Contact office@shaarzahav.org to sponsor Oneg or Flowers for Shabbat.

Friday Night Services for Bemidbar

June 7 at 7:30pm

Hybrid: On Zoom and In-Person

Trans Celebration Shabbat

People of all backgrounds and all genders are warmly welcome!

Led by Rabbi Copeland and Alyss Weissglass

Drash by Rabbi Reuben Zellman

Register Here for Zoom Service

Meeting ID: 886 7131 3838

Saturday Morning Service:

June 8 at 10:00am

Hybrid: On Zoom and In-Person

Join the Zoom Meeting. Meeting ID: 365 434 855 and Passcode: 068575.

To join by phone for either service, dial +1 669 900 9128 or find your local number.

Pride with Sha'ar Zahav!

Show off, show up and show out with your very own Sha'ar Zahav merch! We have a new pride shirt but also something we haven't had in decades--hoodies! Please note: if you choose to send your items to Sha'ar Zahav, you are responsible for picking up your order. Pickup times are either during one of our community events (like Shabbat) or on Wednesdays from 10am-4pm.

To order shirts, click here

To order hoodies, click here

This Friday!

People of all backgrounds and all genders are warmly welcome to Shabbat and the learning sessions.

Kick off Pride month with a dose of trans Jewish joy! Please join us for Trans Celebration Shabbat, honoring the memory of our member, Ray Bernstein z"l. Led by Rabbi Copeland and Alyss Weissglass. Rabbi Reuben Zellman will be drashing. Learning sessions will be fully hybrid; you can participate from the synagogue or from your computer. The Kabbalat Shabbat service will be available via Zoom as usual, using the usual link for Shabbat. Our teacher will be Rabbi Reuben Zellman of SZ's Welcome Home Project. People of all backgrounds and all genders are warmly welcome to Shabbat and the learning sessions.

Register here for in-person

Register here for Zoom (please note this is not the link for Shabbat, just for the learning sessions)

Androgynous Adam, Mordechai and Dinah transitioning, yeshiva students fooling around in the study hall, queer love poetry, gay magical amulets and more...Let's delve into some of the queerest texts in our tradition for Pride month! Taught by Rabbi Copeland.

Register here for in-person

Register here for Zoom

Show your Queer Jewish Pride at our annual extravaganza Pride Shabbat! Do you know someone who could use a pride lift during this difficult time? Invite them! Led by Rabbi Copeland and Cantor Bernstein. Drinks, food and art with Andrea Guerra will be at this year's Pre-Pride Party.

6:30pm (in-person only): Pre-Pride Party

7:30pm (Hybrid): Shabbat

Register here for the in-person Pre-Pride Party

We will gather at Dolores Park (up the hill from where 19th Street intersects with Dolores) to share Shabbat ritual and a BYO picnic dinner before the march. Sponsored by Kehilla Community Synagogue and Sha’ar Zahav.

Click here for more information

Walk or ride on our bus! For the second year, we are marching with a multifaith group of religious organizations, United in Spirit. Some of our members will also be marching or riding with the large Jewish contingent, headed by the JCCSF. In this difficult time within Jewish and Queer communities, it is important that we are present in both contingents, so let’s make a great showing! Our contingent organizer needs to know if you are coming. Please register!

Click here to register (if walking with United in Spirit)

Click here to register (if walking with JCCSF)

Community Get Together!

Sha’ar Zahav Annual Meeting

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Hybrid via In-Person and Zoom Participation

Sha'ar Zahav Members only!

A light dinner will be provided at 5:45 pm in the Oneg Room. The meeting will take place in the Sanctuary, fully hybrid, 6:30-8:30 pm.

Please RSVP here for in-person (for both dinner and the meeting)

Please RSVP here for Zoom (Zoom will be open starting at 6pm for schmoozing)

Shavuot: Community Wide Tikkun Leil Shavuot

Tuesday, June 11, 6-11:30pm

In-person with Zoom learning session options

We are thrilled to be co-hosting a community-WIDE celebration in collaboration with Sherith Israel, Temple Emanu El, Congregation Ner Tamid, Sha’ar Zahav, Congregation Am Tikvah, and the JCCSF. Join our community for learning, candle lighting, songs, and nosh. Join us for two exciting Zoom sessions: “We are sitting together at Sinai — right now! Text study and meditation” by Maggid Eli Andrew Ramer and "3000 years and we are still at Mt. Sinai: What Happened/is Happening/Will Happen There" by Rabbi Sydney Mintz.

Click here for the online Zoom session with Eli Andrew Ramer

Click here for the online Zoom session with Rabbi Sydney Mintz

Click here for more information and to register in person

Centering Our Response to The Opioid Crisis

Thursday, June 13, 7-8:30pm, on Zoom only

Please join us for an educational event to raise awareness of the current opioid crisis in the Bay Area, and how to center our response humanely and compassionately. This event is co-sponsored with Congregation Kol Shofar (Tiburon), in partnership with the Clinton Foundation.

Register here for Zoom

B’yachad Duboce Park Gathering 

Sunday, June 16, 2024, 12-2pm 

We’ll meet on the southwestern side of the park, near the N-Judah tracks, under a big tree. Suggestions about what to bring: Warm clothes, a blanket, chair, sunscreen.

If you have any questions, please contact Paisha, Marvin or Bob

John Lewis Memorial Voter Engagement Group

Sunday, June 16th and July 14th, 11am on Zoom

We will write postcards together in community and contact registered Black voters in N.C. where voters are given information on registration, how to find info about candidates, and ways to spread the word about the importance of voting. Join us for Zoom only postcard parties in June and July. Please let Tirtza Pearl or Geri Kahn know if you would like to join and we will make arrangements to get you the postcards and addresses.  

