Temple Beth Hillel

05/31/2026

As we end Jewish American Heritage Month, we uplift the legacy of Harvey Milk — a proud Jewish leader whose 1977 election as California’s first openly gay official reshaped what’s possible for all of us.

05/30/2026

Levi Strauss, a Jewish immigrant who came to California seeking opportunity, first sold canvas for tents before inventing the blue jeans that shaped American culture. He also helped establish Congregation Emanu‑El, weaving Jewish roots into the fabric of the city itself.

05/30/2026

With more than 1 million Jews across the state, California holds one of the world’s largest Jewish communities. During Jewish American Heritage Month, we celebrate the generations who built, shaped, and continue to enrich Jewish life in the Golden State.

05/29/2026

Shabbat Shalom.
As you light the Shabbat candles, please take a moment to pray for speedy and complete healing, r’fuah sh’leimah, for the following members of our community:

Audrey Berger, David Brown, Geoffrey Caplan, Sam Chen, Sharon Chernick, Dora Cohen, Michael Cohen, Holvis Delgadillo, Irving Feurst, Judith Flum, Heather Fox, Jennifer Kemp, Sam Leff, Walli Leff, Lis Mahnken, Richard Mahnken, Sharon Mittleman, Clara Moreno, Bobbi Nadler, Michael Nye, Lincoln Ott, Sierra Ott, Ha Rav Yachyah Avraham ben Miriam (Rabbi Steven Robbins), Yetta Robinson, Jeff Rosenfeld, Wendy Roth, Michele Seligman, Ellen Seskin, Ahuva Simon-Saar, Gabriel Tattenham, Pat Trumbull, Shai Yerlick, Kendra Windrix.

If there is anyone you would like included in our prayers for healing, please send their names to: [email protected]. If you're on the list and feeling better and would like to be removed, please let Brandy know.

05/29/2026

From The TBH Co-Presidents David Zimring and Anna Stein -

Shalom Everyone!

We hope everyone enjoyed a nice long weekend for Memorial Day. We want to thank everyone who attended the Shavuot gathering and study session hosted by Rabbi Julie last Thursday. As we approach the longest days of the year, it is a great time to reflect on all the rights and privileges we are allowed to enjoy and further our knowledge of Judaism. Though less well known, this upcoming weekend will bring the 14th of Sivan, which is a critical day in the history of Jewish learning. In 1510 Emperor Maximillian of Germany ordered that the cities of Cologne and Frankfurt am Mein burn all of the Jewish books in their libraries and private collections. Incredibly, the order was given on the advice of a former Jewish man who converted to Christianisty and considered all Jewish literature insulting to his new religion. In a last desperate hope, the Jewish communities in those cities appealed directly to the emperor to reconsider, and he agreed to launch a further investigation. A well known German scholar named Johann Reuchlin issued a new report claiming that very few Jewish works actually insulted Christianity, convincing the emperor to revoke the order on the 14th of Sivan. Ever since, this day is celebrated as a victory for the freedom to read, write, and discuss any facet of knowledge, which is a core of Jewish identity. Therefore, this weekend pick up a favorite book to read again or just browse a library and marvel and cherish our ability to acquire and dispense knowledge.

Torah Study is on Zoom every Saturday at 10:15 AM. The next Adult Education and Adult Hebrew class is on Sunday, May 31. Our next Shabbat service is on Friday, June 5th, starting at 6:00 PM. Finally, we wanted to remind everyone of our annual membership meeting on June 14th at 1 PM, where we plot out Temple Beth Hillel’s direction for the next year, and elect a new Temple Board of Directors. We hope to see everyone there!

Thank you everyone!

05/29/2026

Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89): Torah Reading May 30, 2026 -

This week’s Torah reading, parashat Naso, is the second in the Book of Numbers. Introducing the reading, Rabbi Amy Kalmanofsky writes, “Whereas Leviticus typically focuses on the ritual purity of the sanctuary, Numbers is concerned with maintaining the purity of the camp as a whole.” I must admit, I read this and sigh. Where does purity fit into my life and our life as a Jewish community? Most areas of life are complicated, some beautifully so and some frustratingly so - and many both at the same time. Purity sounds like something simple and distant.

Yet looking more closely, what Kalmanofsky calls the purity of the camp might also be understood as healthy functioning. There are in Torah constant examples of the times that people stray from our best paths - mistakes, actions motivated by pain or desire for revenge, and so on. The instruction in the text is straightforward: “When a man or woman commits any wrong toward a fellow human being, breaking faith with the Eternal, and that person realizes their guilt, they shall confess the wrong they have done. They shall make restitution in the principal amount and add one fifth to it, giving it to the one they have wronged.”

We can talk without end about the exceptions and complexities of implementing this instruction - there are wrongs that have no monetary implication, and others where the restitution is not obvious. But the basic instruction to take initiative when we realize we have mistreated another person, verbally acknowledge it, and restore what we can - this may be difficult, but it is anything but distant. It is, of course, the backbone of the vital practice of teshuvah, returning to our best selves, restoring and building the health of our relationships. Our text is teaching that this specific practice is what constitutes the foundation of our communities, our “camp.”

May we each find the courage to take this kind of initiative and to repair and make things right in all the ways that we can.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller

05/29/2026

Here's What's Happening This Week At TBH -

Saturday, May 30 -
* 10:15 AM – Lay led Torah Study

Sunday, May 31 -
* 9:30 AM- Religious School
* 10:15 Am - Adult Education
* 12:00 PM - Hebrew Class (Last Session)

05/29/2026

Touro Synagogue, built in 1763, stands as the oldest synagogue building in the U.S. Its community received a landmark letter from George Washington affirming freedom and dignity for all. During Jewish American Heritage Month, we honor the generations who helped shape this nation’s commitment to religious liberty.

05/25/2026

For Memorial Day.

This Memorial Day, as part of our ongoing America @ 250 series, we mourn the soldiers who gave their lives for the United States, taking inspiration from t