Tell the people in San Francisco: they are saving lives

The Federation recently put out a new promotional piece showcasing some of our work in Israel:

To see the PDF of the above, click here.

For a more complete picture of the Federation’s oversees commitments, click here.

The beginnings of a new season

Our Jewish festivals and Shabbat are sometimes perfect metaphors for the experiences of our daily lives. Simchat Torah, which we celebrated about 10 days ago, is about the unending joyous cycle of completing the Torah and beginning anew, immediately – much like the ideal annual Federation cycle.

Each of our departments, and all the staff, lay leaders, volunteers and donors who support them, work cyclically – the campaign, allocations, and endowment cycles end, and then just as quickly begin anew. One would hope this would occur as it happens with the Simchat Torah celebration – seamlessly and naturally and, of course, joyfully.

So in that vein, bereshit, the first book of Genesis, was very fitting for me this past weekend, as it is all about building and creating. Were I as good as the Creator, I would have already completed our most important priorities; after all, the entire work of creation was completed in 6 days, and I’ve already had 7 business days since taking the helm as Acting CEO.

But one step at a time. First of all, I want you to be more aware and informed about our activities. To that end, we will be sending you more frequent, transparent, and substantive communications. I have been meeting with our staff, lay leaders, donors, volunteers and members of our community in every possible venue. In the past few days alone, I’ve attended meetings with our Educating and Engaging Commission, Caring Commission, and South Peninsula Regional Council, and the Women’s Philanthropy Retreat. Along with many meetings with staff, community leaders and philanthropists, I’ve met with our Audit Committee, Endowment Executive Committee, Restricted Funds Committee, and Leadership Development, to name just a few.

JCF Acting CEO Jennifer Gorovitz was pinned as a Lion of Judah by her mother at the recent Lion of Judah Luncheon.

Just yesterday, I had the enormous pleasure of speaking with the Lions of Judah and those who have endowed their annual campaign gifts. The schedule has been fast-paced, and at the same time exhilarating, as I am meeting and connecting with so many people passionate about their involvement in Federation.

This past Sunday, I spoke at the dedication of Federation Way at the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life amidst an incredible celebration of the Campus and the Oshman JCC. What an incredible achievement for our community!

To have seen the enthusiasm and engagement of hundreds of Federation’s committed volunteers, donors and leaders over the past week stirs my thoughts about Federation Way, which I shared with those in attendance. Just as Federation Way literally connects individuals to our common heritage, our shared values and, in turn, to our community, so do you connect to one another and to the broader Jewish community in the vital work of the Federation and Endowment Fund – you are the expression of what it means to be in community.

In the coming weeks I will be writing about our plans for an integrated annual fundraising and endowment campaign. I want to sneak a word in now to let you know we will be launching a Centennial campaign in honor of our long history, and I want you to be involved as an ambassador and fundraiser. The proud celebration of our first 100 years and the new beginnings and seeds we will be planting for the next 100 years will be intertwined with everything we do over the next year.

I look forward to working with you, and I am humbly grateful for all you do on behalf of our Jewish community.

Celebrating the grand opening of the Oshman Family JCC

‘Wow!’ was the expression for many people who first stepped into the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center (OFJCC) in Palo Alto on Sunday, October 18.  Celebrating its grand opening, the JCC offered an array of free entertainment and activities for all ages.  The entire day attracted hundreds of South Peninsula community members who have been anxiously waiting for this all inclusive new “Jewish neighborhood.”

They had something for everyone, from teens to seniors to families with young children. Located in the south end of Palo Alto, the OFJCC has significantly improved its educational, cultural, and recreational programming, and now offers everything from Melton classes to Hebrew storytelling to cardio kickboxing.

From left: John Freidenrich, Lisa Gurwitch, Mark Reisbaum, Bruce Landgarten, Carol Saal, Jim Koshland, Jennifer Gorovitz, and David Friedman on the brand new Federation Way.

