JCC East Bay

Yiddish Conversation
2025-03-26 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-04-09 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-04-16 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-04-23 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-04-30 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-05-07 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-05-14 10:30 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Join us for Yiddish Conversation!
Participants will take turns reading various Yiddish passages aloud – laughing at the stories together, connecting with like-minded community members, and keeping the art of the Yiddish language alive!
Please email Gravity to RSVP: gravity.goldberg@jcceastbay.org

Older Adults Book Club
2025-03-27 10:00 - 11:30 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Join the JCC East Bay Older Adults Book Club!
Our book club will meet on the third Thursday of each month from 10-11:30am, right before our monthly Nosh With Your Neighbors gathering. This month the group will be discussing In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume.
Participation in the book club is free and folks are encouraged to join at any time.

Register here.
Questions?
Reach out to Noah Curtis-Goldstein: noah.curtisgoldstein@jcceastbay.org.

Nosh With Your Neighbors
2025-03-27 11:30 - 13:00 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
This month’s Nosh With Your Neighbors will meet on 4th Thursday of the month and will feature a Holocaust remembrance presentation from Jaqueline Shelton, representing the Kindertransport Association.
Join us at the JCC East Bay to enjoy lunch with your community! This is a BYOL (bring-your-own-lunch) with delicious dessert, coffee, and tea provided. RSVP is required.
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Jacqueline Shelton is a Bay Area native who loves creating connections and building community. She is a consultant with Belonging by Design. She serves on the board of the Kindertransport Association (KTA), through which she completed a speaker training program. Jackie has recently started sharing her mother’s (of blessed memory) Kindertransport story with local student and adult audiences.
The Kindertransport Association (KTA) is a nonprofit organization working to connect survivors of the Kindertransports, their families, and their descendants to community support. They aim to educate and inform the public about the Kindertransports as an important part of Holocaust history, and support and advocate for child refugees and children in need today. The KTA publishes a quarterly journal, Kinder-Link, and the Speaker’s Bureau provides materials and speakers for public forums, schools, synagogues, museums, and community centers. The KTA provides an opportunity for its members to finally express and share feelings often long suppressed; form new friendships; enhance understanding between Kinder and their families; and give meaning to a common historical experience.
Register here.

Canasta Group
2025-04-08 11:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-15 11:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-22 11:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-29 11:00 - 13:00 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Play Canasta at the JCC East Bay!
This group is intended for players experienced in classic Canasta, not modern Canasta. If you are a beginner looking to learn, please stay tuned for a beginners group!
This group will meet weekly, on Tuesdays, from 11am – 1pm.
RSVPs are requested, limited space each week.

Register here.

Advanced Mah Jongg
2025-04-09 10:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-16 10:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-23 10:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-30 10:00 - 13:00, 2025-05-07 10:00 - 13:00, 2025-05-14 10:00 - 13:00 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
A JCC East Bay group that meets weekly on Wednesdays to play American Mah Jongg!
This group is for more experienced players or those wanting to sharpen their competitive edge. Join for good company, tea, and fierce games of Mah Jongg. Drop-ins are welcome.
For more information email Gravity (gravity.goldberg@jcceastbay.org).

Older Adults Emergency Preparedness Workshop
2025-04-10 11:00 - 12:30 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
The best way to stay safe is to be prepared!
In partnership with The Center for Independent Living, the JCC is excited to offer our second annual Emergency Preparedness Workshop for our Older Adult community!
Together, we will learn how to:
✅ Stay safe during disasters
✅ Make emergency and evacuation plans
✅ Build go-bags and stay-boxes
✅ Find resources in our community
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This workshop will be presented by Carol Dorf, a Bay Area poet and teacher. Carol has received fellowships from the Center for Independent Living, Jewish Studio Project, Hawthornden Foundation, and Zoeglossia, as well as Best of the Net and Best Microfiction nominations.. Their writing appears on the Poetry Foundation website, in several chapbooks, and in journals that include: Pleiades, About Place, Cutthroat, Braving the Body, The Mom Egg, American Stories, Five South, YesYesPoetry, and Scientific American. As the founding poetry editor of Talking Writing, Carol has taught math and writing in Berkeley USD and at museums and conferences.
Register here.

Older Adult Passover Luncheon
2025-04-17 11:30 - 13:30 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Join us for our annual Older Adult Passover Luncheon!
Our Older Adult Passover Luncheon is wonderful opportunity to enjoy a delicious Passover meal, engage in meaningful learning, and connect with your Jewish community. Come share a Passover experience with friends, and learn something new about the Passover story. We can’t wait to see you there!

RSVPs are required.
Cost: $25/per person.
Register here.

