Save the date for Super Sunday! November 19, 2006

Super Sunday, a day for all of us throughout our community, is coming! Find out how together we can do a world of good.

It's a day when we reach out to CONNECT our donors to our community so that the dollars they GIVE collectively make an IMPACT where it's needed the most.

This year, you have the choice of two locations:

• the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street at Presidio and
• Kehillah Jewish High School, 3900 Fabian Way in Palo Alto.

Both events will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., making it one of the largest one-day fundraising events around!

Sign up today! To register and choose your shift assignment, go to www.supersunday.org or call the Super Sunday hotline for more information or a registration form at 415.512.6290.

Campaign 2007:
Community Building Community, now more than ever

Community Building Community is the theme of this year's annual Campaign. It captures the idea of the Federation's community—of donors, of volunteers, of leaders—connecting to each other to strengthen and impact our Jewish community—here in the Bay Area, in Israel and around the world wherever Jews are in need. That together, we can do a world of good.

This year, however, Community Building Community is more meaningful than ever before, as our community steps forward to help our Israeli family rebuild their communities—as well as their lives—and revitalize their country for a brighter future.

So this year when you donate to Campaign 2007, we are asking you to consider making two gifts:
1) To the annual Campaign, to continue the important work we do to care for the vulnerable, educate our children about their Jewish heritage, encourage our diverse community to participate in our Jewish traditions and much more. Your generosity through the annual Campaign is what enables us to reach our community every day and throughout the years here at home and around the world.
2) To the Israel Emergency Campaign, to help address the concerns and needs facing Israel as it works to recover, to move forward and to rise anew on a human and communal level.

Your support of the annual Campaign ensured that the Federation had the infrastructure in place to provide immediate and critical assistance to Israel during the conflict. We are asking you to join us in increasing your gift to the annual Campaign by at least 10 percent so that we can continue the important work we do supporting our agencies, communities and the people we serve in times of crisis and in times of peace.

And, we are asking you to consider a gift to the IEC that is at least 50 percent of your annual Campaign gift to help us ensure that the revitalization of Israel will indeed succeed.

So put your caring into action. Live generously—live Jewishly—by making your gifts today.

For more information about the impact your gifts make, please go to www.sfjcf.org or call 415.777.0411.

Don't miss the first online issue of Bridges, the newsletter for the interfaith community!

Since 1991, Bridges: Issues and Information for Interfaith Families, has been distributed three times a year as a printed piece as a way to communicate important issues and ideas effecting the interfaith community throughout the Bay Area. As of October, 2006, Bridges enters the digital age and will be distributed online each month. This new format allows for even more information, links to agencies, organizations and programs focused on interfaith families, resources and much more. If you already receive Bridges via US mail, you need to send us your email address to receive the online version. If you don't already receive Bridges and want to be added to the mailing list, all are welcome!

Sign up by sending your name and email address to harrietth@sfjcf.org (and mention Bridges). Then watch your email for the new and improved Bridges!

PJCTF wins Youth in Philanthropy Award

The Peninsula Jewish Community Teen Foundation (PJCTF) has been awarded the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award for the 2006 National Philanthropy Day by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Gate Chapter.

This award honors organizations and individuals that have demonstrated outstanding leadership, generosity or commitment towards advancing philanthropy. The PJCTF's 22-member teen board, ranging in age from 14 to 17, have set an exemplary model for other youth to follow.

These teens dedicate themselves to learning the ins and outs of foundation work and philanthropic giving from a Jewish ethical perspective. They represent the spirit and intent of philanthropy. Their dedication to raising capital and effective analysis of grant making through collaboration and research is remarkable for any group, regardless of age.

These youth, many of whom did not know each other before joining the PJCTF board, focused on their mission statement of helping to alleviate injustice and inequality with an eye towards education and a preference to youth. They became inspired fundraisers and along with a $6,000 matching grant, raised $40,158 that was carefully allocated in nine different grants to projects that help children all over the globe.

The PJCTF members will be one of the award recipients at the 20th annual National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, November 13, at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

PJCTF is endowed by the Serrano Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Marin, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. The Regional Coordinator of Teen Philanthropy position is supported by the Laura and Gary Lauder Philanthropic Fund. The 2005-2006 Regional Training Retreat was funded by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund with additional support from the Walter and Elise Haas Fund.

