    12 noon

Place:   Teapod Tea Bar, 701 San Anselmo Ave. San Anselmo

RSVP to Pete at pete@rodefsholom.org.

 

 

 

The History of Reform Judaism

Topics for the four evenings will be:

The emergence of “Religious School” in the early 20th century with Rabbi Nicki Greninger

Historical background to the emergence of Reform Judaism with Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz

The liturgies of the early reformers with Rabbi Judy Shanks

The Music of the early reformers with Cantor Leigh Korn

 

Dates:   4 Weds., Jan. 13 – Feb. 10 (no class 1/20)

Time:    7:00 – 8:30 pm

Place:   Temple Isaiah, 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette

Cost:    $10/members of Temple Isaiah; $25/non-members

Register online here, http://www.temple-isaiah.org/education/jewish-studies-hebrew-classes/#reg

 

 

 

What Makes Someone Jewish?

Who your parents are? What you believe? What you do?  Join us to explore these questions and to enjoy a delicious, no-experience-necessary Shabbat dinner.

 

 

Time:    6:15pm

Place:   Jewish Gateways’ cozy home near El Cerrito Plaza and BART station

Childcare: free by reservation

Cost:    First time participants bring a dish to share or contribute $7 towards the meal.

Info & sign up at: http://www.jewishgateways.org/events/2010/jan/15/what-makes-someone-jew 

 

 

 

Shabbat Shira (Sabbath of Song)

This special musical Erev Shabbat (Evening of Sabbath) service will feature a choral ensemble of Religious School students singing new melodies, with additional musical accompaniment by the Herman Family and Joel Siegel. A special oneg follows. If you want to kick off 2010 with lots of joy, this service is the perfect place to start!

 

Date:    Friday, Jan. 29

Time:    7:00pm

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

www.bshalom.org

 

 

Outreach Shabbat

A special Shabbat service honors our interfaith families and Jews by choice, and recognizes all those who support them in making Jewish choices. We also extend a special invitation to the unaffiliated – Jewish, interfaith or seekers – interested in learning more about Sherith Israel.

 

Date:    Friday, January 29

Time:    6 pm

Place:   Sherith Israel, 2266 California St., San Francisco

www.sherithisrael.org

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Recently I was with a couple of women, each of whom is married to a non-Jewish man.  One expressed her opinions with great intensity.  She had strong opinions on how to deal with an interfaith marriage, what to do, how to act, what to teach your children, how to celebrate the holidays.  The trouble was that the other woman had a very different life experience. Lisa meant well but she was gauging all interfaith marriages by her own. 

 

You may be confronted with people like Lisa, people who feel that they know how you should be living.  Let me tell you two truths:

 

1. You are not exactly like anyone else, so you can’t live your life by someone else’s choices.

2. You are not so unique that you can’t learn from others.

 

My goal with each couple I meet is to help you find what your path is, together as a couple.  Then I want you to develop a healthy way of handling your children and extended family.  I do use statistics, and what I’ve learned over the years, to share with you what typical outcomes are to particular actions.  It doesn’t guarantee that your family will duplicate “typical” but it can give you some guidelines.  In a couples discussion group each couple will determine what their course of action will be.  All the couples share their goals, desires and concerns.  Each couple finds their own way.  If you think you are stuck, you can change that.  If you feel the future is a worrisome mystery, you can change that.  If you just want to have a plan or to hear what others are doing, you can do that.  I believe that putting 16 hours into your relationship and your future are an investment that will pay dividends for decades to come.

 

One couple’s path

A member of this list recently wrote an article for InterfaithFamily; she emailed me the link.  Juliet and Birger participated in a couples group.  In the course of the group they became engaged.  Today they have a beautiful two year old and are part of a loving community.  Read about their process.

http://interfaithfamily.com/life_cycle/weddings/Uncompromising_Compromises.shtml

 

 

What about you?

Consider investing in your life; consider signing up for an Interfaith Couples Discussion Group.  Contact me if you’d like to discuss this idea.  dawn@buildingjewishbridges.org.

