This Week in Jewish SF

We're in the stretch between the two holiest days on the calendar. A fast day, Shabbat Shuva, and Kol Nidre to start Yom Kippur on Sunday Night. In between: a founders' gathering for the holidays, a Shabbat dinner for young professionals, and one very big party.

Fast begins: Monday, September 14 at 5:32 AM (Tzom Gedaliah)
Fast ends: 7:51 PM
Candle lighting: Friday, September 18 at 6:54 PM
Havdalah: Saturday, September 19 at 7:50 PM
Parashat: Ha'azinu (Shabbat Shuva)

The minor fast day right after Rosh Hashanah, marking the assassination of Gedaliah and the end of Jewish autonomy in ancient Israel. Sunrise to nightfall, no food or drink. A quiet start to the Ten Days of Repentance.

🕠 Fast begins 5:32 AM, ends 7:51 PM

The relaxed, welcoming weekly class at Anshey Sfard, still running through the Ten Days of Repentance.

🕗 8:00 PM
📍 Anshey Sfard, 1500 Clement St
🔗 MORE INFO

After much demand, WrapFest is officially coming to San Francisco. Yossi Farro hosts alongside Joe Teplow and Joshua Sirota, in connection with Chabad SF, bringing together Jewish founders, investors, and builders from across the Bay Area for an evening of apples and honey, honey cake, and some learning between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

🔗 If you're a founder, investor, or builder, DM me for an invite.

Chabad of the Neighborhood hosts a midday lunch and Torah study, soup, salad, and pastry, built around one question: what part of you never broke, even in the hardest year. A good gut-check before Yom Kippur.

🕛 Noon
📍 Chabad of the Neighborhood, 85 West Portal Ave
🔗 SIGN UP

Chevra Thilim's weekly Wednesday Torah deep dive, still running as we head into the Days of Awe.

🕖 7:00-8:00 PM
📍 Chevra Thilim, 751 25th Ave
🔗 MORE INFO

Monthly Israeli folk dance class for young adults, 18-40. No experience necessary, and you may have already spotted this crew performing at Valkyries and Giants games. Social hour, basic steps, teaching, then open dance with circles, lines, and partners.

🕖 7:00-10:00 PM
📍 Location with RSVP
🔗 RSVP

A Jewish cultural foodie discussion: taste the unique foods, customs, and New Year wishes that Jewish communities across the globe have brought to the table for generations.

🕔 5:00-8:00 PM
📍 Chabad of the Neighborhood, 85 West Portal Ave
🔗 SIGN UP

Candle lighting at 6:54 PM. This is the Shabbat of Return, the one that falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, named for the haftarah's opening word: Shuva, return.

Chevra's young professionals gather for the first Shabbat of 5787 with delicious food, great people, and an incredible atmosphere.
🕖 7:00pm
📍 Location with RSVP
🔗 RSVP ($36 by Wednesday midnight, $50 after)

Regular Friday night services continue across the city this week, most carrying a Shabbat Shuva sermon on repentance and return before Yom Kippur. Chabad, Emanu-El, Sherith Israel, Beth Sholom, Chevra Thilim, Sha'ar Zahav, and Anshey Sfard all hold their usual Kabbalat Shabbat services. If you've never made it to a Shabbat Shuva service, this is the one to catch, rabbis tend to bring their best material :).

Morning services across the city carry the Shabbat Shuva drasha this week. Stay for kiddush, hear the sermon, and sit with the Ten Days of Repentance for a moment before Yom Kippur arrives.

Malka Productions throws SF's biggest Rosh Hashanah New Year's party for the second year running. Full club takeover, bottle service, Israeli and American hits, white nightclub attire. Ages 21-45.

🕘 9:00 PM-2:00 AM
📍 Downtown SF, details with tickets
🔗 GET TICKETS

Yom Kippur begins at sundown tonight. Kol Nidre services start across the city between 6 and 7:30 PM. If you haven't locked in where you're going, tonight's the night to decide.

No tickets and no seat charges, ever. The community gathers for Kol Nidre tonight, the start of the holiest 25 hours of the year.

🕖 7:00 PM
📍 Chevra Thilim, 751 25th Ave
🔗 MORE INFO

Chabad SF opens Yom Kippur the same way it opened Rosh Hashanah: a warm, open-door service for the whole community, details confirmed with RSVP.

📍 Details with RSVP
🔗 RSVP

Chabad of Cole Valley, Chabad of Noe Valley, and Chabad of the Neighborhood (candles 6:30 PM, Kol Nidre 6:45 PM at 85 West Portal Ave) all open their doors too, Noe Valley with a 3:30 PM pre-fast meal. Sha'ar Zahav starts at 7:00 PM, Congregation Am Tikvah opens with a 5:00 PM family Kol Nidre followed by 6:30 PM main service, Ner Tamid at 7:00 PM, Keneset HaLev at 6:00 PM, and Or Shalom holds a 5:00 PM family service. Full listings, prices, and RSVP links for every San Francisco congregation are in JWeekly's roundup below.

🕕 5:00-7:30 PM starts
📍 All over SF
🔗 FULL LIST

🕺 Electric Bloom: A Club Viva x Domi Dayger (same day, Sunday, September 20) If your plans skew more dance floor than sanctuary today, the Haight Ashbury street fair has an afternoon set from Club Viva and the Domi collective, 11 AM-5 PM, before the fast begins at sundown.
🔗 RSVP

The fast continues through the day. Yizkor, Ne'ilah, and break-fast wrap up most congregations between 5:30 and 7:30 PM tonight.

No tickets and no seat charges, ever. Morning service at 10:00 AM, Yizkor at 12:30, then the day closes with Mincha and Neila at 5:30 followed by a break-fast. One community, one door, all day.

🕙 10:00 AM → Break Fast
📍 Chevra Thilim, 751 25th Ave
🔗 MORE INFO

Chabad SF carries Yom Kippur through the day with the same open-door welcome as Kol Nidre, details confirmed with RSVP.

📍 Details with RSVP
🔗 RSVP

Sha'ar Zahav's morning service runs 9:30 AM with afternoon programs at 1:00 PM and Yizkor and Ne'ilah at 5:30, Ner Tamid at 9:30 AM, Keneset HaLev at 10:00 AM with Yizkor at 2:00 and Ne'ilah at 6:00, and Or Shalom, Am Tikvah, and the Chabads of Cole Valley, Chabad of Noe Valley, and Chabad of the Neighborhood (West postal) all hold morning and closing services too. Full listings, prices, and RSVP links for every San Francisco congregation are in JWeekly's roundup below.

🕘 9:30-10:00 AM starts
📍 All over SF
🔗 FULL LIST

Fill the JFCS food banks. The JCCSF is collecting donations in its lobby through September 30, and Sherith Israel is collecting nonperishables through October 2. An easy way to do something concrete during the Days of Awe.

Start thinking sukkah. Sukkot begins Friday, September 25, just five days after Yom Kippur ends. If you're building your own, now's the time to order lumber, schach, and decorations so it's not a scramble the day after the fast. If you haven't ordered a lulav and etrog yet, get that in too.

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