July 2007
Is There a Congregation for You? By Dawn Kepler
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File photo / Lloyd Wolf Copyright: UJC
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Do you wonder whether you can find your place in the Jewish community? Is there a synagogue for you? Will there be people like you when you get there?
On a recent Friday night a friend of mine had his adult bar mitzvah. My friend is gay and specifically chose a date with a Torah portion that he found particularly relevant and wanted to speak about. He was magnificent! But it was not just his chanting and his speech that made the evening feel so filled with joy. I took a moment to reflect on who was in the sanctuary.
He had the opportunity to invite friends to participate in the reading of the Torah. He had chosen one of the oldest women in the congregation, a tiny woman who walked slowly and proudly up to the bimah to chant the blessing. He had also chosen my college age daughter who came home for the weekend. His partner sat with their twins, age 2 ½, their big eyes taking in everything. I also noted that there were at least 10 Jews-by-Choice in the pews, and a number of non-Jewish members. What an abundance of joy... [Continued]
The Righteous Gentile Spouse
By Julie Wiener
It was erev Yom Kippur, and Joe and I were eating Chinese take-out with my father. Since I am breast-feeding 3-month-old Sophie, I had a free pass to guiltlessly chow down on steamed vegetables with garlic sauce. Not being Jewish, Joe had no reason to fast. And I don’t think it has ever occurred to my ultra-secular dad to forego food on Yom Kippur.
We were skipping Kol Nidre services, but the plan was to go to shul in the morning, at least to take our daughters to children’s services. “I guess I should try to be more enthusiastic about it, at least for the kids,” said Joe, who loves reading about religion, but has an almost allergic reaction to pews of all kinds, thanks to a childhood of forced Mass attendance... [Continued]
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Summer is here and the overall Jewish community is pretty quiet in July. Why? Because, as an ancient agricultural culture, July was the month we spent in the fields tending the crops and the flocks. Fast forward a few thousand years and we still get the summer off... [Continued]
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For movie buffs, July brings a bonanza of compelling, evocative and simply entertaining films to the Bay Area. The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival runs from July 19 to August 6 in San Francisco, Berkeley, Palo Alto and San Rafael. San Francisco, the home of the 27-year-old festival, can boast the longest run and the most films – all shown at the Castro Theater... [Continued]
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Congregation Kol Shofar, in Tiburon, is a Conservative congregation that has a significant number of interfaith families on its membership role – probably more than any other Conservative temple in the Bay Area, according to program director Michael Saxe-Taller... [Continued]
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When Lesli Sachs moved from Berkeley to El Granada in 1993, she was startled to find there was no visible Jewish community in the area. Without hesitation, Sachs mobilized for a community-wide Hanukah party. To her surprise, more than 60 people attended, and this event marked the beginning of what became the Coastside Jewish Community... [Continued]
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