Link of the Week: Check out the Bay Area Reporter piece about AIDS survivors 40 years later by Sha'ar Zahav member David-Elijah Nahmod.

The summer is upon us and we are busy planning new classes and programs for everyone! We are also taking time to make improvements to our building, including refinishing our sanctuary floors. Here is a sneak peek! Photo by Sha'ar Zahav Member, Robert Tat.

In addition to this, we want to share that our weekly e-newsletter will be bi-weekly through August. At the top of the newsletter, you will find the Shabbat Service Zoom links for the current week. Please scroll to the bottom for the following week. You can also find our Shabbat Service Zoom links anytime on our website.

As events continue to unfold in Israel and Palestine, and here in the US, many of us are living with a multitude of unspoken feelings. We have organized a time and space for members of the Sha’ar Zahav community to gather together and support each other. The purpose is to provide a listening space. Though important, this will not be a time for learning about the Conflict, or for debating.

For Sha'ar Zahav Members Only. Register Here to Attend.

Shabbes Beat with Cantor Bernstein. D'rash by Britta Pomrantz. Register Here. Meeting ID: 452 290 988.

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.

Register Here to Attend.

In this dear and traditional Sha'ar Zahav celebration, we will hear original liturgy from our members, and sing and dance with Cantor Bernstein. Join dressed up as your favorite queer icon, wear your rainbow kippah, or your Pride Sha'ar Zahav t-shirt!

Read the book (let us know if you need help sourcing it), then come discuss both Harvey's contradictions and contributions and how they continue to influence us today.The book was chosen by Sha'ar Zahav's Book Club as a great way to end Pride month. Questions? Want to join the Book Club? Contact Ami Zusman.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Come listen and share experience, strength, and hope with other members of the Sha’ar Zahav community! Starting on Sunday, June 13th, CSZ will be hosting a weekly 12-step gathering for those members of our community who identify as part of any 12-step community (AA, NA, CMA, Alanon, SA, etc.).

The meeting will be run in the usual 12-step format but will also feature some thoughts and reflections from members who are working to bring their Jewish selves and Jewish traditions to their 12-step practice. The meetings will be on Zoom until further notice. Contact Erika Katske with any questions.

For Sha'ar Zahav Members Only. Register Here to Attend.

This group provides a place for family caregivers to get support and hear from other caregivers. It is moderated by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker from the Family Caregiver Alliance and is open to caregivers who are caring for older adults or adults with disabilities. Brought to you by the Hineni Caring Community.

Limited spots. For Sha’ar Zahav members. Fee: $125, but no one will be turned away. Please email Rabbi Copeland to apply for a scholarship or if you are interested and you’re not a member. This is not a drop-in group, so we ask that you are able to commit to all the sessions.

For Sha'ar Zahav Members Only. Register Here to Attend.

Are you intrigued by Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah? This summer, join Rabbi Copeland for an informal reading group of the Zohar, the central work of Kabbalah. Newcomers to Kabbalah or experienced readers are all welcome.

Please obtain Daniel Chanan Matt’s book, Zohar: Annotated & Explained. It’s easy to find online and there are places to borrow it as well - just ask Rabbi Copeland. All texts will be in translation. You don’t need to attend every session, but registration is necessary.

Free to Members & $36 Fee for Non-members. Register Here to Attend.

On fair elections, welcoming the stranger, secure housing and food, ending gun violence, and more! The Social Action Committee is currently working on advancing the “Equality Act” (federal LGBT rights) and the “For the People Act” (assuring national fair elections). Want to join us? Come to our next meeting or contact Nancy Wecker or Geri Kahn.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Are you concerned about environmental degradation? Want to work with other Sha’ar Zahavniks against climate change? Come share your ideas, get support, and have fun while we work together on some of the most pressing issues facing the planet. Contact Deborah Levy with any questions.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Interested in working toward racial justice in and outside Sha’ar Zahav? Come to our meeting and let's talk! We have a lot to discuss and work towards together. Questions? You may contact Larry Best.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Join Sha'ar Zahav members Ora Prochovnick and Kelly Thiemann as they examine past and present local housing policies that contribute towards racial inequities in housing and inherited wealth, contributing to systemic racism. This event is sponsored by Sha’ar Zahav’s Racial Equity Group.

Join the Meeting: Zoom link

Study the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Copeland and lay leaders. For the first half hour, we’ll talk, learn and share thoughts about the portion. In the second half, we will practice our Hebrew reading skills in a compassionate environment! Join for either or both parts of the study.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

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! For more information, contact Mark Pressler.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Drop in for a joyful hour of free art-making and connection. Everyone is welcome! The group meets every Thursday. For more information, contact Paisha Rochlin, Barbara Cymrot or AJ Turpen Fried.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

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. For more information, contact Cantor Bernstein.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Today is our regular monthly board meeting. We have many updates to share, and will have time to answer questions as well. All Sha'ar Zahav members are welcome to attend Va'ad meetings.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

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 Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

During this time of immense loss and grief, we are holding regular Kaddish Memory Circles to support each other. Rabbi Mychal Copeland, Ora Prochovnick and Martin Tannenbaum will alternate leading these circles on the first Thursday of the month.

Join the Zoom Meeting: Zoom link

Are you missing meeting new people? And feeling disconnection with people over zoom? Do you feel seen and heard? Join Sha'ar Zahav member Carey Averbook for a connection circle!

Come with lunch or dinner. This will be a time for us to come together and get to know each other as a group and in 1:1 breakouts without the discomfort or awkwardness that Zoom brings up for many of us. Bring your whole self, broken hearted or full hearted, but come open and ready to receive and share authentic connection. Questions? Contact Carey Averbook.

Lunch Circle: July 21 from Noon - 1 pm RSVP Here.

Dinner Circle: July 28 from 6-7 pm. RSVP Here.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California is offering our congregants a complimentary copy of the new print edition the 2021 Resource guide, a directory providing access to over 400 Jewish organizations here in the Bay Area, including summer camps, local synagogues, food markets, film festivals and more.

Please send your name and mailing address to anna@jweekly.com with the subject line “Resource - Free Copy”.

Dress in your brightest rainbow colors and join us for some stories, songs and movement as we celebrate Shabbat and Pride! We welcome everyone, including unaffiliated, single and multi-parent, multi-faith, multi abled, and LGBTQ families. Led by Rabbi Mychal Copeland of Sha'ar Zahav, Rabbi Batshir of the JCCSF, JBN Puppeteer and Musician Jennifer Altman, JBN SF Program Manager Alyssa Zagorie, and Kehilla Synagogue.

Learn More and Register Here.

For the past twenty-five years, Elaine Sneierson Leeder has been working in prisons in New York and California: first as a professor, then a self-help group trainer, and now as a victim/offender dialogue facilitator. She will speak about working with Jewish prisoners, including those incarcerated for life, and about the Jewish values that inform the work of reconciliation and rehabilitation.

Learn More and Register Here.

Sha'ar Zahav member Maggid Elias Ramer will be reading stories for Pride Month with the San Francisco JCC. He will open our eyes to the queer stories we still need to tell, which will enrich and enliven our tradition for queer Jews and queer folk in every community.

Learn More and Register Here.

Led by Rabbi Copeland and Martin Rawlings-Fein. D'rash by Emery Cohen-Wallach. Register Here. Meeting ID: 452 290 988.

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.

Contact sharonh@shaarzahav.org to sponsor a Shabbat

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, San Francisco Humanities, and the National Center to Encourage Judaism.

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