Jewish Community Library

You have until Sunday to view this briefly displayed exhibition at the San Francisco Ferry Building of artworks with a tragic and mysterious backstory before the paintings are returned to France.

Russian Jewish artist Ary Arcadie Lochakov fell into obscurity after his death in Nazi-occupied France. Years later, thirty-eight original works by Lochakov were rediscovered at Crane Cove Park, right here in San Francisco. Discover who Lochakov was and how his art found its way to the Bay with a new exhibition created by the Port of San Francisco, with consultation from The CJM's curatorial team. The exhibition is on view August 14-18 at the Ferry Building. Don't miss the chance to see these rare artworks before they're transferred to the collection of the Museum of the Art and History of Judaism in Paris!

Learn more and book tickets at https://sfport.com/node/6770

Our community has lost a giant. David Biale was a great human being and a tremendous scholar. He spoke a number of times at the Library, and his scholarship shines in more than a dozen books in our collection. Consider reading this obituary from J. The Jewish News of Northern California and clicking on the links in the comments on this Facebook post. May his memory be a blessing.

David Biale, celebrated Jewish historian, dies at 75 Biale, who wrote 13 books and won three National Jewish Book Awards, died after battling metastatic prostate cancer.

We were saddened to learn of today's passing of Žilvinas Beliauskas, who spoke at the Library in 2018. He was the director of the Vilniaus žydų viešoji biblioteka / Vilnius Jewish Public Library. Not Jewish himself, he devoted an enormous amount of energy to educating fellow Lithuanians about Lithuanian Jewish history and heritage. May his memory be a blessing.

In his most recent column in J. The Jewish News of Northern California Library Director Howard Freedman discusses a surprisingly popular book on death and mourning written by prominent French rabbi Delphine Horvilleur. You can borrow it from the Library as a printed book, eBook, or audiobook.

'Living with Our Dead': French rabbi reflects on death in powerful bestseller Delphine Horvilleur’s “Living with Our Dead” is a series of personal essays that draw both from her years of conducting funerals and from the wisdom of Jewish thought and practice.

This year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, run by the Jewish Film Institute, is excellent. The Library is a proud community partner for the documentary The Return from the Other Planet, about Ka-Tzetnik, the enigmatic Holocaust survivor who became a bestselling Israeli author. The film shows in San Francisco at the Vogue Theater on Wednesday, July 24 at 1 PM and in Oakland at the Piedmont on Sunday, August 4 at 1 PM.

The Return from the Other Planet | San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 44 The Return from the Other Planet is playing at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, presented by the Jewish Film Institute! SFJFF44 runs July 18 — August 4 in the Bay Area. For more information go to SFJFF.org.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of Emil Knopf, former President of the Friends of the Jewish Community Library and a man who did much for our community. Modest and unassuming, he was an extraordinarily wise and giving person. May his memory be a blessing.

Emil Knopf, Holocaust survivor and Levi Strauss exec, dies at 91 He started in an entry-level job at Levi Strauss, rising to a senior executive and spending his free time volunteering for Jewish causes.

Join us in person at the Library next Sunday for our final drop-in book club before we break for summer. Jim Van Buskirk will lead us in a discussion of Meir Shalev's The Loves of Judith. You can pick up a copy at the Library this week--but remember that we're now on a reduced summer schedule, closing at 4 PM through August 8.

Drop-In Book Discussion: The Loves of Judith by Meir Shalev, Facilitated by Jim Van Buskirk, Jewish Community Library Join us for a lively in-person discussion at the Jewish Community Library.

On Monday afternoon, Library Director Howard Freedman will give a presentation at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on the history of Jewish life in the Fillmore District. The event is free, but registration is required.

Send a message to learn more

Join us online this Sunday afternoon as one of the preeminent historians of American Jewry offers a multimedia presentation on the left-leaning Jewish street photographers who documented New York City in the 1930s and 1940s in novel ways.

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Join us online to hear from journalist Asaf Elia-Shalev, author of the first English language book to examine the protest movement led by Mizrahi Jews in Israel in the early 1970s.

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A nice article on the expanding body of Yiddish literature available in English translation, with an emphasis on the work of women writers. You can borrow books by Frume Halpern, Freydl Shtok, Miriam Karpilove, Yenta Mash, Celia Dropkin, and other Yiddish authors whose work has been translated in the past decade from the Jewish Community Library.

