January 27 , 2006

(San Francisco, CA) – Stuart Schoffman, an associate editor of The Jerusalem Report and expert on Israeli and Jewish affairs, will be in San Francisco next week and available to speak regarding the Palestinian elections and the current political climate in Israel.

Interviews may be scheduled at the following times:
Monday, January 30, between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, January 31, before 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, February 1, before 9:30 a.m.

To arrange an interview please contact, Beth Rifkin at 415-474-7549 or bethr@sfjcf.org.

Stuart Schoffman has been an associate editor and columnist at The Jerusalem Report since the magazine's inception in 1990. He also is a research fellow in advanced Jewish studies at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and serves as the Koppelman Scholar-in-Residence of the Anti-Defamation League.  From these vantage points, he has a keen view of the political, social and economic issues facing Israel today.

Born and raised in the U.S., Schoffman attended both Harvard University and Yale University. He worked as a journalist for Fortune and Time magazines in New York, as well as a Hollywood screenwriter, a professor of American history at the University of Texas and of film at the University of Southern California.  After moving to Israel in 1988, he taught film at Tel Aviv University and wrote the script for "The Wordmaker," a made-for Israeli TV movie about Hebrew-language pioneer Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the 19th-century origins of Israel's current cultural conflicts. 

Schoffman publishes and lectures widely on Israeli and Jewish affairs, and is currently working on a book on Jewish history and memory. 

In addition, Schoffman serves as the chair of the Israel Amuta of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. The Amuta is the Federation’s “eyes and ears” on the ground in Israel, a commitee of Israeli professionals from all walks of life who help make grant-making decisions in Israel.

The Jewish Community Federation is the central organization for fundraising, planning, outreach and leadership development for Jewish communities in San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. In FY 2004-05, the Federation’s annual campaign allocated $16.9 billion to some 60 agencies providing social services, educational and cultural programs in the Bay Area, in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere in the world. In fiscal year 2005, the Federation’s Endowment Fund, with assets exceeding $1.05 billion, provided more than $215 million for a variety of grants, seed projects and emergency needs in fiscal year 2004/2005. For information, call 415.777.0411 or visit www.sfjcf.org.