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Weekly Newsletter
November 26, 2025
6 Kislev 5786 | Parshat Vayetzei
| | | | | 333 Cortland Ave, SF, CA 94110 | |
The Power of Community
At Or Shalom, community is at the heart of everything we do. From shared ritual to social action and friendship, our strength comes from being together.
As we launch our Annual Fund campaign, we celebrate how Or Shalom thrives through Ritual, Action, and Connection — gathering in song and learning, working for justice, and building lasting relationships.
The Annual Fund sustains our programs, staff, and space, filling the gap that dues alone cannot cover. Our goal is to raise $70,000 by December 31 to keep our community vibrant.
Every gift matters. Please give generously to support the Or Shalom community we all cherish.
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Bernal Heights Holiday Stroll
Thursday, December 4, 5 PM - 8 PM
Cortland Ave
Join Or Shalom outside our building during the neighborhood Holiday Stroll. We’ll be celebrating Hanukkah with:
• Cookies for people and pets
• Dreidels and Hanukkah Candles to take home with you
• Members of the Or Shalom Ensemble will sing and perform Hanukkah songs
Come sing with us! We’ll have song sheets on hand, but feel free to bring your own printed copy if you prefer.
Stop by, say hello, and share the light as the Stroll moves through Cortland. Thursday, December 4, 5:00–8:00 pm (rain or shine).
For more information, click here.
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Musical Shabbat Service & Potluck
Friday, December 5, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
Community Music Center, 544 Capp St,
Join us at the Community Music Center for Musical Shabbat, lay-led by the Music Ensemble! Before our Shabbat service, join us for a Happy Half-Hour sponsored by the Reder-Lynch Family, in honor of their newborn, Eva Mei Lynch. Then, enjoy Shabbat dinner with your fellow Or Shalomers. Bring a vegetarian dish to share and reusable dishware.
5:30 pm: Happy Half Hour
6:00 pm: Shabbat Service
7:30 pm: Vegetarian Potluck
Volunteer Sign-Up Update:
Interested in hosting a Happy Half Hour? Please sign up now and help us keep these gatherings running smoothly!
♿ Accessibility Info: CMC is ADA accessible.
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Shabbat Shalomies
Saturday, December 6, 10 AM - 12 PM
Day Street Park (Upper Noe Rec Center), 295 Day St
Join Or Shalom for our monthly outdoor baby and tot Shabbat with music, shakers, puppets, dancing, playtime, and more!
While programs are designed for families with children aged 1-4, we love building an intergenerational community. Bring the whole mishpucha —grandparents and extended family are highly encouraged to join.
We always have great snacks, fun art supplies, and play spaces for older siblings too. We welcome everyone, including unaffiliated, single and multi-parent, multi-faith, multi-ethnic, multi-abled, and LGBTQ+ families.
Registration not required, just show up! For more information about Shabbat Shalomies, click here.
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Teen Collective
Saturday, December 6, 1 - 3 PM
333 Cortland Ave
Or Shalom's fully inclusive, teen-led Jewish space for 8th–12th graders meets again this month! Join us for connection, creativity, and conversation — plus games, and plenty of pizza. Come as you are, bring a friend, and help shape a community that’s real, relevant, and yours.
Click here to register here for the December 6th session of the Teen Collective. Please note the new time.
Looking for more information about the Collective? Visit orshalomsf.org/teens or email Mira at mira@orshalomsf.org.
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Community Hanukkah Celebration & Family Shabbat
Friday, December 19, 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Unitarian Universalist Center, 1187 Franklin St, San Francisco
We’ll begin the evening with a joyful Shabbat service that centers our Youth & Family Education students as they help lead prayers and songs, bringing their voices and energy into our celebration.
From there, the night unfolds into a festive Hanukkah gathering with music, dancing, a vegetarian potluck dinner, and activities for all ages. Or Shalom will also be sharing some holiday favorites, including latkes, sufganiyot, and maybe more — stay tuned!
Highlights include:
• A communal candle lighting
• Family-centered Shabbat service featuring our YFE students
• Music, dancing, and activities for all ages
More activities will be shared as details are finalized.
Schedule
5:30–6:00 pm – Happy Half Hour (snacks and drinks)
6:00–6:15 pm – Hanukkah candle lighting and songs — bring your menorah!
6:15–7:15 pm – Family Shabbat service
7:15–8:30 pm – Vegetarian potluck dinner & Hanukkah activities
Come celebrate, sing, and share the light with the Or Shalom community.
For planning purposes, please register as soon as possible. Thank you!
⚠️ Food Disclaimer: To ensure inclusivity and accommodate dietary needs, all potluck dishes must be vegetarian and accompanied by a full list of ingredients.
♿ Health & Accessibility Info: The UU is ADA Accessible. Please review our COVID Policy.
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Reconstructing Torah with Rabbi Faryn
Wednesdays, beginning January 7, 7 - 8:30 PM
331 Cortland Ave
As our tradition teaches, the Torah is a tree of life. It is considered by many to be the one thing that unifies Jews through time and space, that we all have some relationship to Torah. Torah can be a source of wisdom, ethics, justice — a guidebook to a moral life. Yet, as we all have seen, Torah can also be used as a tool of and as justification for (all kinds of) violence.
