That's me with my Shmuroh matzah at first night seder.
Dear Interfaith Families and Friends,
We are in the middle of Passover. You may have read that we’re having a matzah shortage here in the bay area. No one is sure just why. But it would be nice to share with friends who have run out. Just remember that you can still eat all the fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, cheeses, yogurt and quinoa that you like. We tend to think of Passover as a bread-deprived time. But you could just think of it as a very healthy week.
What shall we eat this week?
I’ll post some non-traditional but very delicious recipes online. Oh, what the heck, I’ll post some traditional ones too -- see below this post.
Speaking of food... a small tirade about getting back to the good food
Food issues
by Rob Eshman, Editor in Chief
The Jewish Journal
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=19205
An update to the Haggadah
Rabbi Ferenc Raj, rabbi emeritus of Beth El in Berkeley, is a Rescued Child, rescued by Raoul Wallenberg in Hungary. From him I learned the following blessing that can be added to your haggadah. You can open your front door and say it out into the world or just say it to your assembled friends.
Pour Out Your Love
Pour out your love on the nations who have know you and on the kingdoms who call upon your name. For they show loving-kindness to the seed of Jacob and they defend your people Israel from those who would devour them alive. May they live to see the sukkah of peace spread over your chosen ones and to participate in the joy of your nations.
Why is Passover so Popular a Holiday?
Two SF Chron articles have stated, mistakenly, that Passover is the most observed Jewish holiday because it is a home based observance. Wrong. ALL of Jewish observance is home based since the fall of the second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 of the common era. There is NO JEWISH HOLIDAY that can’t be done in your home. In fact the rabbis teach that the kitchen table is now the altar for Jewish families. That means YOUR kitchen table, where you eat, and the rabbis hope - bless, rejoice, give thanks and welcome friends.
The reason for Passover’s wide observance among Jews, religious and secular, is that it is our core story - the story of the Exodus. The Hagadah says that we are to teach our children, “this is what the Holy One did for me when He brought me out of Egypt.” We are all to view ourselves as slaves personally freed from Mitzrahim (Hebrew for a narrow place).
On that note, here is a good message from Rabbi Larry Raphael in SF
In the Sherith Israel email letter this week, Rabbi Raphael wrote this drash (teaching):
While still in the midst of Passover, and wondering if our supply of matzah will suffice until the conclusion of the holiday, I want to share with you a folktale that comes from the Iraqi Jewish community. Jews lived in Iraq from the time of the destruction of the First Temple until recent days. Centuries ago this story was first told:
There was a country where the king was always chosen in a special way. When the old king died, a bird called the “bird of good fortune” would be released. On whomsoever’s head it landed, the people would place the crown making him their next ruler.
Once the bird of good fortune landed on the head of a slave; that slave had been a simple musician who entertained at the master’s parties. His costume consisted of a feathered cap and a belt made of the hooves of sheep.
When the slave became king, he moved into the palace and wore royal robes. However, he ordered that a shack (a kind of succah) be constructed next to the palace and that his old hat, belt and drum be stored there along with a giant mirror.
The new king was known for his kindness and love for all his people—rich and poor, free and slaves. Often he would disappear into his little shack. Once he left its door open and the cabinet ministers saw him don his feathered hat, put on his old belt and dance and drum before the mirror. They found this very strange and asked the king: “After all, you are a king! You must maintain your dignity!”The king replied: “Once I was a slave and now I’ve become a king. From time to time I want to remind myself that I was once a slave lest I grow arrogant and treat with disdain my people and you, my ministers.”That is the Iraqi story and so it is with us each year. We remind ourselves that we were once slaves and were freed by God with an outstretched arm. It is our obligation to remember where we came from as we live our days.
Just for fun
Here’s a funny Passover video – it started a few years ago to sell a fellow’s book. But it gets passed around just for the fun of it.
http://www.msu.edu/user/avniassa/passover/whowhowho.html
EVENTS
Jesus and the Jewish Teachings of His Time (San Leandro)
Why Don't Jews Believe in Jesus? (Emeryville)
Tot Shabbat (Redwood City)
Vocolot (Emeryville)
Watermarks film (San Francisco)
Community Passover Seder (Castro Valley)
An Evening on the Holocaust and Resistance (Oakland)
Community-wide Commemoration for Yom HaShoa (Lafayette)
Mindfulness and Middot (El Cerrito)
Holocaust Remembrance Day (Berkeley)
Kabbalat Shabbat (San Francisco)
Tot Shabbat (San Francisco)
Café i: Come for a Taste of Israel (Walnut Creek)
Yom HaZikharon (Oakland)
Together for Israel (Berkeley)
Israel’s 60th Anniversary (Campbell)
Meditation Minyan (Berkeley)
Stateless (Berkeley)
American Matchmaker film (Berkeley)
Israel in the Gardens (San Francisco)
Welcoming Your Jewish Baby, Whether You’re Jewish or Not (Oakland)
DAWN '08 - Shavuot Celebration (San Francisco)
Jesus and the Jewish Teachings of His Time
If you are interested in attending, bring a copy of the Hebrew Bible and a New Testament.
