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Weekly Newsletter
March 27, 2025
27 Adar 5785 | Parshat Pikudei
| | | | | 333 Cortland Ave, SF, CA 94110 | |
Meet Our Rabbinic Intern Candidate: Molly Schulman
TONIGHT, March 27, 6 - 7 PM
via Zoom
Did you know Or Shalom is considering hiring a Rabbinic Intern for the 2025-2026 year? And she would love to meet you!
Join us Thursday, March 27, from 6-7 PM, for an opportunity to connect with Molly Schulman, our candidate for the position.
- In the first half of the gathering, Molly will offer a teaching.
- In the second half, she’ll turn the conversation to you, asking questions about our community and what makes Or Shalom so special.
This is a chance to learn from and engage with Molly as we envision the next chapter of our community together. We hope you’ll join us!
For more information about Molly and to register, please click here.
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Traveling Shabbat
Friday, March 28, 6 - 8:30 PM
Cole Valley, San Francisco
Address Given Upon Registration
Join us for Traveling Shabbat at the home of Mariah Halperin & Brian Simpson and family.
Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share. We will enjoy a community meal following the service.
🙋 About the Hosts: Mariah and Brian have spent most of their lives in the Bay Area and are passionate SF Giants fans. They joined Or Shalom this past fall and are excited to deepen their connections within the community. Their family includes their toddler, Noam, and their small but mighty dog, Cappuccino. They look forward to welcoming everyone into their home for an evening of warmth, connection, and Shabbat joy.
For access information and to register, click here.
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Reconstructing Israel with R' Faryn
Wednesday, April 2, 7 - 8:30 pm
331 Cortland Ave, San Francisco
Reconstructionism is not a set theology or doctrine, but, rather, a historical and analytical lens, an ongoing process, and an embodied practice. Therefore, we will apply this lens, process and practice (better known as “Reconstructing”) to the concept of “Israel.”
Is “Israel” a person? A people? A place? A nation-state? A state of mind?
In this series, we will perform a historical survey of the different ways the concept of “Israel” has been understood and reconstructed throughout Jewish time, helping us to get a broad understanding of what the word “Israel” means. Then, from this historical and contextual grounding, we will begin to explore what “Israel” could be. How is “Israel” being reconstructed in our time? How could it be reconstructed? And how might we be a part of that reconstruction?
For access information and to register, click here.
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Considering God Salon
Thursday, April 3, 7 - 8:30 PM
331 Cortland Ave
As we approach Passover, it’s a good opportunity to discuss the role of God in our Seders and in Exodus, the foundational story of Judaism with its themes of enslavement and liberation. In reflecting on this today, what questions and thoughts come up for you? How do you bring this into your Seder? Come and share your ideas and seder practices, rituals, prayers, recipes, songs etc.
For access information and to register, click here.
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Shabbat Service & Potluck
Friday, April 4, 6 - 8:30 PM
Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez St
Join us for lively musical services with R' Faryn and the Music Ensemble! Before our Shabbat service, join us for a Happy Half-Hour sponsored by Daniel Najjar, in honor of his 50th anniversary of when he ran away from home to be gay in San Francisco. Then enjoy Shabbat dinner with your fellow Or Shalomers. Bring a vegetarian dish to share and reusable dishware for our post-service potluck.
Can you be a greeter to warmly welcome guests at a Shabbat Service at Noe Valley Ministry? Click here to pick a date to volunteer to be a Shabbat greeter.
5:30 pm: Happy Half Hour
6 pm: Shabbat service
7:30 pm: Vegetarian potluck
♿ Accessibility Info: NVM is ADA accessible.
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Emergency Preparedness Training
Sunday, April 6, 1 - 5 PM
331 Cortland Ave
Join us for an afternoon of Emergency Preparedness Training with the San Francisco Fire Ner Tamid Society! This event will be open to any interested adults, and attendance is especially encouraged for those interested in serving as greeters at Or Shalom events. Specific trainings will include the American Heart Association’s Community’s “Hands-Only" CPR, when and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), and Stop the Bleed, as well as Earthquake Preparedness based on the SF Fire Department’s Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) curriculum.
For more info about the SF Ner Tamid Society see their write-up in J. The Jewish News.
Approximate Schedule (these are just estimates):
1:00-3:00 pm CPR & AED Training
3:15-4:15 pm Stop the Bleed
4:15-5:00 pm Earthquake Preparedness
We encourage folks to attend all of the trainings. However, if you want to come to only one, please indicate in your registration.
This attendance is capped to 12 participants.
For access information and to register, click here.
