News & Impact

Jewish identity is changing in America, and that’s especially true for many Bay Area Jews in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, some of whom are recent transplants with busy careers. So how are these millennials finding meaning in being Jewish today? JFCS has four different programs that answer this very question. Young Professional Community Connection: Behind the Scenes Amanda Merriweather, a technology company recruiter in her twenties, volunteers every month through JFCS’ Young Professional Community Connection. “For me, the community around the culture is how I connect with Judaism,” says Amanda. “The opportunity to give back with like-minded… Read More

J Weekly By Rob Gloster Berta Kohut endured more than 1,000 days at Auschwitz. She suffered through transfers to Ravensbruck concentration camp and the Birkenau death camp. Having somehow survived and started a family back in her native Czechoslovakia, the last thing she wanted to do was tell her two sons about those horrors. But when her seven grandchildren were old enough to understand, she shared her Holocaust nightmares. “When I was growing up, it was a taboo subject in our family. My father protected her from talking about it,” said her son, Tom Areton. “It’s easier for her to… Read More

When Manny Kagan and his family stepped off the plane to start their new life in the United States, he knew from his first day in San Francisco that he was in a town like no other. In the years that have followed Manny has become a successful businessman, a well-loved philanthropist, and a talented photographer. A long-time member of JFCS’ Emigre Committee, Manny has been an instrumental supporter and voice for the thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who were helped by JFCS to start new lives in California over the past forty years. A Life Purpose… Read More

A Legacy of Remembrance and Resilience To an observer, Zoe Goldfarb (center) and her peers look like any other group of young professionals when they get together—telling stories, sharing a meal, and catching up on each other’s lives. But this group, called 3gSF, has something very important in common. They call themselves “3Gs”—as in third generation—and they are all grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Living Links between Holocaust Survivors and Future Generations “3G is the bridge generation,” says Morgan Blum Schneider, Director of Education at the JFCS Holocaust Center, noting that they are the ones with personal relationships with both… Read More

For eight special nights beginning this year on December 24, we light the candles and celebrate anew the happy and ancient Festival of Lights—Hanukkah. Approximately 2,000 years ago in 165 BCE, and led by a small group of principled Jews named the Maccabees, the brutal rule of the Syrian Greeks was overthrown and the Jews were once again free to continue their traditions, religion, and community. They were finally free to be themselves—to practice Judaism as they wished, and to be openly proud of who they were and what they stood for. Judaism properly understood is both an ethical system… Read More

Do the good thing. “Many of us in the Bay Area are doing well, and I wanted an opportunity to give back to those who aren’t. I saw how JFCS helps so many different groups of people and, through volunteering with JFCS, I get to help improve their lives.” — David, JFCS volunteer In the Jewish tradition, isolation is one of the most painful forms of suffering. Part of JFCS’ core mission is to ensure that no one is lonely or left alone. Won’t you join us in doing that one good thing? David wanted to do the good thing,… Read More