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 PM
Tues. 11 AM-5 PM
Thurs. 11 AM-5 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
Behind Ancient Bars: Narratives of Incarceration in the Hebrew Bible, with Hadar AviramIn-Person
Please register to attend 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. In Behind Ancient Bars, law professor and rabbinical student Hadar Aviram challenges the conventional assumption that incarceration is an artifact of modernity by looking back […]
The Empty Envelope: Family Secrets and a Grandfather’s Legacy, with Rhona S. Weinstein and Harvey M. WeinsteinVirtual
Please register for this free online program. In 1921 Vienna, Eisig Lubetzky—a gifted Jewish writer, critic, and former child prodigy—died by suicide, leaving behind a wife, three children, and a silence so profound it shaped generations. Nearly a century later, his psychologist granddaughter and her psychiatrist husband set out to uncover the truth of who […]
Film Screening: Overture to Glory (Der Vilner Shtot Khazn)In-Person
Please register to attend this free in-person film screening, followed by a discussion. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy. Based on a true story from the nineteenth century, Max Nosseck’s 1940 Yiddish musical drama stars the great Moishe […]
Language and Identity in Contemporary Israeli Poetry, with Merav RozenblumIn-Person
Please register to attend 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. As Hebrew became the dominant, and later the official, language of the Jews in the land of Israel and later the State of Israel, many […]
Songs of Sukkot with the Jewish Music CollectiveIn-Person
Please register to attend 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. The Jewish Music Collective will celebrate Sukkot with an eclectic program of klezmer, Yiddish, Ladino, Israeli, jazz, folk, musical theatre, and contemporary music. Inspired by […]
Reviving the Artist Who Fought Hitler: My Life with Arthur Szyk, with Irvin UngarIn-Person
Please register to attend 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. During World War II, the Polish-Jewish immigrant Arthur Szyk became America’s leading anti-Nazi artist. His art was so effective that Adolf Hitler reportedly put a […]
Radiant as the Stars: A Novel, with Elaine ElinsonIn-Person
Please register to attend 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. This program is in partnership with the Workers Circle / Arbeter Ring of Northern California. As thousands of Jews flee the violence of Tsarist […]
Black, Jewish, and Beautiful: Contemporary Blewish Voices, with Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell, Sara Feldman, and Brett Ashley KaplanVirtual
Please register for this free online program. Black, Jewish, and Beautiful (Syracuse University Press, 2026) brings together powerful perspectives and showcases the vastly divergent ways people come to inhabit a shared Blewish, or Black Jewish identity. These voices demonstrate that Black Jewishness is just one dimension of their multifaceted lives as they explore how they […]
No event found!
Main Branch
Location
1835 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Hours
Sundays noon to 4 PM
Mondays 11 AM to 5 PM
Tuesdays 11 AM to 5 PM
Thursdays 11 AM to 5 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