 

 

 

Books for kids

Following on the heels of my last email to you regarding Jews of color, here is a link to a list of children’s books that have characters who are various races but the book is not about race.  It’s nice to not have every book bang on the topic of race.  Many of our children are or have friends who are multiracial but most of their lives are about other things.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/1920043592.html?nid=2788&rid=386985831

 

 

I hope to see you at one of the programs in red below.  Let me know if you’re coming!

 

 

Tot Shabbat (Redwood City)

It’s the Law: Making Jewish Decisions in Modern Times (Walnut Creek)

Jazz Shabbat   (San Francisco)

Young Family Shabbat (Walnut Creek)

Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival (Palo Alto)

Bonfire and Seaside Songs   (San Francisco)

People of the Books (Palo Alto)

FREE Family Day at the Contemporary Jewish Museum   (San Francisco)

Young Family Shabbat Celebration   (Walnut Creek)

Max Minsky and Me (Film) (Los Altos)

Mothers Circle (Los Altos)

Women in Interfaith Relationships (Palo Alto) 

Exploring Interfaith LGBTQ Relationships (Piedmont)

Heschel (San Francisco)

How I Decided to Raise My Kids Jewish (San Francisco)

REEL Jewish Women   (San Rafael)

 

 

 

 

Tot Shabbat

The Tot Shabbat program includes childcare, child-friendly activities and a Shabbat service geared for ages 2-5. There is no charge, and no prior registration required.

 

Date:    Every Saturday

Time:    9:00 a.m. thru the end of services

Place:   Beth Jacob, 1550 Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City, in the preschool

For more information call the shul at 650-366-8481

Tot Shabbat services are a great way to learn about a Jewish service.  They are short, education and full of children.

 

 

 

It’s the Law: Making Jewish Decisions in Modern Times

How do we make Jewish decisions in life? What can Jewish tradition offer us as we confront difficult choices? In this course we will explore how Jewish law (Halakhah) has evolved over the past three millennia and discover the ways that it remains relevant in our lives in contemporary times. Join us as we examine case studies in modern ethics and learn how Jewish law can inform the decisions we make as modern people.

 

Date:    Tuesdays, October 13 – October 27

Time:    7:30 to 9pm

Place:   B’nai Shalom, 74 Eckley Ln., Walnut Creek

Info:     925-934-9446

FREE

Taught by Rabbi Elon Sunshine.  Now how can you go wrong with a rabbi named ASunshine?!

 

 

 

Jazz Shabbat

Join us for Jazz Shabbat in the Martin Meyer Sanctuary. This intergenerational service features Shabbat melodies with a jazzy flavor sung by Cantor Roslyn Barak joined by congregants Ken Miller on bass, Jerome Rossen, composer/arranger/pianist, and Peter Logan on drums. Many of the melodies are composed and arranged by Jerome Rossen.

 

Date:    Oct. 16

Time:    5:30pm

Place:   Emanu-El, 2 Lake St., San Francisco

www.emanuelsf.org

 

 

 

Young Family Shabbat

Young Family Shabbat is designed for children age 5 and under, and their families. Dinner, with a great new menu, will start at 5:00 p.m. Creative arts and crafts activities will be offered to children during the dinner. Services begin at 6:15 p.m., in the Chapel.

 

Friday, Oct. 16 and every third Friday of the month

Time:    Dinner at 5pm and Services at 6:15pm.

(Make reservations for dinner by the preceding Wednesday – that’s today)

Place:   B’nai Shalom, 74 Eckley Ln., Walnut Creek

Info:     925-934-9446

 

 

 

Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival

The Film Festival Opening Night this year is an extra special occasion when the festival showcases the film Letters for Jenny on Saturday, Oct. 17 as part of the grand opening weekend of the new Oshman Family JCC (OFJCC).

The special Opening Night Event is co-sponsored by the Oshman Family JCC and it’s a chance for you to be among the first to enjoy a major event in the new Albert Schultz Cultural Arts Hall on the beautiful new OFJCC Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life. Advance tickets are still available and are $25 in advance and $20, OFJCC members. If available, tickets at the door will be $30 apiece.

