New cantor David Frommer and new senior rabbi Jessica Zimmerman Graf.
By JESSICA ZIMMERMAN GRAF
I grew up in this neighborhood. I used to go to Gino’s grocery store at Fillmore and Jackson after school to get gummy worms in the ’80s when they were all the rage. I’ve walked around this neighborhood for years — decades, in fact. And now, I’m delighted to be back here in a new capacity.
Last month, a new clergy team was installed at Congregation Sherith Israel, at the corner of California and Webster Streets. Friends and congregants gathered for a Sabbath service on September 16, followed by festivities and food that honored the different cultures of San Francisco. About 600 people participated.
Who would have thought, just shy of 30 years after I became bat mitzvah in this community, that I would stand in the same spot being installed as the 10th senior rabbi of Congregation Sherith Israel?
• I am the first senior rabbi who proudly hangs a Sunday School diploma on the wall.
• I am the first senior rabbi who interned here as a rabbinical student.
• And I am the first senior rabbi to wear a dress for installation — at least as far as I know.
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