Peninsula Jewish Community Teen Foundation
2005-2006 Board
Zoe Adler, 10th grade, Palo Alto High School
Tali Azenkot, 9th grade, Kehillah Jewish High School
Brittany Blum, 8th grade, Brandeis Hillel Day School
Alyssa Breetwor, 10th grade, Mountain View High School
David Brown, 10th grade, Gunn High School
Sydney Calander, 9th grade, Brandeis Hillel Day School
Alyssa Caplan, 9th grade, Aragon High School
Elana Cohn, 8th grade, Brandeis Hillel Day School
Adam Costello, 9th grade, Carlmont High School
Molly Dellheim, 10th grade, Woodside Priory School
Adam Herzog, 10th grade, Palo Alto High School
Allison Hoffman, 10th grade, Castilleja High School
Rivka Kelly, 9th grade, Gunn High School
Arlie Krigel, 10th grade, Gunn High School
Todd Lavine, 10th grade, The Menlo School
Allison Lesovoy, 9th grade, San Mateo High School
Jessica Mann, 8th grade, Terman Middle School
Sasha Mironov, 9th, Lick-Wilmerding High School
Ben Reback, 11th grade, Menlo Atherton High School
Daniel Seidel, 10th grade, Gunn High School
Aaron Wessels, 9th grade, Kehillah Jewish High School
Jack Wolfe, 11th grade, Woodside Priory School

Federation launches new program in Israel to fight poverty through employment

In Israel today, one million people are out of work. Of these, 200,000 are on welfare and the remaining 800,000 are of working age but are unable to obtain jobs because of numerous challenges, including lack of education; living in poor, underserved communities; or are immigrants who have not integrated into the social fabric of the country.

Sadly, many of these individuals are Ethiopian Israelis who came to Israel in hopes of a better Jewish life, but instead found themselves ill-equipped to handle the challenges of learning a new language, new customs, new job skills and more.

The Federation has made a commitment to help this population so that they can become full contributors to Israeli life. The Netanya Initiative, launched this year as the Federation's newest strategic project in Israel, comes under the umbrella of Tevet: Fighting Poverty through Employment, a program of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Israeli government that is focused on helping chronically unemployed Israelis break the cycle of poverty.

Importantly, the Federation is the only North American federation focusing on the issue of employment in Ethiopian Israeli adults; all others are focused on the children. By helping the parents, the prospects for an entire family changes—from that of welfare, depression and poverty to work and dignity.

The Netanya Initiative is divided into two major components—Eshet Chayil (Woman of Valor) and Reshet: Employment Incubator—which work in partnership to address the unemployment issues facing Ethiopian Israeli women and men respectively and collectively. In both programs, the focus is on the chronically unemployed—those who have never worked in Israel and are now without motivation or skills (language or job). This population is the hardest to reach, but success in this arena would change lives dramatically.

Late last month, the three directors of these programs came to San Francisco to talk about their work and to learn best practices to help them in Israel. The visitors were Yossi Tamir, director general of the TEVET program and a leading expert on employment and the Israeli labor market; Yossi Rosen, national director of Reshet; and Ruti David Amir, national director of Eshet Chayil.

In addition to meetings with the Israel & Overseas Committee and the staff of the Federation, Tamir, Rosen and Amir attended professional meetings and exchanges of best practices focused on work programs. They visited Jewish Family and Children's Services' Social Enterprise Center (SEC), hosted by Anita Freidman, executive director of JFCS and Steve Simon, director of SEC; Jewish Vocational Service, where they met with executive director Abby Snay; and Delancey Street, escorted by director Mimi Silbert.

According to Tamir, Netanya was chosen as the first city for this Initiative because of the large concentration of Ethiopian Israelis—12,000—who live there. However, selecting the city was just the beginning. To be successful, the Initiative must work closely with potential employers who are willing to participate in this program, not an easy task since negative stereotypes about Ethiopian Israelis are entrenched among many workplaces.

The Initiative, therefore, is serving as an impetus for a city-wide initiative focused on Ethiopian immigrants and relates to all aspects of their integration into Israeli society. According to Rosen, “This program exists in communities other then Netanya, but what is different in our program is the partnerships and collaboration we're fostering between the residents, the professionals and the business community. Federation funding is making a big difference in our ability to do this.”

The Federation's hope is that The Netanya Initiative will become a model for success, and over time will be emulated in other communities under the Tevet program. In the words of Amir, an Ethiopian Israeli herself who also was the first Ethiopian woman to enter the Israeli army, “If we succeed in helping these individuals get to work, their lives and the lives of their children will change so much. And Israel as a country will be stronger for it.”

South Peninsula honors its own

On Thursday, October 5, 130 people gathered to celebrate and honor the special South Peninsula Jewish community and its leaders at the 2007 South Peninsula Opening Night. South Peninsula Council president Lisa Portnoy emceed the evening, instilling in all a sense of hope and confidence for the year to come. Koch Brooks Awards benefactors, Phyllis Koch and Andrea Brooks, warmly introduced the honorees - Linda and Neill Brownstein (Koch) and Ellen Bob (Brooks) - and all three recipients delivered powerful, inspiring and gracious testimonies about their own Jewish perspectives on leadership and community building. Tom Dine and John Pritzker also participated by giving brief updates on Federation activities, their vision for the future, as well as heart-felt congratulations to the awardees and the whole community. South Peninsula director Bruce Landgarten shared his thoughts about his first six months on the job and his plans for what lies ahead. Everyone glowed with warmth afterward and it was a moment of pride for the South Peninsula.

