SAN DIEGO – September and the Jewish month of Elul are upon us. Traditionally, the month before the High Holy Days is supposed to be occupied with reflection about the last year and the anticipation of the New Year.
I start to get a bit excited and a bit anxious. I am excited about all the upcoming services, time to be spent with friends and family, and what outfits/accessories to make and wear.
I’m into the Rosh Hashanah apples-and-honey symbolism. I’m anxious about whether I picked enough apples in Julian and whether I made enough of my vegan “honey” cupcakes. (I use agave nectar as a replacement). The cupcakes disappear quickly thanks to my little “taste testers” who say they need to eat more than one to perform a proper analysis.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Chabad at La Costa’s “Men’s Club” meets at 2 p.m., Sunday, September 1. Conversation and refreshments are on the agenda. Click here for more information.
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Chabad of Encinitas’ “Rosh Chodesh Women’s Circle” gathers at 7 p.m., Tuesday, September 3, to celebrate the new moon and femininity in the final month of the Jewish calendar, Elul. Click here to rsvp.
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Chabad of University City’s “Rosh Chodesh Circle” assembles at 8 p.m., Tuesday, September 3. Women are invited to celebrate the new moon of the Jewish calendar month of Elul. Click here for more information.
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Temple Emanu-El’s Advocacy Committee announces a “Voter Engagement Postcards Writing Party” at 4 p.m., Tuesday, September 3. Postcards will be sent to people who may have been dropped from the voter registration roll or are infrequent voters. Click here for more information.
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Congregation Beth El hosts a “First Friday Family Shabbat” at 5:45 p.m., Friday, September 6. School-aged children in grades 3-6 and families will meet for a School Family Shabbat Service. Meanwhile, children in grades 2 and under and their families will meet for a separate Shabbat Service. After services a catered Shabbat dinner will be shared with games and activities for all. Click here to register.
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Chabad of Downtown’s Jewish Women’s Circle sponsors a “Shana Tova Card Making” at 7 p.m., Monday, September 9. Kay Pekin, Executive Director of Close to My Heart, will lead this workshop with all supplies included. Click here to rsvp.
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Chabad of Carmel Valley offers programs on “The Secret of the Aleph Bet” at 7 p.m., Tuesday, September 10 at the Torah Life Center. Rebbetzin Dini Polichenco will lead these classes on select Tuesdays and dates are subject to change. Click here for more information.
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Torah High School of San Diego, Beth Jacob Congregation, San Diego Hebrew Day School and Congregation Adat Yeshurun present “Faith Under Fire” featuring speaker Slovie Jungreis-Wolff” at 7:30 p.m., Monday, September 16 at Congregation Adat Yeshurun. The circular describes Jungreis-Wolff as a renowned author, lecturer, and popular columnist and one of the most sought-after speakers in the Jewish world today. Click here to register.
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Tifereth Israel Synagogue’s Sisterhood and Men’s Club will have a party launching Embrace the Middle, a book by Shayna Kaufmann, PhD.” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, September 25. For those registered a pre-event guided meditation will take place in the chapel from 6:15-6:45 p.m. The presentation is geared toward women and men who want to materially improve their experience of midlife and beyond.Click here to rsvp.
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Chabad of East County’s Jewish Women’s Circle presents “A Taste of Tradition” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, September 25. The night includes a cooking demonstration, tasting cuisine and meeting new friends. Click here to register.
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The San Diego Center for Jewish Culture announces “An Evening with Henry Winkler” at 7 p.m., Thursday, September 26 at the Lawrence Family JCC. Winkler will share inspirational lessons from his life and career as an actor, director, and producer. Click here to register.
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Jewish Federation of San Diego announces March of the Living: 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Camps” April 22-May 1, 2025. during which an adult delegation from the San Diego Jewish community will visit historic sites in Poland and optional extension of the trip to Israel to observe Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day) and celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day). Click here for more information.
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MISCELLANY
San Diego Hebrew Day School reports that its Preschool is off to an engaging and dynamic year. Older classes are delving into Rosh Hashanah focusing on the letter R while the younger classes are having fun learning about apples and shofars.
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Tifereth Israel Synagogue notified its congregants that its former congregational president, Dr. Seth Krosner, is volunteering at Laniado hospital in Netanya, Israel and took a break to share Shabbat with Rabbi Hanan Leberman.
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Young Israel of San Diego shared the following recipe: “Leah’s Chocolate Chip Sticks”
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix sugars, egg, and oil into a 9×13 baking pan. Add remaining ingredients; mix together.
Once mixed, press the dough into the pan, and form an even layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are crispy. Cut into sticks while still warm. Let cool completely and enjoy. Yields 18-20 cookie sticks.
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JEWISH HUMOR
Chabad of East County shares the following joke: “Havaii.” Isaac and Hetty were planning a holiday. As usual, they ended up arguing. “It’s ‘Hawaii’ I’m telling you.” Hetty said. “Oy Vey, I never knew someone so stubborn. ‘Havaii’ is how it’s pronounced.” Isaac says. And so it went on all the way till they got there. As soon as they got off the plane, they asked a porter, “Now that we’re on the island, you can settle an argument between my wife and I. Is this ‘Hawaii’ or ‘Havaii?'” “This is Havaii,” replied the porter. “Ha!” Isaac said, turning to Hetty, “See, didn’t I tell you never to argue with me? I’m always right.” Just before they began to walk away, Isaac gave the porter a hearty “Thank you.” “You’re Velcome.”
Chabad of Poway shares the following joke: “The interview.” Harry went for a job interview. It seemed to go well because before he left, he was told, “We would like you to work for us. We’ll give you $10 an hour starting today and in three months time we’ll increase it to $15 an hour. So when would you like to start?” Harry replies, “In about 3 months from now.”
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GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California reports the California Legislature approved Assembly Bill 2925, authored by Assemblymembers Laura Friedman (D–Burbank) and Josh Lowenthal (D–Long Beach) and sponsored by JPAC. AB 2925 will mandate that college campuses must include the five most targeted groups in their training to combat and address discrimination. Currently, most campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training courses do not teach about antisemitism at all, or cover it inadequately relative to its prevalence. With the Jewish community consistently among the most targeted groups, this bill would ensure that antisemitism is included in campus antidiscrimination or DEI trainings.
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U.S. Representative Sara Jacobs (CA-51) has explained to her constituents, that for 60 days prior to Election Day, members of Congress cannot send official communications – including newsletters, texts, and calls to constituents — unless the constituents opt-in to receive messages.
To deal with the problem of sewage crossing from Tijuana into the U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (CA-50) joined Congressmembers Juan Vargas (CA-52), and Sara Jacobs (CA-51), U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard R. Verma, International Boundary Water Commission Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner, and other officials for a briefing and a tour of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant. Jacobs stated “Having all these different people here together working on this issue is pretty revolutionary and a real testament to the seriousness that this administration, this government is taking this problem. We all here know that this is a crisis and it’s a crisis that’s taken far too long to solve, but we are making more progress now than we have in decades.”
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OBITUARY NOTICES
Nancy Mohr died on Tuesday, August 27. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m., Tuesday, September 3 at Cypress View Mausoleum with Rabbi Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El as officiant, Am Israel Mortuary reported.
Daniel Zides passed away on Tuesday, August 27. Funeral services were at noon, Friday, August 30 at El Camino Memorial Park with Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel of Congregation Beth Israel as officiant. Donations in Zides’ memory can be made at the American Cancer Society.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.