So, in this class, we will explore: What exactly is T/torah? How has it evolved throughout time? What have been the tools that have allowed for its evolution? And how can we be a part of the evolutionary process today?
Or, put another way, what is the Torah the world needs now?
A sliding scale donation of $18–$180 per person is suggested. No one turned away for lack of funds.
For more information and to register, click here.
♿ Health & Accessibility Info: There are no stairs to access this space. The restroom is ADA accessible. Please review our COVID Policy.
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6th Annual Feeding 5000
Saturday, December 13, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness, 601 Cesar Chavez St
Spreading joy and nourishment this 2025 holiday season
Now in its sixth year, Feeding 5,000 has provided food to more than 22,700 San Francisco households since it began in 2020. Led by the San Francisco African American Faith-Based Coalition, in partnership with the SF Department of Public Health, this one-day effort brings together faith communities, nonprofits, and over 200 volunteers to feed more than 5,000 families.
To learn more about this initiative, including singing up to volunteer or to contribute to this effort, click here.
If you're interested in being part of an Or Shalom team at the event please contact the Or Shalom liaison for this event: Elliot Helman.
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Holiday Dinner Drive with SF-Marin Food Bank
October 15 – December 31
Join Or Shalom and other Bay Area synagogues in raising money for the SF–Marin Food Bank for their Holiday Dinner Drive. From now through December 31, all donations to the Food Bank’s Holiday Dinner Drive will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000.
That means every $1 you give provides 4 meals for our neighbors in need.
Let’s come together as a caring community to make sure every household can celebrate with dignity and abundance.
Holiday meals are about more than food — they’re how we nurture community and give thanks. Yet this year, more families than ever are facing hunger as federal cuts to CalFresh/SNAP take effect. The San Francisco–Marin Food Bank anticipates a surge in need not seen in fifty years.
Please take a moment to read this letter from Executive Director Tanis Crosby and then donate below.
👉 Donate online:
https://bit.ly/SFMFBHDD
Select Or Shalom Jewish Community from the drop-down menu
📝 Donate by mail:
SF-Marin Food Bank
PO Box 7203
San Francisco, CA 94120
Memo: Or Shalom JC HDD
Your support has never mattered more. No one should go hungry. Give by December 31 and spread twice the joy!
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Staff & Office Updates
🦃 The office will be closed Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28 for Thanksgiving. We will be open again on Tuesday, December 2.
Rabbi Faryn is on medical leave for the month of December. You’re welcome to send her well-wishes here.
Want to connect with us? Use the links below to schedule a time:
📅 Have an idea for an event? Submit a request.
🕯️ Sign up to lead a Zoom/on-site Havurah Shabbat here.
🧳 Sign up to host a Traveling Shabbat here
🤲 Add a loved one to our Healing List here.
💍 Getting married? Request our Community Chuppah!
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Second Friday Zoom Shabbats
Individuals, Friends and/or Havurot are invited to host our December second Friday Zoom Shabbat!
Zoom Shabbats can be as simple as candlelighting, Mourner’s Kaddish and time to be together as we arrive into Shabbat. They do not need to be a full elaborate service, but can be!
To see R’ Faryn’s guide and suggested skeleton for a Zoom Shabbat, click here. To receive the recording of her session on How to Design and Facilitate a Zoom Shabbat, email R’ Faryn.
To sign up to lead in December or onward, click here.
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Tzedakah
We gratefully acknowledge these contributions from our community:
When making a donation online, please be sure to specify where to allocate.
Robin Roth, in memory of Judith Knoop
Jane van Hoven, in memory of Elaine Von Hoven
Chad Balch, in memory of Trudy Balch
Bryna Rifkind, in memory of Sidney Rifkind, Seymour Horowitz & Ruth Rifkind
Judy Olasov, in memory of Elsa Raven
Hilton Obenzinger, in memory of Mark Obenzinger
Allan Pleaner, in memory of Ruth Pleaner & Morris Pleaner
Roz and Steve Itelson, in memory of Sunny Fine
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Yahrzeits
The community extends its comfort to the following members:
Hilton Obenzinger on the death of his brother, Mark Obenzinger
Charlie Varon on the death of his mother, Zipporah Varon
Jane van Hoven on the death of her stepmother, Elaine Von Hoven
On the anniversary of their deaths, we remember:
James Amsler, Wesley Crowe, Christine Crowe, Jeff, Ann & Sienna Fairbanks, Lore Grove, Ilse Herz, Judith Knoop, Lillian Lesser, Isabel Louis, George Rand, Victor Resnick, Ruth Rifkind, Sarah Ackerman Solow, Gerald Spatt, Saly Ruth Ramler Struik
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To submit an Or Shalom group-sponsored event for the newsletter, email newsletter@orshalomsf.org
by the Monday before you want it to be included.
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