Hebrew Free Loan

We're proud to partner with Nosson Potash on this event and will have a table next to the info booth ... come visit us ... info below! Join us for the #Sukkot Street Festival Celebration this Sunday, October 20, from 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM. This is an incredible event bringing together 14 #Jewish communities of San Francisco! #FreeAdmission Street will be closed off for the event - LIVE Music - Children Activities - Fire Juggler - Barbeque - Soups and Desserts - Moon Bounce - Rock Climbing - Balloon Art - Lulav and Etrog - #Sukkah on Site Timeline: 4:30PM - Food and Children's Activities 6:30PM - Fire Juggling Show 6:45PM - Live Music & Dancing This event is brought to you by: Adath Israel of San Francisco Anshei Sfard Bais Menachem San Francisco Chabad of Cole Valley Chabad Noe Valley Chabad SF - SOMA Shul Chabad of the Neighborhood Chabad of the Sunset & Student Center Congregation Chevra Thilim Magain David Sephardim Congregation Richmond Torah Center-Chabad Russian-speaking Jewish Community of SF Bay Area Schneerson Center Torat Emet In addition to the above Event Host Sponsors we want to thank our event supporters: Hebrew Free Loan Kibby Farms Basi Lgani Care Sinai Memorial Chapel CLICK HERE to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gjxW2Rvt

Click below to register for our fall Business Circle #HappyHour mixer JUST ONE WEEK AWAY. Enjoy delicious pizza and a full bar while you catch up with old friends and #network with members of the #JewishBusiness community. LIKE & REPOST to spread the word! Tuesday, October 22 5:30 – 8:00 PM Mill Valley Location details will be emailed upon registration The Hebrew Free Loan Business Circle mobilizes local business owners to help #JewishEntrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses and assist people throughout our community to become self-sufficient. We are holding this event in partnership with the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund Business Leadership Community. Roman Polnar, Dana Corvin, Stephen Dobrow, Steve Grau, Gayle Starr, Ilya Vinogradsky 🎗, Adam Wiskind, Steve Zimmerman, CBI, MAMI, LCBB, FIBBA, Aaron Bellings, Michael Bellings, Garrett Candau, Steffie Finkelstein, David Harband, Michael Karsh, Nikita Kazak, Milla L. Lvovich, Leandro Margulis, Paul Ratner, Jessica Taran, Maureen Holt, Cindy Rogoway, Jamie Hyams

Our partner, Z3 Project, just announced former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as a keynote speaker at this year's Z3 Conference on Sun Nov 17 at Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. Bennett became Israel's 13th Prime Minister in 2021, leading the most diverse government in the nation's history. At the conference, Bennett will reflect on the unprecedented crises of the past 12 months, sharing his insights on the current state of affairs in #Israel and what lies ahead for the Jewish state, exploring the key issues facing global #Jewish peoplehood and the path forward for our community. During his tenure as prime minister, Bennett’s government hosted the first-ever Negev Summit bringing together foreign ministers from UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt, the U.S. and Israel; oversaw Israel’s exit from COVID lockdowns; mediated between Ukraine and Russia; and reduced unemployment and the national deficit to record lows. Bennett also has served as Minister of Economy, Minister of Education and Minister of Defense. Before entering politics, Bennett enjoyed a successful career as a high-tech #entrepreneur. He lives in Ra'anana, is married to Gilat and has four young children. We’re honored to have him at this year’s conference and hope you’ll join us! CLICK HERE to learn more and register today to be part of this vital gathering: www.z3project.org The Z3 Project is committed to bridging divides within the #JewishCommunity — between the #diaspora and Israel, between differing perspectives — and fostering the #unity that is essential for us to move forward.

SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: There’s no way around it, this has been a difficult year. We've just passed the one-year anniversary of #October7, and the crisis in #Israel and #Gaza has touched all of us in one way or another. It hasn’t always been easy to hold on to #hope. And yet hope feels more important than ever. I’m feeling especially grateful for the #HighHolidays this year. #RoshHashanah and #YomKippur offer the chance for a fresh start, a reset. I hope the #JewishNewYear gives you the same sense of new beginnings. Please consider donating to Hebrew Free Loan at this time … especially if #tzedekah (charity) is part of your High Holiday practice. Your contributions give people hope in difficult times. The interest-free loans we provide give people a lifeline. They help people believe there will be a brighter day tomorrow, no matter what they’re going through today. Loan recipients often tell us that knowing they’re not alone in their struggles is just as important as the financial assistance they get from Hebrew Free Loan. Feeling that the #community is behind them gives people the strength to continue. Times are tough for many people right now. If you're doing okay financially, what a #mitzvah (good deed) it is to reach across the divide and help someone who’s struggling. I’d like to share Julie’s story with you. When we first met her, Julie was a single mother of two young sons (a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old). She was going through a difficult divorce and custody battle with an abusive ex-husband, and she lived in a small town where it wasn’t easy to make a living. She was working as a waitress and a teacher’s aide, and her earnings barely covered the cost of childcare. Our interest-free loan helped Julie make ends meet and care for her sons during one of their family’s most challenging times. She hung in there, motivated always by the desire to make a better life for her boys, and eventually things got better. Five years after she first received our help, Julie had gone back to school and was almost finished with her master’s degree in school psychology. She needed an interest-free student loan to cover living expenses while she completed her unpaid internship and took her licensing exam. “When I look back to where I was when I first came to Hebrew Free Loan, I still remember how difficult and scary those times were. I’m incredibly grateful for the #CommunitySupport that helped me land on my feet.” CLICK HERE to read more: hflasf.org/julie CLICK HERE to #donate: hflasf.org/donate We’re the conduit for community support, while you make it all possible. I wish you and your loved ones a peaceful and fulfilling year. #ShanaTova, Cindy Rogoway Executive Director P.S. During these difficult times, it’s more important than ever to come together in community. Please join us at our after-work Business Circle event in #MillValley on October 22, in the middle of #Sukkot. CLICK HERE to learn more: hflasf.org/bcmixer