The expanding Yiddish bookshelf It’s an exciting time to be a professor of Yiddish literature. My bookshelf keeps expanding!

Library director Howard Freedman's most recent column in J. The Jewish News of Northern California features an interview with San Francisco author Jason K. Friedman about his new book, Liberty Street, which focuses on the world of a young Jew from Savannah, Georgia who was killed during the Civil War. Friedman will present the book at the Library in September (see link in comments).

‘Liberty Street’: S.F. author reckons with Southern Jews’ slave ownership After returning to his hometown in Georgia as an adult, Jason K. Friedman uncovered a complicated story of a Jewish family who owned slaves.

Tonight's 7 PM program with master klezmer fiddler Cookie Segelstein and the members of Veretski Pass is going to be very special, and will be preceded at 6 PM by the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Jewish Community Library for those who are interested. We hope to see you at the Library! Co presented by KlezCalifornia and the Jewish Folk Chorus of San Francisco.

Under the Hood: Using Jewish Archival Materials to Create New Music and Arrangements, presented by Cookie Segelstein with live examples by Veretski Pass, Jewish Community Library To register for this free in-person program, click here.

We are greatly looking forward to next Thursday's in-person program with master fiddler Cookie Segelstein as she presents the process of using archival materials to develop new music and arrangements. Musical examples will be played live by the extraordinary klezmer ensemble Veretski Pass. Co presented by KlezCalifornia and the Jewish Folk Chorus of San Francisco.

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Please note that tonight's Library event at the Oshman Family JCC with Aron Rodrigue on Ladino and Sephardi history has reached seating capacity. There is, however, a waiting list that you can sign up for, should there be cancellations.

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We hope you'll join us at the San Francisco JCC on Sunday, May 5 for a community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration and day of learning.
In particular, there will be a panel discussion called "What can we do about antisemitism?" featuring Tye Gregory of JCRC of San Francisco, Oleg Ivanov of AJC San Francisco, Marc Levine of ADL Central Pacific Region, and Morgan Blum Schneider of JFCS Holocaust Center. The day's schedule, which will also feature a memorial name reading and a keynote by Dr. Anita Friedman and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, is in the comments below. Registration is at jfcs.org/yomhashoah2024
Presented by JFCS Holocaust Center and Jewish Community Center of San Francisco in partnership with many community organizations and congregations.

Passover books do not end with the Haggadah. Parade Magazine offers a list of suggested books for Passover reading for both kids and adults. You can still pick them up at the Library, but keep in mind that we will be open this Thursday and Sunday, as well as the following Thursday and Sunday, but will be closed on the next two Mondays and Tuesdays for the beginning and ending of the holiday.

Celebrate Passover With 13 Great Books About the Holiday Here are 13 of the best Passover books of all time to read, share and enjoy.

Passover is less than a week away. If you're holding a seder--whether just for yourself or for a large group--this is your last opportunity to reserve sets of haggadot to borrow from the Library's free Haggadot in a Box program. Contact us to choose from a selection of haggadot geared for a wide variety of needs.

Haggadot in a Box, Jewish Community Library Need Haggadot? Borrow them from the Jewish Community Library! If you’re in the Bay Area, you can borrow a set of up to ten haggadot matched to your...

We were saddened to learn of the passing of legendary comic book artist and writer Trina Robbins. She delighted us at the Library in 2017 when she presented a graphic adaptation of her immigrant father's Yiddish writings. May her memory be a blessing.

Veteran Wonder Woman artist adapts her father's Yiddish tale An award-winning underground comics artist gives new life to her father’s 80-year-old book “A Bunch of Jews” with a graphic novel adaptation.

Great article in J. The Jewish News of Northern California with master translator Jessica Cohen, who spoke at the Library in 2018. Cohen is the translator of The Hebrew Teacher by Maya Arad, who will be speaking in person at the Library on May 2.

How Jessica Cohen became the go-to English translator of Israeli literature For over 25 years, Cohen has brought works by Amos Oz, David Grossman, Maya Arad and others to readers outside of Israel.

Hosting a seder and need haggadot? You can choose from a wide variety at the Jewish Community Library and borrow up to ten copies. They're available on a first-come, first-served basis, and can be picked up at the Library's main branch in San Francisco or at the Pushcart at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto.

Haggadot in a Box, Jewish Community Library Need Haggadot? Borrow them from the Jewish Community Library! If you’re in the Bay Area, you can borrow a set of up to ten haggadot matched to your...