Congregation B'nai Emunah - San Francisco

Thanks to all BE participants in BIJ artisan AIMEE GOLANT: Metal Art & Judaica’s fundraiser! Aimee is very generously donating a portion of the sales to our joint BE-BIJ Jewish education efforts.

Waves of Love Mezuzot are coming in. We will keep you posted on program and pick-up dates. Thank you to everyone who participated in this project in honor of Rabbi Danny Gottlieb becoming emeritus. 💜🌈

Southside Jewish Collaborative

The J Weekly wrote an article about the decision to merge by Collaborative members Congregation B'nai Emunah - San Francisco and Congregation Beth Israel Judea, San Francisco!

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media2.giphy.com

Congregation Beth Israel Judea, San Francisco

A CONNECTED THANKSGIVING!
We know that for many of us the approach to Thanksgiving must raise up mixed feelings. We celebrate the values of this unique day, giving thanks and celebrating life itself - yet we will be apart from so many members of our family and circles of friends.

We will hold a joint BIJ/CBE Thanksgiving Gathering on this
Thursday morning, Thanksgiving Day at 11 AM. There will be several simple prayers, and some songs, reflections and music appropriate to the day. We will also make time to check-in with each other, to share from all who wish our thoughts, concerns, hopes.

We will open at 10.45 to allow for a little opening schmooze time. Rabbis Sami Barth and Danny Gottlieb will share in leading our simple program. If there is a large group, we will use break-out rooms for the personal sharing.

Join our Thanksgiving (Zoom) gathering by going to the Staying Connected with BIJ this Week email and clicking on the link.

Be healthy and safe one and all.

Yom Kippur Mincha

Yom Kippur Mincha Service starting now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M-PIppgBY0

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Yom Kippur morning service with B'nai Emunah and friends

Yom Kippur morning services are live now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIyw02c0AA

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[09/28/20]   Kol Nidrei services are live now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAneJfwWg68

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

🍯🍎 #CJHighHolidays: Wishing you and your loved ones a sweet, healthy, and prosperous new year. May we all be written in the Book of Life!

[09/20/20]   Rosh Hashanah Day 2 Services are being broadcast live, right now!

https://youtu.be/2YbcWLaQ0og

Rosh Hashanah Day 1 with B'nai Emunah and friends

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Erev Rosh Hashanah with B'nai Emunah and friends

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Gordon Mar 馬兆明

Our SF District 4 Supervisor, Gordon Mar 馬兆明, has tested positive for COVID-19. Mr. Mar is a friend of the Congregation who not only has visited our synagogue but also has participated in several events. We wish him safe and speedy recovery.

As all of us should, I’ve been getting tested regularly for COVID-19 since the onset of this public health crisis. Today, my test result came back positive for COVID-19. My family is getting tested immediately. Fortunately, my symptoms are minor, and I will continue to work remotely to serve our neighborhood and city.

Our public health orders are here to protect us—all of us—from this historic pandemic. I have worn a mask, followed public health guidelines, practiced social distancing, and been regularly tested. And still, none of us are immune from this pandemic. I am not the first person in San Francisco to contract COVID-19 without experiencing most symptoms, and I won’t be the last. We have a responsibility to be good neighbors and take every action we can to protect public health and slow the spread of this disease.

Socially distance. Wear a mask. Get tested. Stay home as much as possible.

As a parent, I know the challenges we face to take care of our kids, ourselves, our work, and our health. As a public servant, I know too many workers are terrified to get tested and potentially lose income if they test positive, and face impossible choices between their health and making ends meet. As a City official, I know we have a moral responsibility to do all we can as individuals, as a community, and as a City to protect families, workers, and residents in the face of our unprecedented public health and economic crises. And as a person, I know we yearn to see our friends, to lower our guard, to return to some sense of normalcy.

We cannot afford to lower our guard. These are not normal times, and we can’t act normally.