Part of the MID/Jewish East Bay Forum Lecture Series.
Dates: Thursdays starting April 25, 10 Session Seminar Series
Time: 10:15am to 11:45am.
Place: Temple Beth Sholom, 642 Dolores Ave., San Leandro
Cost: $5 per lecture, or $40 for all ten sessions
For more information call Beth Sholom at 510-357-8505.
Why Don't Jews Believe in Jesus?
According to Jewish tradition he is not the messiah.
Why did Judaism and Christianity part ways on this issue?
Join us to explore these questions this Friday.
We will share a no-experience-necessary Shabbat dinner, eat, laugh, and learn. All are welcome.
Date: Friday, April 25
Time: 6:15pm
Place: Jewish Gateways' cozy home near El Cerrito Plaza and BART station
Childcare: available by reservation
Space is limited, so RSVP is required.
Please contact Rabbi Bridget Wynne at Jewish Gateways, (510) 559-8140, or rabbibridget@jewishgateways.org, for more information, and to make a reservation and get directions and your food assignment. If your schedule doesn't allow you to bring a dish to share, we offer you the option of contributing $7 toward the dinner.
Tot Shabbat
Each Saturday, we have a Tot Shabbat program for children aged 2 to 5, and a Celebrate Shabbat program for children aged 6 and 7. These programs provide a meaningful Shabbat experience for our younger children, as well as allowing their parents to participate in services. Both programs include Shabbat-appropriate craft projects, services for children, and challah & grape juice.
Date: Every Saturday, April 26, May 3 and so on
Time:
Place: Temple Beth Jacob, Redwood City
www.templebethjacob.com
Vocolot
the World's Best Jewish Music Ensemble
Vocolot is going to Amsterdam! Please help them prepare for the competition
to be held in May. Join them at their Bon Voyage House Concert.
Opening for Vocolot: Ira & Julia Levin
Refreshment reception following the show
Date: Saturday, April 26
Time: 7:30pm
Place: Doyle Street Cohousing Complex, 5514 Doyle Street, Emeryville
Doors open at 6:45pm
Minimum Donation: $10
Reservations Recommended: Vocolot@mindspring.com
We will ask for your feedback after the show
Fundraising donations for our trip can be made to:
http://www.tbssanleandro.org/donate.html#VocolotConcert
http://www.vocolot.com
Watermarks
by Yaron Zilberman
Israel, 2004, 77 min
English, Hebrew, and German w/English subtitles
WATERMARKS is the story of the champion women swimmers of the legendary Jewish sports club, Hakoah Vienna. Hakoah ("The Strength" in Hebrew) was founded in 1909 in response to the notorious Aryan Paragraph, which forbade Austrian sports clubs from accepting Jewish athletes. Its founders were eager to popularize sport among a community renowned for such great minds as Freud, Mahler and Zweig, but traditionally alien to physical recreation. Hakoah rapidly grew into one of Europe's biggest athletic clubs, while achieving astonishing success in many diverse sports. In the 1930s Hakoah's best-known triumphs came from its women swimmers, who dominated national competitions in Austria. After the Anschluss, in 1938, the Nazis shut down the club, but the swimmers all managed to flee the country before the war broke out, thanks to an escape operation initiated by Hakoah's functionaries.
Sixty-five years later, director Yaron Zilberman meets the members of the swimming team in their homes around the world, and arranges for them to have a reunion in their old swimming pool in Vienna, a journey that evokes memories of youth, femininity, and strengthens lifelong bonds. Told by the swimmers, now in their eighties, Watermarks is about a group of young girls with a passion to be the best. It is the saga of seven outstanding athletes who still swim daily as they age with grace. Above all, it is a celebration of life.
Date: Saturday, April 26
Time: 7:30pm
Place:
9th Street Independent Film Center, 145 9th Street (In between Mission and Howard), San Francisco
Ticket Price $5; Purchase Tickets at Door
Community Passover Seder
The Community, including unaffiliated and interfaith families, is invited to join the Congregation in a great festive retelling of the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery. The Seder will feature Passover songs and music. A Kosher-style holiday meal will be served. The service will be led by Rabbinic Intern Carla Fenves.
