Jewish Community News

Newsbriefs: May 2008

Izzy’s Cafe presents new menu items

Izzy’s Brooklyn  Cafe, a kosher restaurant in Sunnyvale, has revamped its menu, and now showcases international cuisine. Enjoy falafel sandwiches, pizzas, Israeli salads, borekas, tea, a huge array of home-baked desserts and much more. Free WiFi service makes Izzy’s welcoming for business meetings. For more information contact Izzy’s at (408) 523-1333.

Mah Jongg Tournament

Shabbat for three and four-year-olds at Emanu-El     Temple Emanu-El is starting an exciting new program for 3 and 4 year olds and their significant adult(s) this fall. Join other families learning together for eight sessions beginning Saturday, September 13. The curriculum is enriched with music, art, holidays and of course, food. Open to the community. A wonderful Shabbat morning experience for adults and their young children. For more information and registration materials, please contact the Religious School office, (408)292-3223 or email school@templesanjose.org.

Beginning Hebrew at Beth David

Sephardi Heritage Week at Ahabat Torah

Ahabat Torah in San Jose and the APJCC in Los Gatos will be having events throughout the week of August 12-18 to celebrate Sephardi Jewish heritage and to educate the community. Students from Yeshiva University’s Sephardi Studies Program will be visiting. Raising awareness about Anusim (descendants of Jews who were forced to outwardly convert to Catholicism during the Inquisition) will also be a theme throughout the week. A Sephardi cook-off will be held as well. Updated information on these events can be found at www.ahava.org.

Thursday 12 Step group at Shir Hadash

Yavneh adds Junior Kindergarten for 08’-09’

     Yavneh Day School is proud to announce its Junior Kindergarten program beginning in the 2008-2009 school year.
   The Junior Kindergarten program will emphasize a developmental approach to learning, providing an enriching year of hands-on activities to enhance children’s developmental “readiness” for Kindergarten. This class will be a full day, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will be included in all  school-wide activities. To be eligible for Yavneh’s Junior Kindergarten program, children  must be five years of age by December 1, 2008. For information and application, please call Director of Admissions, Dana Lowy, at (408) 984-6700.

Rabbi Simchah Green joins Ahabat Torah

   Rabbi Simchah Green took over the pulpit at San Jose’s Sephardic Orthodox synagogue Ahabat Torah in  February 2008.  He and his wife Marjorie  came from the Orthodox Jewish Community of Santa Barbara. Before that, Green served  in pulpit positions on  the East coast.
     Green prides himself on being open and understanding to Jews at all levels of observance and background. He has enjoyed meeting Jews at Ahabat Torah who are Sephardic, Ashkenazic and Moroccan. Rabbi and Rebbetzin Green have four adult children and ten grandchildren.

Inside Global Terrorism wins award at San Jose State

Thirteen South Bay young adults travel to D.C. for leadership conference

This March, thirteen local young adults (led by SVYAD President Shai Goldman and SVYAD Director Jonathan Berg) joined more than 1,000 Jewish young adults in Washington D.C. for the Washington National Young Leadership Conference, sponsored by the UJC.(United Jewish Communities.) This marked the  first time in decades the Silicon Valley has sent a delegation.
    The focus of the conference was  political activism, culminating in a visit to Capitol Hill to lobby  local Congressional staff. Participants were also treated to plenaries and breakout sessions covering topics from philanthropy to world issues.
    The young adults enjoyed themselves, and have pledged to be more involved in the Jewish community. Participant Todd Kirschen, a project manager for a medical device start-up in Santa Clara, said, “This is the kind of experience that makes me want to give my whole life to the Jewish community.”

Federation Annual Meeting set for June 23

Women of Temple Emanu-El annual Donor Lunch June 1

    Temple Emanu-El’s Sisterhood (Women of Temple Emanu-El) will hold its annual Donor Luncheon at La Rinconada Country Club on Sunday, June 1 to honor the hard work and contributions of  many women. Lynda Chase is the event chairperson. Entertainment will include the Acoustic Wizards, a duo of guitarists and 12-year old singer Thia Megia, who has performed  on the radio, television and at a baseball game.

Hillel honors eight people at annual Pillars brunch

Jewish studies fall lineup at SJSU

    Several Jewish studies courses will be offered this fall at SJSU. Check your calendar to see if any fit into your schedule.
1. History of the Ancient Near East with Professor Jonathan Roth, held Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon.
2. Jewish Art from Antiquity to Present with Professor Marilyn Wyman, held Tuesday and Thursdays at 9 a.m.
3. Jewish Mysticism, Magic & Folklore with Professor Mira Amiras, held Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. 
4. Bible History and Literature with Professor Brent Walters held Mondays and Wednesdays at noon, and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3 p.m. 
Rina Katzen will also teach all levels of Hebrew, as she has at SJSU for 36 years!

