Peace Prayer Gathering in the Bay Area in person and online via Zoom.  Come gather alongside the Bay Area local community supporting peace and working within the community volunteering for peace activities and creating partnerships to support local community needs. 

Four times a year, Sinai Memorial Chapel invites the Northern California Jewish community to drop off sheymot, discarded sacred items, that were once used for a holy purpose and now, for any reason, need to be discarded into a Genizah, a reserved area, with dignity.

The next time to bring in your sacred items for burial will take place on Monday, January 26, 2026 from 9am to 4pm.

Three Drop Off Locations

Eternal Home

Cemetery

1051 El Camino Real Colma 94014

(650)755-5236

Home of Eternity

Cemetery + Mausoleum

5000 Piedmont Ave, Oakland 94611

(925)962-3636

Gan Shalom

Memorial Park

1100 Bear Creek Rd, Briones 94553

(925) 228-3636

Guidelines

• FREE: There is no charge to inter any of these eligible Jewish items with innate holiness to the residential communities of Northern California.
• DROP-OFF LOCATIONS: Sinai staff will receive sacred items at Colma’s Eternal Home Cemetery, Oakland’s Home of Eternity, and Briones’ Gan Shalom Cemetery. Items may not be dropped off at any of our funeral home mortuary offices or otherwise left unattended as it may compromise the respect that the items needing to be buried deserve.
• QUARTERLY DROP-OFF: Sinai provides this free service four (4) times per year. Items will not be received or accepted at other times. These are the next scheduled dates for drop-off: Monday, January 26, 2026, and Monday, March 30, 2026.
• BIODEGRADABLE: Sinai accepts paper in the form of prayer books (bentcher, birchonim, machzorim, siddurim), prayer shawls & phylacteries (talesim and tefillin). Please do not bring any plastic or laminate items.
• SORT IN ADVANCE: Please sort and place all items into a cardboard box prior to arriving at the cemetery. There is not dignified space for sorting at any of our cemeteries.
• NO UNNECESSARY ITEMS: Skull Caps (Kippot, kippah, yarmulke or koppel), Jewish newspapers, Hebrew language books, flyers, or secular in purpose items.

Please give us a call at any of the cemeteries or be in touch with our Cemetery Superintendent, Kelly Bonillas if you have an urgent need outside of the quarterly schedule so we can try and work with you.

We invite you to join us for a prayer service and vigil to honor Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed due to the deadly overreach of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, and pray for peace to all Minnesotans. Right now, our nation is in a moral moment, and we must stand in faith and solidarity with Minnesota and communities across the country that have been impacted by the immoral brutality of ICE and DHS.

You are invited to join San Francisco Interfaith Council faith leaders with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi tomorrow, Tuesday, January 27, at Third Baptist Church, 1399 McAllister Street in San Francisco. Please arrive by 4:15 p.m.

We gather to pay tribute and demand an end to the lawless and violent actions of ICE and DHS by enacting dramatic, sweeping changes to the way these agencies conduct taxpayer-funded operations. Join us to demand a full and independent investigation of this senseless and heartbreaking violence.

In solidarity,

Michael Pappas, Executive Director

San Francisco Interfaith Council

Will you be the voice for a child in foster care?

"My CASA volunteering gives my life MEANING and is also FUN. I can schedule it to suit my calendar. My CASA youth and I jointly choose what to do, so we both have fun. What else am I doing (work, exercise, movie-going, hanging with friends, travel, hiking, biking, cooking, etc.) that could possibly be as meaningful and satisfying as creating an authentic, warm connection with a young person in need of acceptance?"   - Monica, current CASA Volunteer

A CASA is an advocate for an abused and neglected child in foster care. In a life full of uncertainty and endless change, you can be one consistent and caring adult.

Are you ready to become a CASA?

The Spring DayTime training begins on 3/7/2026. You must be 21 or older to apply. Please visit: https://www.sfcasa.org/volunteer

Explore how Jewish communities across centuries have transformed the night into a space for reflection, resistance, and renewal. Scholar Francesco Spagnolo leads a lively journey from 16th-century Italy through North Africa and the Middle East to modern-day Israel, blending traditional song, Baroque sounds, and engaging musical insight.  

Coffee included, conversation guaranteed.

Nicholas McGegan, conductor 
Francesco Spagnolo, scholar-in-residence 
Yair Harel, vocals & percussion (Jerusalem)
Philharmonia’s Chamber Players and Chorale Quintet.

Interfaith Peace Prayer Gathering Local Bay Area Religious Leaders gather alongside those who support peace for a time of prayer.

We’re planning to distribute 1 Million drug education booklets during public Super Bowl festivities in San Francisco and the South Bay to contribute to efforts by the Mayor’s office to handle the drug problems that are destroying lives in our area.

The kickoff for the campaign will be this Saturday at the Church of Scientology in San Francisco and will feature NFL Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk. Please come by, meet like-minded individuals and lend your support.

Explore how Jewish communities across centuries have transformed the night into a space for reflection, resistance, and renewal. Scholar Francesco Spagnolo leads a lively journey from 16th-century Italy through North Africa and the Middle East to modern-day Israel, blending traditional song, Baroque sounds, and engaging musical insight.  

Coffee included, conversation guaranteed.

Nicholas McGegan, conductor 
Francesco Spagnolo, scholar-in-residence 
Yair Harel, vocals & percussion (Jerusalem)
Philharmonia’s Chamber Players and Chorale Quintet.