The evening begins at 7:30 p.m. and includes a discussion about Argentinean Jewry led by University of Oregon Assistant Professor Monique Balbuena. The evening continues with a colorful and entertaining demonstration of Tango by the premiere dancers of the OF JCC Argentinean Tango Club, followed by the movie.

 

Date:    Sat., Oct. 17

Time:    7:30pm

Place:   Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto

www.svjff.org

 

 

Bonfire and Seaside Songs

Join us for a fun evening around the Bonfire. Come for Havdalah, share your voice, or just listen, as we watch the flames dance.  Please bring food and drinks for yourself and some to share.  Bring many friends, stories, songs, drums and other musical instruments.  The YeaShOre Community and Congregation Beth Shalom will provide chocolate, Kosher marshmallows and crackers for S’mores. We will also bring potatoes and onions for roasting in the Bonfire.  We will have a Jewish Havdalah ritual about an hour after sunset. The ritual lasts a few minutes. As not all the guests at YeaShOre’s bonfires are Jewish, we explain it and invite everyone to join in. (or at least be quiet).

 

Date;    Sat., Oct. 17

Time: 6:30pm till midnight-ish

Place:   San Francisco’s Ocean Beach – look for the fish windsock

 

Parking note: Park on Fulton, NOT at the Ocean Beach parking lot. The Ocean Beach parking lot and Golden Gate Park are posted “No Parking” at 10 p.m.  Please do not get a parking ticket while at the Bonfire!

 

Visit yeashore.org for maps and photo directions. From 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.: Meet at the Beach Chalet at 1000 Great Highway, between Fulton St. and Lincoln Way. After 7:00 p.m.: Cross the Great Highway from the Chalet, go to and down the RAMP (not any stairs).

 

 

 

People of the Books

An Etz Chayim book group.  The next book we’ll read is “The Septembers of Shiraz” by Dalia Sofer.  If you are interested please contact us at bookclubchair@etzchayim.org.

 

Date:    Sun., Oct. 18

Time:    10:30am – 12:00pm.

Place:   Etz Chayim, 4161 Alma, Palo Alto

www.etzchayim.org

 

 

 

FREE Family Day at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

See two exciting exhibitions:

*There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak

*As it is Written: Project 304,805 (The Torah Project)

Enjoy musical performances:

*Magik performs a new audience-participation composition of Maurice Sendak’s Chicken Soup with Rice

*Sendak Sing-Along (and other songs of monsters and kids)

Make art: Celebrate the art of the book!

*Decorate your own bookbag

*Experiment with pen, ink , and calligraphy techniques, then create a personalized bookmark

 

Date:    Sunday, Oct. 18

Time:    11am-4pm

Place:   Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission Street (between Third and Fourth streets) San Francisco

FREE

look online at www.thecjm.org

 

 

 

Young Family Shabbat Celebration

Join Rabbi Sunshine for this fun and interactive service for families with children six years of age of under. All are welcome.

 

Date:    Friday nights, October 23, November 13, December 11, January 22, February 19, March 19th, April 9, May 21.

Time:    6:00 – 6:30 pm

Place:   B’nai Shalom, 74 Eckley Ln., Walnut Creek

www.bshalom.org

 

 

 

Max Minsky and Me (Film)

Next in our Jewish Film Series is Max Minsky and Me.  Nelly Sue Edelmeister is a cerebral 13-year-old Berlin wallflower who lives for astronomy, with a desire to become a star basketball player. Her mother, however, feels she should concentrate on preparation for her forthcoming Bat Mitzvah. To complicate matters further for Nelly, her parents’ marriage is disintegrating. This is a charming and heartwarming coming-of-age film that will appeal to all ages and it is one of the few German films that depict modern day dilemmas of that country’s re-born Jewish community. German with subtitles.

Free of Charge. Refreshments will be served.