Date: Saturday, April 26
Time: 5:30 pm
Place: Castro Valley Community Center, 18988 Lake Chabot Rd. Castro Valley
Cost: Adult $30.00; Child (12 & under) $10.00
Pay: At Event, By Mail
Send registration information and payment by check made out to:
Congregation Shir Ami to: Congregation Shir Ami attn: Barbara Heimowitz 4529 Malabar Avenue Castro Valley, CA 94546
An Evening on the Holocaust and Resistance
A community-wide commemoration for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). The guest speaker will be David Akov, Consul General of Israel.
Date: Tuesday, April 29
Time: 8 to 10pm
Place: Temple Sinai, 2808 Summit Street, Oakland
Information: Temple Sinai, 510-451-3263
Mindfulness and Middot
How od we cultivate the freedom to meet each moment with more gratitude and joy?
How do we respond to daily challenges with kindness, patience, and generosity, and equanimity (shalom)?
How do we free ourselves from habit, fear, and isolation?
This spring, as we journey from Passover to Shavuot, from Egypt to Sinai, join fellow travelers as we quite our minds and open our hearts, using contemplative and tikkun middot (refinment of soul-traits) practices to increase our capacity to act with compassion and justice.
Date: Wednesdays from April 30 to June 4
Time: 7 to 9pm
Place: 409 Liberty St., El Cerrito
Cost: $120 to 180 (sliding scale)
Sponsored by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality
To register contact Rabbi Margie Jacobs at margie@ijs-online.org
Community-wide Commemoration for Yom HaShoa Ve HaGevurah
"From Despair to Hope: The Holocause and the State of Israel"
Our Students Speak About Their Journey from Poland to the Jewish State
Date: Wednesday, April 30
Time: 7:30 pm
Place: Temple Isaiah, 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette
For information, contact 510.839.2900 ext 253 or email riva@jfed.org.
Holocaust Remembrance Day
with the City of Berkeley
Join JFCS/East Bay staff, Berkeley city councilmembers, the mayor, and local survivors to honor those in our community who survived the Holocaust. The panel of speakers will include Berkeley poet Marcia Falk, author of The Book of Blessings, who will read a selection of her work. Also performing will be Sephardic music specialist Dr. Rivka Amado.
Date: Friday, May 2
Time: 12 to 1 pm
Place: Berkeley City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley
For info: Rita Clancy at Jewish Family & Children’s Services (510) 558-7800, ext. 257
rclancy@jfcs-eastbay.org
Kabbalat Shabbat
with the Koleynu Choir
Shabbat Services with our Koleynu Choir followed by a delicious Oneg of Middle Eastern food catered by Sunrise Deli.
Date; Friday, May 2
Time: 6pm
Place: Sherith Israel, 2266 California St., San Francisco
For more information contact Aviva Hicks
at ahicks@sherithisrael.org or 415-346-1720 ext 24.
Tot Shabbat
With Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller
A child-friendly Shabbat experience with songs, dancing with stuffed Torahs, Shabbat rituals. An opportunity to take time out of our busy lives to connect with our families and community. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends are also invited.
For Families with Young Children (birth to 5 years)
Date: Saturday, May 3
Time: 10:30am-12pm
Place: Sherith Israel, 2266 California St., San Francisco
For more information call 415-346-1720 ext 27.
Café i: Come for a Taste of Israel
Celebrate Israel with Israeli music, refreshments and the screening of an Israeli romantic drama.
Date: Saturday, May 3
Time: 7:30pm
Place: CC JCC, 2071 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek
For more info contact Judith at 510-839-2900 x256
Yom HaZikharon
Join us as we remember those who have fallen in defense of the State of Israel. An evening of Israeli culture presented by members of our East Bay Israeli community will follow the commemoration.
Date: Tuesday, May 6
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Temple Beth Abraham, 327 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland
Admission is free.
For more information: marilyn@jfed.org or call 510.839.2900 ext.256.
Together for Israel
Enjoy a light Israeli dinner and dance to the beat of Israeli music.
6:00-7:00pm Delicious Israeli Food & Hip Israeli Music and Dancing • Balloon Animals • Fun Giveaways • Kids Arts & Crafts Activities
7:00pm Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Rogers - Producer of New Award Winning Documentary "Exodus 1947" and The Amazing Jeremy Shafer Show - Juggling, Magic & More!
Date: Thursday, May 8
Time: 6pm
Place: Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St., Berkeley
Event is free of charge as a gift from our community sponsors.
