Shorts: Bay Area

New Brandeis Hillel head of school is installed

Chaim Heller has been installed as the new head of school for Brandeis Hillel Day School. More than 200 community leaders and supporters attended the ceremony, which took place Sunday, Sept. 10, at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.

Several local rabbis participated, among them Stephen Pearce and Sydney Mintz of Emanu-El, Stacey Friedman of Congregation Rodef Sholom (San Rafael) and Kenneth Leitner of Congregation Beth Sholom (S.F.). Other dignitaries in attendance include Prof. Mark Dollinger, Michael Zeldin of Hebrew Union College, and senior administrators from other local Jewish day schools.

A former Brandeis Hillel head of campus and acting head of school, Heller is a graduate of Haifa University and City University of New York. He has been with the school for more than 10 years.

"There's a sense out there that we work in a vacuum, but that's been repeatedly dispelled and never more so than Sunday," he said. "To be surrounded by so many people with such high hopes for Brandeis Hillel was very humbling."




Interfaith group hosting diversity get-together

Members of all faiths are invited to convene in the South Bay later this month for a celebration of diversity.

Organized by South Bay Interfaith, the event builds on last year's interfaith convergence, "Feasting and Fasting Together," which was attended by more than 250 people.

An array of faith-based organizations, including the Jewish Community Relations Council Peninsula Region and the JCRC Silicon Valley, serve as event co-sponsors.

"Breaking Bread Together: An Interfaith Reunion" will take place 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21 at the Circle of Palms (between the Fairmont Hotel and the San Jose Museum of Art) in downtown San Jose. Visit www.southbayinterfaith.org or call (408) 297-2668 for more information.




S.F. rabbi on PBS about High Holy Days

Rabbi Alan Lew, former rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom in San Francisco, will explore how meditation can bring a deeper meaning to the observance of the Jewish High Holy Days on the next episode of the PBS program "Religion & Ethics."

The program will air locally on KRCB at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 17 and on KQED, at 1 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18.




Anti-Israel protest held at SFSU

A demonstration marking the 24th anniversary of the killings of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon was held on San Francisco State University's main quad Tuesday, Sept. 12.

Alon Shalev, executive director of San Francisco Hillel, described the scene as "routine," noting that security personnel outnumbered pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

The event mostly consisted of a DJ playing Arabic music and orators decrying the United States' support of Israel. Behind the main stage hung a banner reading "Israel you betray the memories of 6 million of your people."

"The first thing that went through my mind is, at least they're not denying the Holocaust," deadpanned Shalev.

The 1982 massacre, while carried out by Christian militiamen, has been blamed to varying degrees on Israeli soldiers and then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon.

Jewish students handed out fliers countering many of the speakers' claims at the quad's periphery.




Jewish owner sells Cody's Books

Not long after the famed Telegraph Avenue branch of Cody's Books went the way of the dodo, owner Fred Ross opted to sell the remaining two Cody's outlets to a Japanese buyer earlier this month.

Ross, who is Jewish and kept a well-stocked Judaica section, sold the franchise to Hiroshi Kagawa, the owner of Yohan Inc., Japan's largest distributor of English-language books. Kagawa's firm bought Berkeley's Stone Bridge Press last year.

Cody's two remaining locations are on Berkeley's Fourth Street and the former Planet Hollywood space near San Francisco's Union Square; many in the Bay Area literary world claim the costly new San Francisco outlet doomed the Telegraph store and led to this sale.

Ross will remain as president and his wife, Leslie Berkler, will be vice president in charge of store operations.




AJCommittee elects new officers

The Northern California Region of the American Jewish Committee elected new officers at the organization's 61st annual meeting recently.

Steven Kornetsky was re-elected to serve as president. He joins Mark Bostick, senior vice president, and vice presidents Andrew M. Colvin, William D. Epstein, Vincent Feher, Samuel A. Fishman, Harry Kirsch, Robert S. Stein, Rachel E. Teisch, Daniel L. Weiner and Helene Zinn. Secretary is Seth Skootsky and chair of the executive committee is Richard S.E. Johns.

New board members are Linda Frank, Dan Halperin, Melanie Ogren, Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz, Jessica Teisch and S. Douglas Weil.