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No Trans Visibility Without Community Safety
Monday, March 31, 4 PM
Register here: https://bit.ly/ThriveTDOV
This Trans Day of Visibility, Thrive: The Jewish Coalition to Protect Trans and LGBQ+ Youth is joining with Reconstructing Judaism, Keshet, SOJOURN, JFREJ, and the RAC to bring together a powerful coalition of Jewish organizations and individuals taking tangible, sustained action for trans rights.
In this critical moment, Jewish communities have the power—and the responsibility—to show up for trans, nonbinary, and intersex people.
Join us as we hear directly from trans voices about what safety, dignity, and justice truly look like—and how each of us can help make it real.
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JFCS Seder Sack Program
Join the Community-Wide Passover Mitzvah!
No one should ever feel isolated and abandoned—and especially not on Passover. Help our partners at JFCS provide lovingly packed Seder Sacks of traditional holiday foods and treats to homebound seniors, adults with disabilities, or local families in crisis.
Just $36 sends a Seder Sack to someone in need! Give now at jfcs.org/sedersacks
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On Wednesday, March 19th, thirteen members of Or Shalom prepared and served dinner to 48 unhoused men at the Quaker Meeting House on 9th Street. This was in service to the “Interfaith Winter Shelter” project of the SF Interfaith Council.
The food was prepared and cooked at the home of Pat Skala and Corey Weinstein. Veteran veggie-choppers, Judith and Michael McCullough did the cutting and slicing. Margo Freistadt and Cameron Tenner helped Bryna Rifkind load up the dessert goodiebags. Stephanie Wiesman provided home-made cookies and Eleanor Louis donated sparkling water.
At the Meeting House, the food was plated by Pat and Betty Zonderman. The plates were served to men seated at tables for 6, by Corey, Gary Hauser, Paul Stein, and Linda Chafetz . They were assisted in that duty by 13-year-old Lyle Cohen, who came with his mom Stephanie Cohen and was eager to help.
Bryna is the driving force behind these annual meals. She organizes the volunteers, does all the shopping, helps bring the food to the shelter and then helps serve. We all appreciate being able to serve these men at tables rather than cafeteria style.
The hard part, though, is this: After we clean up and pack up our pots, pans, etc., we walk out into a room that had just minutes before been a dining area, to find it
transformed, now, into a communal bedroom. Tables replaced by thin sleeping mats scattered around the room. The dignity we hoped to offer these men was quickly diminished by the absence of privacy and personnel space.
Still, many of us will go back and serve again next year!
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Join the Youth & Family Education Committee
The Or Shalom Youth & Family Education Committee (formerly Religious School Committee) plays a vital role in shaping our educational programs by offering guidance, managing budgets, planning initiatives, and supporting volunteer efforts.
Currently, only one committee member is a parent of a student in our programs, and we’re eager to bring in more parents—whether of current or prospective students—to help shape the future of Jewish education at Or Shalom. The commitment is light, with meetings about once a month.
We also welcome any Or Shalom members who have a passion for children, education, or community-building. Additionally, we’d love to include a post-B’nai Mitzvah teen to help represent their peers and contribute to the development of our new Teen Program.
If you’re interested in joining, please reach out to Max Bernstein at 510-206-2830 (calls or texts). We’d love to have you on board!
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Or Shalom Mobile App Relaunch! Stay Connected on the Go
We’re excited to announce the relaunch of the Or Shalom Mobile App! Now, staying connected with our community is easier than ever. With the app, you can access the member directory, stay up to date with events and prayer times, and find helpful links to our WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram
How to get started:
- Search for ShulCloud Mobile Member App in the iOS App Store or Google Play Store.
- Download and install the app.
- Log in with your Or Shalom credentials—our logo will appear automatically!
Experience Or Shalom at your fingertips! Download the app today and stay connected wherever you are.
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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.
Rachelle Resnick, in memory of Jerome Muchin
Leslie Roffman & Bob Goodwin, In memory of Leonard Roffman
Gail & Ron Gurewitz, in honor of Or Shalom
Chad & Kathy Balch, in memory of Frank Pagano
Gloria Kolbe-Saltzman, in memory of Esther Gochin and Ulrich Kolbe
Judy Olasov, in memory of Anthony Louis Olasov
Matthew & Motomi Rudoff, in memory of Marcia Colby Rudoff
Debbie Benrubi, for the Retreat Scholarship Fund
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Yahrzeits
On the anniversary of their deaths, we remember:
Peter Atanasio, Daniel Axelrod, Julie Bailly, Reisel Berger, Beth Bird, Neeli Cherkovski, Edit Doron, Debbi Goodman-Smith, Albert Gurewitz, Morris Herzig, Ruth Krohn, David Lesser, Burton Meyer, Jerome Muchin, Florence Rosen, Morris Rostker, Leo Rubinstein, Sylvia Small, Evelyn Mages Zelinsky
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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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