News & Impact

Media Alert What: A Tribute to Holocaust Survivors: Honoring Those Who Gave Their Testimonies When: Sunday, June 9, 2:00 – 4:00 pm Where: The Palace Hotel Why: Bay Area Holocaust survivors will be recognized for the vital role they have played as educators. Now all well into their 80s and 90s, the survivors have shared their stories of moral courage, tolerance, and social responsibility to younger generations in person and on videotape. In addition, the JFCS Holocaust Center, which holds the sixth largest collection of video survivor testimonies in the world, and the USC Shoah Foundation—co-sponsors of this special program—will… Read More

A consortium of Bay Area Jewish institutions and a national museum invite community members to come together on Sunday, April 7, for They Did Not Stand Idly By: Yom HaShoah and the 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an afternoon program marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. The free program will be held at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF), 3200 California St. It is co-presented by the JCCSF, Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ Holocaust Center, Lehrhaus Judaica, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the San Francisco branch of the Anti-Defamation League of the Central Pacific Region, and the United… Read More

Because business leaders know it takes a village to support those in need, they generously offer resources to JFCS clients. Recently, Peet’s Coffee & Tea contributed to our Dream House and Parents Place programs—a result of Peet’s customers who made donations to totaling $10,000. Peet’s joins many business partners, that give cash and in-kind gifts. They include San Francisco magazine, Whole Foods, the San Francisco 49ers, and many more. “We are grateful for the outpouring of support that we receive throughout the year from companies, big and small, that want to give back to the community by investing in… Read More

The theme of Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ 29th Annual Fammy Awards Gala, to be held on Saturday evening, March 9, at San Francisco’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, is “Love Stories”—and for good reason. This year’s honorees are esteemed community members who, with love and concern, have transformed painful situations into opportunities to help others. Gala awardees include United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, community leader Roselyne “Cissie” Swig, journalist John Rothmann, Max R. Garcia, Earl Rabb, and Naomi Lauter, as well as Allen, Norman, and Tauba Weiss and the late Lonny Darwin, who is being recognized posthumously. They are all being honored… Read More

Following the Holocaust, a tragedy of epic proportions, how can one retain faith not only in a higher being, but also in the goodness of all humankind? That open-ended question is at the heart of the thoughtful and poignant documentary Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance after the Holocaust, which will be screened at Congregation Shomrei Torah on Sat., Jan. 19, 7:00 pm. Directed by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky, the film focuses on Mr. Daum and his family, who, almost 60 years after World War II, visit Poland and meet with the righteous Gentiles who hid the father and… Read More

J Weekly by Rebecca Rosen Lum Christmas Day for many Jews is about more than eating Chinese food and going to the movies. This year like every year, as part of the time-honored American tradition of Jews doing mitzvahs at Christmastime, Jewish volunteers across the Bay Area will be offering gifts of comfort and community — sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry and caring for the vulnerable. Read More from J Weekly… Read More