J. The Jewish News of Northern California

Long before Silicon Valley’s AI sought to guide our lives, the Book of Proverbs imagined another guide for human flourishing. Chochmah, or Wisdom, personified as a woman in Proverbs,stands at a crossroads. She calls to the young, inviting them to choose the path of discernment rather than the path of folly. Her concern is not simply what people know but who they become through the choices they make. Three thousand years later, Silicon Valley has become a different kind of crossroads.

What are you serving for Rosh Hashanah? Four Bay Area kosher food purveyors have fantastic recommendations. Pars Kosher Market in San Jose, Bay Area Kosher Meats in Bolinas, Krembo Baked Goods in San Mateo and Izzy’s Brooklyn Bagels in Palo Alto answered my call for recipes to add flavor and meaning to holiday meals.

Welcome to our annual list of free and low-cost High Holiday services open to the public. All services listed here cost $100 or less. (Many accept donations or offer sliding scales.) Some synagogues offer free services to all; others offer them free for new attendees, students or young adults. Many offer children’s and family programs. Please note that some have registration deadlines. Most Chabad centers host free or low-cost services.

Eli Bierlink Eli Bierlink Son of Dr. Rebecca Gitenstein and Bruce Bierlink, Saturday, Aug. 8, at Temple Sinai in Oakland. Jack Brass Son of Talya and Joel Brass, grandson of Rachel and Michael Kesselman, Saturday, Aug. 15, at Congregation Am Tikvah in San Francisco. Jack Brass Hazel Shalom Costa Daughter of Candice Saadian and Michael Costa, Sunday, Aug. 16, at Chabad North Peninsula in San Mateo. Caliana Curry Daughter of Juli Goldstein and Mason Curry, Saturday, Aug. 15, at Temple Sinai in Oakland.

Dr. David Sander Bloom June 5, 1937–July 27, 2026 Dr. David Sander Bloom passed away peacefully in Pleasanton at the age of 89 the morning of July 27th surrounded by his loving family. David was born to Bertha and William Bloom in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, June 5, 1937. His childhood was filled with family, friends, and dogs. He enjoyed winter sports including ice skating, hockey, and curling.

(JTA) — In September 1932, Israel Joshua Singer boarded a ship bound for New York, where he had been invited to report on the United States for Yiddish-speaking Jews like himself.

Aster Taylor observes Shabbat on their own time — literally. For the past year, Taylor, a Ph.D. candidate in astrophysics at the University of Michigan, has been keeping Shabbat according to a schedule they devised using astronomical data. So this Saturday, when Chabad of Ann Arbor says Shabbat will end at 9:09 p.m., Taylor will observe for nearly 11 more minutes. Where does Taylor, 25, get the chutzpah to challenge longstanding Jewish tradition? “We live in the modern world.

mThe first flight of El Al’s resurrected nonstop route from San Francisco to Tel Aviv will take off just two days before the upcoming Israeli national election — and it’s almost sold out. The flight departs Oct. 25 and will land in Israel on Oct. 26, just one day before the election —  the country’s first since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. A significant Israeli immigrant population lives in the Bay Area, many of whom came for jobs in tech and stayed to live and raise families.

Sarah Levin’s opinion piece, “Sermoneta didn’t compromise principle for popularity” (online Aug. 11) rings so true. Israeli Consul General Marco Sermoneta’s tenure here in the Bay Area was marked by the most horrific period of antisemitism any of us have witnessed recently in America. And while some Bay Area Jews respected Sermoneta’s mandate to defend Israel and its existential challenges in the wake of Oct.

Readers, we know you have opinions. If you ask a J. reader where to get the best bagel in the Bay, you’ll certainly get an answer. If not two. That’s why, for over 20 years, we’ve asked savvy J. readers to tell us their favorite Jewish programs and businesses in the Bay Area with the Readers’ Choice ballot. From your top hummus stop to your favorite b’nai mitzvah prep, let us know your top picks by casting your vote today. Got a favorite DJ? Let us know! Voting opens Aug.