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Weekly Newsletter
June 5, 2025
9 Sivan 5785 | Parshat Nasso
| | | | | 333 Cortland Ave, SF, CA 94110 | |
Shabbat Service & Potluck
Friday, June 6, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
331 Cortland Ave
On June 6th, we will experiment with Shabbat services in the round at our own home at 331 Cortland. We will begin with a potluck dinner at Holly Park in the Picnic Area (Holly Park Cir & Highland Ave) from 5:30-6:45 PM, followed by musical Shabbat services at 331 Cortland at 6:45 PM. Come for one or all!
Want to see our schedule of Musical Shabbats? Click here!
♿ Access Information: The Holly Park Picnic Area can be accessed by a ramp from Highland Avenue, but please note the incline is steep. After dinner, it’s a short walk to 331 Cortland—0.2 miles via stairs on Bocana or 0.3 miles via a gentler ramp path along Highland. Entry to 331 Cortland is step-free.
⚠️ Food Disclaimer: To ensure inclusivity and accommodate dietary needs, all potluck dishes must be accompanied by a full list of ingredients.
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Pride Tot Shabbat & Park Day
Saturday, June 7, 10 AM - 11:30 AM
Precita Park, 3200 Folsom St
Families with young children are invited celebrate Pride Month with a special outdoor Shabbat celebration! We will meet at Precita Park, along with our friends from Sha'ar Zahav, to sing and dance to our favorite Shabbat songs and prayers, followed by a picnic lunch.
For more information and to register, click here.
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2025 Community Retreat
Friday, June 13 - Sunday, June 15
Walker Creek Ranch, Petaluma
Thank you to the more than 90 of you who’ve registered for the Community Retreat! We’re excited to gather next week at Walker Creek Ranch for a weekend of rest, community, and fun. Special thanks to everyone leading activities — from birding and juggling to the talent show and more!
Stay tuned for the final itinerary and carpool details. If you have any last-minute questions, please reach out to Debbie.
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This week we’re delighted to highlight Betty Zonderman for her incredible contributions to our holiday celebrations this year.
Betty has stepped up time and again, taking on leadership roles that helped make both our Purim and Passover events such a success. For this year’s Community Seder, she not only volunteered for kitchen prep ahead of the event, but also provided one of the seder plates and contributed an impressive 12 cups of charoset to help fill our tables.
Her generosity, organization, and steady presence behind the scenes have made a huge difference, ensuring these large gatherings run smoothly and feel warm, welcoming, and abundant for everyone who attends.
Thank you, Betty, for all the care and energy you bring to Or Shalom! Or Shalom is stronger and more vibrant because of you. Thank you.
Know someone who deserves the spotlight? Nominate them here!
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Pride Family Fiesta: A Family-Friendly Celebration of Pride in Bernal Heights
Saturday, June 7,12 – 3 PM
Folsom St & Ogden St
Greening Project’s Ogden Avenue Gardens welcomes you to join us for a joyful afternoon celebrating our LGBTQ+ neighbors and allies!
WHAT TO EXPECT:
- Rainbow crafts and face painting
- Local food vendors and trucks
- Community resource tables
- Live music and performances
- Games and activities for all ages
All are welcome to this inclusive, family-friendly celebration of diversity, love, and community pride!
For more information, click here.
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Dayenu Judaica Closing Soon — Last Week to Shop
Friday, June 13, 10 AM - 3 PM
3200 California St
After 21 years at the JCCSF, Dayenu Judaica will close permanently on Friday, June 13. Dayenu has played a special role for Or Shalom for years as it has been where we’ve sourced our lulav and etrog sets for Sukkot.
All merchandise is 30% off, and store fixtures are also available for purchase. This is your final chance to shop and support one of the Bay Area’s beloved Judaica stores.
Store Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 10 AM – 6 PM
Friday & Sunday: 10 AM – 3 PM
For more on Dayenu’s story and owner Hiroko Nogami-Rosen’s next chapter, read the feature in J. The Jewish News.
