 |
Helping our Jewish family everywhere, together
Rabbi Marvin Goodman joined the JCF in February as the Federation’s first Rabbi-in-Residence. In this open letter to the community, he explains why:
I’m convinced that the Jewish Community Federation is the most efficient and effective Jewish organization looking out for the welfare of the entire community. That’s why, like you, I have been a consistent supporter of the Federation’s Annual Campaign.
That’s also the reason that I recently joined the Federation in the newly-created position of Rabbi-in-Residence, leaving my 19-year post as rabbi at Peninsula Sinai in Foster City.
The Federation is based on a simple idea: to work together for the betterment of the entire Jewish community. Our challenge is to address the needs of our Jewish family, both locally and globally, providing indispensable financial resources that make an impact on the lives of Jews everywhere.
The Bay Area Jewish community is diverse. We learned, in the recent Jewish Community Study, that for many of us, synagogues are our gateway and the primary touchstone to Jewish community. Others connect to Jewish life through culture, friends and family. As donors to the Federation campaign, we have another community, and another venue that enables us to further our outreach to Israel and Jews around the world.
The Federation’s Annual Campaign serves the needs of thousands of individuals — children, families, and the elderly — here in the Bay Area and around the world. Behind these numbers, there are people with names, faces and stories. This year, with your help, we have the opportunity to do so much more: fund special programs that welcome and integrate interfaith families, connect youth to Judaism, provide counseling for single parents, and offer new programs to better serve our synagogues. With your continued generosity, these important initiatives can continue. |
 |
Join us in June!
Israel in the Gardens blossoms Sunday, June 3, 2007. Come celebrate Israel’s 59th birthday! This year’s festival features a variety of sights, sounds and tastes as well as a green theme, supporting environmental preservation and energy conservation. The Federation’s Annual Meeting will be held Thursday, June 7. Together, the community will reflect on what we’ve accomplished and make plans for the future. RSVP for the Annual Meeting.
|
 |
Local and Israeli teens have meeting of minds at Mifgash 2007
The Diller Teen Fellows is a teen leadership program of the Jewish Community Federation (JCF), funded by the Helen Diller Family Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund, and operated by the Bureau of Jewish Education.
“We didn’t even need to do icebreakers; the ice was broken as soon as we saw each other!” exclaimed one of the Israeli teen participants about the highly anticipated first meeting between the Diller Teen Fellows and their Northern Israel counterpart, Manhigut Esreh.
This past April, eighteen Israeli teens from Manhigut Esreh visited the Bay Area for a peer-to-peer cultural exchange — a Mifgash — with the Diller Teen Fellows. The groups first met each other at a weekend retreat to explore their cultural similarities and differences and to investigate the spectrum of American and Israeli Jewish identities. Personal connections and strong bonds immediately formed between the two remarkable groups of teenagers.
During their Bay Area visit, Manhigut Esreh attended the Israeli Consulate’s Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day) ceremony and gathered with the Diller teens for the North Peninsula community’s Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) celebration. The teens helped lead children’s activities, served food and proudly participated in a commemorative candlelighting ceremony. Many in attendance felt that the teens were the “life of the party” — leading children and families in song and Israeli folk dance.
The Israeli teens also had the opportunity to tour San Francisco. Highlights included visiting the Jewish Identity Project exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, creating a Yom HaZikaron ceremony for the JCF’s Peoplehood Commission meeting, meeting with students from the Jewish Community High School, volunteering at Glide Memorial Church and the Delancey Street residential rehabilitation program, participating in a panel discussion with members of Sha’ar Zahav, touring historic Congregation Emanu-El, the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and Club 18, and meeting with the residents of the Rhoda Goldman Center.
The Israeli and American teens concluded this meaningful 10-day Mifgash together as they shared their reflections on the week. In speeches to friends and family, both groups of teenagers repeatedly described the experience as “incredible” and “life-changing.” The teens will be reunited in Israel during the summer seminar, July 15 - August 7. Until then, many anticipatory emails and phone calls will be exchanged! |
 |
Gvanim gather in our local community
For those that have been around the table at the Federation or in the community, the word Gvanim is not new. In Hebrew, it means “color hues,” a most fitting name for a program dedicated to the acceptance and celebration of the entire spectrum of religious observance. The program was created by the Jewish Community Federation and its Israel Amuta (advisory committee) to develop the leadership essential for the promotion of Jewish pluralism. Tolerance of and respect for Jewish religious expression in all its forms can bring more Israelis closer to their heritage and improve the quality of public life.
Now in its fifth session, and with a few satellite programs under its belt, the group’s diverse members (including reporters, a mayor, the principal of the Jewish-Arab school in Jerusalem, a reform rabbi, a rabbinical-court mediator, a political activist, and community and educational professionals) have been paired up with local leaders in order to explore the concept of Jewish peoplehood and Bay Area Jewry’s connection to Israel. The Bay Area group includes Wexner program alumni, YAD leadership and representatives from an array of organizations in our Jewish community.
In June, they can be spotted at day schools around the Bay Area, Jewish community centers and congregations as they make their rounds. The Gvanim participants will also be making an appearance at Israel in the Gardens this year. This is the first time a delegation from Israel will get a first-hand look at how San Franciscans celebrate Israel.
The group will be meeting with the Israel in Our Hearts award recipients and will be available at the Israel Center and Federation tents to meet and greet our community.
Keep an eye out for people in t-shirts that read “Jewish Diversity in Israel Now — Ask Me How — Gvanim!” |
 |
Don’t miss the Israel Mega-Mission
Join us April 30 through May 8, 2008 for the trip of a lifetime. This amazing encounter with Israel will begin on Yom Hashoah — the day of remembrance for the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust — and end on Yom Ha’atzmaut — Israel’s 60th Independence Day. Of all the holidays and commemorations in the Jewish calendar, only these 10 powerful days commemorate recent history — history that endures in the living memory of many. Twice a year the sound of sirens stops traffic and pedestrians throughout the state of Israel for two minutes of silent remembrance and tribute. Here, you can feel the power of collective memory. We will also take a close look at Israel’s future and how, together with our Israeli counterparts, we can strengthen our connection with and to the Jewish state. For more information, please contact Caron Tabb at 415.512.6208 or email caront@sfjcf.org.
|
 |
Other Events
Wednesday, May 30, 2007,
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Come hear Lee Kranefuss, CEO of iShares Intermediary/Index Markets Group speak about the exchange traded funds revolution.
Thursday, May 31, 2007,
11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Celebrate 50 years of the Women’s Alliance, the installation of the incoming board, the Rookie of the Year Awards, and much more.
Monday, June 4, 2007,
7:30 p.m.
This special event marks the past, present and future of the post-1967 Middle East, the occupation, the unification of Jerusalem, the peace process and the Israeli-Palestinian relationship.
Monday, June 18, 2007,
7:00 p.m.
Deputy Consul General of Israel, Ismail Khaldi, a Bedouin born in Israel's Western Galilee, will provide us with his unique perspective on growing up in Israel and as an Arab representing the Jewish State.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007,
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Update your prospecting strategies with the smart way of developing leads: getting referrals from people who know and trust you.
Thursday, June 21, 2007, 7:30 p.m.
This tough documentary film concentrates on Tomer Heymann, a youth leader in a small town near Tel Aviv, who motivates a group of delinquent adolescent boys into creating a play.
|
|
|
 |