I will continue working remotely with my colleagues to expand critical protections for workers, businesses, and residents. I ask every person in San Francisco to please take this pandemic seriously, take the steps required by our public health orders, and take care.

Honors, happenings, comings & goings — August 2020 – J.

"Congregation B’nai Emunah and Congregation Beth Israel Judea, both of San Francisco, have announced the two-year appointment of Rabbi Samuel Barth to the position of transitional rabbi. He previously has served as an interim rabbi in Madison, Wisconsin; Buffalo, New York; and Minneapolis. He also taught liturgy and prayer at the Jewish Theological Seminary and served as a dean at the Academy for Jewish Religion. Barth and Beth Israel Judea’s Rabbi Danny Gottlieb will work together as Gottlieb begins to transition into the role of rabbi emeritus. B’nai Emunah celebrated its outgoing leader, Rabbi Pam Frydman, with a Zoom party on July 19. An email from the congregation noted that everyone was 'wishing her well as she pursues new challenges and adventures.' "

jweekly.com Honors The JCC of the East Bay has been awarded the Platinum Seal of Transparency by GuideStar, which collects and analyzes information on nonprofit organizations. Platinum is the highest level awarded, indicating an organization with a commitment to financial and operational transparency. Robinn Ma...

The Jewish Theological Seminary - JTS

Why does the Book of Ruth matter so much this #Shavuot? Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky on “the most human” book of the Bible #JTStorah http://www.jtsa.edu/ruths-torah-matters-now

Southside Jewish Collaborative

Chag Shavuot sameach! Happy Shavuot!

San Francisco Interfaith Council

Regional Shelter-in-Place Orders Extended Through May 31 as Some Rules Ease

Southside Jewish Collaborative

Yom HaAtzma'ut sameach / Happy quadruple-chai (72nd) Israeli Independence Day!

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/yom-haatzmaut-israel-independence-day/

SFMTA | San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

Are you a senior 65+ or person with a disability affected by Muni service cuts? You may qualify for our new Essential Trips Card. More information about the program and how to apply: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/accessibility/paratransit/essential-trip-card

San Francisco Interfaith Council

Face coverings are now required in San Francisco

*** PRESS RELEASE *** SAN FRANCISCO ISSUES NEW POLICY ON FACE COVERINGS

JFCS Holocaust Center

We’re proud to be one of the community sponsors for this event.

#WeRemember the faces that history threatens to forget. Join us and the Bay Area community on April 20th as we commemorate Yom HaShoah virtually for the very first time. Register here now: https://yom-hashoah2020.eventbrite.com

AJC - American Jewish Committee, Israel in San Francisco, Hamaqom The Place, Israeli American Council - IAC, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, JCRC of San Francisco, Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation, San Francisco Interfaith Council, Congregation B'nai Emunah - San Francisco, Congregation Sherith Israel, Sha'ar Zahav, Congregation Emanu-El, Congregation Beth Sholom, Contemporary Jewish Museum

Curry Senior Center

Curry would like to wish all of our Jewish clients, staff, and friends a happy and healthy Passover this year!

It was a joy to work with the teams at Congregation B'nai Emunah - San Francisco and Jewish Family and Children's Services to get Matzo and wonderful Passover cards (made by preschoolers) delivered to our clients all around San Francisco!!!

[03/13/20]   This month's L'Dor v'Dor Shabbat morning program is cancelled.

Invest in Peace

We were proud to be a co-sponsor for this wonderful concert!

Special thanks to the individuals and organizations who have joined our Harmony + Hope Benefit Concert as Co-Sponsors: Judy Gold Bloom, Irene & Regina Dick-Endrizzi, Congregation B'nai Emunah - San Francisco, Gia Daniller-Katz & Steve Katz, and Wendy and Doug Sinton

J. The Jewish News of Northern California

A new wave of an email scam that targets clergy and their congregants is targeting rabbis around the country. Several Northern California synagogues have been affected.