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Virtual Jewish Birth Prep Workshop
Sunday, June 15, 3 - 5 PM
Online
Join the Jewish Baby Network about rituals during pregnancy, labor and delivery, choosing a Hebrew or Jewish name, circumcision/bris, naming and welcoming ceremonies, Jewish perspectives on parenting and more. Parents expecting via surrogacy or adoption welcome!
This class will be facilitated by JBN Director Carol Booth, MAEd, along with local professional and lay leaders. Our programs are designed for families with children aged 0-36 months, but bring the whole family! Grandparents and extended family welcome too. We welcome everyone, including unaffiliated, single and multi-parent, multi-faith, multi-ethnic, multi-abled, and LGBTQ+ families. Become informed and make friends!
For more information and to register, click here.
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Bernal Heights Art Walk
Saturday, June 22, 4 - 8 PM
Cortland Ave (Bonview St to Anderson St)
Come celebrate the summer solstice with family and friends right here in Bernal! Enjoy temporary art installations, gallery openings, pop-up makers markets, live music, performances, demos, and more all along Cortland Ave.
Sponsored by the Bernal Business and Arts Alliance and Avenue Greenlight. For full details, visit bernalartwalk.com.
To learn more about the Art Walk’s history, check out this interview with organizer Jenna Melnyk on Bernal Connect!
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🏳️🌈 Join Or Shalom's LGBTQ+ Havurah!
Or Shalom now has a dedicated LGBTQ+ group chat on Signal—a secure, encrypted platform—for queer and trans folks in our community to connect, share, and support one another. This is currently for members only.
We chose Signal for its strong privacy protections; this space is intended to be truly safe, welcoming, and affirming.
If you are a member, you can request to join by going to our mobile app (iOS, Android), heading to Links, and then tapping the LGBTQ+ Havurah link. (A tinyurl is also listed underneath in the event the app doesn't want to jump to Signal.)
We’re also looking for moderators and admins to help shape and guide the group. If you’re interested or have questions, reach out to Zachary at zachary@orshalomsf.org.
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Join the Kvetch and Kvell Club
Every Second & Fourth Monday, 4 PM
via Zoom
Every second and fourth Monday of the month, at 4 PM there is a gathering for Or Shalomers who want to hang out and chat while doing some kind of handwork. All folks are welcome, and any kind of project is encouraged, including no project. Current members do costume design, quilting, embroidery, and knitting, but, in this day and age, addressing or writing postcards would be an ideal addition, along with painting, sketching, crosswords and sudoku. Any woodcarvers out there?
4 PM on a weekday is not an ideal time for all, but the meeting time could be revised to an evening if enough people would prefer that.
Interested in joining? Send a request to join our new Google Group for reminders from our moderator Beth Mills, or simply drop in the Zoom at the designated time, always listed in the purple sidebar in the newsletter. For any other questions, feel free to email Beth.
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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.
Margo Freistadt, in memory of Benedicto Freistadt
Debbie Benrubi, in memory of Lazar Haim Benrubi
Bryna Rifkind, in honor of Natasha MarMinoff's graduation
Judy Olasov, in memory of Rosalie Rabinowitz
Jordan & Lisa Kang, in memory of James Jay Brown
Chad & Kathy Balch, in memory of Bruce Balch
A special thank you to Margo Freistadt for donating her car to Or Shalom!
And thank you to following for donating to the Retreat Scholarship Fund:
Anonymous, Debbie Benrubi, Stephen Gerard, Mariah Halperin & Brian Simpson, Tala & Chester Hartsough, Linda Liebschutz, Robin Roth, Bryna Rifkind, Joel Rubenstein & Sylvia Sabel, Brandon Sage, and Pat Skala & Corey Weinstein
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Yahrzeits
On the anniversary of their deaths, we remember:
Fernando Barreiro, Roz (Lyn) Elson, Maria Muellauer Freistadt, John Gomes, Judy Macks, Roslyn Marks, Iris Merrick, Aileen Paskoff, Vincent Perez, Ethel Roffman, Maurice J. Small, Jake Talman, Maurice Varon, Janice Weil
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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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