 

Date:    Sat., Oct. 24

Time:    4pm

Place:   Beth Am,

I was curious about this film so I found a trailer online:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpS0AL2a9Kg

 

 

 

Mothers Circle

Are you raising your kids as Jews, but you are not Jewish?

Join a 12-session course that explores how to create Jewish memories for your children even when you did not have a Jewish childhood yourself. Through a step-by-step approach to raising Jewish children you will learn about Jewish holidays, customs and values.

Meet other moms who share the same concerns and experiences to discuss how couples who come from different traditions create Jewish homes.

If your child is raising questions about Judaism, or you are ready to bring Jewish customs into your home, or you are interested in connecting with the synagogue, then this is the course for you!

Join us for coffee, new friends, Jewish learning and great discussions.

 

Date:    Begins Sunday, Oct. 25, All sessions will be on Sunday mornings during Sunday School.

Date:    9:15 a.m.

Place:   Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills in the Beit Kehillah – call for directions.

 

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

For questions contact Frieda Haidt at haidt@sonic.net

Frieda is an old friend and a terrific facilitator.  Send her an email with your questions.

 

 

 

Women in Interfaith Relationships

Facilitated by Dawn Kepler

This discussion for girlfriends, wives, mothers and grandmothers addresses the expectations society places on women in interfaith relationships.

How do you handle religious issues when it comes to raising children, sexuality and household roles? Join in for a lively and supportive talk.

 

Dates:   Sundays, Oct. 25 and Nov. 22

Time:    7 p.m.

Place:   Palo Alto JCC

Cost is $20 for JCC members, $25 for non-members.

Register online at www.paloaltojcc.org

Contact me if you have any questions.

 

 

 

Exploring Interfaith LGBTQ Relationships

Led by Rabbi Ruth Adar and Dawn Kepler

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, Grand Ave., Oakland

Cost:    $80/couple, no one turned away for lack of funds.

For more information call Dawn at 510-845-6420 x11.

 

 

 

Heschel

We will read, discuss, and argue about the correct interpretation of short selections by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) from the anthology, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays by Abraham Joshua Heschel and Susannah Heschel. Together with Martin Buber, Heschel almost single-handedly brought Jewish spirituality to liberal American Judaism. We will consider his vision on such topics as, contemplative prayer, political protest (Heschel marched with Martin Luther King), the meaning of Sinai, radical amazement, and how to be a Jew.

 

Dates:   Begins Oct. 27 and meets alternate Tuesday evenings

Time:   7-8:30 pm

Place:  Emanu-El, 2 Lake St., San Francisco

Fees: $18 members — $20 non-members per trimester — OR $50 for the year

To register go to http://www.emanuelsf.org/register

 

 

 

How I Decided to Raise My Kids Jewish

Facilitated by Dawn

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

 

 

 

REEL Jewish Women

with Jan WahlCelebrated San Francisco Bay Area movie reviewer and film historian Jan Wahl takes us on an illustrated journey of Jewish women in show business, ranging from Fanny Brice to Natalie Portman. Providing her unique commentary and showing entertaining film clips from every era, Jan will make us reminisce, think, and of course, howl in laughter. Be sure to wear a hat and join us for a light brunch!

Date:    Sunday, November 1

Time:    10 am – noon

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

Cost:    $15 for non-members. RSVP to Rhonda Daniels at 883-1966 or e-mail wrs@rodefsholom.org, subject: REEL Women.

Co-presented with the Center for Jewish Life at the Osher Marin JCC in the Hoytt Theater.

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I’m quite fond of Rabbi Raffi Asher of B’nai Tikvah in Walnut Creek.  I have known him a long time.  He is very tall and always seems to bend slightly forward to come closer to short people like me.  I like what he wrote about the High Holiday experience – I’m a fan of the film Groundhog Day so I knew just what he was referring to.  Read this and see if you can inject some newness into your experience of the holidays this year.  If you can’t, then consider doing something completely different.  Go to the beach and gaze out over the water.  Stare at a tree.  Consider yourself in relationship to the rest of the planet.  Ask yourself the question a nine year old girl asked her dad, standing at my booth on Sunday, “Why do we exist?”

