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Friday February 2, 2007

Shorts: Bay Area

JCC East Bay director to step down

Joel Bashevkin, the executive director of the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay for the past seven years, has informed his board of directors he is moving on.

“I think I’ve accomplished everything I could have ever hoped to accomplish at the JCC,” he wrote in a release.

“We have recovered from near closure only seven years ago and we are now in a position to build for the future. I have every confidence that the JCC’s future is a bright one.”

Under Bashevkin’s watch, the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center (as it was then known) came back from the edge of the abyss to expand its programming into Oakland and Piedmont and purchase its own buildings, paying off old debts along the way.

The JCC will be conducting a national search to replace Bashevkin, who will be leaving within the next few months.

Restaurant, winery offer dinner event

For the third straight year, Berkeley’s kosher Ristorante Raphael will team up with kosher winemaker Hagafen Cellars to serve up a gourmet four-course meal and wine tasting on Monday, Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m.

Ristorante Raphael owners Hope and Noah Alper will be on hand, along with Hagafen winemakers Ernie and Irit Weir, who will share their knowledge of each wine. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

Ristorante Raphael’s chef Domenico Testa will create a gourmet kosher Italian menu for the evening, with courses specifically paired with each wine. The prix fixe is $54 per person, including tax and gratuity.

Ristorante Raphael is located at 2132 Center St., Berkeley. For reservations call (510) 644-9500. All reservations must be prepaid. For more information, visit www.ristoranteraphael.com.

Sharon spokesman talking on behalf of YAD

Ra’anan Gissin, the gravelly voiced former spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, will be in the Bay Area this week on behalf of Shaare Zedek hospital, which treated his former boss.

Gissin, a sought-after commentator on the Israeli-Arab conflict who just participated in the seventh annual Herzliya Conference on Israeli security, will meet with a number of private individuals as well as deliver a speech on behalf of the Young Adults Division of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation at San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

For more information on the speech, call (415) 751-2535.

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