Rabbi Yoel Kahn originally married 13 years ago, but on Monday he tied the knot again — to the same man.
Kahn, who leads a congregation in Sonoma, first wed his longtime partner Dan Dellm under a chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy), but on Monday they finally secured a marriage license from the City and County of San Francisco.
Guests nibbling on Grilled Hoisin-Ancho Colorado Lamb Chops, Roasted Garlic and Chicken Risotto and Caramel Sauce Crème Brûlée at Century City\’s five-star St. Regis Hotel & Spa might not just want to thank the chef, but also a rabbi.
Mel Gibson\’s Jesus movie, \”The Passion of the Christ,\” became controversial long before its release when learned critics, Christians as well as Jews, who had been invited to read a draft of the script objected that the film was, if not actually anti-Semitic, then all too apt for anti-Semitic exploitation. The initial response of the Gibson camp to these charges included a lawsuit charging the critics with a malicious attempt to sabotage the film.
There is at least one upside to the brouhaha over Mel Gibson\’s controversial film, \”The Passion of the Christ\”: It has led to some serious probing of current Jewish-Christian relations and given many Jews a crash course in the varieties of Christian theology.\n\n
When Mark Meltzer became executive director of the Jewish Free Loan Association (JFLA) in 1980, the agency had $800,000 in total assets, the equivalent of three and a half full-time employees and largely made interest-free loans to people for groceries, car repairs and other such emergencies. In the words of JFLA President and long-time board member Jim Kohn, JFLA was \”small, unknown and stuck in the corner somewhere.\”
B\’nai Tikvah Congregation in Westchester is in the northern tip of the South Bay\’s small, self-contained Jewish community. Its Manchester Boulevard sanctuary has 204 seats, and as synagogue president Tony Schaffer said, \”We bring in a good 40 to 60 people on a Saturday and we will fill the place on bar mitzvah.\”
Jewish tunes, Grateful Dead-style tie-dyed T-shirts and rows of singing, swaying, arm-in-arm Jews gave a summer camp feel to Valley Beth Shalom\’s (VBS) \”25th Hour\” event, which marked the end of the Valentine\’s Day Shabbat.
Nearly 400 people came to the Conservative Encino synagogue\’s festive but compact Feb. 14 outreach to the 90 percent of San Fernando Valley Jews not affiliated with a synagogue.
One of my students once asked me what was the greatest gift that my teacher Reb Shlomo Carlebach gave me. My reply was immediate: \”He gave me a new pair of eyes.\”
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