Jewish Community News

News: November 2007

San Jose filmmaker Todd Yellin tells how a script makes it off the shelf

     San Jose filmmaker Todd Yellin, whose movie “Brother’s Shadow” recently opened  the San Jose Jewish Film Festival, says there are three ways people break into directing. They move from some other aspect of the industry (script writing or acting); they begin with smaller projects to gain name recognition; or ...they are just a guy with an idea, who works like hell to make it happen. Yellin’s category? You guessed it, number three. More

Local Jew takes the helm at San Jose Mercury News

     Six weeks ago, Jeff Kiel put his belongings in a box and walked across the San Jose Mercury News building to his roomy new office.
     The reason for the short journey? The son of two Holocaust survivors had been named president and publisher of the Silicon Valley-based newspaper, which places him on top of the entire operation, from editorial to advertising. More

Local Jewish and Muslim students create art on
Coexistence

At 2:15 p.m. at the Silicon Valley Academy on a recent Wednesday, a Muslim school in Sunnyvale, all middle school students are engaged in art.  The assignment? Art on the theme of coexistence.  Earlier, in their language arts class, class discussion focused on this text from the Qur’an: More

Jewish comedian to entertain at Aliyah dinner in January

Jewish comedian to entertain at Aliyah dinner in January We have all heard about the stereotypical “Jewish Mother.”  Some of us have one.  Comedian Amy Borkowsky of “Amy’s Answering Machine:  Messages from Mom” CD’s and book has made a career out of listening to hers.
  Amy will be the featured speaker at Women’s Philanthropy’s Aliyah dinner on January 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium at the Levy Family Campus. More

Twelve-year-old girl inspiresothers to give

Twelve-year-old Shoshana Levitt was not able to attend a recent Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces event in Los Gatos due to the demands of her homework assignments at Hillbrook School in Los Gatos so she sent her own $18 contribution to help the soldiers.  One of the Bay Area Chapter leaders, Robert Hudson, was so moved by her donation that he donated $18,000 in Shoshana’s honor. More

Wines for Hanukkah

Hanukkah is all about the remembrance of struggle and the celebration of perseverance over obstacles.  The cliché many of us have heard growing up about Jewish holidays is “They tried to kill us.  We survived.  Let’s eat!” and that couldn’t be more  true  than when it comes to Hanukkah.  
Traditionally,  holiday meals during Hanukkah call for foods made with or cooked in oil, and matching wines can sometimes be difficult because of the frying or the richness of the foods. More

South Bay to collectively read the same book

Imagine dropping your child off for Sunday school, picking up a coffee at the APJCC café or finding yourself on the treadmill—all next to people reading the same book as you! Hopefully this will be    the
case as the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, in conjunction with the Jewish Federation, local synagogues and Hillel, kicks off its new year-long program, “One Community One Book.” More

Guggenheims welcome daughter Allyson Hope

Shannon and Scott Guggenheim, owners of the National Jewish Theater Festival,  Yavneh Day School parents and active members of the South Bay Jewish Community, are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter Allyson Hope Guggenheim.
     The Guggenheims are even more thrilled to report that after nearly 6 weeks in the hospital, Allyson came home on Monday, October 29. More

Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces establishes South Bay/Penisula chapter

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) has formally established a South Bay/Peninsula Chapter.  Robert Hudson, Arnie Addison, and Lisa Cohen serve as the principal leaders of the Chapter that for the past 18 months has been holding a variety of meetings and events to introduce the organization to the community. More

Frances Gage

Frances Gage passed away peacefully on September 5, 2007. She  was born on August 15, 1923 in Lubraniec, Poland.

Lore Lane

Lore Lane passed on October 28, 2007 with her family by her side. Born on March 21, 1924 in Hagen, Germany, Lore survived the Holocaust after three years in the Theresenstadt Concentration Camp. More