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April 27, 2023 • 6 Iyar 5783

… It doesn’t matter if you’re not a member of a Kehilla member-led team. … You might know someone who is active and would like you to interview them—or maybe you do a lot of member-led volunteering and could ask another Kehillan to interview you, so that all you have to do is talk. Or maybe you have great photos of a committee event or …

a yellow hardcover book, They May Not Mean To, But They Do by Cathleen Schine, lying on a granate-like surface

Book Group a Great Way to Connect

Back in 2008, Joseph and Rita Sklar, along with Jay and Ruth Koch, were looking for ways to connect with other Kehilla members. The organizers landed on the idea of a book group and picked a book that Ruth suggested …

A black person in headscarf, sunglasses, black T-shirt, blue pants and black boots walks as she talks into a megaphone in front of a chain link fence with a sign that reads, Alameda County Jail, No Trespassing

Making Noise Together at the County Jail

At this time last year, I didn’t expect to find myself banging on a pizza pan outside Santa Rita, Alameda County’s jail. It had been a long time since I had been active politically. …

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February 23, 2023 • 2 Adar 5783

As a kid, I watched the TV news with my mom nightly as she made dinner, and I remember seeing late 1970s network news coverage on Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization and hearing the word “terrorist” for the first time. …

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Rabbi Brant Rosen Zoom Talk: from Non- to Anti-Zionist

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“I would dare say that the creation of an ethnic Jewish majority state in historic Palestine has not made Jews any safer and it has also made things considerably less safe for Palestinians, to put it mildly… … and that is not to downplay the very real history and current reality of antisemitism throughout the world…

Happy salt 'n' pepper bearded widely smiling white person in a cap and necktie, holding a bouquet

Leadership Spotlight: Phil from Face-to-Face

I’m inspired by Palestinians who demonstrate *sumud* (steadfastness) every day as they resist Israeli oppression and dispossession. Rabbi Burt inspires me as he continues to suggest different ways for us to think about this difficult work and how we can best support our Palestinian brothers and sisters…

Committee Connection logo and date of issue (December 15, 2022 21 Kislev 5783 above bees on lavender flowers

December 15, 2022 • 21 Kislev 5783

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It is with great excitement that I welcome you to Committee Connection: a new format of the Kehilla committee newsletter now available on the web. Our incredible social justice, community care, and affinity groups are Kehilla’s special sauce…

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A Chaplain on Death and Chevra Kadisha Rituals

Being a part of the Chevra Kadisha, having clear practices and rituals, touching, cleaning, dressing and caring for one who has passed, in community… It has been one of the great honors of my life…

6 people dressed in NorCal winter gear organize crates of food on a tablecardboard trays of food on and below tables, outside on a paved lot in front of an iron fence

Faith Trio Helps Give Out Food: A Photo Essay

Since May, volunteers from Kehilla Community Synagogue, the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC), and Montclair Presbyterian Church, three religious organizations who work together as the Faith Trio…

2 Zoom shoulder-up shots, the left of a person with long straight black salt and pepper hair and glasses, and the right person bearded in a brimmed Kente-cloth cap

Jews of Color History Kickoff Class

The idea for a series of classes about Jews of Color came about during meetings of the BIPOC* (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) Council, a subgroup of Kehilla’s Belonging and Allyship Initiative. The Jews of Color (JoC) participating realized they wanted to compare notes and learn more…

person's feet, one injured, with walker outside

Welcome to Ditty’s Closet

This gave Laurel the brilliant idea for Ditty’s virtual closet: to ask members to hold onto medical equipment they no longer were using so it could be loaned to other members when needed…