I Am Not Afraid: A Holocaust Survivor Story for Teens and Parents
2025-04-22 19:00 - 20:30 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Join the JCC East Bay and the JFCS Holocaust Center, William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau for a valuable opportunity to hear from and engage with local Holocaust Survivor Ralph S., and learning the importance of remembering, honoring, and commemorating. This event is for teens and their parents.
We will begin with an interview with Ralph, during which he will share his story and wisdom with us. After the interview, there will be an open Q&A session, where teens and parents will have the opportunity to engage with Ralph and learn more about his life and experiences.
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Ralph was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1931 to a Polish father and a mother whose family had lived in Dresden for 150 years.

At the age of 7½, he was sent alone on a Kindertransport to England to escape the Holocaust and was later evacuated to the English countryside during the war. Ralph studied at the London School of Economics before immigrating to the United States at 27. He moved to California in 1962 and worked in public agency real estate, including seven years with BART, until his retirement in 1997.
Now residing in Oakland, Ralph shares his Holocaust experiences as a member of the JFCS Holocaust Center’s William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau, speaking in schools and presenting the Oscar-winning documentary, Into the Arms of Strangers. He has returned to Germany several times to speak at schools in Dresden and Heidelberg.
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Our interview and discussion with Ralph are part of the annual Zikaron BaSalon (Remembrances in the Living Room) program. This program commemorates the Holocaust through intimate gatherings that allow for meaningful conversations and storytelling, passing the torch from large ceremonies to conversations and stories told in more intimate, meaningful spaces.
This event is the second in a series of Holocaust remembrance programs for teens and parents presented in partnership with The JFCS Holocaust Center. If you are viewing this page before March 25, 2025, we highly encourage you to join us for the first event: I Am Not: Holocaust Education for Teens and Parents.
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Register here.

This program is proudly supported by the Israel Engagement Fund: A JCC Association of North America Program Accelerator and the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.

Zikaron BaSalon
2025-04-22 19:00 - 21:00
Zikaron BaSalon (Remembrances in the Living Room) is a special way to commemorate the Holocaust. Taking place annually in thousands of private living rooms and public settings, it passes the torch from official, large-scale ceremonies to conversations and stories told in more intimate, meaningful gatherings.
Please join us in hearing and honoring the Holocaust story of Paul S. This event will include opportunities to reflect, ask questions, and ground our awareness and education about the Holocaust in a warm and supportive community.
May the memory of all lost in the Holocaust be a blessing.
זיכרונם לברכה

Register here.
The JCC East Bay is grateful for its partnership with Jewish Family and Community Services Holocaust Center and the William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau in presenting this important event.

Older Adults Book Club
2025-04-24 10:00 - 11:30 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Join the JCC East Bay Older Adults Book Club!
Our book club will meet on the third Thursday of each month from 10:30-11:30am, right before our monthly Nosh With Your Neighbors gathering. The group will collaborate to decide which book they want to read based on the members’ interests and preferences!
This month, the Book Club is reading Antisemitism in America: A Warning by Chuck Schumer.
Participation in the book club is free and folks are encouraged to join at any time.

Register here.
Questions?
Reach out to Noah Curtis-Goldstein: noah.curtisgoldstein@jcceastbay.org.

Remembrance, Resistance, and Resilience
2025-04-24 11:30 - 13:00 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Older Adults are invited to join us for lunch and a virtual screening of the City of Berkeley’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The JCC East Bay will be hosting a special screening of the annual Yom HaShoah program. The pre-recorded program – which will be screened in person during this event – will include a welcome from Mayor Adena Ishi, inspirational stories from Survivors Eva Lukacs and Helen Fixler, and music from clarinetist Asaf Ophir and accordionist Josh Horowitz. Boxed lunches, coffee, tea, and desserts will be served.

Register here.

¡Cantamos!
2025-04-27 10:30 - 12:00 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
It’s our final session of ¡Cantamos! for the 2024-25 season, you don’t want to miss it!
Experience the rhythmic fusion of Jewish and Latin traditions with Verónica Freidkes, our creative musician, child educator, and Argentinian singer. Together, through joyful singing and movement, we’ll embrace our shared cultural bond in this lively musical rendezvous.
Tailored especially for families with children ages 0-8. All are welcome!
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Es nuestra última sesión de ¡Cantamos! para la temporada 2024-25, ¡no te lo querrás perder!
Experimente la fusión rítmica de las tradiciones judía y latina con Verónica Freidkes, nuestra música creativa, educadora infantil y cantante argentina. Juntos, a través de cantos y movimientos alegres, abrazaremos nuestro vínculo cultural compartido en esta animada cita musical.
Diseñado especialmente para familias con niños de 0 a 8 años. ¡Todos son bienvenidos!

Register here.

