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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/38211/full/38211/connecting-up-events-for-singles-means-double-the-fun/ <br /><br /> <b>Connecting up: Events for singles means double the fun</b> <br /> Thursday, May 28, 2009 | by emily savage <br /><br /><p>When Sara Bronstein became newly single last year after a decades-long marriage, she wasn’t quite sure what to do next. She knew she wanted to join a Jewish community group, but she was a bit older than the YAD crowd and too young for the senior circuit.</p> <p>After a little nudging from pals, she found the Bay Area Singles Havurah — a South Bay–based group specifically designed for 35- to 50-year olds.</p> <p>“Somebody sent me a link to the havurah’s Web site, and little by little I became more and more involved with the group,” she says.</p> <p>This year Bronstein, director of the Israel travel program for the Israel Center, had an expansive idea for the group: to host an all-day Israel in the Gardens event open to all singles in the Bay Area.</p> <p> <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 126px;"><img alt="ISGsingles bronstein, sara" class="left" height="170" src="http://www.jweekly.com/images/uploads/z_photos_2009/zc05_29_09/ISGsingles bronstein, sara.jpg" title="Sara Bronstein" width="126" /> <div class="caption">Sara Bronstein</div> </div> The day will begin with a private architectural tour of the Contemp-orary Jewish Museum, followed by a group picnic, concert viewing and an after-event get-together with Israeli DJ Ronen Sabo at Mezzanine, 444 Jessie St., San Francisco. The museum tour, to begin at 11:30 a.m., is the only part of the event that requires reservations and a fee ($5). The rest of the day is free and open to the public.</p> <p>The point of the event is to provide a full day of Israel in the Gardens–con-nected activities for those weary of going it solo, and to create an opportunity for Jewish singles across the counties to meet.</p> <p>“Because of my involvement in the community, I know a lot of people who want to go [to the event] but don’t necessarily want to explore it alone,” Bronstein explains.</p> <p>The Israel in the Gardens connector event is a bit of a departure for the havurah, which typically hosts dinners or smaller get-togethers.</p> <p>The group began in early 2008 as a simple monthly Shabbat dinner in creator Mark Tischler’s Sunnyvale home.</p> <p> <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 126px;"><img alt="ISGsingles tischler, mark" class="left" height="190" src="http://www.jweekly.com/images/uploads/z_photos_2009/zc05_29_09/ISGsingles tischler, mark.jpg" title="Mark Tischler" width="126" /> <div class="caption">Mark Tischler</div> </div> Tischler isn’t your everyday Jewish singles group organizer. He’s an aerospace engineer for the Army, researching innovations in helicopter functionality and safety.</p> <p>As it turns out, he gets to practice Hebrew at work — his department is responsible for a longstanding collaboration between the United States and Israel involving helicopter technology. In his free time he has also taught Israeli folk dancing, and he currently maintains the havurah’s Web page.</p> <p>Following his divorce, Tischler created the havurah out of frustration with the Jewish singles scene.</p> <p>“It seemed like there was no real mechanism to communicate in the Jewish sense, outside of normal synagogue services,” he explains. “I wanted to do something more intimate, more home-based.”</p> <p>After Tischler set up the Web page, the group grew rapidly — it now has 287 members. Of course, not everyone shows up to every event, though Tischler says some of those Shabbat dinners balloon to upwards of 40 people.</p> <p>With the havurah’s growing membership, the key for Tischler has been maintaining the group’s Jewish identity.</p> <p>“The idea is to try and keep the theme of Judaism and Israel,” Tischler says. “I think my job, my folk dancing and the havurah are all a reflection of my cultural connections to Israel.”</p> <p><br />To learn more about the <strong>Bay Area Singles Havurah’s Israel in the Gardens event</strong>, visit <a href="http://www.sfjcf.org/gardens/2009">http://www.sfjcf.org/gardens/2009</a> or contact <a href="mailto:sarab@sfjcf.org">sarab@sfjcf.org</a>. For more information on the group, visit <a href="http://singles.meetup.com/1808">http://singles.meetup.com/1808</a>.</p> <p> </p>

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