Time for our annual trek to the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival! This year BJB is co-presenting Sleeping with the Fishes. The critics say: Writer/ director Nicole Gomez Fisher’s delightful debut brings this quirky story of a dysfunctional yet loving Latino Jewish family to uproarious life. Get your ticket and join us! We’ll go out…
Read More »Blog
Oh Summer!
I am like a kid out of school for the summer – I don’t want to sit quietly at my computer and compose a message to all of you. I want to be outdoors with the bees, chattering birds, my dog and my kids. I am betting you feel the same. Summer is a good…
Read More »Tisha B’Av: Mourning the Destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem
When we look at this photograph of a relief on the Arch of Titus celebrating his siege and destruction of Jerusalem, that historical event can feel as old and foreign as the stones depicting it. Yet for Jews the idea of ‘never forget’ is not a new one. Jews remember the events of the past,…
Read More »Laws & Customs of Tisha B’Av
Laws and Customs of the three Weeks, the Nine Days & Tisha B’Av The 17th of Tammuz, commemorating the fall of Jerusalem prior to the destruction of the Temple, marks the beginning of a 3 week national period of mourning culminating with the 9th of Av. The five events which we mourn on the 17th…
Read More »Honoring Your Mother and Father…
How Can We Dealing Graciously with our children’s Grandparents? How do you tell your parents about the different choices you’ve made? It can be hard to say, we’re raising the kids Jewish. We will/won’t have a Christmas tree. The baby will/won’t be baptized, receive a bris, have a bar mitzvah. What can we tell the…
Read More »Gay Jewish Pride
Sunday at the Pride Parade Keshet organized the synagogues to march together. There was LOTS of gaiety and exuberance. Rabbis around the bay are encouraging their LGBT members to give them a call and set a date for their wedding. Looking for a rabbi to officiate at your LGBT — and interfaith wedding? Give me…
Read More »