Link for June 16

Link for July 14

Recurring Gatherings and Meetings

 Theater & Movies Chavurah: Just for Us

 Wednesday, June 19, 6:00-7:15pm on Zoom

Join the Movie and Theatre Chavurah for a discussion of “Alex Edelman’s “Just for Us." In the wake of anti-Semitic threats online, Edelman covertly attends a meeting of white nationalists and comes face-to-face with the people behind the keyboards. It’s available on HBO (7 day trial available if you don't subscribe).

Join us: Zoom Link

SZ Book Group and Disability and Accessibility Committee

Loving Our Own Bones by Rabbi Julia Watts Belser

Tuesday, July 2, 7-8 PM on Zoom

People ask Rabbi Julia Watts Belser “What’s wrong with you?” Her answer - not her wheelchair, but exclusion, objectification, pity, and disdain. Loving Our Own Bones reimagines disability in the Bible and contemporary culture. If you’ve heard Rabbi Belser, you know she’s amazing. If not, you have a treat in store!

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Can you do a mitzvah for someone in our community?

Hineni, our caring community at SZ, is in great need of more volunteers (and in more Bay area regions!) to meet the caring needs of our community. If you can help by making a call, helping with an errand, making a home visit, or offering a ride; please contact Marla Allen, co-chair of Hineni.

Caregiver's Group

1st Wednesday of the month, 7-8:30pm on Zoom

Are you a caregiver for someone in your life? A parent, relative, spouse? Christina Irving of the Family Caregiver Alliance leads our monthly Caring for the Caregivers group. If you are interested, please reach out to Rabbi Copeland. Find out more about the Alliance here.

Disability and Accessibility Committee

If you identify as disabled, are exploring that identity or have a loved one with a disability and are interested in joining the Disability and Accessibility Committee, please reach out to the committee for more information. If you are interested in learning more about disability and how you can become a better ally, stay tuned for educational events to come!

Climate Action Committee

The Climate Action Committee is on hiatus. Our next meeting will be the 2nd Monday in August (8/12). If you have any questions or would like to get involved in greening SZ and other shared climate advocacy work, join us in August or contact Deborah Levy any time.

Social Action Committee

The first Monday (unless a holiday) of the month

6:00pm on Zoom

On fair elections, welcoming the stranger, secure housing and food, ending gun violence, and more! Want to join us? Come to our next meeting or contact Nancy Wecker or Neil Young.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Weekday Morning Prayer

Weekly on Tuesdays

8:30-9:00am

Songs and prayers to set our hearts and minds! This service takes place every Tuesday morning, and is led by community lay leaders and Cantor Bernstein. Contact Cantor Bernstein.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

12-Step Meetings by and for SZ Members

Weekly on Thursdays

5:00-6:00pm on Zoom

Join CSZ's 12-step group at our new time for some pre-High Holiday reflection in the spirit of recovery! Meetings are open to everyone in our wider SZ community (and the Bay Area Jewish recovery community), and we welcome folks who are members of any 12-step fellowship (AA, NA, Alanon, CMA, etc.). Join us this Thursday at 5pm and use this zoom link. Questions? Email Erika Katske.

L'Havin: Understanding Israel and Its Neighbors

Last Monday night of each month, 6pm

L'Havin: Understanding Israel and Its Neighbors is a Sha'ar Zahav working group that provides our members and community friends with support, knowledge, and dialogue skills that deepen our relationship with the land and peoples of Israel and Palestine, and to advance understanding and healing within our Jewish community. You do not need to come with any previous knowledge of the topics we may discuss or with any set viewpoints. In fact, we encourage all to come with open ears and a learner’s mindset. Led by Rachel Nilson-Ralston. Contact the office to add yourself to the listserv.

Weekly Torah Study Group

Weekly on Wednesday

8:30-9:30am

Lay leaders lead discussions about the weekly Torah reading. Drop-ins welcome, no experience with Torah necessary!

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Mussar Discussion Group

Bi-weekly on Thursdays

7:00-8:00pm

Mussar is a very practical and flexible spiritual discipline to help you balance soul-traits (Middah/Middot) such as Humility, Loving-Kindness, Generosity, and Silence. Drop-ins are always welcome! Contact Mark Pressler.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Meditation Chavurah

1st and 3rd Saturday of the month

10:30am-Noon

Everyone is welcome. And you will not regret it! A typical session includes a short and longer silent sit, with chanting, movement, and a short teaching. The group meets on the first and third Saturday of every month.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Hiking Chavurah

2nd Saturday of the month, 9:50am

Join other Sha’ar Zahavniks on monthly urban hikes – mostly in SF but we sometimes venture farther afield. This is a great way to get to know other SZ members while exploring the city and beyond. The hikes usually last about two hours. Email Karen Schiller and Ellen Murland.

Benny Lunine 6/6

Brad Friedman 6/6

Marianne Balin 6/8

Ruchira Shah 6/8

Laura Lowe 6/9

Tev Katz 6/9

Barry Pearl 6/9

Vicki Goldstone 6/10

Claudia Bernard 6/10

Daniel Chesir 6/10

Rose Katz 6/10

Annie Winters 6/11

While we strive for all our events to be mixed-access, this is not always possible. Some events are only in-person, and some are Zoom only. If you have any questions about a particular event, please contact the office, or the contact listed for the event.

Programs at Sha’ar Zahav are supported by the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, the Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus Initiative for Immigrant and Refugee Justice of the Religious Action Center, the National Center to Encourage Judaism and the generous support of our members. Toda rabba!

You are receiving this email because you expressed interest in Sha'ar Zahav. Be sure to add office@shaarzahav.org to your (email) contacts list so that our communications land in your inbox! All our events take place at Sha'ar Zahav 290 Dolores Street, unless noted otherwise. To unsubscribe, please click on the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this email.