My pen is my harp and my lyre;
My library is my garden and my orchard.
–Yehuda Halevi, c. 1075–1141
Hours
Main Branch
1835 Ellis Street, San Francisco
Sun. noon-4 PM
Mon. 11 AM-5:30 PM
Tues. 11 AM-5:30 PM
Thurs. 11 AM-5:30 PM
Pushcart Branch at the OFJCC
3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto
Wed. 8:30 AM-1 PM
Contact
415.567.3327
info@jewishcommunitylibrary.org
For more than seventy years, the Jewish Community Library has offered the Bay Area a place to discover and engage with the riches of Jewish thought, culture, and history.
New Arrivals
Upcoming Events
Revisiting the Leo Frank Case, with Steve OneyVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program. In 1913, 13-year-old Mary Phagan was found brutally murdered in the basement of the Atlanta pencil factory where she worked. The factory manager, a college-educated Jew named Leo Frank, was arrested, tried, and convicted in a trial that seized national headlines. When the governor commuted his […] ...
The Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism, with Rabbi Irving GreenbergVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program. “A culmination of a lifetime of theological reflection from the visionary thinker Rabbi Irving Greenberg, The Triumph of Life offers us a stunning portrait of the Jewish tradition as a grand drama in which God and the Jewish people dream together of a perfect world and […] ...
The Bipolar Therapist, with Marcia Naomi BergerVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program. When a sudden onset of manic episodes lands her in a psychiatric ward, what is an established, respected psychotherapist to do? With an otherwise firm sense of self and an openness to new insights, Marcia Naomi Berger confronts the stumbling blocks of shame and stigma. A […] ...
A Nation of Refugees: Russia’s Jews in World War I, with Polly ZavadivkerVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program co-presented by New Lehrhaus. When the Great War began, the Russian Empire was home to more than five million Jews, the most densely settled Jewish population anywhere in the world. Thirty years later, only remnants of this civilization remained. The years of war from 1914 to […] ...
How to Read the Book of Genesis, with Ronald HendelVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program, co-presented by New Lehrhaus. It can be a challenge to read an ancient book that still makes claims on us in the modern world. How does a reader sort out the differences between the worldview of ancient Israel and that of our era, and how to […] ...
Drop-In Book Discussion: The Ladies Auxiliary by Tova MirvisIn-Person
Join us for an in-person discussion at the Jewish Community Library, facilitated by Jim Van Burkirk. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking on Pierce between Ellis and Eddy. To register, click here. You may borrow a copy of The Ladies Auxiliary at no charge as a […] ...
Kugels & Collards: Stories of Food, Family, and Tradition in Jewish South Carolina, with Rachel Gordin Barnett and Lyssa Kligman HarveyVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program. Where people go, so goes their food. In Kugels & Collards: Stories of Food, Family, and Tradition in Jewish South Carolina (University of South Carolina Press, 2024), Rachel Gordin Barnett and Lyssa Kligman Harvey celebrate the unique and diverse food history of Jewish South Carolina. They gather […] ...
Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig, with Jordan RosenblumVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program. Jews do not eat pig. This (not always true) observation has been made by both Jews and non-Jews for more than three thousand years and is rooted in biblical law. Though the Torah prohibits eating pig meat, it is not singled out more than other food […] ...
The Book of Izzy: A Novel, with Ben GonshorIn-Person
To register for this free in-person program with author Ben Gonshor and moderator Anna Fishman Gonshor, click here. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy. Izzy is a writer who has found himself in a series of downward spirals; […] ...
Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges, with Dr. Lillie EdwardsVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program. In 1933, the Nazi German government passed legislation excluding Jews from working as university professors. No longer able to work in their own country, they found difficulty finding a welcome at academic institutions abroad, owing largely to xenophobia and antisemitism. Unexpectedly, a significant number of these […] ...
The Barry Sisters: America’s Yiddish Swingsters, with Andy MuchinVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program, co-presented by the Jewish Folk Chorus of San Francisco, Klezcalifornia, New Lehrhaus, and the Workers Circle / Arbeter Ring of Northern California. Claire and Merna Barry—born Clara and Minnie Bagelman in New York City—were a popular singing duo who performed on radio, television, records, and in […] ...
Immigrant Jews on the Silent ScreenIn-Person
To register for this free in-person program co-presented by New Lehrhaus, click here. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy. Howard Freedman will share a variety of short film clips that demonstrate how immigrant Jews were represented in films of […] ...
