On March 13, Kat Morgan led her last Shabbat service inside the walls of San Quentin State Prison before the pandemic shut everything down. During that service, she and her co-leaders divided the incarcerated participants into small groups to share things that bring them joy during darker moments. She hasn’t been inside the prison since.…
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coronavirus
Israel
Israel had the pandemic under control — until it didn’t
It was just two months ago that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory over the new coronavirus. Ten weeks after recording its first…
Bay Area
Chabads first to reopen for prayer services during pandemic
Despite getting the go-ahead from county health departments to hold small gatherings, most Bay Area synagogues remain closed to in-person services, amid…
Philanthropy
L.A. Jewish group using entire $8.5 million grants budget for Covid relief
The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles will distribute $8.5 million in funds for Covid-19 relief to support nonprofit organizations, both Jewish…
Bay Area
Food-insecure Marin families get served by grassroots org Dine11
When the Covid-19 pandemic began tearing across the country in March, leading to massive unemployment and loss of income, Congregation Rodef Sholom member…
World
With no tourists in Amsterdam, locals are discovering the Anne Frank House
Under normal circumstances, the queue to enter the Anne Frank House stretches far along Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht canal. Tourists who had booked…
The Matzo Chronicles
Scared I had Covid? You bet! But love has helped me heal.
Always one to be different, I got pneumonia amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Coughing, high fevers, weak, felt like I was going to die, swabbed (twice!) (yuck)…
Bay Area
‘Small and nimble’: Sonoma JCC carries on virtually
JCCs Face the Future: Part of a series on how Jewish community centers in the Bay Area are coping with the financial strain of the coronavirus pandemic.…
Bay Area
Marin JCC: pools open, awaiting county’s next signal
JCCs Face the Future: Part of a series on how Jewish community centers in the Bay Area are coping with the financial strain of the coronavirus pandemic.…