Yeshiva founder comes to Berkeley shul
Rabbi Avi Weiss, founder and dean of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, will serve as scholar-in-residence at Berkeley’s Modern Orthodox Congregation Beth Israel. As part of his duties, Weiss will formerly install Yonatan Cohen, a graduate of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, as Beth Israel’s new rabbi. Weiss will be in town Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17.
Weiss is a nationally known writer and scholar. He formed the Yeshivat Chovevei Torah rabbinical school as a progressive alternative to Yeshiva University.
Congregation Beth Israel is located at 1630 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. For more information, call (510) 843-8052.
Groups coordinate Shabbat Across the Bay
Three Bay Area young adult groups are coordinating their second cooperative Shabbat Across the Bay.
The S.F. Young Adult Division, the Silicon Valley Young Adults Division and the East Bay Young Leadership Division, connected with their respective federations, are offering a slew of Shabbat dinners throughout the Bay Area on Friday, March 16.
In organizing the simultaneous Shabbat celebrations, the groups are hoping to set a precedent for further joint programming. Call (408) 357-7503 to RSVP for this event.
ADL sponsors panel on divestment
The Anti-Defamation League is sponsoring a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 14 entitled “Divestment: What it Is and What it Isn’t.” The panel is in response to a student campaign urging Stanford University to divest from Israel.
The goal of the panel is to educate people on divestment, explain Stanford’s position on divesting from Israel and discuss how students have waged the campaign, which began in January.
Panel participants include Gary Bretton-Granatoor from the ADL, Adina Danzig from Hillel at Stanford and Linda Kimball from Stanford’s investment management team.
The event, co-sponsored by Hillel at Stanford and the JCRC, will take place at 7 p.m at Congregation Etz Hayim, 4161 Alma St., Palo Alto. RSVP to (415) 981-3500.
Lieberman falls, misses E. Bay date
Injuries from a fall kept Hadassah Lieberman from headlining the annual women’s fundraiser of the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay on Wednesday, March 7.
Lieberman, the wife of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), was scheduled to be replaced as keynote speaker at Choices 2007 by JTA journalist Sue Fishkoff.
School, Islamic group to push peace
Dor Hadash, the religious school of Cotati’s Congregation Ner Shalom, has invited students and families from the Islamic Society to the synagogue for a day of sharing commonalities, exploring differences and working toward peace.
Participants will create two “peace” banners, one in Arabic and one in English, to be hung at their respective facilities.
The event will take place Sunday, March 18 at Ner Shalom, 85 La Plaza, Cotati, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Call (707) 829-6987 for more information.
JFCS starts program for special needs kids
Parents Place, a program of Jewish Family and Children’s Services, has launched three new centers for children with special needs in San Francisco, Marin and the Peninsula.
The centers will offer resources and support for families with children coping with a wide range of special needs, including autism, Asperger Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), physical, cognitive and neurological impairments, chronic illnesses, learning disabilities and severe emotional disturbance.
About one in every 150 children in the U.S. has autism or a closely related disorder, according to a recent survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The centers are located at Parents Place offices in San Francisco, Marin and the Peninsula. For more information about the centers contact Amy Weiss, Parents Place Director, at AmyW@jfcs.org or (415) 359-2466; or Miranda J. Gabriel at MirandaG@jfcs.org or (650) 688-3028.
Netivot Shalom names preschool director
Debby Graudenz has been named founding director of the new preschool for Berkeley’s Congregation Netivot Shalom preschool.
An experienced childcare worker, Graudenz earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and master’s degrees in child development and clinical psychology.
Since 1991, she has worked in various capacities as a marriage and family therapist, most recently at Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the East Bay, where she continues to serve part-time.
Graudenz also lived in Israel for seven years, where she worked in childcare on a kibbutz. She has been a member of Netivot Shalom for 15 years.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California