Camp Tawonga’s Teen Service Learning: Summer in Costa Rica

On Sunday morning, October 1, 30 teens gathered at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay to share how their service learning experience in Costa Rica this past summer transformed their lives. Initially set to go to Israel, at the 11^th hour they changed their destination to Costa Rica—not exactly the same kind of trip. Sharing their emotions, the students spoke about their profound disappointment at this development, but also their awakening to the fact that “Jewish identity-building is not tied to geography.” As a result, they worked on sustainability projects, such as building a vibrant garden to feed and nurture the community alongside the children of an elementary school in one of the poorest regions of Costa Rica. They learned the value of working cooperatively as a team, and how despite great poverty, the people of Costa Rica had so much joy in their lives. The teens also shared their new understanding of what it means to be a “global Jewish citizen” and how they will integrate these values into their lives as they move into young adulthood. In the words of one young woman, “Before I went on this trip, I thought ‘I’m only a teenager, what can I do?’ Now I think, “I’m a teenager and I can make a difference in the world, one person at a time.’”

Women’s Mission to Israel—A special journey in spring 2007

G-d created the world in 6 days. Together for 6 days we will make an historic journey to Israel for a transformative adventure that will touch the hearts, minds and souls of each and every one of us. We will walk the ancient streets of Jerusalem, visit Tel Aviv's cultural center, participate in our Federation-funded programs and projects and engage first hand with our extended family in the recovery and rebuilding efforts taking place in Israel's Northern towns and cities. Join us as we lift our eyes beyond the present and step into the future. Join us as we go behind the scenes to see how women continue to make a difference in the lives of so many.

For more information and to reserve your spot, please contact Maxine Epstein, director, Marine region, 415.499.1223 or maxinee@sfjcf.org or Beth Hoenninger, director, Women's Alliance, 415.512.6217 or bethh@sfjcf.org.

Federation leadership heading to Israel to help revitalization efforts

Forty-one members of the Federation leadership are convening in Israel later this month to get an in-depth look at the state of the country, the programs we fund and our “sister” region in the Upper Galil where the fighting with Lebanon took place. From October 28 through November 2, members of the Board of Directors and the Israel & Overseas Committee, as well as CEO Tom Dine and president John Pritzker, will meet with regional leaders and program directors, consult with members of the Amuta—our Israel-based advisory committee—and visit some Federation-supported programs that are helping make a difference in Israel—both during their recovery from the conflict and on an ongoing basis.

Watch the Federation's website for stories and photographs from the trip. For more information about how you can continue to help make a difference in the lives of our Israeli family, please go to Israel Emergency Campaign or Israel and Overseas.

Fall Lion of Judah event

Wednesday, October 25, 2006, 11:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Alexandra's, The Westin St. Francis, 335 Powell Street, San Francisco
11:30 a.m. Reception. 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Lunch & program

Stronger Arms vs Israel's Security
Please join us for lunch with special guest speaker Dr. Emily Landau. The rules have changed. It's no longer homemade Quassams and unsophisticated Katyushas. The war between Israel and Hezbollah showed that the sophistication of Israel's enemies has increased dramatically--including the next generation of arms, explosives, missiles and other weapons of destruction. Please join the Lions of Judah as we discover this new and very real threat to the security of Israel with Dr. Emily Landau, Director of the Arms Control and Regional Security Project at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, one of Israel's foremost experts on foreign weaponry and potential conflicts. We will honor women who became Lions of Judah in our community during Campaign 2006. We will also honor the latest Lions of Judah among us who have made an extraordinary commitment to support our Jewish community by creating a Lion of Judah Endowment. Mothers and Daughters of Lions of Judah are welcome. The minimum contribution to attend this event is a woman's individual gift of $5,000 to Campaign 2007, which is a Lion of Judah gift. You will have the opportunity to make your pledge to the 2007 Campaign at this event.
Admission: $75. Sponsored by: Women's Alliance. Contact: Women's Alliance, 415.512.6217, women@sfjcf.org

New and easy to read e-mails from JCF!

Did you know people make up their minds to read an e-mail within the first 20th of a second? That's why we've upgraded the way we're communicating with you, our community. We've created a new format for all our e-mails, consisting of a snapshot view that doesn't require scrolling to see the whole page, simplified content with the option to link to our website for more information and photographs that will capture your attention instantly. The purpose of our redesign is to get information to you as quickly and simply as possible. We hope you like it and if so… ‘forward it to a friend!’