The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival runs July 24 to August 7 We’ll all going to the movies! Come along. All around the bay synagogues and agencies are co-presenting various films in the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. I am co-presenting Strangers, a romantic & troubling film in French, English, Hebrew and Arabic about…
Read More »Archives
Let’s go to the Movies!
Summertime, new movie releases and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival! The outreach programs in the bay area are all co-sponsoring Strangers a film about an Israeli – Palestinian love affair. Now I know that seems like an odd choice as an “interfaith” film – it wasn’t our choice. The Film Festival people suggested…
Read More »What! No Chuppah?!
What! No chuppah?! Did you (or will you) get married this week? We are making history this week! If you are one of the hundreds of LGBT couples who tied the knot this week, or are planning to, I want to wish you a Mazel Tov! But don’t stop there – if you want a…
Read More »Jewish Community for Kids
Kids at the JCC of the East Bay summer camp Last week I talked about Jewish community as a bit if an oddity sandwiched inside American culture. If you put on your anthropology hat and look at the many cultures that you encounter everyday it all begins to make sense. But for a child it’s not…
Read More »Jewish community in America
What is Jewish community in America? One of the confusing things about Jewish community is the feel of it – it’s different from mainstream American community. For folks who aren’t Jewish it can seem to make sense that Jews are different – even if they can’t quite put their finger on why. But for American…
Read More »Spring Holidays
Holidays just ahead: Lag B’Omer and Shavuot Lag B’Omer One-day suspension of the traditional mourning period during Sefirat HaOmer (“The Counting of the Omer”). On this day, a plague afflicting Rabbi Akiva’s students ceased. Also commemorates Bar Kochba’s recapture of Jerusalem from the Romans. Celebrated with picnics and nature outings. Sefirat HaOmer is a seven-week…
Read More »