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A framework for the 21st century Federation
The following op-ed appears in the September 19, 2008 issue of the j.
It is the month of Elul, the traditional period of self-reflection and introspection. Many of us find ourselves standing at a kind of crossroads, reflecting on what was and considering what might be. For me, this year’s crossroads is especially poignant. About six months ago, I was offered the extraordinary opportunity to become the CEO of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Since then, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what such a change would mean for me and for my family.
I’ve spent much of the last decade working to build meaningful and engaging pathways of connection to Jewish life; organizations and projects that reflect and project core Jewish values. Now, here in the Bay Area, I am excited to join you in working to create relevant, vibrant and thriving Jewish community – community that will engage generations of young people in this new century.
And while I am still a relative newcomer to the Bay Area, I’ve spent the past two months listening to members of our community during breakfasts, lunches, dinners, the Mission to Israel and everything in between. I’ve learned a lot, and while there is still much more that I want to know, I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you a work in progress: a framework for understanding the Jewish Community we are building together.
Until the mid 19th century, Jewish community was referred to as kehillah kedosha, a holy community. Our challenge is to figure out how to render that designation meaningful in the 21st century. How can a Jewish Federation as a relevant community institution, embody a present-day notion of kehilla kedosha? Obviously, we’re not talking about a community based solely or even largely on religious observance. But we need to embrace the sense of mission and meaning inherent in the phrase.
So here’s a frame within which we can view certain aspects of this new community:
- Community of Change: Kehillah shel Shinui – We must recognize as a community the absolute imperative for change; for producing a new paradigm for Jewish communal life and leadership. And the Bay Area is a community with the intellectual and financial resources to pioneer and lead this change. The survival of the Jews as a people is always dependent on the absence of stasis, and the existence of dynamic change. Our old models are no longer sufficient. We face new challenges and new opportunities and we must create structures through which we can successfully meet them.
- Community of Obligation: Kehillah shel Hiyuv – We can be a community deeply connected to the Prophetic call for justice and responsibility. Ours is a society that prioritizes personal autonomy over all else. We need to figure out how to harmonize this reality with a sense of Jewish and communal obligation. Making service learning a normative part of the Jewish lifecycle is a step in this direction. We need to send young Jews to study, serve and work in Bayview-Hunters Point, Jerusalem, Buenos Aires, Ghana, Warsaw…We want the new generation of Jews to ask not what my community can do for me, but what can I do for my community.
- Community of Knowledge: Kehillah shel Torah – Jewish literacy and learning are important to our daily activities and also in charting our path forward. Sadly, Jewish communities and community institutions have too often surrendered the deeply Jewish impulse to treasure and pursue Jewish wisdom, knowledge and learning. The Bay Area is blessed with an abundance of scholars, rabbis, activists and artists, whose work can and should inform our communal conversations.
- Community of Worlds: Kehillah shel Olamot – This is my way of reflecting upon the reality of the multiplicity of identities that we know characterizes American Jewry today. We are Jews, Northern Californians, Americans, and citizens of the world. We need to embrace this multiplicity of identities, not try to run away from it. In so doing, we must attend to our local Jewish community. We need to foster a sense of connection and obligation to our fellow Jews throughout the world and give young Jews the tools with which to navigate a genuine and positive relationship with Israel during complicated times. And finally, as citizens of our broader society, we must be committed to work passionately on behalf of the cities in which we live, and the broader global community.
I look forward to beginning this New Year in partnership with you, developing, refining, and implementing a new paradigm for a Jewish Federation that will encourage and incorporate change, enable us to act on our sense of obligation, feed our appetite for Jewish knowledge and learning, celebrate our multiple identities and find and nurture what is sacred in all of us and our community.
L’Shana Tova,
Daniel J. Sokatch
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Giving voice to the High Holidays
We want to begin this year with something different, a moving poem from Rabbi Alvin Fine, who used poetic words and the strength of his resonant voice to lead Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco from 1948 to 1964. He was a brilliant teacher and had a tremendous following among people who loved the art of the sermon.
