THE JEWISH NEWS of Northern California ‘Madame President’ Oakland’s Rebecca Kaplan preaches Torah, progressive politics OCTOBER–OCTOBER Special Sections SENIOR LIFE SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION Inside J. 4 14 55 6 57 43 ON THE COVER: Rebecca Kaplan in her Oakland office (Photo/Michael Fox) BAY AREA OPINION CULTURE 3 With the power out on Yom Kippur, local shuls improvised 36 Letters to the Editor 43 New ‘Roy Cohn’ documentary hits hard at the brilliant, 4 OUR CROWD 36 Editorial widely despised figure 6 Getting creative and hyperlocal with lulavs and etrogs 37 Views 44 For popular Palestinian writer Sayed Kashua, home is elusive 45 Anti-Semitism explored in award-winning books 7 Learn more about BRCA gene, join a study — or do both CALENDAR 40 8 COVER STORY: Oakland City Council’s Rebecca Kaplan 46 Jewish film fest in Silicon Valley flying higher than ever known for breaking political barriers J. LIFE SPECIAL SECTIONS 10 Mexico’s top diplomat in S.F. speaks to Jewish community 56 Torah SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION 26 12 Governor signs law to protect vulnerable targets of hate 56 Celebrity Jews 14 Student intern creates digital map of S.F. Jewish history 57 Food SENIOR LIFE 16 Tashlich in spaaaaaaaacce 60 Classifieds 47 NYT columnist gives ‘women of a certain age’ their due 17 Q&A: A rabbi finds a way through Sacramento food desert 61 Lifecycles/Obituaries 47 When it’s time to get Medicare, know your options 18 Local Maccabi sports camp merging with Palo Alto JCC 64 Before You Go 48 ‘Ordinary’ North Bay man writes his ‘extraordinary’ story 20 Growing up undocumented with Jewish-Latinx identity 49 Engaging in acts of kindness is good for your health 22 Remembering Loma Prieta earthquake 30 years later 50 Israel gives new hope to patients with multiple myeloma 24 Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg pledges $2.5 million to ADL 52 ‘Reimagine’ project embraces life in creative approaches to death 25 After Halle attack, thousands in Germany mourn with Jews 55 Tips to help minimize behaviors of ‘sundowning’ 60 ‘Salesforce Sukkah’ open to the public in S.F. park THE JEWISH of Northern NEWS California jweekly.com 415.263.7200 [email protected] Vol. 123, No. 21 | Oct. 18 – Oct. 31, 2019 PUBLISHED ALTERNATING FRIDAYS NEXT ISSUE NOVEMBER 1 PUBLISHER Steven Gellman EDITOR Sue Fishkoff JUL , JAN , EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR Sue Barnett NEWS EDITOR Dan Pine CULTURE EDITOR Laura Paull STAFF WRITERS Maya Mirsky, Gabe Stutman ONLINE EDITOR David A.M. Wilensky EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Gabriel Greschler CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Andy Altman-Ohr, Janet Silver Ghent, Alix Wall COLUMNISTS Nate Bloom, Rita Clancy, Michael Fox, Howard Freedman, Karen Galatz, Drew Himmelstein, Dawn Kepler, Faith Kramer, Esther Kustanowitz, Julie Levine, Dr. Jerry Saliman ADVERTISING & CIRCULATION ACCOUNT EXECS Rhea Adler, Nancy Beth Cohen Meryl Sokoler OFFICE MANAGER/CLASSIFIEDS Diane Spagnoli ART & PRODUCTION WEBMASTER Antonio R. Marquez GRAPHIC ARTISTS Michelle Palmer, Steve Romero BUSINESS SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Jackie Deng ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT Linda Uong DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Allison Green TECHNOLOGY IT SUPPORT Felipe Barrueto BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENTS Mark W. Bernstein, Lory Pilchik VP/TREASURER Harmon Shragge SECRETARY Carol Weitz MEMBERS Fraidy Aber, Alexandra Corvin, Alia Wechsler Gorkin, Nadine Joseph, Steve Katz, Sabrina Keller, Charlie Kirschner, Quentin Kopp, Susan Libitzky, Donna Rosenthal, Jane Springwater, Joelle Steefel, Noah Wintroub, Jerry Yanowitz PAST PRESIDENTS Marc Berger, Lou Haas, Jon Kaufman, Dan Leemon, Adam Noily, William I. Schwartz thecjm.org 736 Mission Street, San Francisco /jewishsf @jewishsf Annabeth Rosen, Droove, 2012. Slip over glazed and fired ceramic and rubber inner tube, 13 x 20 x 16 inches. Courtesy the artist; Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco; and P.P.O.W, New York. Photograph by Lee Fatherree. J.® The Jewish News of Northern California (ISSN 1547-0733) is published every other week on Friday except in September and December, by San Annabeth Rosen: Fired, Broken, Gathered, Heaped is organized by Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) and was curated by Valerie Cassel Francisco Jewish Community Publications, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corpo- Oliver, CAMH’s former Senior Curator, currently the Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. ration, 225 Bush St., Suite 480, San Francisco, CA 94104-4281. (415) 263-7200. J. The Jewish News of Northern California is available online at: www.jweekly. CAMH’s presentation was generously supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Sara and Bill Morgan, and the National com. Our email address is [email protected]. Yearly subscription cost is $46.50. Endowment for the Arts. