Link of the Week: Our Beit Sefer Phyllis Mintzer 5-7th graders animation work about Tikkun Olam. Well done!

Your senators need to hear from you as a Jew who is motivated by our tradition and history to demand justice, so we will spend time at the end of our meeting emailing, tweeting, calling, and writing to our elected officials. If you can’t attend the session, click here to learn more and take action.

Please Register Here to Attend.

Led by Rabbi Copeland and Warren Baim. D'rash by James Carlson. Register Here. Meeting ID: 452 290 988.

Join the Zoom Meeting. Meeting ID: 365 434 855 and Passcode: 068575.

To join by phone for either service, dial +1 669 900 9128 or find your local number.

This t-shirt will be vintage in 2022, so get yours now and get ready for Pride! We have regular and fitted options available. Order online and pick up by Sha'ar Zahav. But if you are looking for a youth size or larger sizes for adults, don't hesitate to contact Liliana Peliks.

Place Your Order by Mon. May 31 Here.

In this dear and traditional Sha'ar Zahav celebration, we will hear original liturgy from our members, and sing and dance with Cantor Bernstein. Join dressed up as your favorite queer icon, wear your rainbow kippah, or your Pride Sha'ar Zahav t-shirt!

Think you know all about Harvey Milk, the pioneering gay SF supervisor, member of Sha'ar Zahav, who was assassinated over 40 years ago? Lillian Faderman, a leading historian of LGBTQ lives, has written a fascinating and eloquent account of the many sides -- the many lives -- of Harvey Milk, sides that many may not know, including his early life and how his deeply held Jewish values helped motivate his activism.

Read the book (let us know if you need help sourcing it), then come discuss both Harvey's contradictions and contributions and how they continue to influence us today.The book was chosen by Sha'ar Zahav's Book Club as a great way to end Pride month. Questions? Want to join the Book Club? Contact Ami Zusman.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Connection is about more than just meeting more people; our needs for connection are nuanced and unique. In this highly participatory session with loneliness expert and lecturer Kyla Sokoll-Ward, you’ll discover the major ways that loneliness and social isolation affect us neurologically, personally, and societally… and what can be done to reinvent the ways we think about, and thrive in, our relationships.

Come ready to listen, ask questions, and practice connection! Everyone is welcome! Free.

Join Sha'ar Zahav members Ora Prochovnick and Kelly Thiemann as they examine past and present local housing policies that contribute towards racial inequities in housing and inherited wealth, contributing to systemic racism. This event is sponsored by Sha’ar Zahav’s Racial Equity Group.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Are you missing meeting new people? And feeling disconnection with people over zoom? Do you feel seen and heard? Join Sha'ar Zahav member Carey Averbook for a connection circle!

Come with lunch or dinner. This will be a time for us to come together and get to know each other as a group and in 1:1 breakouts without the discomfort or awkwardness that Zoom brings up for many of us. Bring your whole self, broken hearted or full hearted, but come open and ready to receive and share authentic connection. Questions? Contact Carey Averbook.

Lunch Circle: July 21 from Noon - 1 pm RSVP Here.

Dinner Circle: July 28 from 6-7 pm. RSVP Here.

On fair elections, welcoming the stranger, secure housing and food, ending gun violence, and more! The Social Action Committee is currently working on advancing the “Equality Act” (federal LGBT rights) and the “For the People Act” (assuring national fair elections). Want to join us? Come to our next meeting or contact Nancy Wecker or Geri Kahn.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

New Postcard Campaign and Phonebank: Protect the right to vote with HR1/S1 “For The People Act.” Arizona is key in this campaign. If you want to write postcards, contact Tirtza Pearl. Or join our phone banking havurah with Ruth Schoenbach.

An introduction to Judaism for people who are new or returning to Judaism and are looking for a starting point to dive into Jewish learning and/or Jewish practice. Anyone from any background is welcome. We will be covering everything from Torah to Israel, spirituality to ethics, through a queer-positive, progressive, inclusive Jewish lens with plenty of room for questions.