The Jewish South: An American History, with Shari RabinVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program. In 1669, the Carolina colony issued the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, which offered freedom of worship to “Jews, heathens, and other dissenters,” ushering in an era that would see Jews settle in cities and towns throughout what would become the Confederate States. The Jewish South tells […] ...
Drop-In Book Discussion: Goyhood by Reuven FentonIn-Person
Join us for an in-person discussion at the Jewish Community Library of one of this year’s One Bay One Book selections, facilitated by Jim Van Buskirk. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking on Pierce between Ellis and Eddy. To register, click here. You may borrow a […] ...
A Different Picture of Jewish Civil Rights Leadership, with Marc DollingerIn-Person
To register for this free in-person program co-presented by New Lehrhaus, click here. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy. Marc Dollinger will explore the famous image of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. marching, and […] ...
Goyhood: A Novel, with Reuven FentonVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual event with the author of one of this year’s One Bay One Book selections. When Mayer (née Marty) Belkin fled small-town Georgia for Brooklyn nearly thirty years ago, he thought he’d left his wasted youth behind. Now he’s a Talmud scholar married into a great rabbinical family. […] ...
The Jewish King and Queen Lear: Immigration, Care for Elders, and the American Yiddish Stage, with Gabriella SafranIn-Person
Click here to register for this free in-person program co-presented by Workers Circle / Arbeter Ring of Northern California, the Jewish Folk Chorus of San Francisco, and KlezCalifornia. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy. The large wave of […] ...
Ain’t No Grave: A Novel, with Mary GlickmanVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual event with the author of one of this year’s One Bay One Book selections. Nine-year-olds Max Sassaport and Ruby Johnson are best friends who can’t imagine a world where they aren’t together. Unfortunately, no one—not their families, nor anyone else in rural Georgia in 1906—wants to see […] ...
Musikah Mizrahit, with Eliyahu Sills, Rachel Valfer, and Faisal Zedan of the Qadim EnsembleIn-Person
Click here to register for this free in-person program. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy. Eliyahu Sills, Rachel Valfer, and Faisal Zedan of the Qadim Ensemble will perform music of North Africa and the Middle East. Eliyahu Sills […] ...
Yiddish Songs at an Exhibition: Musical Expression of the Paintings of Mayer Kirshenblatt, with Sharon BernsteinIn-Person
Click here to register for this free in-person program co-presented by Workers Circle / Arbeter Ring of Northern California, the Jewish Folk Chorus of San Francisco, and KlezCalifornia. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy. Sharon Bernstein will offer […] ...
Drop-In Book Discussion: Ain’t No Grave by Mary GlickmanIn-Person
Join us for an in-person discussion at the Jewish Community Library of one of this year’s One Bay One Book selections, facilitated by Jim Van Buskirk. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking on Pierce between Ellis and Eddy. To register, click here. You may borrow a […] ...
Hester Street at 50: A Screening and DiscussionIn-Person
Click here to register for this free in-person program, co-presented by New Lehrhaus. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy. Joan Micklin Silver’s 1975 black-and-white independent film Hester Street marked a turning point in the representation of the American […] ...
Hidden in Plain Sight: A Family Memoir and the Untold Story of the Holocaust in Serbia, with Julie BrillVirtual
Click here to register for this free virtual program, co-presented by New Lehrhaus. “A standout among Holocaust memoirs…It shines a bright light on the children of survivors, providing an intimate view of the deep trauma inherited and internalized by them, and translated in this case into an extraordinary book.” -Jonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis University Hidden […] ...
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Main Branch
Location
1835 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Hours
Sundays noon to 4 PM
Mondays 11 AM to 5:30 PM
Tuesdays 11 AM to 5:30 PM
Thursdays 11 AM to 5:30 PM
Phone
415-567-3327
Palo Alto Pushcart
Location
Oshman Family JCC
3921 Fabian Way
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Hours
Wednesdays 8:30 AM to 1 PM
Main Branch
Location
1835 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Hours
Sundays noon to 4 PM
Mondays 11 AM to 4 PM
Thursdays 11 AM to 4 PM
Phone
415-567-3327
Palo Alto Pushcart
Location
Oshman Family JCC
3921 Fabian Way
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Hours
Wednesdays 8:30 AM to 1 PM