BAY AREA | FACING THE PANDEMIC
Jewish life in Bay Area upended by coronavirus GABRIEL GRESCHLER | J. STAFF When 82-year-old Hinda Gilbert boarded the Grand Princess cruise ship in San Francisco on Feb. 21, she was looking forward to relaxing and playing some bridge as she and a friend headed to Hawaii for a 15-day voyage. On their way back on March 6, just one day before the cruise was to end in San Francisco, several passengers started showing flu-like symptoms. Then the news broke: 21 people on board the ship had tested positive for coronavirus. “We were quarantined to our room,” Gilbert, a member of San Francisco Congregation Emanu-El, told J. “We could not leave for five days. It was like a movie.” The ship’s passengers were told to disembark at the Port of Oakland, and Gilbert and her friend were brought to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield for a mandatory 14-day quarantine. They will remain there until March 24. “I’m just taking this one minute at a time,” said Gilbert, who is worried she’ll become ill with the virus through close contact she had with other cruise passengers. “You can’t complain you’re in this situation. You have to grin and bear it.” The coronavirus has caused dramatic disruption everywhere. Schools are canceled, synagogues are moving worship online and senior homes are on lockdown. JCCs in San Francisco, Palo Alto, the East Bay and other locations have closed. Jewish agencies are offering very limited social services. But the full impact of the virus, which now has residents in nearly every Bay Area county sheltering at home and restricted to essential travel only, goes beyond just closures. It is causing emotional, spiritual and financial ripples across the entire Jewish community. And nobody knows how long it will last, or what the long-term effects might be. “It’s been very stressful having to make decisions about community events that impact a lot of people,” said Rabbi Chai Levy of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley. “I’ve been feeling the weight of that.” Netivot is closed, and all meetings, groups and gatherings have shifted online. “The Jewish value of saving a life overrides everything,” Levy said. “We need to err on the side of caution.” Congregation Emanu-El has canceled all programming until April 8 and is hosting services and classes online. Bar and bat mitzvahs through May 8 have been rescheduled, per CDC guidelines to avoid gatherings of more than 50 people. The temple lost “thousands and thousands” of dollars from the cancellation of its March 9 Purim carnival alone. “When you lose that kind of money, it does have an impact,” said Rabbi Jonathan Singer.
Synagogues aren’t the only institutions worried about the financial fallout. The Contemporary Jewish Museum is closed indefinitely. The museum was already hurting from the coronavirus before the March 12 closure, according to chief operating officer Kerry King, when corporate partners who usually rent out space all started canceling. “It does feel very surreal,” King said. “Like many other things right now.” The Reboot Ideas Festival, a national gathering scheduled for late March in San Francisco that would have brought dozens of high-profile Jewish community leaders from around the world to the Bay Area, has been canceled, a move that CEO David Katznelson estimates will cost the organization in the six figures. “That’s hard for a midlevel nonprofit,” said the Bay Area resident. “The hope is that we will be able to recover that in various ways.”
The Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, closed until April 13, is facing a very serious financial situation, according to CEO Zack Bodner. The JCC has about 450 employees and a monthly payroll of $1.5 million. “For us to be able to cover that, we need the revenue coming in from programs, which we’ve had to cancel,” Bodner said. “Revenue coming from gym membership and personal training sessions is no longer happening. Revenue coming from preschool tuition and afterschool tuition isn’t happening.” Bodner said the only way the organization will be able to cover costs is through fundraising. “We’re really counting on the generosity of the community,” he said. “Understanding what the need is right now so that the mishpacha can be taken care of.” Hebrew Free Loan in San Francisco announced that it would be offering interest-free loans to those who are hurting
“The Jewish value of saving a life overrides everything. We need to err on the side of caution.” Netivot Shalom Rabbi Chai Levy
(Clockwise from top left) Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto; Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco; and the Contemporary Jewish Museum.
8 3.20.2020 | J. THE JEWISH NEWS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA | JWEEKLY.COM
financially in the crisis, whether from missing work, suffering small-business losses or dealing with health care costs. “We want to help people who are struggling from financial effects related to this,” HFL executive director Cindy Rogoway said. (Visit hflasf.org for more info.) Apart from financial worries, many Jewish leaders are concerned that closures deny people a familiar place to find solace during a high-stress time, when community is even more important. “The synagogue is a place for times of difficulty,” said Ellen Bob, executive director of Congregation Etz Chayim in Palo Alto. “But the way to keep people safe is to keep people separate. So, there’s a lot of tension. It’s not good for people’s spiritual or mental health.” Etz Chayim is closed indefinitely. Bob said the congregation is figuring out how to hold virtual activities, learning sessions, prayer services and committee meetings, “and how to just make sure no one gets too lonely or isolated at home.” She also shared the personal toll the virus has taken on her as a communal leader.