The class fee is $149. Partial scholarships available for those who need it. Please contact Rabbi Copeland to learn more.

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! For more information, contact Mark Pressler.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Study the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Copeland and lay leaders. For the first half hour, we’ll talk, learn and share thoughts about the portion. In the second half, we will practice our Hebrew reading skills in a compassionate environment! Join for either or both parts of the study.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Adult B’Mitzvah Program

Many of us did not become B’Mitzvah as children and feel like it might be time to make that connection. Our Adult B’mitzvah Program (ABP) is a monthly group educational program, which runs for approximately 8 – 12 months. In the ABP you will learn about the history of the ritual and explore what it means to become an adult B’mitzvah. You will have practical classes in giving a D’var Torah, reading/chanting from the Torah, leading services, and learning the prayer service.

There will also be sessions on the who, what, and why of prayer, different perspectives of G-d, everyday spirituality and much more. The process culminates in either an individual or group B’mitzvah on a Saturday morning at Sha’ar Zahav.

Contact the coordinator Mark Pressler to let us know you are interested or would like to hear more!

Drop in for a joyful hour of free art-making and connection. Everyone is welcome! The group meets every Thursday. For more information, contact Paisha Rochlin, Barbara Cymrot or AJ Turpen Fried.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Join to meet others with disabilities and work towards a more accessible Sha'ar Zahav on Zoom and when we go back to the synagogue building. We are also looking forward to starting programs and events centered around queer, Jewish, and disabled identities. Want to join? Have questions? Please email Eliana Smithstein.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Hitch a ride on the wayback wagon for a trip down memory lane. Let’s reminisce about the 40’s thru the 70’s together! Different topics each month. We will gather on the first Wednesday of every month. Everyone is welcome! Questions? Please email Marv Lehrman.

Our next meeting will be on June 7, as per our regular schedule (first Wednesday of the month).

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

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. For more information, contact Cantor Bernstein.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Allocate some time in your calendar to watch the play "Mosquitoes" by Lucy Kirkwood and let's gather to discuss it on Zoom. You will find the play on National Theater at Home.

Drop-in or join the chavurah by contacting Yvette Adida. We will watch something new every month, and will decide together on dates, genres, etc.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

During this time of immense loss and grief, we are holding regular Kaddish Memory Circles to support each other. Rabbi Mychal Copeland, Ora Prochovnick and Martin Tannenbaum will alternate leading these circles on the first Thursday of the month.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

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 Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Jonathan Comisar is an extraordinarily composer, arranger, and teacher in the Reform Movement. Jonathan was also a member of Sha'ar Zahav and gifted us many talents before he went to Cantorial School. To Bigotry No Sanction is a new cantata based on George Washington's 1790 letter to the Jews of Newport.

View the Performance Here.

What is the connection between gender, witchcraft, and magic in ancient Judaism? Professor Ahuvia’s lecture will survey the evidence for ancient Jewish magic in dialogue with recent novels by Anna Solomon, Sue Monk Kidd, and Maggie Anton, which all feature Jewish women engaged in magical practices. Join the conversation of this fascinating topic!

Learn More and Register Here.

For the past twenty-five years, Elaine Sneierson Leeder has been working in prisons in New York and California: first as a professor, then a self-help group trainer, and now as a victim/offender dialogue facilitator. She will speak about working with Jewish prisoners, including those incarcerated for life, and about the Jewish values that inform the work of reconciliation and rehabilitation.

Learn More and Register Here.

An artful video adaptation of Sholem Asch’s ground-breaking 1906 play, in English! Surrounded by controversy (the first Broadway production was closed down for portraying unconventional Jewish characters and the first lesbian kiss on Broadway), this play was the inspiration for the award-winning Broadway show, Indecent.

Purchase Your Tickets Here.

Contact [email protected] to sponsor a Shabbat

Programs at Sha’ar Zahav are supported by the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, the Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus Initiative for Immigrant and Refugee Justice of the Religious Action Center, San Francisco Humanities, and the National Center to Encourage Judaism.

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