Happy to share "Charting a Course Through Difficult Times" from our very own #Rabbi Jamie Hyams: We’re living in tumultuous times. With the upcoming election, #Israel at war, and the rise of #antisemitism worldwide, our world feels unstable. Change is on the horizon, and we don’t know whether it will be positive or negative. Interestingly, this period of change is reflected in the current #Jewish calendar. As I write this on #October7, the holiday of #RoshHashanah has passed and #YomKippur is only days away. For many #Jews, the two holidays bookend a process of personal introspection and communal atonement. We take stock of the past year and the missteps we made, and we resolve that if the same circumstances were to occur again, we would try to behave differently. The actions we take to make things better give us agency to bring about a #NewYear that charts a different course. As much as is humanly possible, we are at the helm of our future as we enter the new year. Although there’s much that we can’t control or foresee, the process remains filled with hope — for us as individuals and as a #JewishPeople — even in these difficult times. “On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur, it is sealed.” Tradition teaches that at this time of year, the metaphoric gates of heaven swing open to our prayers on Rosh Hashanah, and on Yom Kippur, they swing shut. The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a time of introspection and consideration of the practical steps needed to make life different. During the ten days between the holidays, we have the opportunity to influence the course of events for the next year through #tzedakah, #tefillah and #teshuvah (righteous acts, prayer, and repentance). We have the opportunity to make amends, to consider and change our behaviors. And the key is to act. It’s not enough to feel the desire to do things differently, we need to take action to turn our intentions into reality. And though times feel particularly dark this year, some of the changes brought on by world events are powerful and positive. The New York Times reported on how Jews have responded to the rise in antisemitism on college campuses and elsewhere since October 7. “There’s been a great not only #trauma, but #reawakening,” said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City. “Those who are distanced are coming back.” CLICK BELOW to read more!

🕯️ Today, we honor the lives tragically lost and the families forever changed in the horrific attacks in Israel one year ago. 1,200+ lives were lost, and over 250 were taken hostage—a pain that continues to echo. These are not mere numbers, but stories, loved ones, and futures. May their memory be a blessing. Join us this #DAYOFYELLOW as we remember those we lost and stand in solidarity with those still waiting to come home. 🇮🇱🎗️

CONGRATS to the 2024 winners of the Tanette Goldberg Scholarships for Social Justice! We partnered with the National Council of Jewish Women San Francisco Section, Inc. to award four scholarships to Jewish women students who are studying or working in the area of social justice and who intend to pursue social justice after graduation. Click below to learn more about the recipients. LIKE & REPOST the good news! National Council of Jewish Women

Click below to take advantage of early bird pricing for our fall Business Circle #HappyHour mixer. Enjoy delicious pizza and a full bar while you catch up with old friends and #network with members of the #JewishBusiness community. LIKE & REPOST to spread the word! Tuesday, October 22 5:30 – 8:00 PM Mill Valley Location details will be emailed upon registration $25 before October 8 / $36 after Business Circle members receive complimentary tickets The Hebrew Free Loan Business Circle mobilizes local business owners to help #JewishEntrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses and assist people throughout our community to become self-sufficient. We are holding this event in partnership with the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund Business Leadership Community. Roman Polnar, Dana Corvin, Stephen Dobrow, Steve Grau, Gayle Starr, Ilya Vinogradsky, Adam Wiskind, Steve Zimmerman, CBI, MAMI, LCBB, FIBBA, Aaron Bellings, Michael Bellings, Garrett Candau, Steffie Finkelstein, David Harband, Michael Karsh, Nikita Kazak, Milla L. Lvovich, Leandro Margulis, Paul Ratner, Jessica Taran, Maureen Holt, Cindy Rogoway, Jamie Hyams

Great news below! Laura Lauder joined our board in 1990 as a “Fed Fellow” through the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, was the honoree at our gala this past May, and is currently a Community Leader on our Advisory Council. We couldn't be happier for her and our community.

Heartfelt congratulations to Laura Lauder who was just announced as the next board chair of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund! Laura joined our board in 1990 as a “Fed Fellow” through the Federation, was the honoree at our gala this past May, and is currently a Community Leader on our Advisory Council. According to J. The Jewish News of Northern California, "Lauder laid out several objectives for her term as chair, all centered on implementing the Federation’s strategic plan. Launched late last year, it shifts the organization’s emphasis to serve not only as a fundraiser and grantmaker but also as the community’s primary #philanthropy adviser. “We are now becoming the center for #JewishPhilanthropy in the Bay Area,” Lauder said, “and being the center, now we’re an adviser, catalyst and convener for the community. Our overarching goals are to be responsive to individuals, #Jewish agencies and institutions.” She cited the growth of #GivingCircles as an example of encouraging #CollaborativePhilanthropy. She also pointed to the Federation’s #ImpactInvesting initiative, launched in 2020. As an example, through the #DonorAdvisedFunds and supporting foundations it manages, the Federation loaned $5.6 million to Hebrew Free Loan to “provide essential financial lifelines in the local #JewishCommunity at the beginning of Covid.” CLICK BELOW to read more!