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Francisco, CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to J. The Jewish News of Northern California, Presentation of the exhibition in San Francisco is organized by Heidi Rabben, Senior Curator, The Contemporary Jewish Museum. Leadership support 225 Bush St., Suite 480, San Francisco, CA 94104-4281. is generously provided by Maribelle and Stephen Leavitt. Major support is provided by Phyllis and David Cook and Dorothy R. Saxe. J. The Jewish News of Northern California is an independent publication and is solely responsible for its editorial policy. Advertising reservations cannot be canceled after noon on Monday of the week of publication. J. The Jewish News of Northern California is a member of the American Jewish Press Association. Copyright 2019 © San Francisco Jewish Community Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER USING SOY BASED INKS 2 10.18.2019 | J. THE JEWISH NEWS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA | JWEEKLY.COM Bay Area NEWS | EVENTS | PEOPLE With the power out on Yom Kippur, local shuls improvised — and worried SUE FISHKOFF | J. STAFF Last week’s power outages wreaked havoc in much of the Without air-conditioning, the synagogue had to “It turned out to be very special and meaningful,” she Bay Area, particularly in Sonoma and Napa counties, where prop open its doors for a cross breeze, adding to security said. “In his sermon, the rabbi said, well, we can’t read very lights started to go out after midnight, Oct. 9, just in time for concerns. “But we had to keep the doors open, people were well in the dark, so we’ll have to pray from the heart.” Yom Kippur. sweltering,” she said. Congregation Beth Shalom Napa Valley also made Synagogues in the hardest-hit areas made it through Like Tenenbaum, Kramer invoked the memory of the it through Kol Nidre and had a generator ready for Yom Kol Nidre services without incident, but the next day was 2017 wildfires. Shomrei Torah was ground zero for Jewish Kippur after the power was cut around 4 a.m. More than another story. relief efforts during and after that disaster, hosting chil- 200 people, most of whom had no power in their homes, “The power went out in Napa around 1 a.m.,” said Rabbi dren’s programs and family counseling and offering hot showed up for services. Elchonon Tenenbaum of Chabad of Napa, which like many meals twice a day. Last week’s events brought it all back for “So we had lights, and the refrigerator stayed cold; we local Chabads holds High Holiday services in a local hotel, many. had everything for the break-fast. We had bagels and lox in this case SpringHill Suites. “The next morning, we had to “It was really hard for our community,” said Kramer, and tuna fish and egg salad, and the wine bar was set up,” improvise. We moved services from the grand ballroom into the hallway. As it started to get dark, the hotel brought us lanterns and other things to help out.” While the Tenenbaums’ home in downtown Napa kept its power, he said that was not the case for most of their congregants. The hardest part, Tenenbaum said, was that the outage “Listening to the coincided with the two-year anniversary of the deadly winds howling wildfires that swept through the North Bay in 2017, leveling thousands of homes and businesses and leaving 44 people and gusting, it dead. Those fires broke out on Oct. 8, the first night of was definitely Sukkot. Now, again, it was a Jewish holiday, and fire was on everyone’s minds. triggering. We are “Listening to the winds last night, listening to it howling and gusting, it was definitely triggering,” Tenenbaum said all really anxious.” by phone. “We are all really anxious. It’s very dry — anything Rabbi Elchonon Tenenbaum, could start a fire. A cigarette, a spark from a car. We’re all Chabad of Napa hoping and praying that nothing happens.” There seemed to be little rhyme or reason to the pattern of the power outages, said those interviewed. The PG&E Chabad of Sonoma County opened its new Joseph Weingarten center on Sept. 1 and held its maps purporting to show the boundaries of the affected first Yom Kippur there — in the dark. areas were constantly being updated and the schedule for shut-offs was a moving target. who lost power in her home (as did Shomrei’s Senior Rabbi said congregational president Ellyn Elson, who had all Congregations Kol Shofar in Tiburon, Rodef Sholom George Gittleman). “So many people were triggered by the synagogue calls forwarded to her home phone. in San Rafael and B’nai Israel in Vallejo were not affected. long lines at the gas stations, the wind, the fear.” They used paper plates and flatware, she said, because Neither was Congregation Beth Ami in Santa Rosa, situated The congregation already had planned to incorporate they didn’t think they’d be able to wash dishes. “But they in the heart of the 2017 fires.