‘Synaplex’ coming to Bay Area synagogues
Adherents of old, single-screen movie theaters may beg to differ, but today’s cineplexes give cinema enthusiasts far more opportunities to see what they want the way they want it.
That’s the idea behind “Synaplex,” a program aimed at finding innovative new ways to get Jews to walk through synagogue doors.
On the weekend kicking off Friday, Jan. 19, three local synagogues — Oakland’s Temple Beth Abraham, Berkeley’s Netivot Shalom and San Rafael's Rodef Sholom — will join the hundreds nationwide participating in the program.
The Star Foundation, the program’s sponsor, claims Synaplex offers people the chance to “celebrate Shabbat the way they want to.” That could be a coffee klatch and Torah study, a wine-and-cheese reception or inserting yoga into Jewish studies.
For more information contact Beth Abraham at (510) 832-0936, Netivot Shalom at (510) 549-9447 or Rodef Sholom at (415) 479-3441.
Ecumenical partnership celebrates 20 years
A San Francisco synagogue and church will celebrate 20 years of their pulpit exchange on Friday, Jan. 12 and Sunday, Jan 14.
Congregation Emanu-El and the Third Baptist Church will celebrate a 20-year partnership and honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day during a Friday night and Sunday morning service featuring both congregations’ choirs and religious leaders.
Services begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Congregation Emanu-El, 2 Lake St. in San Francisco.
On Sunday morning, the celebration moves to Third Baptist Church for a 10 a.m. service at 1399 McAllister St., S.F.
Contact Judi Leff at Congregation Emanu-El for more information, (415) 751-2541 ext. 115 or jleff@emanuelsf.org.
Dating violence program wins Hadassah grant
Love Shouldn’t Hurt, a youth-led dating violence prevention program that helps Jewish teens identify goals for healthy relationships, is one of 15 U.S. and Israeli programs to win a 2007 grant from the Hadassah Foundation.
The grant totals $45,000. Love Shouldn’t Hurt is a project of Shalom Bayit, a Bay Area nonprofit working to end domestic violence.
The Hadassah Foundation, founded in 1998 by Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is dedicated to refocusing the priorities of the Jewish community through innovative and creative funding for women and girls in the United States and Israel.
JCCSF hosting Women’s Circle workshop
Image therapy and Jewish mysticism will be some of the topics on tap at the Jewish Women’s Circle daylong workshop Sunday, Jan. 14.
The workshop, “In the Garden of Creation, the Feminine Soul Blossoms,” runs from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. A Southern California image stylist and therapist, Liana Chaouli, will teach attendants how to choose clothing that flatters their body type and coloring, boost self-confidence and make a favorable impression.
Yitta Halberstam, author of the “Small Miracles” series of books, will deliver a keynote address. Other seminars will focus on spiritual homeopathy and Kabbalah.
“In the Garden of Creation” costs $48, which includes the image therapy session, other workshops and a kosher lunch. For more information or to register, call (415) 420-5132.
Weekend program promotes social justice
Temple Beth El’s scholars-in–residence, Rabbi Jonah Pesner and Barbara Weinstein, this month will lead a weekend program aimed at promoting social justice and activism.
Both are executive staff members of the Union for Reform Judaism and the Religious Action Center. The educational weekend will take place at Beth El, 3055 Porter Gulch Road, Aptos, Jan. 19 –21. Call (831) 479-3444 to RSVP.
Emanu-El expands Friday night services
Starting Jan. 26, Congregation Emanu-El will bring Shabbat services south to the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House the fourth Friday of every month.
The goal is to reach out to member families in the southern part of the city and those who travel from the South and East Bay for Friday night services.
Services beginning at 6 p.m. will be musical and upbeat in the tradition of the congregation’s “First Friday” style; a second service will follow at 7:30 p.m., intended for those in their 20s and 30s.
A small reception will follow each service.
The Potrero Hill Neighborhood House is located at 952 De Haro St.
For more information contact Mollie Schneider at (415) 751-2541 ext. 124, or mschneider@emanuelsf.org.
Rodef Sholom offers new Shabbat service
Congregation Rodef Sholom, a Reform synagogue in San Rafael, has launched a new participatory Shabbat service featuring the Shabbes Morning Band. The service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month.
Band members include Fred Ross-Perry, Jeff Labes, Sam Hoffman, Mike Spinrad, Lisa Serebin, Hannah Kornfeld, and Rodef Sholom’s Cantor David Margules and Rabbi Noa Kushner.
Congregation Rodef Sholom is located at 170 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. For more information, call (415) 479-3441.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California