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J. The Jewish News of Northern California

J. The Jewish News of Northern California

@jewishsf.bsky.social

450 followers 270 following 200 posts

J. is the Jewish community newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Follow us to be the first to know what Jews are doing and saying in Northern California.

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J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 19

How do you use up all that excess matzah during Passover? Send us your best matzah-based recipes and you could win $250 in our Matzah Madness competition!

Submissions are due by March 1. Get details ⬇️

SMALL BITES | Enter our 'Matzah Madness' recipe competition

How do you use up all that excess matzah during Passover? Send us your best matzah-based recipes and you could win $250!

Reposted by J. The Jewish News of Northern California

Alix Wall @alixwall.bsky.social · Mar 28

For years, Marcy Goldman has been given credit for inventing matzah brittle, or matzah crack. I recently spoke to Karyn Lipman, who believes she came up with the idea at the same time. (With local expert, Dianne Jacob) Exclusive to @jewishsf.bsky.social jweekly.com/2025/03/27/w...

Who invented matzah brittle? Just like toffee, the plot thickens

A longtime Bay Area resident believes she deserves credit — even though someone else has long laid claim to it . PLUS: the original recipe!

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Mar 18

With apologies to @thepressbox.bsky.social for wanton use of "veteran journalist" ...

Reposted by J. The Jewish News of Northern California

dan friedman @danfriedmanme.bsky.social · Mar 17

First in a new series. And for the first time, I'm a veteran!

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Mar 13

Our new series on AI and the Jews, written by veteran reporter @danfriedmanme.bsky.social, begins:

Where is AI taking us: To Eden or to Armageddon?

AI elicits strong feelings — from those who believe it will save humankind to those certain it will destroy us.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Mar 13

Our new series on AI and the Jews, written by veteran reporter @danfriedmanme.bsky.social, begins:

Where is AI taking us: To Eden or to Armageddon?

AI elicits strong feelings — from those who believe it will save humankind to those certain it will destroy us.

Reposted by J. The Jewish News of Northern California

Faith Kramer aka blogappetit @faithkramer.bsky.social · Mar 11

Enjoy this Challah Poppy Seed Babka with Bourbon Sugar Syrup for Purim or any time. My latest in @jewishsf.bsky.social jweekly.com/2025/03/10/t...

#JewishFood

RECIPE | A new Purim treat: Wicked babka with bourbon syrup

This Challah Poppy Seed Babka with Bourbon Sugar Syrup is a not-too-sweet Purim dessert and can also be made without alcohol.

Reposted by J. The Jewish News of Northern California

Faith Kramer aka blogappetit @faithkramer.bsky.social · Feb 28

Submit your matzah recipe and maybe win some “bread!” $250 prize for the winning original #matzahmadness recipe from @jewishsf.bsky.social

See link for details, rules and more.

PS: I’m a judge so I can’t enter but you should!

jweekly.com/matzah-madne...

#JewishFood

Matzah Madness Contest – J.

Matzah sits on the seder table unadorned. But what do you do with matzah after that first night? After matzah brei and matzah balls (and of course PB&J matzah sandwiches), what do you make with the st...

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 20

For 50 years, the East Bay has been one of the homes of the Jewish Renewal movement.

With the ordination of two new local rabbis, the legacy of the not-quite-denomination that brought mysticism to progressive Judaism continues to grow in the Bay Area.

What's new with Jewish Renewal in the Bay Area?

Two newly ordained Renewal rabbis from Oakland are bolstering the movement’s 50-year-old legacy in the East Bay.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 19

“Forbidden: A 3,000 Year History of Jews and the Pig” by @profrosenblum.bsky.social demonstrates how the pig — as animal, metaphor and lunch — has shaped how Jews understand themselves and how others view Jews.

OFF THE SHELF | Book on Jews and pigs roots through ancient taboo

“Forbidden: A 3,000 Year History of Jews and the Pig,” which just won a Jewish Book Award, explores every aspect of this non-relationship.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 19

Rabbi Chayva Lehrman of San Francisco, a former USAID worker, makes the Jewish case for America's role as provider of humanitarian aid:

OPINION | Rabbi and ex-USAID worker asks: Who helps if America turns away?

Closing USAID isn’t just a bureaucratic change. It signals a shift away from an America that is engaged, compassionate and strategic.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 19

How do you use up all that excess matzah during Passover? Send us your best matzah-based recipes and you could win $250 in our Matzah Madness competition!

Submissions are due by March 1. Get details ⬇️

SMALL BITES | Enter our 'Matzah Madness' recipe competition

How do you use up all that excess matzah during Passover? Send us your best matzah-based recipes and you could win $250!

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 19

As penance for calling San Francisco "rat-infested" last month, Charles Barkley toured Glide Memorial Church and its homeless services center with Rabbi Michael Lezak, who also gave the NBA legend some of his own handmade challah.

