SAN DIEGO – Rabbi Yael Ridberg, spiritual leader of Congregation Dor Hadash, the lone Reconstructionist congregation in San Diego County, has announced she will retire from the pulpit at the end of June 2025.
“Just as it was my family that motivated me to move to California after 12 years in New York City, so it is our family that once again inspires me to make this change,” she wrote to her congregants. “When we arrived in San Diego in 2010 with our 4 children, Gali was 8, Jaidyn 3, and Aviv and Shira had just turned 1. Today, Gali has just moved to New York City to begin ‘the rest of her life,’ Jaidyn (17), Aviv & Shira (15) are approaching the end of their high school years, and more than ever, I want to be more available to all of them.”
“I want to be with them on Shabbat and holidays, to travel with them easily, and to help them navigate the next steps in their lives,” Rabbi Ridberg continued. “In addition, many of you know that my parents live in Maryland, I have a sister and her family in Boston, and another in Los Angeles, and as none of us are getting any younger, I really want to be available to be with them more frequently.”
The Reconstructionist rabbi to date has spent 28 years in pulpit life, with 14 of them being at Dor Hadash. She emphasized, “I am NOT retiring from the rabbinate, I AM staying in San Diego, but I want to be more available to my family before my kids take flight, and to engage differently in building Jewish communal life here.”
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Chabad of Chula Vista invites the community to attend High Holiday services. Click here to rsvp.
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Chabad at La Costa cautioned congregants that it is “Last Call for High Holiday Reservations”. Congregants are encouraged to make reservations for services and for meals. Click here to rsvp.
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Kindness Initiative announces store hour closures due to the High Holy Days. Early closure Wednesday, at 2 p.m., Oct. 2; closed Thursday and Friday, Oct. 3 and 4. Early closure for Kol Nidre, at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 11. Early closure at 2 p.m., for Erev Sukkot, Wednesday, Oct. 16 and closed Thursday and Friday, Oct. 16 and 17 for Sukkot. Closed Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24 and 25 for Simchat Torah and Shmini Azteret.
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Temple Emanu-El’s Adult Education screens “Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Montara” 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5. This film is the story of six-year-old Montara in Italy who was baptized by his Catholic nanny and raised in the Catholic church. Congregant, Dr. Laurie Baron will facilitate discussion after the screening. At 6 p.m., attendees are invited to bring their own dinner and enjoy in the courtyard before the film.
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University of California San Diego Holocaust Living History Workshop has scheduled “The voices of Babyn Yar featuring Marianna Kiyanoyska” 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 9. In this bilingual poetry reading, Kiyanovska shares poems in the original Ukrainian, including selections from “The Voices of Babyn Yar.” UC San Diego Professor of Literature Amelia Glaser will read the English translations. Click here to register.
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Congregation Beth Israel will engage in a “Community Sukkah Building with the Men’s Club” 9 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 13. Men and women are encouraged to fulfil this mitzvah, and bagels and coffee will be provided. Feel free to bring your own cordless drill and impact driver with a 7/16” deep socket, driver bits and a hammer for minor adjustments, plus work gloves, organizers say. Click here to sign up.
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Hadassah San Diego announces “Kehilat Kasharim” 11 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 12, Encinitas. This is a networking group for Jewish business owners in the San Diego area. Individuals must be a Jewish person who owns or operates a business. Click here to register and receive address.
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Jewish Federation of San Diego solicits donations to the “Hurricane Helene Relief Fund”. The Federation has established an emergency fund to provide critically needed aid to both Jewish and non-Jewish communities affected by this devasting storm. Click here to donate.
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OBITUARY NOTICE
Dorita Gotlieb had died. Funeral services will be conducted at 11:30 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 6 at El Camino Memorial Park, Young Israel of San Diego reported. Click here to donate in Gotlieb’s memory.
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THE CHANGING SEASON
October is here and trees in the area that change colors are starting to drop their leaves. Some of the trees on my street and in my yard are no longer green but turning brown and dropping on the grass. Some people might find it upsetting with raking up the leaves, but it is a part of the changing of the seasons. It’s the life cycle of the trees and before you know it, they start to grow again, and we will be in Spring. I have many hummingbird feeders in my trees so as the leaves drop and the trees become bare, I can see my little friends coming in for a drink and resting those tired wings of theirs.
This is also when I start buying pumpkins and making delicious soups and health products with the pumpkin puree. Roasted pumpkin seeds are a favorite with my 12-year-old twins, I am lucky if I get to have a few, since they don’t last long when out of the oven.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.