Jewish refugees topic of talk at Commonwealth Club
Gina Waldman of JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa) and Stanley Urman, director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, will speak at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, 595 Market St. Their topic: “Forgotten Refugees.”
The event is sponsored by the Middle East Forum and the Jewish Community Relations Council. Tickets cost $8 for members, $15 for non-members. For more information, check www.commonwealthclub.org.
JVS transgender program awarded job-training grant
The California Employment Development Department awarded Jewish Vocational Service a $300,000 grant, announced Jan. 29 at San Francisco City Hall.
State Sen. Carole Migden presented the grant, which will fund a S.F.-based transgender employment and training program developed and delivered by JVS. The money will be used specially to prepare transgender individuals for employment through interview practice, resume writing and employment networking.
The employment program was created in partnership with the San Francisco LGBT Center and the Transgender Law Center.
Donate blood Feb. 10 at Marin drive
In an effort to combat the current plasma shortage, Congregation Rodef Sholom and the Osher Marin JCC will be stationing a blood mobile in front of the synagogue.
The blood drive will take place Feb. 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 170 N. San Pedro Drive, San Rafael. Visit www.bloodheroes.com or call (415) 479-3441 ext. 3004 to register for the drive.
Teaching parents to teach their children, Jewishly
A new class in the Bay Area wants to engage interfaith and unaffiliated parents raising young children. “Parenting Matters: Jewish Wisdom for Mindful Parenting,” a pilot program created by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation, is accepting enrollees.
The eight-week discussion-based course integrates parenting and Jewish literacy into its curriculum, which coordinators say will cover “big Jewish ideas.”
The class begins in April and runs through May at Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael and Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley. The class will include social programs, too, like a family Shabbat dinner, Havdallah dessert for adults and a family picnic. Cost is $180.
“Parenting Matters” is the first community outreach program of the federation’s Early Childhood Education Initiative. It is funded by the Koret Foundation and the JCF’s Interfaith/Outreach Endowment Fund. The course was inspired by a similar, successful program in Boston.
To register or for more information, contact Janet Harris at (415) 499-1223, ext. 8104.
Start the a.m. with Business Leadership
The S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation will hold its annual Business Leadership Council Breakfast, open to federation donors who contribute $1,000 or more to the annual campaign, on Thursday, Feb. 7 at San Francisco’s St. Regis Hotel.
The event features speakers Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com, and Warren Hellman, chair of the law firm Hellman & Friedman.
The Business Leadership Council is a 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.
Registration for the breakfast begins 7:30 a.m. Feb. 7 at the St. Regis Hotel, 125 Third St., S.F. Tickets: $36. For online registration, go to www.sfjcf.org/calendar/jcf. RSVP by Feb. 4.
Nosh, learn at Los Gatos knowledge-o-rama
More than 20 rabbis and educators will hold forth on subjects ranging from religion to rock ‘n’ roll at the second Community Night of Learning at the Addison-Penzak JCC in Los Gatos.
The 7 p.m. event will be held Saturday, Feb. 9. Attendees can choose from classes such as Rabbi Melanie Aron lecturing on Hebrew poetry; Cantor David Unterman and Rabbi Paul Schleffer discussing Jewish mysticism; Rabbi Dana Magat’s lecture titled “Israel: What’s the Big Idea?”; and Rabbi David Levinsky leading a musical trip down memory lane in his exploration of 1970s-era Israeli rock.
Thanks to a grant from the Koret Foundation, the event is free. There will be coffee and desserts during the evening event — and they’re free, too.
“What I really love about this is it’s an opportunity for the community to get together across denominational lines and just interact, hang out, study together and, more than anything, see that what unites us is so much greater than what divides us,” said Rabbi Joshua Fenton, director of the JCC’s Center for Jewish Life and Learning.
Roughly 200 people showed up for last year’s inaugural event and Fenton hopes to meet and exceed that total this year. For more information, contact Fenton at (408) 357-7413.
Righteous Gentile gets Beth Jacob honor
Knud Dyby, a former Danish resistance fighter who ferried hundreds of Jews to safety during World War II, will be honored at Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City.
The 10 a.m. ceremony Saturday, Feb. 2 marks the Novato resident’s recent designation by Israel’s Yad Vashem as a Righteous Gentile, and will feature a speech by Israel Consul General David Akov. In addition to saving Jews, Dyby also helped to relocate thousands of resistance fighters and at least 30 downed Allied airmen into nearby Sweden.
Beth Jacob is located at 1550 Alameda de las Pulgas in Redwood City. Information: (650) 366-8481.
Volunteers for Israel making ‘urgent call’
Volunteers for Israel is “urgently requesting” participants to work on special projects in the north and south of Israel supporting the Israel Defense Forces.
Volunteers for the program have packed clothes, equipment and meals on Israeli bases for the past 25 years and are provided with free lodging and kosher meals.
For more information, contact (866) 514-1948 or email info@vfi-usa.org.
Israel Project offering media fellowship
The Israel Project is accepting applications for its fifth annual summer media fellowship, a paid two-month internship in Jerusalem or Washington focused on journalism, public relations and Israel advocacy.
The deadline is Feb. 15.
Throughout the summer, fellows help organize high-profile media events with top Israeli and U.S. officials; conduct research to assist Israel Project staff in their work with journalists; and spearhead innovative projects that educate the public about Israel.
The Israel Project Media Fellowship is open to undergraduate students who have completed two years of university; graduate students studying journalism or communications; and recent college graduates who are starting their careers in journalism or Israel advocacy.
The Israel Project is an international nonprofit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace.
Applications are available online at www.theisraelproject.org/mediafellows.
Where to get a dose of ‘Israelity’
Birthright Israel’s Israelity Tour will make three stops in Northern California:
• In San Francisco on Feb. 10 at Mezzanine, 444 Jessie St. Concert with Subliminal and the Tact Family, Coolooloosh, Michelle Citrin and Mo Mandel. Doors at 7:30 p.m., show at 8:30 p.m. Tickets: $15 advance, $25 at door. Tickets available at www.birthrightisrael.com.
• At U.C. Berkeley’s Lower Sproul Plaza on Feb. 11. Concert, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Free.
• At U.C. Santa Cruz, Stevenson Event Center, on Feb. 12. Cross-cultural roast and musical performance, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Free.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California