Life is a Journey
Birth is a beginning
And death a destination;
But life is a journey,
A going…a growing
From stage to stage.
From childhood to maturity and
youth to age.
From innocence to awareness and
Ignorance to knowing;
From foolishness to discretion
And then perhaps to wisdom.
From weakness to strength
Or strength to weakness…
And often, back again.
From health to sickness…
And back, we pray, to health again.
From offense to forgiveness
From loneliness to love,
From joy to gratitude,
From pain to compassion,
And grief to understanding…
From fear to faith.
From defeat to defeat…
Until looking backward or ahead.
We see that victory lies not
At some high place along the way,
But in having made the journey…
Stage by stage…
A sacred pilgrimage.
Birth is beginning,
And death a destination;
But life is a journey,
A sacred pilgrimage
Made stage by stage…
From birth to death…
To life everlasting.
Preparing for and participating in the High Holidays
Recently the Federation’s interfaith newsletter, Bridges featured two articles that address the High Holidays. The first is on preparing for and participating in the holidays. The other is on teshuvah, recognizing our mistakes and working to correct them.
If you would like to read other articles on the holidays, or are interested in finding out about events especially for interfaith families, you can sign up for Bridges by sending an email to bridges@sfjcf.org.
Local resources
Whether you’re looking for a service at a nearby synagogue or a recipe, our Jewish Community Information and Referral (JCI&R) is a free and confidential line to answer your questions about Jewish life in the Bay Area. Call 415.777.4545 or 877.777.5247 (toll-free) or email at info@jewishinfo.org.
You can also visit our community event calendar for the Bay Area at PlanitJewish or the High Holiday services and event directory.
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A year in Israel for students
Each year, the Jewish Community Endowment Fund invites students to apply for the Haas/Koshland Memorial Award, granting a year of study and personal development in Israel. The grant, is given annually by the descendents of Walter A. Haas, Sr. and Daniel E. Koshland, Sr.
All interested students are eligible, from sophomore year in college through graduate school, who wish to broaden their personal life, academic life or both.
The Application deadline is February 1, 2009.
What is required to submit an application?
- An application form
- A transcript
- Two letters of recommendation (one academic, one personal)
- A brief statement outlining academic achievements and developments, goals, and interests that would be uniquely enhanced by a year's experience in Israel (No more than 500 words)
- Personal interviews may be requested
Apply now!
For more information contact:
415.512.6273 or lauram@sfjcf.org
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Parenting Matters: Jewish wisdom for mindful parenting
An Adult Learning Group For Parents of Young Children
We all want our children to grow into good citizens of the world. But where do we begin? Parenting Matters: Jewish Wisdom for Mindful Parenting, the community outreach program of the JCF Early Childhood Education Initiative, helps to answer that question for interfaith and Jewish families in the first five years of their children’s lives. This interactive 8-week discussion series combines Jewish text study with the issues of contemporary parenting. The goal is to engage parents, in San Rafael and Foster City, in meaningful Jewish learning which will inspire them to join the larger Jewish community. We hope the outcome to be families making Jewish choices (i.e. synagogue affiliation, Jewish pre-school, JCC membership, Jewish day school) for their children and themselves as they actively engage in our community.
The Parenting Matters discussions will lead parents on a path of discovery through topics such as creating sacred moments with children, the quest for personal and family spirituality and the pursuit of personal meaning. The parent participants will also deepen their connections with one another with an informal Shabbat dinner and a family potluck at the culmination of the sessions.
Meet our scholars
Parenting Matters is being taught by two educators who have a special knowledge and sensitivity to outreach and parenting:
San Rafael: Rabbi Menachem Creditor is an educator, musician, and activist, and serves as rabbi of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley. He is the author of The Tisch, an email commentary on Torah and spirituality, and the founder of Shefa: The Jewish Activists’ Network. Rabbi Creditor has been a teacher of Ikkarim: Jewish Values and the Journey of Jewish Parenting, a successful parenting discussion group in the Boston area. He is also the father of three young children. To learn more about Rabbi Creditor, please go to www.shefanetwork.org/TheTisch.htm.
