Dear Interfaith Families and Friends,
Find the good
A member of this list commented on the negative news she was reading about interfaith issues in the Jewish community in some of the national newsletters. Let me say to all of you what I said to her: Stop! Don’t read bad news. Don’t look for bad news. There are so many good people trying to bring about positive change. Be with the do-gooders; we’re better company. As Gandhi said: Be the change you want to see.
Here’s something good to warm your heart:
Rabbis, imams meet in New York
http://www.jta.org/cgi bin/iowa/breaking/105185.html
Christmas is coming
We are heading into the massive HOLIDAY SEASON. Some of you have got your process nailed. You know just where you’ll go, with whom and what you’ll do there. Others of you are not so sure. Feel free to call me and we can talk through the options you’re considering. The closer we get to the big day – and yes, I mean Christmas day – the more you need to let go of your agenda and be easy on each other. It may be that just doing the same thing you did last year - whatever that was - is easier than trying to create a brand new plan now. Christmas is very charged for many people – Jewish and Christian. Look for common ground. Look for things you can both enjoy - it could be just playing board games, going to the movies, eating an ice cream sundae.
And, as I said, just call me if you feel like it.
510-839-2900 x347
925-943-1484
EVENTS
Exploring Other Religions (San Francisco)
Tot Shabbat (San Mateo)
Zionism 101 (Los Altos)
Jerusalem: Past, Present and Future (Oakland)
Ten Questions for Rabbi Bridget (El Cerrito)
Shabbat Unplugged (Oakland)
The December Dilemma (San Francisco)
Free Workshop for Parents & Teens (San Rafael)
Finding God in the Heart of the Other: the Queerness of Interfaith Relationships (San Francisco)
To Tree or Not to Tree (Alameda)
Cantorial Concert (San Rafael)
Got Shabbat? Dinner and service (Lafayette)
Community Shabbat Dinner (San Mateo)
Kindergarten Information Night (Oakland)
The Chuppah and Beyond (San Francisco)
Interfaith Sex: Eroticism and our Queer Bodies (San Francisco)
Exploring Other Religions
Discussions with Bay Area Religious Leaders
Each week of this six-week Emanu-Elective, a different religious leader will come to us. They will enlighten the group on the basic beliefs, origins, observances, worship service, and ritual objects of their faith, and answer our questions.
Special guests for remaining weeks are:
November 14 - Kathy Kelley, Spiritual Assembly of Baha’i in San Francisco;
November 28 - Gurbux Kahlon, Lay Leader, El Sobrante Sikh Temple
Dates: Wednesdays, Nov. 14 and 28
Time: 7:00 – 8:45pm
Place: Emanuel, 2 Lake St., San Francisco, 5th floor classroom
Or come at 6:30 pm. Bring a brown bag dinner and we will supply drinks and cookies. No charge. For more information, please contact Frana Price at (415) 751-2541 x151 or fprice@emanuelsf.org.
Tot Shabbat
Celebrate Shabbat with the rabbis and the cantor. A morning service filled with songs and stories, an oneg Shabbat snack, and time on the playground! Tot Shabbat mets every third Saturday of the month, do come again!
Date: Saturday, Nov. 17
Time: 9am
Place: Peninsula Temple Beth El, 1700 Alameda de las Pulgas, San Mateo
For more information call 650-341-7701.
Zionism 101
with Rabbi Zweiback
It’s an idea powerful enough to give birth to a nation. It’s controversial. It’s always in the news. It means different things to different people. Discover what it means to you. Learn about the origins of the word “Zionism,” what it has come to mean, and what it might mean in the future. All in three engaging, participatory sessions—not a bad deal. No prior study of Zionism required or assumed.
Date: Sunday, Nov 18, Dec 2 & 9
Time: 9-11 am
Place: Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Rd, Los Altos Hills
Synagogue office: 650-493-4661
Jerusalem: Past, Present and Future
Join Jerusalem-based journalist, Judy Lash Balint, as she weaves together the historical, cultural, and political elements of Judaism’s most important city. Ms. Balint’s experienced intellectual grasp of what this entails is excellent. She is the author of Jerusalem Diaries, Volumes I and II, has written extensively for The Jerusalem Report, The Seattle Times, and The Christian Science Monitor, and has appeared as a featured guest on CNN.
