Thank you to everyone who has responded to our membership drive! If you haven't made your pledge yet, we kindly ask that you make your pledge now. Contact the office with any questions. If you're not yet a member and want to find out more, contact Danny.

Contact office@shaarzahav.org to sponsor Oneg or Flowers for Shabbat.

Scroll down to read more about our exciting Oneg Chavurah!  

Friday Night Services for Pinhas

July 26 at 7:30pm

Friday Night Shabbat

On Zoom Only

Led by Kay Magilavy and Ann Daniels

Drash by Rachel Kripke-Ludwig

Register Here for Zoom Service

Meeting ID: 886 7131 3838

Saturday Morning Service

July 27 at 10:00am

Hybrid: In-Person, Zoom for Members Only - Members contact the office for free access or Zoom link

Join us for SoulSpa with Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie!

SoulSpa with Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie

Saturday, July 27, 10-11:30am

In Person at Sha'ar Zahav

Zoom Option for Members Only

Registration Highly Preferred

Members contact the office for free access and Zoom

Start Saturday morning with a meditative spa for the soul and the body. Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie and Shira Kline will co-lead a musical Shabbat morning service that will provide grounding, gratitude, & contemplative conversations, honoring our ancestors, lifting up healing, and hope. And bagels too. This will be in place of our regular Saturday Morning Shabbat service.

Non-members sign up here

COVID rates are up in the Bay--please stay home if you have any symptoms of illness. We are a mask-friendly community so please wear them if you wish! Help us all stay well!

Community Get Together!

Open Shabbat with Social Action Committee

Friday, July 26, 6pm

16th and Mission BART Station

The Open Shabbat service is conducted by Rabbi Jeremy Sher and is part of SF Night Ministry. Following the service, food and water are distributed. It's a moving experience, and you can get home in time for Sha'ar Zahav's Zoom Shabbat service. We are providing pizza and water and invite you to join us with the food distribution or to hang out for the service itself, so you can get to see Rabbi Jeremy in action.  

Sabbath Queen Film Screening

Sunday, July 28, 8pm, In Person Only at the Palace of Fine Arts

Ticket Purchase Required

Members contact the office for discount

Sandi DuBowski fixes his gaze on Amichai Lau-Lavie, the “Sabbath Queen,” who emerges from her bathtub sipping Slivovitz on ice to greet Shabbos. Amichai, the heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis, is torn between rejecting and embracing his ancestral destiny. Follow along as he becomes a queer bio-dad, a prince of peace and the founder of Lab/Shul. Can Judaism reinvent itself in a rapidly changing 21st century?

Non-members sign up here

B’yachad Duboce Park Gathering 

Sunday, August 4, 12-2pm 

We’ll meet on the southwestern side of the park, near the N-Judah tracks, under a big tree. Suggestions about what to bring: Warm clothes, a blanket, chair, sunscreen.

If you have any questions, please contact Paisha, Marvin or Bob

Voter Postcard Party & Movie Night

Sunday, August 4, 4-6:30pm, in-person only at Sha'ar Zahav

Get motived for the upcoming elections and join us to watch a film about John Lewis’ life and extraordinary activism. He organized Freedom Rides that left him bloodied or jailed, and stood at the front lines in the historic marches on Washington and Selma. He never lost hope and called on his fellow Americans to get into “good trouble." We will also be writing to Black Women Voters in Florida, encouraging them to vote and vote early in the general election.

To RSVP, please email Geri Kahn or Tirtza Pearl

Queer Talmud Bay Area Camp

Sunday, August 18, Berkeley

9:30am-7:45pm

Join SVARA for a day of in-person Queer Talmud Camp! We will gather as queer folks, radicals, and seekers to immerse in rigorous yeshiva-style learning amid warm, loving, and joyful community.

Register here

Blankets, Jackets and Clothing for the Homeless 

A project of the Social Action Committee

There is a bin in the lobby at 290 Dolores to collect blankets, jackets, and new and lightly used clothing and socks to be distributed to the homeless by The Gubbio Project. Drop by and drop off some items. We will be doing an ongoing collection.