If you know of any additional local rabbis and synagogues that have been targeted, let us know in the comments.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California

Our anniversary is in the J.!

B'nai Emunah, founded by the German-speaking "Shanghailander" Jewish WWII refugees, is celebrating 70 years this month.

Serious Jews, Funny Jews: Stories

B'nai Emunahn Martin Lindauer has published a Kindle edition e-book, "Serious Jews, Funny Jews: Stories," available on Amazon.com for $0.99. "Serious Jews, Funny Jews" is a fiction collection of 30 short stories and tales that touch on Jewish life and experiences related to Jewish holidays and practices, the Bible, the Holocaust, family life, coming-of-age, growing old, and death, among other topics. About half of these stories have been previously published in literary magazines.

The easiest way to find it on Amazon is to use these key words: Martin Lindauer Jews. If you have a tablet, iPad, or Kindle, once you purchase the e-book it will be downloaded to your device. If you have a laptop or desktop computer, Amazon offers a free app so that you can read the e-book. A print copy is forthcoming.

Royalties will be donated to B'nai Emunah.

https://www.amazon.com/Serious-Jews-Funny-Stories-ebook/dp/B07Z9R77QT/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=martin+lindauer+jews&qid=1572718394&sr=8-1

amazon.com Serious Jews, Funny Jews is a fiction collection of 30 short stories and tales, about half previously published, that touch on Jewish life and experiences related to Jewish holidays and practices, the Bible, the Holocaust, family life, coming-of-age, and growing old, among other topics.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California

We were very happy to host this event about our community origins and heritage -- that of the Jews of Shanghai -- and we love that there remains so much interest in these stories of escape and survival.

The story prominently features B'nah Emunahn Shanghailanders Helga, Guenter, and Ilse (and granddaughter Izzy). Kudos to Past-President Sharon Bleviss, who co-organized the event with Susan Dean.

Three Jews who rode out World War II as refugees in Shanghai shared their stories at San Francisco’s Congregation B’nai Emunah on Sept. 8. The crowd included several generations of descendants who came to celebrate their stories — some perilous, some joyous.

JFCS Holocaust Center

Learn about the Jews of Shanghai and hear survivor testimony -- September 8th at Congregation B'nai Emunah - San Francisco!

A Tribute to Joseph Ambrus

@The Times of Israel carried Rabbi Pam Frydman's story, "A Tribute to Joseph Ambrus" -- about the late Joseph Ambrus and how Congregation B'nai Emunah - San Francisco, Congregation Ner Tamid, UCSF, Sinai Memorial Chapel, J. The Jewish News of Northern California, and Joseph's friends stepped up to perform the mitzvah of burying and honoring the dead. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-tribute-to-joseph-ambrus/

blogs.timesofisrael.com From the blog of Pamela Frydman at The Times of Israel

Conflicts Management Group | University Development

Since 2012, B'nai Emunah members Linda and Frank Kurtz have endowed an annual scholarship at SFSU for students who attend classes or major in Jewish Studies. The scholarship in memory of Linda's beloved brother, Bernie, who lost his life during the Vietnam War.

In 2017, Frank and Linda attended an event entitled "Collaboration Through Differences: Campus Dialogue" which was organized by SFSU Professor (and fellow B'nai Emunah member) Victoria Chen. Victoria held the event in partnership with the 80 students enrolled in her Dialogue Across Difference class. Moved by this approach, Linda and Frank have begun underwriting small intensive workshops for SFSU students facilitated by Professor Chen in the area of conflict management.

See this inspiring article about the endowment and their conflict resolution efforts: http://develop.sfsu.edu/conflicts-management-group.

develop.sfsu.edu Linda and Frank Kurtz INSPIRING UNDERSTANDING THROUGH SPONSORING CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AT SF STATE Like the United States, San Francisco State University is a rich mixture of cultures, perspectives, and beliefs —which sometimes erupt in conflict. Although difficult, these conflicts can offer the com...

Chag Pesach sameach / Happy Passover!