San Francisco State University President Leslie Wong, who has faced criticism of his administration’s response to anti-Semitic incidents at the school over the last years, has announced he is retiring. Wong, president since 2012, was traveling and unavailable to talk to J., but other figures connected to the university offered comments. “It’s been a challenging…
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Location: San Francisco
Sports
Giants manager Gabe Kapler is playing video games to stay sharp for baseball season
Like the rest of the world, San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler is on hold waiting for his life to resume. But he’s trying to make sure the sitting…
Music
Yiddish Combo will stream one-song mini-concerts every night during Passover
Two days before the San Francisco Yiddish Combo was asked to perform for a party being held on the online video-conferencing platform Zoom, “We didn’t…
Trailblazers
Rita Semel, 98, is a tireless leader and ‘interfaith bridge’
Part of Trailblazers, a series of profiles of Jewish men and women who build and sustain our Jewish community, supported by a generous donation from Carol…
Philanthropy
'This is the rainy day': Federation expedites emergency funding
In the first weeks of the coronavirus crisis, Hebrew Free Loan received more than 100 new applications for emergency aid, totaling more than $1 million in…
Bay Area
Sinai Chapel’s annual Passover ‘wheat money’ fund takes on added importance this year
For more than 100 years, Sinai Memorial Chapel in San Francisco has practiced the tradition of ma’ot chitim, or the “wheat fund.” Sinai collects money to…
Bay Area
JFCS ramps up its services to meet daunting coronavirus challenges
Anita Friedman thought she’d seen it all: wildfires, earthquakes, 9/11 and the brutal 2008 economic recession. But the longtime executive director of the…
Organic Epicure
‘A complete disaster’: Jewish food businesses crushed by coronavirus
Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky. All was going well for small business-owner Laura Athuil. The French…
Bay Area
From groceries to phone banking, volunteers step up during outbreak
Throughout the Bay Area, synagogues and Jewish agencies have discovered their secret power: volunteers. From running phone banks to buying and delivering…