¡Cantamos! is a collaboration between JCC East Bay, Olamim, Jewtina y Co., and Tkiya.
¡Cantamos! es una colaboración entre JCC East Bay, Olamim, Jewtina y Co., and Tkiya.

The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance
2025-04-27 13:00 - 16:00 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Join our monthly series celebrating The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance! Great for musicians, dancers, and enthusiasts to meet, schmooze, or simply to take in the beauty of these rich traditions. Bring your instruments and dancing shoes.
This month, we will explore Yeminite music and dance traditions.
During the first 90 minutes, participants can choose between spaces to learn multi-ethnic music and dance technique and styles. Participants will all come together for a 30 minute dance party focusing on the dances and tunes taught in the prior hour. The remaining segment will be an informal music jam in one or more of the classroom spaces at the JCC East Bay.
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Meet our guest teachers:
Dror Sinai is a percussionist and healing music expert. He is a pioneer in the fields of world percussion, Chi Gong, and the exploration of music as a therapeutic tool. Over the years Dror Has presented lectures, clinics, workshops, residencies to diverse audiences including universities, schools, community gatherings, and congregations. Dror played , performed and presented around the world solo and collaborated with other wonderful and famous Musicians and Bands including: Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Yair Dalal, Yuval Ron, Al Moalem Mahmoud Guinea.
Avraham (Avi) David Sinai is a percussionist, vocalist, and visual artist from Santa Cruz, California, combines traditional Arabic Yemeni Jewish chants with a contemporary flair. Learning these songs from his father Dror from the age of four, Avi creates a unique fusion of ancient and modern melodies, embodying the spirit of Yemen. He has performed with bands such as Zirzuvi and Phreeborn and the Phrequency. Avi and his father Dror performing regularly as a duo.
Rachel Valfer is a passionate singer and oud (Arabic lute) player who brings depth of feeling to every song. She studied Maqam and Persian dastgah modal systems in Israel and Palestine for six years at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and sings with several ensembles in the Bay Area. Gifted in the art of language, Rachel sings in Hebrew, Arabic, Farsi, Greek, Turkish, Ladino, and Armenian.
Bruce Bierman is a celebrated Jewish dance master, theater director, and arts educator. He is co-artistic director of the award-winning Yiddish Theatre Ensemble in Berkeley where he has directed and choreographed The Megilleh of Itzik Manger for the Berkeley Jewish Music Festival, Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance, and most recently Between Worlds starring Naomi Newman. He served as Yiddish dance and theater dramaturg for Paula Vogel’s Tony Award winning play, Indecent at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage and the most recent production at the San Francisco Playhouse which YTE also co-produced. Bruce was also a lead dancer and teaching artist with the Los Angeles Aman Folk Ensemble bringing world music and dance to youth throughout the L.A. Unified School District.
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Single session tickets: Sliding scale $25-54
Full series ticket: $180
Full series tickets: Register here
Single session tickets:
April 27, 2025 – Dror Sinai, Avi Sinai, Rachel Valfer, and Bruce Bierman
May 18, 2025 – Dmitri Gaskin, Misha Khalikulov, and Bruce Bierman

The Joy of Jewish Music and Dance is co-presented by JCC East Bay and KlezCalifornia, and funded in part by a generous grant from the KlezCalifornia Yiddish Culture Fund.

East Bay Jewish Writing Circle
2025-04-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Beit Chabot, 5939 Chabot Rd, Oakland, CA, 94618, United States
Join fellow community members for a monthly generative writing experience. With an open theme, facilitators will bring to the table a genre, idea, passion, or otherwise Jewish-themed passage to inspire the evening’s compositions.
Our April session will be facilitated by Caroline Kessler.

Register here.

Beginner Mah Jongg Class
2025-05-09 10:00 - 12:00
The JCC East Bay Beginner Mah Jongg Class is back!
This 4-part class is an in-depth, comprehensive course on how to play American Mah Jongg. Classes are taught by our esteemed JCC East Bay Mah Jongg instructors.
Class Descriptions:
Class 1: Introduction to the tiles, rules on how to play, and the (Jewish) history of American Mah Jongg
Class 2: How does the game really work?
Class 3: Practice Playing – get all your questions answered
Class 4: Practice Playing – with instructor support as needed
What is provided during this class?:

2025 Mah Jongg Card
Learning in community!

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Beginner Mah Jongg Class takes place on the following Fridays, from 10am-12pm:
May 9, May 16, May 23, and May 30
Participants must attend all four sessions.

Register here.
Address will be shared via confirmation email, after registration

Nosh With Your Neighbors
2025-05-15 11:30 - 13:00 | JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, United States
Each month we invite you to join us at the JCC East Bay to enjoy lunch with your community! This is a BYOL (bring-your-own-lunch) with delicious dessert, coffee, and tea provided. RSVP is required.

Register here.
