News & Impact

J Weekly By Dan Pine The devastating wildfires in Napa and Sonoma counties this week have caused death, injuries and destruction for miles around — but they have also brought out the best in people wanting to lend a hand. Synagogues, Jewish agencies and scores of individual volunteers have lined up to assist families evacuated from the danger zones, some of whom have lost their homes to the flames. Santa Rosa’s Congregation Shomrei Torah has emerged as a hub for that Jewish aid. Since Oct. 9 the Reform synagogue has served as a command post, trauma center, soup kitchen, overnight… Read More

Although Mark Menell still considers himself a New Yorker at heart, the accomplished venture capitalist has been a Californian for over two decades and has contributed to the success of JFCS as a Board member since the early 2000s. Currently a general partner at the investment firm, Partech Ventures, he has spent his distinguished career building, advising, and investing in technology, media, and telecommunications businesses. As a parent, Mark says, “there are certain values and experiences I want to pass along to my daughters and my involvement with JFCS helps me set an example for them of what caring for… Read More

The Christian Science Monitor by Michael B. Farrell and Jessica Mendoza Can kids be encouraged to let go of the virtual world – occasionally – and engage in the real one? Can they stop posting selfies long enough to think of someone else? The answer is yes. But there are bound to be some anxious moments for parents along the way. MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.—Jake Lee, a tanned California teenager in baggy shorts and a T-shirt, is lounging on the floor of his parents’ midcentury home. They live in a suburban Silicon Valley enclave of tech workers, cyber-savvy kids, and the… Read More

Twelve years ago, JFCS Executive Director, Dr. Anita Friedman, visited her father’s ancestral village in the Polish countryside. Since then she has returned to Gniewoszow multiple times and joins thousands of Jews who have traveled to Poland since the fall of communism. Friedman has built relationships with the local community and helped rededicate its Jewish cemetery as she grapples with her family’s lost homeland. She is also teaching teens in the Bay Area about this important history. JFCS is the leader in Holocaust education in Northern California, and thousands of students each year learn about the Holocaust and other genocides… Read More

J Weekly By Rob Gloster Bay Area rabbis, political and community leaders are among 200 Jewish individuals and organizations across North America condemning the Israeli government’s “callousness and ignorance” in making it harder for same-sex couples to adopt children. The public letter released on July 25 was organized by A Wider Bridge, the San Francisco-based organization that supports the LGBT community in Israel. Signatories included Hillel International, leaders of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Union of Reform Judaism, prominent Jewish LGBT leaders and over 60 U.S. rabbis. Fifty-four local Jewish leaders signed the letter, including state Sen. Scott… Read More

J Weekly By Sue Barnett Gniewoszow, Poland—Twelve years ago, brought her family from San Francisco to Poland to visit the ancestral village of her father. It would be her first time in Gniewoszow, one of the many towns dotting the Polish countryside where Jews made up a majority of the population before the war—and none after. More than 200 of her relatives had lived here. All were killed in the Holocaust in death camps like Treblinka and Auschwitz. Only her father made it out alive. Friedman, executive director of S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services, wanted to share the… Read More