The South Peninsula Region of the Jewish Community Federation, whose new region offices will be located on the campus, also participated in the day’s festivities by hosting a reception brunch for a select group of more than 50 dedicated donors, demonstrating our gratitude for their continued support.  Donors, lay leaders and staff joined in a dedication and naming of “Federation Way” and the main stairways. Federation President Jim Koshland, who was a gracious emcee, welcomed everyone and introduced all the speakers. John Freidenrich said a few eloquent words about the Jewish Community Endowment Fund. David Friedman spoke on behalf of the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life, and Federation Acting CEO, Jennifer Gorovitz made inspirational remarks regarding the work  of the Jewish Federation. All attendees of the reception walked away proud and smiling, a true measure of the successful and memorable event.

“We’re excited to share our new home with the entire South Peninsula community,” said Alan Sataloff, CEO of the OFJCC. “It’s been a long time in coming, and now it’s time to celebrate.”

Gratz Fellows begin professional development

This fall, under the leadership of Director Janet Harris, the Federation’s Early Childhood Education Initiative (ECEI) took a significant step toward improving early childhood education in the Bay Area.

Twelve teachers, most in their 20’s and 30’s, began a two-year online program to receive their Certificate in Jewish Early Childhood Education through a partnership formed by ECEI and Gratz College in Philadelphia.

The program began on October 18 and 19 when the new Gratz Fellows participated in a retreat at Westerbeke Ranch in Sonoma to build relationships among themselves and the teaching staff to enhance their online learning experience. One participant expressed her doubts before the retreat, asking what could possibly be accomplished in 24 hours? Her response at the end of the retreat . . . “Magic!”

Gratz Fellows participated in a weekend retreat aimed at enhancing their online learning experience.

This certification program is the first step toward supporting professional development for our Early Childhood Jewish educators, one of four key focus areas of ECEI.

“Educating young children and their families is the beginning of a link that will connect them to their past and future,” says Harris. “We, as a community, have to work together and own the problem so the youngest children get the best education possible.”

To reach that goal as a community, ECEI was created by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay, and the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley.

Scholarships for the certificate program were generously funded by the Jewish Community Endowment Fund; retreats and a community of practice meetings take place thanks to funding from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund. The Bureau of Jewish Education partners the project.

For more information contact Jasmine at jasmineb@sfjcf.org or 415.499.1223 x8105.

300 young adults celebrate Simchat Torah!

For 2 hours every month, The Cellar closes its doors to the public and hosts an exclusive event for anyone Jewish and single, ages 21-40. The night, called Second Saturday, is known as the “longest running party for the young Jewish community in San Francisco” and is all about us – the young Jewish community in the Bay Area.

On October 10, over 300 young adults gathered at The Cellar to celebrate Simchat Torah and happiness in an unforgettable production called SIMCHA! which brought a taste of Israel to the Jewish young adult community in a fresh and exciting way.

The Israeli-themed SIMCHA! party drew over 300 young adults.

The festivities included Israeli snacks, Israeli video art, a raffle for a $100 dinner at Boulevard restaurant, and two amazing DJs – Second Saturday’s great house D.J. Josh Abrams, and Israeli D.J. Moshe Bonen from Maydalleh, who came straight from New York and brilliantly spun Hebrew music.

Part of the proceeds from the evening is being donated to the LGBT youth center in Tel Aviv. The special evening was a joint effort with Tzavta, the Israel Center’s young adult division, supported by the Helen Diller Family Foundation.

For more Tzavta programming information contact Lital at litalc@sfjcf.org or 415.512.6425.

Mishmash engages new Russian-Jewish community leaders

This past Saturday, twenty-three 20- and 30-something San Francisco Bay Area Russian Jews ascended a steep hill in the heart of Mill Valley to start off their collective involvement in the Mishmash Leadership Program, a ground-breaking effort to engage potential new leaders among young Russian Jews.

The Mishmash Leadership Program is truly one of a kind, not just in the Bay Area but in North America. The eight-month long course aims to raise communal consciousness in the younger population of the Russian Jews, most of them products of late ’70s and early ’90s immigration tides. Culturally diverse and multilingual, Mishmash participants have signed up to tackle complex questions about core values and responsibilities of being young Russian-American Jews in our community.

