Our Stories

Secrets kept, secrets revealed as the main character dies in two debut novels

Secrets kept, secrets revealed in two debut novels Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. When somebody close to us dies, we cannot predict the shadow that the loss will cast. Two new debut novels explore the aftermath of losing a loved…...

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Search for Lost Bible Scrolls brings San Francisco Author Back Home

Search for Lost Bible Scrolls brings San Francisco Author Back Home The Federation is pleased to announce that its 2020 Anne and Robert Cowan Writers Prize will be given to Chanan Tigay for his book The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt for the World’s Oldest Bible....

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We ARE the Leaders We Need Right Now

We ARE the Leaders We Need Right Now – eJewish Philanthropy By Nicole Nevarez, with Jamie Allen Black and Naomi Eisenberger “Where are the Jewish leaders who speak for women?” Dr. Susannah Heschel asks this critical question in her July 27th opinion piece in the Forward. She celebrates Rep. Alexandria…...

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New biographies paint portraits of two Jewish luminaries (one with S.F. ties)

New biographies paint portraits of two Jewish luminaries Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. We depend on biographies to bring giants to our level and offer us entry into otherwise inaccessible worlds. I was glad to see the recent publications of…...

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David’s farewell message

Dear friends, When I began at the Bureau of Jewish Education thirteen years ago, every community survey announced with ever-greater alarm that the Jewish people were sliding  toward oblivion.   Throughout our history, “there was hardly a generation in the Diaspora that did not consider itself the final link in Israel’s chain,”…...

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1980s Soviet Jewry activist turns his eyes toward a battle for today: Black Lives Matter

By David Waksberg Originally from the j. Jewish News of Northern California When I was a teenager, I wore a huge Jewish star around my neck, and on it was the name of Mark Dymshitz, a Soviet Jewish prisoner of conscience. One day, an African American friend of mine stopped…...

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A Round Up of Jewish Virtual Programming for Teens in the Bay Area

Debra Sagan Massey, Senior Educator at Jewish LearningWorks in San Francisco, has for the last year been holding regular pop-up meetings for Jewish educators working with teens. As a result of the pandemic crisis, these meetings have recently gone virtual, but have, as a result, become fertile ground for sharing…...

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Daughters of the Holocaust uncover old stories in new memoirs

Daughters of the Holocaust uncover old stories in new memoirs – J. Jews place a premium on remembering, and particularly so when it comes to the Holocaust. But how can we recall what we never learned? Two outstanding new memoirs by daughters of Holocaust survivors focus on uncovering the stories…...

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Class dismissed: Jewish LearningWorks CEO David Waksberg retires

Originally published in J. Jewish News of Northern California – May 28, 2020 Around the time David Waksberg became CEO of the Bureau of Jewish Education 13 years ago, he had a heart-to-heart with a colleague. And not just any old colleague. He called former Soviet Jewish refusenik Natan Sharansky.…...

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Be the campfire for our teens

When I accepted the position of CEO at Jewish LearningWorks, I was motivated by optimism about the future of our work, elevating the art of Jewish teaching and the practice of Jewish learning. In spite of this historical moment, I continue to be driven by that optimism. Though none of…...

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