Israel Programming

History of Israel-Palestine Dual Narrative Style

Monday, July 29, Hybrid

5:30pm - Watch Party with Dinner

6:30-8pm - Program

Have you been looking for a balanced historical overview of Israel and Palestine from the beginning? Rabbi Maurice Harris, Israel Affairs Specialist with Reconstructing Judaism, employs a dual-narrative approach: teaching the same historical events, first from one perspective, then from the other. Either join us at 5:30pm to watch together, or watch on your own beforehand if possible. Rabbi Harris will join us at 6:30pm. On July 22nd, we'll focus on the first video, on July 29th, we'll focus on the second. See the videos here. Open to all. Watching the videos is highly recommended but not mandatory.

Sign up for in person

Sign up for Zoom

Israel/Palestine: Let’s Talk!

August 11 & September 8, 2:30-5:30pm, Hybrid

Come to One Session or Both

Members Only

The war between Israel and Hamas continues, following the horrific events of October 7, impacting Gazans, Israelis, folks all around the world, and – of course – all of us. As a congregation we hold the broadest spectrum of perspectives on the war. The program - led by member Claudia Bernard, a professional facilitator, mediator and educator - will include learning, dialogue and reflection designed to strengthen our ability to listen and respond to each other with resilience, sensitivity, curiosity, and respect. Click here to read more

Sign up for in person

Sign up for Zoom

Sha’ar Zahav’s Israel Trip Sign-up Site is Live!

Register by August 16th

We’re excited to announce that registration for the Israel trip is Open! The official website for the November 15 to 24, 2024 trip is up and running with information about our trip and registration details. Join us as we explore the impact of the October 7 attack and the war and more through our site visits, nature visits, community service and meetings with NGOs, academics, politicians, Israelis from many communities, guided by an American Jewish and Palestinian Israeli peace builders. If you have disability concerns or other questions about the trip, please email us.

Click here for our trip website. 

Recurring Gatherings and Meetings

 Theater & Movies Chavurah: Constellations

 Wednesday, August 7, 6:00-7:15pm on Zoom

Join the Movie and Theatre Chavurah for a discussion of “Constellations." An Olivier-award-winning show about a quantum physicist and a beekeeper who meet at a barbecue. They hit it off, or perhaps they don’t. They go home together, or maybe they go their separate ways. In the multiverse, with every possible future ahead of them, a love of honey could make all the difference. There are 4 different casts. We’re suggesting watching one or both of two: Peter Capaldi and Zoe Wanamaker cast (a differently-gendered couple) and the other — two men — Omari Douglas and Russell Tovey. 

Join us: Zoom Link

SZ Book Group

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendship, by Nina Totenberg

Tuesday, September 3, 7:00-8:00 pm on Zoom

NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg come alive in Totenberg’s memoir of these two extraordinary women, who transformed American society and women’s role in it. It is also an intimate account of how their decades-long friendship helped them through challenges, tragedies, and  triumphs. 

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Weekday Morning Prayer

Weekly on Tuesdays

8:30-9:00am

We will be on break in July. We will start again on Aug. 6

Songs and prayers to set our hearts and minds! This service takes place every Tuesday morning, and is led by community lay leaders and Cantor Bernstein. Contact Cantor Bernstein.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Food Creates Community!

Please join our new Oneg Chavurah with other Sha’ar Zahav members who volunteer to cook, bake or shop to assure we have a plentiful and delicious oneg each week. We’re also building a library of recipes and menus and would welcome your contributions. From now through September, you can sign up to organize, cook, bake or shop — once or many times. 

To learn more, please email oneg@shaarzahav.org.

Hineni

Can you do a mitzvah for someone in our community?

Hineni, our caring community at SZ, is in great need of more volunteers (and in more Bay area regions!) to meet the caring needs of our community. If you can help by making a call, helping with an errand, making a home visit, or offering a ride; please contact Marla Allen, co-chair of Hineni.