Foster City: Rabbi Tamar Malino is the Associate Executive Director of Jewish Life at the Peninsula Jewish Community Center (PJCC) in Foster City. Prior joining the PJCC, Rabbi Malino lived in Southern California where she served as the rabbi of Temple Adat Shalom in Poway (San Diego) for seven years. In addition to her clergy duties, she was a popular lecturer in the San Diego community, and Director of the Temple's award winning Hebrew for High School Credit program. Today, the new Bay Area resident lives in San Mateo with her life partner, Rabbi Elizabeth Goldstein, and their twins, Aviel and Coby.
Program Information and Dates:
- The Parenting Matters discussion groups will be in two sites: San Rafael - Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, begins October 30; Foster City – Peninsula Jewish Community Center, begins October 31
- Parenting Matters is generously funded by a grant from the Interfaith Outreach Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.
“The class offered me a deeper understanding of Judaism and continued respect for the foundation that it provides. There is so much wisdom available.” – Parenting Matters Participant
“I believe that we will be able to more meaningfully engage in Jewish rituals as a family because of this course, like Shabbat and reading the Shema.” - Parenting Matters Participant
For more information about Parenting Matters, please visit www.jcfparentingmatters.org or contact Vivien Braly at vivienb@sfjcf.org.
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BLC + wine + exhibit
Join us for a collaboration between the Bay Area Jewish Community Federations’ BLC’s in presenting: A reserved private wine tasting and exhibit tour of Il Ghetto: Forging Italian Jewish Identities, 1516-1870.*
The Sukkot Wine Tasting will take place on October 16, at 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. at the Museo ItaloAmericano in Fort Mason, Building C, San Francisco.
David Rosenberg-Wohl, the curator and Professor Murray Baumgarten, director of Jewish Studies at UC Santa Cruz, and an advisor to this project will be available to answer questions about the exhibit.
Appetizers will be provided and a silent auction will take place.
Space is limited so please RSVP by October 10.
Register online now!
For questions call 415.512.6437
Host Committee: Pascal Levensohn, Bob Tandler, Rick Felson, Moses Libitsky, Elliot Felson, Jim Koshland, Anne Bakar
*The BLC Sukkot Wine Tasting is for attendees who make a commitment of $1,000 or more to the Federation’s Annual Campaign.
The Jewish Community Federation’s Business Leadership Council (BLC) is a vibrant group of Bay Area Jewish leaders dedicated to connecting business professionals with each other, fostering Jewish values, and raising funds to secure a Jewish future. BLC accomplishes these goals by hosting networking events, outreach programs, a stimulating speaker series and the Annual BLC Gala Breakfast. Visit us online.
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Events
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Street Festival, S California Ave, Palo Alto (map)
To Life! is a unique annual event that showcases the diversity of Jewish culture through art, music, dance and food. This one-day celebration of art and community attracts over 10,000 people from a variety of backgrounds who want to honor Jewish heritage and learn about the many community resources offered by Bay Area Jewish organizations.
More info...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Parents Place, 2001 Winward Way, San Mateo (map)
Meet other Chai Baby families, receive your Chai Baby gift, learn about the resources of Parents Place and the community. Have fun with your baby!
More info...
Wednesday, September 25, 2008
Stanford Grill, 198 Junipero Serra Blvd., Stanford (map)
Network, mix and mingle! This event will fill up fast, so register early!
More info...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Jewish Community Relations Council, 121 Steuart Street, San Francisco (map)
Protecting the freedom to marry is about upholding the ideals of equality, freedom and fairness for all. Join us for an evening of phone banking. Training will be provided by Equality For All.
More info...
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco (map)
Attend the Women’s Alliance Fall Lion of Judah Luncheon with keynote speaker Donna Rosenthal, award-winning journalist and author of The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land.
More info...
Monday, November 3, 2008
Four Seasons Hotel, 757 Market Street, San Francisco (map)
Learn from top legal, tax and financial professionals.
More info...
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