Charles Barkley visits S.F., leaves with challah and rabbi’s heart

He was given the breaded loaves at Glide’s social services center and kitchen where he served meals to low-income San Franciscans.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 18

Check more of his work and read our full interview with him:

jweekly.com/2025/02/14/s...

S.F. artist's dreamy animation re-creates family homes lost to Nazis

San Francisco artist Ben Wood has reconstructed his family’s lost homes in Germany through detailed, dreamlike videos.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 18

To honor the memory of his relatives killed in the Holocaust, San Francisco artist Ben Wood is brining back those memories in dreamlike animated videos of his grandparents’ homes in Germany — buildings that were destroyed after his family members were forced to leave.

Große Strasse 73, Strausberg

YouTube video by Ben Wood

www.youtube.com

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 18

Remember the guy who was ejected from a coffee shop in Oakland for wearing a "violent" Star of David hat?

Now he's planning to sue.

Jewish man to sue Oakland coffee shop that ejected him

A man who was ejected from Palestinian-owned coffee shop in Oakland for wearing a hat with a Star of David on it is now suing the coffee shop

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 14

Tune in on Tuesdays for new episodes!

And check out host @emmagoss.bsky.social's own love story in this piece about how the podcast came about.

jweekly.com/2025/01/18/s...

'Such a Match!’ podcast became my passion project

Emma Goss on why the ‘Such a Match!’ podcast, about couples who met through our personal ads, is so near and dear to her.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 14

In this week's episode, Gwynne was tired of men who ghosted her and played games — and then she met Mike, a no-nonsense mensch.

PODCAST | ‘Such a Match!’ episode 4: Persistence pays off

In this week's episode of "Such a Match!" host Emma Goss shows us how dating culture 30 years ago mirrors some of what singles go through now.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 14

In the third episode, we meet Joanne and Bernie. In 1954 at the age of 23, Joanne was sent by this publication to cover an event at Stanford, where she met Bernie. They've been together for 70 years.

'Such a Match!' episode 3: The journalist who got scooped

“The Journalist Who Got Scooped,” this week’s episode of “Such a Match!,” begins in 1954 with 23-year-old Joanne, a young reporter at the Jewish Community Bulletin (this publication’s former name). Sh...

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 14

Episode 2 tells the story of our longtime contributor, Janet Silver Ghent, who found love late in life when she placed an ad in the publication she worked for.

SUCH A MATCH | A staff member puts a personals ad in J. — and sparks fly

The second episode of "Such a Match!," tells the serendipitous love story of Janet and Allen, which inspired this podcast!

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 14

Check out the first episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts!

open.spotify.com/episode/3lMd...

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

1. When Two Jewish Moms Play Matchmaker

Such A Match · Episode

open.spotify.com

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 14

Happy #ValentinesDay!

Have you listened to Such a Match, our romance podcast, yet? In each episode @emmagoss.bsky.social catches up with a couple that met through our old print personals ads.

Stories include a couple whose mothers set them up and a pair who have been together for 70 years.

‘Such a Match!’ — a podcast about finding love through J.’s pages

Our “Such a Match!” podcast launches Jan. 21 and explores love stories of couples who found their soulmates through J.’s personal ads.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 13

Which brings us back to our new report from @emmagoss.bsky.social on how Jewish students and faculty at Cal are feeling now, one year after the Zellerbach Hall incident.

jweekly.com/2025/02/13/o...

One year later, Jews at UC Berkeley reflect on violent protest

One year since a violent protest in UC Berkeley shut down an Israeli speaker, no one has been held to account.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 13

Now, under Trump, the Education Department has opened a new investigation into antisemitism at UC Berkeley, though which specific incident, if any, triggered the investigation is unknown.

jweekly.com/2025/02/04/o...

Cal one of five campuses in new federal antisemitism investigations

One point of consistency amid Trump’s rapid changes: a drumbeat of federal campus antisemitism investigations

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 13

The incident triggered a Title VI investigation that was later dropped because of an overlapping lawsuit.

jweekly.com/2024/03/06/f...

Federal government investigating UC Berkeley over speaker row

(JTA) — The violent disruption to an Israeli speaker’s appearance on campus last month has triggered negative headlines and a criminal investigation at the University of California, Berkeley. Now, the...

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 13

Cal police investigated the incident, releasing photos of five suspects, none of whom were ever identified.

jweekly.com/2024/03/26/c...

Cal police seek to identify 5 suspects from Feb. 26 ‘riot’

UC Berkeley police release photos of five people suspected in “one or more criminal acts” at a Feb. 26 protest against an Israeli speaker.

J. The Jewish News of Northern California @jewishsf.bsky.social · Feb 13

And just a few weeks later, he was back at UC Berkeley to finally deliver the canceled talk.

jweekly.com/2024/03/20/i...

Israeli speaker whose talk was shut down returns to UC Berkeley

Free speech was major topic as Israeli attorney and combat reservist Ran Bar-Yoshafat returned after his scheduled talk was shut down by an angry mob.