Rabbi Jamie’s Corner July 2023 I am sitting outside in early July enjoying the unusually cool weather. It’s the time of year that brings to mind watermelon, corn-on-the-cob, and sunlight until almost 10 pm. School is out, and many of us are enjoying some time...
Join our conversation with Alex Chuzhoy, Founder & Owner of Alex Chuzhoy Photography and a newer member of the Hebrew Free Loan Business Circle. Alex reinvented himself more than once since immigrating from Kyiv to San Francisco at the age of 19. His current...
Jonathan sometimes can’t believe he’s even alive, let alone starting his third year of medical school at UC Davis. He came from Mexico with his parents as a toddler and grew up in a rough neighborhood of Redwood City. His dad was incarcerated during Jonathan’s...
Congratulations to this year’s award recipients. CLICK HERE to learn more about them! Hebrew Free Loan provides interest-free loans to Jewish individuals in Northern California to help them achieve self-sufficiency. Our loans support individuals who are...
Elizabeth Boner has been an educator her entire adult life, and she always assumed that owning a home in the Bay Area was out of reach for her. Now, a year after purchasing a modest home in the historic Atchison Village Cooperative in Richmond, Liz still can’t believe...
Rabbi Jamie’s Corner May 2023 It is the kind of spectacularly beautiful day that takes your breath away. It’s a Thursday morning, and I’m pedaling through the Livermore wine country. My cycling buddy and I are deeply engaged in a conversation about the weekly...
Jesse Brandt was a senior at Berkeley High School when the pandemic hit, and finishing his senior year from home wasn’t easy. But it inspired him to reflect on what really mattered to him, ultimately putting him on a whole new life trajectory. For the first time in...
When Leandro Margulis stopped at a vista point in the Marin Headlands so his friends from abroad could admire the view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline, he didn’t know he was about to meet his future spouse. Neither did Gorica, who had just...
Rabbi Jamie’s Corner April 2023 “Hey Rabbi Jamie, what does Judaism say about…?” How many times have I heard this? People like to think that Judaism will give them a definitive answer about a given issue, but that isn’t always so. An early Jewish sage named Ben...
When Stephanie Stone and Bill Schwartz came to us for help, they owed $47,000 in student loans that Stephanie had taken out 30 years ago to become a nurse-midwife. Because of compounding interest, Stephanie had barely made a dent in the total despite many years of...