Please contact program coordinator Vicki Harrison for further details (victoria.harrison@sjsu.edu; (408) 924-5547)

Sephardi Sifrei Torahs to be dedicated at Ahabat Torah

Community Tikkun Leyl Shavu’ot

Book group on Shabbat

    The Beth David Jewish Book Discussion Group meets monthly on Shabbat after services and kiddush lunch at approximately 1:30 p.m. All adults and teens are welcome. For more information, contact Miriam Marr at (650) 968-7138. Upcoming discussions are as follows.

June 14 - The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon, led by Carol Weiss

July 12 - The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak, led by Penina Stern

August 9 - TBA

September 13 - Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis, led by Steve Levin.

Healthy Living Health Fair 2008 serves thousands in San Jose

Members of Congregation Shir Hadash joined with some 500 volunteers to present the second annual Healthy Living Fair in April. San Jose State University nursing students and Stanford medical students screened more than 300 low-income residents for diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and obesity. One-hundred-and-fifty-people were screened for asthma, and another hundred were screened for osteoperosis. Mobile vans performed dental, vision and hearing screenings.  Kids received free teddy bears, bicycle helmets, apples, water bottles and more. The Health Fair was Shir Hadash’s expression of tzedakah and tikkun olam.

Shir Hadash teens travel to Washington D.C. seminar

A group of teens from Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the L'Taken Social Justice Seminar.
    The group spent three days in intensive sessions learning about homelessness, campaign finance reform, assault weapons bans, health care and more. They visited the World War II Memorial and the National Holocaust Memorial Museum as well as held a Havdalah service at the Jefferson Memorial. They also learned how to lobby their elected officials.
    “Having the chance to express our ideas to members of Congress was also a very powerful experience for me, because, as a teenager, I often feel like my political voice is not being heard,” said  Megan Karpf.    

“Coming back, I feel as if I have a greater power to make a difference in my community with everything I have learned and experienced,” said Marlena Vasquez.

Rabbi to speak on Judaism and cancer

     Rabbi Douglas Kohn will speak at Congregation Shir Hadash on Sunday, August 17,  at 7 p.m. about his book, Life, Faith and Cancer: Jewish Journeys through Diagnosis, Treatment and Recovery.
    After being diagnosed and treated for cancer in 2004-05, Kohn edited a book that includes his story, and the stories of 18 other Jewish religious leaders who battled cancer.    

“It is a good fortune we wish we had never had, but we are lucky to be survivors who can translate survivorship into service,” he said. About the book he adds, “It is a book of Jewish journeys but is largely universal,” he said. “It lets you know that you are not alone.” For more info, call (408) 358-1751

Holocaust Remembrance Day reminds that evil flourishes from passivity

Holocaust Remembrance Day 2008 was commemorated by Santa Clara County on April 14, two weeks before Yom Hashoah. The early date was arranged to accommodate Silicon Valley teens and adults who traveled to  Poland and Israel to commemorate this day of remembrance at the concentration camp locations in Poland. 

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and guests heard presentations by high school and college students and testimonies by Holocaust Survivors. The message conveyed was that evil flourishes when good people do nothing. Joe Sorger,  president of the Silicon Valley Holocaust Survivors Association, connected this truth with a plea that more must be done to halt the genocide in Darfur.

APJCC rolls out new course offerings for older adults

   The Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center at the Levy Family Campus in Los Gatos has recently beefed up its course offerings for the older adult population. In addition to long-running programs such as Lip Reading, Mature Driver classes, and the Widows/Widowers/Singles Group, the APJCC has started new programs such as a bi-monthly Friday lunch program with discussions and entertainment, and its Grandpals Shabbat program where older adults interact with children from the APJCC Preschool.
     Currently the APJCC is working on a fall schedule that will include more new offerings including computer classes and a trip to Ashland, Oregon for the Shakespeare Festival from October 13-17. Other classes that may start in the fall include cooking, liberal arts and trips to cultural attractions in San Francisco and elsewhere.
       Traditional favorites such as Bridge and Mah Jongg, which attract a mixed-age crowd, will also continue to be offered, along with Current Events, Art History, and other classes. The APJCC Fall Program Guide will be available in late August and will have all the details.

For more information, contact Hope Yaghutiel, Adult Services director at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, (408) 357-7438 or hope@svjcc.org.