Russian Jewish community leaders engage through the Mishmash program

The visionary behind this educational project, Sasha Belinski, an emissary from The Jewish Agency for Israel, working out of the Federation’s Israel Center, built the Mishmash Leadership curriculum around the mission of strengthening the participants’ Jewish identity, their connection to Israel, and their sense of belonging to the local Jewish community. To reach these goals, the program is structured around three core components: personal exploration, Jewish community exploration, and personal leadership initiative. The last component will take shape as a communal project—ranging from a cultural event, to an outdoor adventure or Jewish holiday celebration—that each participant will conceive, plan and deliver as a mindful contribution to the quality of local Jewish life.

For more information contact Sasha at alexandrab@sfjcf.org or 415.512.6285.

Our work in Israel

For more than two decades, JCF has partnered with Israelis to build a more pluralistic, just and vibrant democracy.

For the past 25 years, the Jewish Community Federation has helped Israel and its people face enormous challenges. By pioneering a partnership with Israelis, we help ensure that its citizens have access to equal opportunities, build a greater acceptance for different approaches to Judaism and adapt productively into Israeli society.

We help transform the lives of tens of thousands of Israelis by creating economic empowerment, promoting religious pluralism, teaching tolerance and connecting a new generation of youth to their homeland.

JCF provides leadership, shares its expertise and dedicates financial resources enabling Jews from the Bay Area and Israel to become more knowledgeable about, supportive of, and deeply engaged with one another. By investing community dollars directly in Israel while working closely with an Israeli advisory committee—the Amuta—we strengthen Israel by granting millions annually to projects that fund programs that reflect our shared values. In 2009-2010 more than $9.5 million has been allocated in support of Israel, demonstrating Federation’s enduring commitment to its security and survival. Funds go directly to programs that: connect Israel and the Bay Area (through Israel Center and events like Israel in the Gardens), provide equality of opportunity, provide job training, give academic access, develop leadership, close educational gaps, respond quickly and effectively to emergency needs and promoting Jewish pluralism for disadvantaged or marginalized populations.

Our work throughout Israel will help to build a more inclusive, stronger and vibrant state.

We are proud that our Bay Area Federation’s initiatives provide a chance for every child in Israel to have a brighter future, offer families integration into the social and economic mainstream and sow the seeds from which a safer and more secure Israel will bloom.

Setting the record straight

Months have passed since the Jewish Film Festival’s screening of Rachel and emotions continue to run high. The Jewish Community Federation has been frequently implicated and targeted in the controversies surrounding the film.

We have learned a great deal from this experience and should have more clearly articulated our position sooner and elaborated on steps the Federation has been taking. Although the Federation’s allocation, made many months prior to the 2009 Festival, provided 1.7% of the Film Festival’s funding, some in our community saw the Federation’s participation as having a greater significance.

We are committed to improving our communication, transparency and responsiveness. So, given the barrage of misinformation, let us set the record straight:

• We are unwavering in our commitment to Israel. Last year, $9.5 million was allocated in support of Israel. We were the first Jewish federation to establish its own office in Israel. For more information on our Israel programs, please see
  http://www.sfjcf.org/howthemoney/programs/#israeloverseas

• We oppose the boycott/divestments/sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. We do not affiliate with or fund groups that advocate for the BDS movement.

• We value the contributions the Film Festival has made to Bay Area Jewish life. The Rachel event should not overshadow the Film Festival’s successful 29 year history.

• We believe that the Film Festival made significant mistakes in its handling of the Rachel event and have conveyed our concerns accordingly.

• We strongly disagree with the Film Festival’s choice of Rachel Corrie’s mother as the event speaker as well as the co-presenters and deplore the rancorous and offensive behavior of anti-Israel attendees at the event.

• The Federation does not, nor should it, participate in the planning of Film Festival programming or in the choice of films. The Federation is a separate legal entity, funding the mission of the Film Festival. We are one of more than 115 organizational contributors to the Festival, including KGO and the Consulate General of Israel.

• We have urged Film Festival leadership to adopt new policies and procedures to ensure that the specific problems associated with the Rachel event do not happen again, including policies addressing choice of co-presenters and speakers.

• We believe that the Federation’s many stakeholders can share diverse opinions on how best to support Israel as a secure Jewish democracy, while remaining civil and connected as a community.

