When I was 15 years old, my older brother applied to spend a gap year after high school as a foreign exchange student. He was paired with a family in Afula, Israel. Little did we know at the time that the year he spent living with this Israeli family would change the course of both…
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Education
Education
40 years of Jewish Studies at Jesuit University of San Francisco
Back in the 1970s, Rabbi David Davis was co-teaching a course called “Jesus the Jew” at the University of San Francisco. At the same time, real estate…
Yom HaShoah
Holocaust survivors are dwindling, but their children are just getting started
The generation of Holocaust survivors may be passing, but thanks to a just-launched initiative in San Francisco, their testimonies will live on through…
Israel at 70
Here’s what we need to tell young people about Israel
The Jewish community is still digesting new demographic findings from the “Portrait of Bay Area Jewish Life” recently released by the S.F.-based…
Israel at 70
The war at home: Yiddish vs. Hebrew
I grew up in Israel in a domestic war zone — a “language war” that raged between my parents. The fight was between Hebrew and Yiddish. Ours was not the…
Books
Highlighting radical acts of ‘stealth’ kindness during Holocaust
In advocating for a new way to understand the Holocaust, Arthur B. Shostak, a retired Drexel University sociology professor, wants to be very clear: He is…
Education
As enrollment falls, Tehiyah school mulls changes
Faced with declining enrollment over the last few years, Tehiyah Day School in El Cerrito might move to a different location for the 2018-19 school year…
Education
Elevating Jewish early childhood education
How much money does it take to change the landscape of early childhood Jewish education in the Bay Area? A $3.3 million long-term investment by the…
Parenting
'Screens down. NOW! Time for school.'
I knew something was awry because it was quiet. Too quiet. In a house full of kids and a very vocal dachshund, I often crave quiet. I long for moments…