Feb 12, 2021
As we celebrate President’s Day Weekend, I cannot overstate the importance of strong, reliable, trustworthy leadership. As we have battled COVID for the past year, we have oscillated between trusting our leaders and doubting them. From the highest levels of government in our country to our local medical officers charged...
Arts and Culture / Family Life / Jewish Life / Lifestyle & Learning
Nov 3, 2020
I was born during an election year. It was 1988 – Bush v. Dukakis. My birth and the election are tied together as one story in my family’s lore because we were, at the time, living next door to Michael and Kitty Dukakis. When my parents took me home from...
Apr 14, 2020
As I spoke with my mother over the phone, she shared her plans to watch Saturday Night Seder live on YouTube this past Saturday. Curious, I asked her about it. The event was made up of an all-star cast of Hollywood celebrities, talented writers, editors and sound mixers who decided...
Apr 6, 2020
There is no better holiday to celebrate during the times of COVID-19, than Passover. I mean, really, the symbolism is almost too much to bear. We have plagues (pick your favorite), fanatical cleaning and social distancing ordinances that resemble the biblical guideline to celebrate the Passover just with one’s closest...
Mar 9, 2020
This article was originally published on the website of BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change and can be found here. It is easy to understand why Purim might be someone’s favorite Jewish holiday. There are costumes, noisemakers, jam-filled triangle cookies, and even a theological justification for drinking without inhibition!...
Jan 28, 2020
“She is such a force of nature,” says Susan Wolfe, good friend of Deb Kurland and a longtime leader at the OFJCC, having served as Director of Communications, Vice President of the Board and Chief Development Officer. But Susan is not the only OFJCC leader that has clear memories of those...
Sep 27, 2019
As we begin a new year, it is a tradition to take stock of the last year, reflect on what we did well and what we would like to improve, and set some goals for ourselves for the coming year. In that spirit, I humbly offer a week-by-week guide for...
Aug 5, 2019
For longer than the biblical Israelites wandered in the desert, the Jewish Community Center of Palo Alto wandered in search of a home. Although the Palo Alto JCC existed in some form since 1961, we didn’t have a permanent location until 2009. It was a miracle that the Taube Koret...
Jul 17, 2019
For our family vacation this summer, we chose to go back to discover our roots. We started in Poland, where the Ashkenazi side of the family could learn more about our past, and ended in Spain to explore our Sephardic heritage. In each country, we captured images of castles and...
Jun 28, 2019
“Women see texts differently than men do, ask different questions and bring different answers.” This is a quote that has inspired the Kol Isha learning cohort throughout their study, community-building and social justice work. This week, OFJCC Director of Jewish Content Tova Birnbaum and I along with 13 participants from Palo...