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The Jewish News of Northern California

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Jew in the Pew

Rabbi Amanda Russell chants the opening lines of the Torah as an entire scroll is unrolled during the Simchat Torah celebration at Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco on Oct. 14. (David A.M. Wilensky/J. Staff)
Posted inJew in the Pew

Simchat Torah: ‘I need to dance with some Jews ASAP’

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky October 15, 2025October 15, 2025

For all its talk of the Book of Life, Yom Kippur has nothing on Simchat Torah when it comes to turning the page. We literally roll this one long page […]

People mingle in the remodeled courtyard of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco during a reception celebrating the building's reopening, Sept. 12, 2025. The main sanctuary is to the left of the frame, while the stairs on the right lead down to the main entrance. (Aaron Levy-Wolins/J. Staff)
Posted inReligion

Emanu-El celebrates end of $97M renovation project

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky September 16, 2025September 26, 2025
Potash gestures upward to the telephone wires overhead
Posted inReligion

San Francisco’s third eruv expands options for Shabbat-observant Jews in Noe Valley, the Mission and the Castro

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky August 23, 2024August 26, 2024
Cantor Toby Glaser rehearses a prerecorded High Holiday service at Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco, Aug. 2020. (Photo/Michael Fox)
Posted inJewish Life

Prerecorded services, backyard worship, a drive-in: finding new ways to uphold tradition this High Holiday season

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky August 20, 2020August 20, 2020
Noam Sienna is the author of “A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969.”
Posted inPride

A treasure trove of LGBTQ texts from two millennia of Jewish history

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky June 29, 2020July 8, 2020
Rose Hayes lights a rainbow of candles at a past Pride Seder at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav. 
Posted inReligion

‘Pride Seder,’ virtual this year, honors liberation history of LGBTQ Jews 

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky June 19, 2020June 22, 2020
The light-filled sanctuary of Kol Shofar in Tiburon (Photo/HCLA)
Posted inBay Area, Columns, Religion, Jew in the Pew, Jewish Life, News

Shabbat online? Conservative synagogues get OK, but some were already doing it

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky May 25, 2020May 26, 2020
Rabbi Daniel Stein (top right) leads candle lighting and some songs over Zoom before Shabbat, March 13, 2020. (Screenshot/David A.M. Wilensky)
Posted inReligion

Shabbat, prayer and religious connection during a pandemic

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky March 17, 2020March 17, 2020
This Passover, as in every year, new haggadahs abound.
Posted inKids & Family

New haggadahs for 2020: nationalism, artistry, the environment and more

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky March 11, 2020March 12, 2020
Cantor Jack Mendelson in "A Cantor's Head"
Posted inJew in the Pew

A master of synagogue music finds his style and career fading in touching documentary

David A.M. Wilensky
(Photo/Aaron Levy-Wolins)
J. The Jewish News of Northern California Staff Headshots. by David A.M. Wilensky February 14, 2020August 17, 2021

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