Did you get a loan during WWII?
The S.F.-based Hebrew Free Loan Association is seeking people who received any interest-free loans from the agency in the 1930s and 1940s to bring relatives out of Europe to escape Nazi persecution.
A filmmaker is making a documentary about World War II for KQED and would like to include these stories. If you or someone you know received such a loan, please contact Hebrew Free Loan at (415) 546-9902.
Emanu-El launches drive to aid foster kids
To mark National Foster Care Month, San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El is sponsoring a drive this month to collect new items for foster children. Donated items will be distributed to needy children by Aspira Foster and Family Services. All donations are tax deductible.
Items needed include new clothes, toys, dolls, games, DVDs, books and craft supplies, stuffed animals, children’s towel sets, blankets and crib sheets, school supplies, camp supplies, baby equipment and children’s furniture and recreational equipment such as tricycles, bicycles, helmets, scooters and skates. Donations are being accepted through May 31.
A drop-off station is located near the synagogue lobby at Congregation Emanu-El,
2 Lake Street, S.F. For large items, or for more information, call (415) 751-2535.
Chochmat HaLev joins local farm program
Chochmat HaLev, the Jewish meditation center in Berkeley, is the first local Jewish institution to partner with a local farm in a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
Last year, the New York-based Hazon launched Tuv Ha’Aretz (meaning both good for the land and good to the land). Five synagogues around the country teamed up with local farms to get organic produce delivered to their members. This year, Chochmat joins four more sites around the country.
CSAs have grown in popularity in recent years, as more people want to know where their food comes from and buy produce from local farms. Members pay in advance for shares in a nearby farm, which come in the form of a box of freshly picked produce once a week. Chochmat will be the pickup point for boxes from Eatwell Farm, near Dixon.
The season for Tuv Ha’Aretz will go from the end of May through November (Shavuot through Sukkot), and all East Bay Jews are welcome to join.
For more information, visit www.chochmat.org, email csa@chochmat.org or call local coordinator Adam Edell at (510) 506-6410.
Wiesel attack suspect delays plea
The man who allegedly attacked Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel in San Francisco appeared this week in Superior Court, but delayed until May 31 in entering a plea on six felony counts.
The charges stem from a Feb. 1 incident in which Eric Hunt allegedly dragged Wiesel out of a San Francisco hotel elevator.
Hunt, 22, faces charges filed by S.F. District Attorney Kamala Harris, including attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, elder abuse and stalking. He was arrested Feb. 17 in Montgomery Township, N.J, and extradited to San Francisco on May 10. Hunt remains in custody with bail set at $500,000.
Sha’ar Zahav to host transgender events
San Francisco’s Congregation Sha’ar Zahav will make history when it becomes the first synagogue to host a Shabbat weekend devoted to transgendered people and issues of concern to the transgender community. The transgender Shabbat service, which begins with a potluck dinner and service, takes place Friday and Saturday, June 1 and 2. All events are open to the public.
Friday’s events begin at 6:30 p.m. with a screening of “Clocked: An Oral History,” a film about the local transgender community from filmmaker and Sha’ar Zahav congregant Martin Rawlings-Fein. It will be followed by a Shabbat service led by Sha’ar Zahav rabbinic intern Reuben Zellman.
Saturday programs run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and include Torah study; a workshop for teens moderated by Alexis Rivera from the Transgender Law Center; a discussion for parents on how to determine if their child is gender variant; and a workshop on “How to be a Fabulous Trans Ally,” moderated by United Genders of the Universe.
A pair of transgender-themed short films will also screen, followed by a workshop called “Developing New Jewish Rituals” for transgender and queer congregants; a workshop on transgender civil rights law; and one exploring Torah and spirituality sponsored by Coastside Jewish Community. Havdallah takes place at 5:30 p.m., followed by a spoken-word performance by Ali Cannon.
Sha’ar Zahav congregant Robert Bernardo said, “A lot of the [transgender] events in the last year have been sad occasions, usually to remember someone murdered or hurt. We wanted to create a celebration of diversity, a happy event about lively expression, being proud and being out.”
Registration open for ‘kosher’ bike ride
South Peninsula Hebrew Day School will stage its second annual Foothill Century Bike Ride, dubbed “the only kosher ride in the West” on Sunday, May 20.
The ride features kosher food at rest stops and a kosher barbecue at the end. Up to 750 riders are expected to participate, with all proceeds benefiting the Sunnyvale school.
Riders may choose from 100K, 50K and 10K “family fun” routes, which pass through areas of Sunnyvale and the Silicon Valley foothills. Co-sponsors of the event include the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley and the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation.
Registration is available on the day of the ride at SPHDS, 1030 Astoria Drive, Sunnyvale. Costs range from $40-$80. Registration for the 100K begins at 6:30 a.m., the 50K at 8 a.m. and the 10K at 10 a.m. For more information, call (408) 738-3060 or go online to www.sphds.org/foothillcentury.
Mazon grants to alleviate hunger
Mazon: a Jewish Response to Hunger, will award $304,000 in grants to 29 California hunger relief organizations, including several in the Bay Area. The grants support a wide variety of programs dedicated to finding short- and long-term solutions to hunger.
Locally grantees include Jewish Family & Children’s Services in San Francisco for its crisis prevention and self-sufficiency project; California Food Policy Advocates in San Francisco; Sunnyvale Community Services in Sunnyvale; St. Mary’s Center in Oakland; San Francisco Food Bank community-wide hunger education; Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano in Concord.
Mazon raises funds from the Jewish community and allocates them to organizations that alleviate and prevent hunger. Since 1986, Mazon has granted more than $40 million in support of anti-hunger programs. For further information on Mazon, please visit www.mazon.org.
New Peninsula Jewish preschool to open
Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills has announced plans to open a synagogue-based Reform early childhood program this fall.
In conjunction with the Albert L. Schultz JCC, the preschool will offer parent-toddler groups and morning classes for 2- to 3-year-olds. An open house for prospective
parents will take place Sunday, May 20 from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit www.betham.org/youth/ganami for more information.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California