News & Impact

While Judaism offers beautiful lifecycle traditions and rituals for those who are grieving, Jewish customs for pregnancy and infant loss are only now catching up with modern times. Up to one in four women in the U.S. will experience at least one miscarriage, and many others will experience a stillbirth or infertility at some point. The rates are even higher in the Bay Area where many delay starting a family until later in life. When this kind of devastating loss occurs, women—as well as their partners, families, and friends—have historically been left without a clear Jewish path for rituals, support,… Read More

Miriam Sparrow brings the natural charm of a southerner to her many roles at JFCS, along with her commitment and drive. A JFCS Board member for two years, she is also the Sonoma County Co-Chair of JFCS’ Public Issues Committee and a member of the Sonoma County Leadership Team.  She also serves on the JFCS-wide Program and Planning Committee, the Public Issues Committee, and the By-Laws Review Committee. In her relatively short time on the JFCS Board Miriam is already known for her expertise, dedication, and role as an effective and respected ambassador on behalf of JFCS and those who… Read More

The Mercury News By Jacqueline Lee It was her mother’s intuition that spared Denise Elbert from the gas chambers during the Jewish Holocaust in World War II. Elbert was 9 months old in 1942 when she boarded a train headed for Sobibor with her mom and dad. Young Jewish Slovakian families, like the Elberts, had been told they were needed to help build a major German city, and locals lined the platform to see them off. When Elbert’s mother spotted a good childhood friend, she decided to ask the friend to care for her daughter until the couple got settled… 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

The Press Democrat By Christi Warren Several generations have come and gone since May 1945 when the last prisoners were liberated from the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. The Holocaust today feels far away, especially for youth increasingly separated from not only the harsh realities of a world at war, but the scope of Germany’s campaign of genocide. For years, Jewish groups have worked to bring Holocaust survivors into classrooms to discuss their time in the camps, to tell their stories. But that population is quickly dwindling — fewer than 100,000 survivors remain — which is what sparked… Read More

“JFCS is our community’s safety net,” Teresa says, and here’s how: Struggling with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, Teresa felt lost and overwhelmed when she picked up the phone and made her first call to JFCS. An attorney in her early 60s who lost her job during recent economic hard times, she was suddenly unable to care for herself and was alone in the face of a medical crisis without family or close friends to help. Teresa says, “After getting home from surgery I could barely leave my bed, let alone care for myself or my home. Jewish Family and… Read More