Jewish Community Library

We are excited for Sunday's presentation by the extraordinary scholar Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett on her extensive collection of Yiddish cookbooks and the meaning she derives from them. Co-presented by the Department of Jewish Studies at SF State, KlezCalifornia, and the Workers Circle/Arbeter Ring of Northern California.

We are very excited to welcome UC Berkeley professor Chana Kronfeld this Sunday as she leads us through some of Yehuda Amichai's extraordinary poems.

Saul Goodman's Klezmer Band was to have presented a program at the Library last June, but, alas, the pandemic interfered with our plans. Today they marked Yom HaShoah with this video of the band performing a beautiful melody collected by the great ethnomusicologist Moshe Beregovski, accompanied by film footage of pre-War Jewish communities in Eastern Europe.

Consider marking Yom HaShoah by reading a book expanding your understanding of the Holocaust and its reverberations. The Library has hundreds of books to choose from, all of which are available for contactless pickup at our main branch (open today from 11 to 4). Among them are the two new books that Library Director Howard Freedman discusses in his newest column in J. The Jewish News of Northern California.

It is our privilege to be a community partner in the JFCS Holocaust Center's commemoration of Yom HaShoah. There will be a variety of important conversations over several days, including one on April 7 between Dr. Deborah Lipstadt and Anita Friedman that will follow the reading of names. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/yom-hashoah-2021a-virtual-comm

Today is the 110th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. In this piece in J. The Jewish News of Northern California, Library volunteer staff member Judy Baston, who offered a memorable program at the Library a decade ago on the tragedy, reflects on the enduring significance of this moment in labor history and its aftermath. And if you'd like to learn more about the fire and the Jewish labor movement, the Library has extensive resources. We're open for contactless pickup today from 11:00 to 4:00. https://www.jweekly.com//110-years-later-the-triangle-fac/

The seven-book series From Tiberias with Love is the culmination of Rabbi Aubrey Glazer's years studying the Hasidim who journeyed from Eastern Europe to Tiberias in the late 18th century. Join us this Sunday as he shares insights about this unique religious community through the study of two texts--one responding to plague, and the other responding to riots--that remain relevant today.

Library director Howard Freedman's column in J. The Jewish News of Northern California discusses two excellent new memoirs. Come borrow them from the Library--we're open today for contactless pickup.

Judith Cohen is one of the world's preeminent ethnomusicologists studying Sephardi musical heritage. We hope you'll join us on Wednesday evening for a program on Sephardi women's song. Co-presented by JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa.

We hope you'll join us online on Tuesday as Professor Kitty Millett of the Department of Jewish Studies at SF State discusses literature of the Holocaust.

A great article in J. The Jewish News of Northern California about this year's Jewish LearningWorks' One Bay One Book program, featuring Anna Solomon's The Book of V.

We hope you'll join us this Sunday afternoon as Aaron Gross of San Diego State University discusses topics in the history and ethics of Jewish food. Co-presented by Urban Adamah.

We hope you'll join us as we learn from one of the preeminent scholars on Karaite Judaism, Fred Astren of Department of Jewish Studies at SF State.

Join us on Tuesday for an outstanding talk by Professor Rowan Dorin of Stanford University about the history of Jews and moneylending and its link to antisemitism. Presented by Department of Jewish Studies at SF State and co-presented by the Library.

Library director Howard Freedman's column in this week's J. The Jewish News of Northern California discusses two new Israeli novels, Yishai Sarid's The Memory Monster and A.B. Yehoshua's The Tunnel. Keep in mind that there will be contactless pickup at the Library today until 4:00. Reserve your holiday reading!

We hope you will join us tomorrow for an insightful program on biblical women by Professor Mika Ahuvia of the University of Washington, presented by the Department of Jewish Studies at SF State and co-presented by the Library.

Come pick up your High Holiday reading materials, whether it's a machzor or a novel. The Library is open on Mondays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 4:00 for contactless pickup of books, DVDs, and CDs, but you must request your items in advance.

We hope you'll join us and the Department of Jewish Studies at SF State on Tuesday at 5:00 as Professor Jordan Rosenblum of the University of Wisconsin shows how Talmudic conversations about alcoholic beverages offer a fascinating lens on rabbinic thinking.

We are looking forward to Anna Schultz's presentation this Sunday on the unique song traditions of the women of India's Bene Israel community. Co-presented by Society for Art & Cultural Heritage of India. Please join us!

Library Director Howard Freedman's most recent column in J. The Jewish News of Northern California discusses two new works of historical fiction. You can borrow either title as a printed book or an eBook from the Library. The Library is open for contactless pickup twice a week, and we are eager to serve you.