From Rabbi Asher:

As in the movie “Groundhog Day,” in a few weeks we will wake up and once again we will replay the same revolving tape for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.  There’s much the same music, the same shofar calls, the apples and honey, and some of those same cheery people wishing us a Shana Tova.  And, like Bill Murray’s character, it’s easy to feel cynical about all the prayers, all the smiling faces, and the reputed power and joy of the Holydays.

There’s a little of Bill Murray in all of us.  We’re a little too sophisticated to recite the scripted prayers with any passion or tenderness.  We are a little too jaded to take the ideas of soul-searching and repentance seriously.  And perhaps we’re a little too inhibited to show any enthusiasm  for the promise of starting a clean slate for the New Year.

B’nai Tikvah is now repeating this cycle for the 29th year, and many of us “elders” can remember many more repetitions observed in different settings since we were children.  There is the part of us which enters the season reluctantly kicking and screaming.  Once in the door, there’s the part of us, like the Murray character, that wants to manipulate the hours together for our own benefit.  But maybe this year we will examine the fears and miscues of the past and resolve to apply our energies to better purpose.

There are some who bemoan the many repetitions of the Yontov prayers, and there are some who silently bemoan the cumbersome repetition of our rituals from year to year.  This year may we greet the New Year with fresh eyes, a deeper appreciation for those with whom we share the bonds of community, and with an impulse to infuse ancient words with new insights and renewed energy.

 L’shana tova tikateivu—May you be inscribed for a good, sweet year.

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Dear Chevreh,

Rabbi Menachem Creditor shared these memories and thoughts on that Sept. 11, eight years ago.

 

 

I remember leaving class at JTS that Tuesday morning and going downstairs to move my car.  A friend was in the elevator when I got in and asked, “did you hear about the planes that flew into the World Trade Center just now?”  I got downstairs and saw thousands of people staring into the sky, talking on their cell phones, confused and scared.  I listened to the news on the radio and went into a shock that hasn’t truly finished its course to this day. 

I returned to class, informing my professor of what was happening, and then visited the offices of Camp Ramah down the hall to witness the unfolding horror on computer screens and TV’s.  Suddenly I realized that I didn’t know where my sister, a Manhattan EMT, was.  Nor could I reach my wife, pregnant with our first child.  The Seminary was locked down, and we gathered to pray, to watch, to cry, to mourn, to scream.

That was eight years ago.  I woke up this morning in California and 8:46am on 9/11 had already happened on the East Coast.  I watched live videos of names being read and bells being rung, already in process.  But I feel the need for something Jewish to do.  A Yahrzeit candle.  I need to say Kaddish.  I feel strangely distant from something that once felt immediate, inescapable.  Time moves on, but forgetting feels wrong. 

I remember the Concert for New York that October, watching some of my favorite artists and leaders comforting us, touching the hands and faces of Police, Firefighters, EMT’s, and other heroes.  I remember listening to Billy Joel, once the embodiment of New York, singing “I’m in a New York State of Mind,” and noticing how ashen his face looked.  Wondering if his was a mirror of mine, of every New Yorker’s.  I watched Bono hold his jacket, now sewn together with an American flag.  He moved 20,000 people to sing “In the Name of Love” with tear-stained faces.

So I write to you today, full of emotion.  It’s a Jewish way of sharing something deep, of retelling the story.  It’s a way of sharing the pain of being a proud and grateful American on the eighth anniversary of a very bad day.  Sharing the story is a Jewish response to tragedy.  So is lighting a yahrzeit candle.  So is saying Kaddish.

If you feel moved to take a moment before lighting Shabbat candles tonight to notice them standing tall next to each other, that is one more Zikaron, a tribute to our fallen brothers and sisters.

If you feel strong enough to reach out to someone who was there in New York on that traumatic day, that is an act of Nechama, of comfort.

If you feel committed to strengthening our country through participating in important civic debates, that is an act of Binyan, of rebuilding.

May we see a day when war and bloodshed cease, where no one will be terrified again.

Amen.

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