Caregiver's Group

1st Wednesday of the month, 7-8:30pm on Zoom

Are you a caregiver for someone in your life? A parent, relative, spouse? Christina Irving of the Family Caregiver Alliance leads our monthly Caring for the Caregivers group. If you are interested, please reach out to Rabbi Copeland. Find out more about the Alliance here.

Bereavement Spiritual Support Group in Formation

Led by Rabbi Elliot Kukla

Wednesdays, 12-1:30pm

begins in Fall '24 on Zoom Only

The group is for anyone who is grieving the death of a human being. All types of loss are welcome. Many of our readings will center LGBTQ grief experiences to reflect our community, but all genders and family relationships are welcome. No Jewish knowledge or identification is required. Group size is limited to eight participants and an intake conversation is required pre-registration. To register for an intake conversation email Rabbi Copeland.

Disability and Accessibility Committee

If you identify as disabled, are exploring that identity or have a loved one with a disability and are interested in joining the Disability and Accessibility Committee, please reach out to the committee for more information. If you are interested in learning more about disability and how you can become a better ally, stay tuned for educational events to come!

Climate Action Committee

The Climate Action Committee is on hiatus. Our next meeting will be the 2nd Monday in August (8/12). If you have any questions or would like to get involved in greening SZ and other shared climate advocacy work, join us in August or contact Deborah Levy any time.

Social Action Committee

The first Monday (unless a holiday) of the month

6:00pm on Zoom

On fair elections, welcoming the stranger, secure housing and food, ending gun violence, and more! Want to join us? Come to our next meeting or contact Nancy Wecker or Neil Young.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

12-Step Meetings by and for SZ Members

Weekly on Thursdays

5:00-6:00pm on Zoom

Join SZ's 12-step group at our new time for some pre-High Holiday reflection in the spirit of recovery! Meetings are open to everyone in our wider SZ community (and the Bay Area Jewish recovery community), and we welcome folks who are members of any 12-step fellowship (AA, NA, Alanon, CMA, etc.). Join us this Thursday at 5pm and use this zoom link. Questions? Email Erika Katske.

L'Havin: Understanding Israel and Its Neighbors

Last Monday night of each month, 6pm

Members Only

L'Havin: Understanding Israel and Its Neighbors is a Sha'ar Zahav working group that provides our members with support, knowledge, and dialogue skills that deepen our relationship with the land and peoples of Israel and Palestine, and to advance understanding and healing within our Jewish community. You do not need to come with any previous knowledge of the topics we may discuss or with any set viewpoints. In fact, we encourage all to come with open ears and a learner’s mindset. Led by Rachel Nilson-Ralston. Contact the office to add yourself to the listserv.

Weekly Torah Study Group

Weekly on Wednesday

8:30-9:30am

Lay leaders lead discussions about the weekly Torah reading. Drop-ins welcome, no experience with Torah necessary!

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Mussar Discussion Group

Bi-weekly on Thursdays

7:00-8:00pm

Mussar is a very practical and flexible spiritual discipline to help you balance soul-traits (Middah/Middot) such as Humility, Loving-Kindness, Generosity, and Silence. Drop-ins are always welcome! Contact Mark Pressler.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Meditation Chavurah

1st Saturday of the month

10:30am-Noon

Everyone is welcome. And you will not regret it! A typical session includes a short and longer silent sit, with chanting, movement, and a short teaching. The group meets on the first and third Saturday of every month.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Hiking Chavurah

2nd Saturday of the month, 9:50am

Join other Sha’ar Zahavniks on monthly urban hikes – mostly in SF but we sometimes venture farther afield. This is a great way to get to know other SZ members while exploring the city and beyond. The hikes usually last about two hours. Email Karen Schiller and Ellen Murland.

Melissa James 7/24

Finch Matai DiGirolamo Klein 7/25

Alan Ferrara 7/26

Susan Schwartz 7/28

Ashton Nielsen 7/28

Prudence Carter 7/30

While we strive for all our events to be mixed-access, this is not always possible. Some events are only in-person, and some are Zoom only. If you have any questions about a particular event, please contact the office, or the contact listed for the event.