Date: Nov. 19
Time: 7:30pm
Place: Beth Jacob, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland
A $10 donation is requested.
For more information call the syagogue at 510-482-1147.
Co-sponsored by Temple Sinai of Oakland.
Ten Questions for Rabbi Bridget
What have you always wanted to ask a rabbi?
What do you "not get" about Judaism and Jewish life?
Rabbi Bridget will answer the first ten questions submitted!
Join us Nov. 23 for dinner and the answers -- Come eat, laugh, and learn at our no-experience-necessary Shabbat dinner.
Date: Friday, Nov. 23
Time: 6:15pm (gather at 6:15, 6:30 - Candle lighting and dinner, 7:30 - Lively, interactive discussion with Rabbi Bridget, as she answers your ten questions
Place: JGate's cozy home near El Cerrito Plaza and BART station
Space is limited. RSVP required. Contact Rabbi Bridget Wynne at JGate, (510) 559-8140, or rabbibridget@jgate.org, with your question and your RSVP, and get directions and your food assignment for our potluck Shabbat dinner. If your schedule doesn't allow you to bring a dish to share, we'd like to offer you the option of contributing $7 towards the dinner instead. Childcare available.
Shabbat Unplugged
Enjoy an evening of acoustic and vocal davening (praying) with Rabbi Bloom and an assortment of talented congregant musicians. Ruach (spirit) is the order of the evening!
Date: Friday, Nov. 23
Time: 6:15pm
Place: Chapel at Temple Beth Abraham, 327 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland
Call for more information 510-832-0936
The December Dilemma
The December holidays present special challenges for interfaith and conversionary couples as well as for individuals who find their anxiety levels rising at this time of year. Join us for a lively workshop addressing some of these issues and demonstrating communications techniques that may be useful in resolving them.
Date: Tuesday, November 27
Time: 7 – 9pm
Place: Sherith Israel, Labe Lounge, 2266 California Street, San Francisco
For more information or to sign up, please contact Aviva Hicks at ahicks@sherithisrael.org or 415-346-1720 ext. 24.
Free Workshop for Parents & Teens
with Joanne Greene
Each two-hour session will include activities and discussion. Discussions will include topics such as “Parenting (Jewish) Teenagers,” “Adolescent Development,” “Our Changing Roles & Relationships,” “Improving Communication,” and “Friends, Culture and Risk Behavior.”
Registration is required; contact Claire@rodefsholom.org. There is a required book, “Please Stop the Roller Coaster!: How Parents of Teenagers can Smooth Out the Ride,” by Sue Blaney.
Dates: Tuesdays, November 27, and December 4
Time: 7 to 9pm
Place: JCC Library, 200 No. San Pedro Rd., San Rafael
For more information call 415-444-8000
Finding God in the Heart of the Other: the Queerness of Interfaith Relationships
led by Karen Lee Erlichman, MSS, LCSW
How do we experience ourselves and our partners as the Other, and how does that influence boundaries, identity and intimacy? In this workshop we will explore ways in which LGBTQ interfaith relationships offer possibilities and pathways for connecting more deeply to our spirituality, to God, and with each other.
(Part of the Workshop Series for Queer Interfaith Couples and their Friends)
Date: Nov. 28
Time: 7pm
Place: Sha’ar Zahav, 290 Dolores St., San Francisco
Call the synagogue for more information at 415-861-6932.
To Tree or Not to Tree
What Will You do for the Holidays?
You may want to decorate a Christmas tree while your partner wants to make latkes. What will work for you as a family? Whether December is your favorite month – full of Christmas cookies and chocolate gelt – or your most dreaded month – material surfeit – you are invited to join an open and supportive discussion on how to handle the December adventure.