• The Federation is surprised and concerned by the counter-productive assertions of a relatively few community members, who, in the name of a pro-Israel campaign, have urged the broader community to discontinue support of the Federation. We have received letters filled with personal insults, some even accusing the Federation of anti-Semitism, Nazism, or anti-Zionism. If successful, this campaign will seriously undermine the critical programs we support both here and in Israel.

We ask you to join us in ending divisive accusations and rhetoric. The abiding mission of the Federation remains a positive and hopeful one: to build and strengthen Jewish education, culture and identity here in the Bay Area and in Israel. With the needs being more acute than ever during these unpredictable economic times, together, and only together, can we rise to the challenge.

Jim Koshland
President, Jewish Community Federation

F. Warren Hellman
Chair, Jewish Community Endowment Fund

Jennifer Gorovitz
Acting CEO, Jewish Community Federation

Grand opening for a grand JCC

The Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto (OFJCC) will celebrate its grand opening on Sunday, October 18, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. by offering an array of activities for all ages. “Treasures of the Oshman Family JCC” will showcase the JCC’s programs and facilities at its new home on the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life at 3921 Fabian Way in Palo Alto.

The long-awaited new campus of the Palo Alto JCC will be the main hub for a rich variety of cultural and community programs for the South Peninsula Jewish community, and it houses the new Israel Cultural Connection (ICC), which operates in partnership with the Jewish Community Federation’s Israel Center.

The day’s activities will entice people to wander the 8.5 acre campus and discover its “Treasures,” including yoga classes, Israeli folk music, lectures, and hands-on art projects. Kids and adults can complete a treasure map and enter to win prizes along the way. A full day of musical performances will take place in the Albert & Janet Schultz Cultural Arts Hall and tours of the campus highlighting its secrets and stories will be given in English, Russian, and Hebrew.

The concerts will include a performance of the Israel Center’s production of Tel Aviv from Sand to Rock, celebrating Tel Aviv’s centennial with YaRock band, a performance of the Bay Area-based MusiCA band, of the a capella ensemble Vocolot, Klezmer and Yiddish music, previews of the upcoming Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival and an outdoor concert by the world-renowned Moran Choir from Israel will close out the day.

All opening-day entertainment and activities are FREE.

See the full schedule, and learn more at www.paloaltojcc.org

The Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life was awarded a $10,000,000 grant from the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties in June 2006.  The grant is the largest to a capital project grant awarded in the Fund’s history.

Spotlight on Ruby Cymrot-Wu! A Bay Area LGBT Jewish Leader!

Ruby Cymrot-Wu is a queer Jewish leader, educator and organizer. She is a San Francisco native, a life-long member of Reform Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, graduate of Brandeis Hillel Day School, Lick-Wilmerding High School, Smith College and a current student at San Francisco State University. Recently she joined the incredible staff at Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative (TEEI). In the past few years, Cymrot-Wu has worked closely with Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, Progressive Jewish Alliance, and Kol Tzedek, rallying Jews statewide to fight for equality for LGBTQ folks. As an educator and trainer with Temple Sinai of Oakland Religious School and COLAGE she has developed youth empowerment curricula to provide Anti-Bias educational programming.

SF native Ruby Cymrot-Wu recently joined the incredible team at the Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative (TEEI).

TEEI is a unique collaborative partnership including  Jewish Vocational Service (JVS), the San Francisco LGBT Community Center  (The Center), the Transgender Law Center (TLC) and San Francisco Transgender Empowerment, Advocacy, and Mentorship (SF TEAM).  Each partner organization brings to TEEI a wealth of community expertise designed to help transgender individuals find stable jobs that provide a living wage, benefits, and opportunities for advancement. TEEI has been successful in placing a number of Trans and gender nonconforming indiviudals in the Jewish community.

“The work TEEI is doing in our community is quite extraordinary” said Cymrot-Wu. “I am honored to be part of a unique coalition that works to ensure people of all gender identities have access to the things we all need – jobs that provide opportunities for innovation and self-expression, jobs that pay our bills, and jobs that provide comprehensive health benefits so we may live healthy, full lives.”