Israel’s 60th Anniversary
A movie and Music Family Event
Come for this riveting docu-drama - It’s Now or Never - depicting Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Preceded by the sounds of the musical ensemble, Ya Elah.
Date: Thursday, May 8
Time: 7 to 9pm
Place: Camera 7 Theater, Pruneyard Shopping Ctr, 1875 S. Bascom Ave., Campbell
Info: Call 800-838-3006 or go to www.svjff.org
For other community-wide 60th anniversary events visit www.svjcc.org/israel@60/
Meditation Minyan
led by Rabbi Carol Caine
This service is an alternative to the main service taking place in the sanctuary. The service includes chanting sacred phrases from the liturgy and periods of silence, with intentions woven in from the week's parsha or from where we are in the Jewish year cycle. The meditation service ends at 10:30, with participants then invited to join the main service in the sanctuary. We encourage people to try and arrive by 9:30, so that we can set our intentions together, but please don't stay away if you arrive later, just please enter the room quietly.
Date: Saturday, May 10
Time: 9:30 to 10:30am
Place: Netivot Shalom, 1316 University Ave., Berkeley - meets in Room 5 upstairs.
The meditation minyan meets every month, on the second Shabbat of the month, so please feel free to come in the future if you can't make this one.
www.netivotshalom.org
Stateless
In this work of hip hop theater, Dan Wolf, the great grand nephew of Ludwig Wolf (who penned Hamburg, Germany's most famous song), returns to Hamburg to make a film about his family. Using tatter found in his grandmother's basement-a picture of two dockworkers, a costume, a long letter from his grandfather-Wolf links his Jewish past with his present search for self. Through a pastiche of rhyme, dialogue, and song we are led from Hamburg to Shanghai, New York and San Francisco through anti-Semitism, the assimilation of Jewish culture, and the rediscovery of an artistic legacy.
"[Stateless] brings afresh intelligence and rousing energy to the theme of insider-outsider identities and internal exile." -Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Unlike past presentations, the JCC's performance mixes select scenes from the play with excerpts from the documentary film Return of the Tüdelband, providing a unique cross-medium journey that is not to be missed. A Q&A will follow the show.
Date: Sunday May 11
Time: 8:00pm
Place: East Bay JCC, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley
Cost: $10 East Bay JCC members/students/seniors, $15 general
American Matchmaker
USA, 1940, 87 minutes
Yiddish (English Subtitles)
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Leo Fuchs, known on Second Avenue as "the Yiddish Fred Astaire," plays an elegant and eligible bachelor who can never seem to close the marriage deal. Helmer Edgar G. Ulmer's last Yiddish movie was also his most modern, an art deco romantic comedy about male ambivalence and Jewish assimilation. Following the screening, Miguel Pendás, Creative Director of the San Francisco Film Society, will screen excerpts of clips from Ulmer's work and lead a discussion on the director's legacy.
"A successful combination of humor and schmaltz...a clash between the urbane, slick manners of the new country and the old, busybody communal ways of the shtetl." -Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Date: Thursday May 22
Time: 7:30pm
Place: East Bay JCC, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley
Cost: $8
Israel in the Gardens
Enjoy the life performance of The Idan Raichel Project; engage in activities for teens, young adults and families; taste ethnic foods and shop for everything from jewelry to handmade clothing.
Date; Sunday, June 1
Time: 11am to 5pm
Place: Yerba Buena, San Francisco
Free
www.israelcentersf.org
Welcoming Your Jewish Baby, Whether You’re Jewish or Not
Looking for other new mamas? Supportive discussion? Jewish options?
Join a group of moms to talk about:
Support for Moms with new Babies
Getting Your Groove Back & Adjusting to the New Normal
Considering Jewish Choices and Practices for your Home
Date: Tuesday, June 3
Time: 1pm to 2:30pm
Place: Beth Jacob has given us a sunny room.
Cost: $36/five sessions
Call me, Dawn, to get more information at 510-839-2900 x347.
www.jfed.org/bjb
DAWN '08 - Shavuot Celebration
The Contemporary Jewish Museum and Reboot, are pleased to announce DAWN '08, an all-night, arts and culture festival and celebration of Shavuot at the grand opening of the Contemporary Jewish Museum, offering guests the opportunity to groove, learn, explore and mingle at the Museum's new building and exhibition space before the doors open to the public the following morning.
Date: Saturday, June 7
Time: 8pm - Sunrise
The new building is located on Mission Street between 3rd & 4th streets in San Francisco
Co-presented with Reboot
