News

Many foreigners are surprised to learn that the executive director of the Galicia Jewish Museum (GJM) in Kraków is not Jewish. To Poles, however, this is not unusual. We recently interviewed ED Jakub Nowakowski about Jewish culture in Poland today, GJM’s newest traveling exhibition, and the museum’s mission.

Ensuring the continuity of Jewish peoplehood has always been one of the Koret Foundation’s priorities. Central to our commitment is preserving and honoring the history of Jewish communities. We first wrote in 2017 about the discovery and publication of Rywka Lipszyc’s diary and the museum exhibition it inspired in Kraków. The Girl in the Diary: […]

The Emmys have awarded The U.S. and the Holocaust with their 16th annual Television Academy Honors, which recognizes television programs that have harnessed the extraordinary power of storytelling to fuel social change.

There are, as we like to say, many ways to be Jewish, do Jewish, and feel Jewish. Hillel has provided diverse Jewish experiences to college students around the world since 1923, and much has happened in that century. Enjoy these glimpses of programming and priorities at five Hillels around the Bay Area.

Despite the recent heavy rains and flooding in the Bay Area, the Sacred Space now has first floor walls and second floor steel. Rodef Sholom anticipates a certificate of occupancy for December 2023. The construction of the new Sacred Space is part of Rodef Sholom’s $31 million capital campaign, $29.5 million of which has already been raised. Plans for the completed structure include dedicated youth and family spaces and a social hall, as well as a new sanctuary and enhanced security capabilities.

The celebration highlighted Jewish thought and dialogue and featured an intimate conversation between Dr. Anita Friedman, President of the Koret Foundation and Executive Director of Jewish Family & Children’s Services, and Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute.

This week, the JCRC announced the results of the first-ever Survey of Bay Area Jewish Identity. JCRC will use the data to reframe public understanding of Jewish identity in the Bay Area, transforming its work moving forward by centering the diversity and complexity of the Bay Area Jewish community.

The launch marked the release of several updates that deepen the search capabilities of the Visual History Archive (VHA) and its 55,000+ testimonies. The Visual History Archive is the world’s largest collection of primary source video testimonies from survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides.

Koret President and Jewish Family and Children’s Services executive director Dr. Anita Friedman was presented with the Light Unto the Nations Award at AJC’s 2022 Global Advocacy Gala. The award is AJC’s highest honor bestowed on world leaders who exhibit leadership, courage, and principle.

“The U.S. and the Holocaust,” coming to PBS September 18, examines the reasons behind the country’s inadequate response to Germany’s persecution of Jews.

Two Bay Area cohorts went on trips in May, with more couples going later this summer. “As an interfaith couple, this trip was important to us to learn more about what it means to be Jewish and what traditions we want to carry forward or establish with our future family,” said Tara and Alexander, a Bay Area couple who recently returned from their trip.

Jewish Story Partners, a Los Angeles-based non-profit film funding organization, announced its third round of grantees today, with $468,000 in new grants distributed among 16 projects. The films traverse a rich variety of Jewish experiences, among them powerful stories from award-winning filmmakers like Michel Franco, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, Julia Mintz, Pierre Sauvage, Jason Osder, William Youmans, and Joshua Zeman.