Led by Dawn Kepler, Building Jewish Bridges
Date: Saturday, Dec. 1
Time: 7 to 8:30pm
Place: Temple Israel, 3183 Mecartney Rd., Alameda
Cost: $10/couple
For more information contact Dawn at 510-839-2900 x347 or dawn@jfed.org
Cantorial Concert
An afternoon of music that salutes the great Jewish composers of our age from Gershwin to Weil, followed by a festive reception. Featured artists include Cantor David Margules, Cantor Jennifer Frost of Chicago, Cantor Jonathan Grant of Newport Beach, CA, and Cantor Ida Rae Cahana of Portland, Oregon.
Date: Sunday, December 2
Time: 4 pm
Place: Rodef Sholom, 170 No. San Pedro Road, San Rafael
Please RSVP to Jerrine by November 21 at (415) 479-3441
Free of charge.
Got Shabbat?
Come for pizza dinner, songs, and a family-friendly service. We’ll dance at the oneg and then eat dessert! We’ll be having doughnuts for Chanukah!
(Please consider bringing an un-wrapped holiday gift for families who can’t afford gifts at the holiday season.)
Date: Friday, Dec. 7
Time: 6pm Pizza dinner, 6:30pm singing, services and dessert
Place: Temple Isaiah, 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette
Cost is $18 per family or $10 for an individual. Please send in your money to:
Temple Isaiah (Got Shabbat), 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette, 94549
For more info call the synagogue at 925-283-8575.
If this is your first time and you feel confused, just as to speak to Michael. He will take care of you. You can tell him I told you to ask for him.
Community Shabbat Dinner
Join the members of Peninsula Temple Beth El, their friends and family for a delicious dinner. Held every month on the second Friday night, you are welcome to join this inter-generational dinner. December’s dinner will have the first graders participating in services.
Date: Friday, Dec. 8
Time: dinner at 5:30pm, and services at 6:15pm.
Place: Peninsula Temple Beth El, 1700 Alameda de las Pulgas, San Mateo
Cost: Adults are $5, children are $3. Please send an RSVP email to fstahl@templebethel.org or call 650-931-0775. RSVP by the preceding Tuesday!
Kindergarten Information Night
Oakland Hebrew Day School is holding a gathering for parents only.
Date: Wed., Jan 9
Time: 7 to 9pm
Place: Oakland Hebrew Day School, 5500 Redwood Rd., Oakland
For details call Melanie Marcus at 510-531-8600 x26 or email mmarcus@ohds.org
The Chuppah and Beyond
for Engaged and Newly-Married Couples Are you getting married? Are you recently married? Emanu-El presents "The Chuppah and Beyond," a six week series for engaged or newly married couples. We are providing you with a great opportunity to meet other couples and share Jewish traditions together. Facilitated by our Family Programs Coordinator, Leslie Ticktin, and our Congregation Emanu-El Clergy, these classes will help you enhance your communication, learn the principles of good financial planning, and develop the necessary skills to foster a long, happy, loving relationship. Join us as we help you plan your future together!
Dates: 6 sessions: Jan. 7, 14, 28, Feb. 4,11, 25.
Time: call for time
Place: Emanuel, 2 Lake St., San Francisco
The cost for the 6-week series is $36 for members and $48 for non-members. If you are interested in learning more, please send an email with your names, wedding date (if you have one), phone number and mailing address to Leslie Ticktin at lticktin@emanuelsf.org .
Interfaith Sex: Eroticism and our Queer Bodies
led by Karen Lee Erlichman, MSS, LCSW
How do we experience the Divine in our bodies and our sexuality in a queer interfaith relationship? What is interfaith sex? In this workshop we discuss how our respective religious, cultural and spiritual identities impact our body image, our erotic desire, and how we experience sexuality in interfaith LGBTQ relationships.
(Part of the Workshop Series for Queer Interfaith Couples and their Friends)
Date: Jan. 16, 2008
Time: 7pm
Place: Sha’ar Zahav, 290 Dolores St., San Francisco
Call the synagogue for more information at 415-861-6932.
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Dawn C. Kepler, Director
Building Jewish Bridges: Outreach to Interfaith Couples
300 Grand Ave.
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 839-2900 x347 or (925) 943-1484
www.jfed.org/bjb
