Shorts: Bay Area

Filipino Jew to lead gay pride parade

Robert Bernardo has been elected the first Jewish Filipino to serve as grand marshal of San Francisco's gay pride parade on Sunday, June 25.

Bernardo is a commissioner in South San Francisco, and co-chair of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance. He is also an active member of San Francisco's Congregation Sha'ar Zahav.

Bernardo emigrated from the Philippines with his family when he was 2. He left the Catholic Church when he realized he was gay, and converted to Judaism in his 30s. He is the first Jewish president of GAPA, and j. featured him in a July 29, 2005 story. Next spring, a documentary featuring his conversion will show at Asian, Jewish and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film festivals around the country.




Berkeley Hillel clips Stanford in hoops

The cagers from Berkeley Hillel captured the coveted "paddle trophy" in the first Gefilte Swish basketball tournament, held over the weekend at U.C. Berkeley's recreational sports facility.

The Bears managed to outdistance Stanford Hillel in the tournament's championship game, 51-48. The rival schools survived a daylong stretch against Hillel students from four other schools: U.C. Davis, San Jose State, San Francisco State and Santa Clara University Law School.

Plans have been tentatively made for a second Gefilte Swish tourney next year, at Stanford.




'I dream of home' logo contest

Nefesh B'Nefesh is holding its second annual logo competition for Jewish students in grades six through eight. This year's theme is "I dream of home."

The winner will not only have his or her design painted onto the organization's summer flights for new immigrants to Israel, but will be invited (accompanied by a parent and principal or teacher) on a free trip to Israel this summer.

The deadline for submissions is May 3. Jewish students in the United States and Canada are eligible to enter.

Since its inception in 2002, Nefesh B'Nefesh has helped more than 7,000 North Americans move to Israel by removing or minimizing the financial, professional, logistical and social obstacles of aliyah.

Competition rules and regulations can be found at www.nbn.org.il/logocontest.




Synagogue co-hosts San Jose health fair

Los Gatos Reform Congregation Shir Hadash will team up with San Jose's Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church to present the Healthy Living Health Fair.

An array of Santa Clara County health care resources and providers will be on hand at the free event. Screenings for diabetes, elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and dental problems will be available. The event is held under the auspices of PACT (People Acting in Community Together), a church-and-synagogue-based community organizing group.

The fair takes place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 7, at Most Holy Trinity, 2040 Nassau Drive, San Jose.




GTU gets grant for secular studies

Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is one of five academic institutions to receive a Posen grant for the study of secular Jewish history and culture.

The school will receive $50,000 from the Posen Foundation toward the development of new courses of study in that area for the coming academic year.

U.C. Davis Jewish studies professor David Biale chairs the committee charged with selecting Posen Project grantees. "A demographic study found that 49 percent of Jews define themselves as secular," he says. "There is a tradition of secular Judaism going back to Spinoza."

The project began in 2000, and has grown to include 25 institutions in both Israel and the United States.