Levi Strauss is most well known for the blue jeans he brought to the American market, but he didn’t start in the denim trade. In fact, he might not have earned his fortune if not for a fortunate letter writer with a good idea. Strauss, like many American Jewish entrepreneurs, was an immigrant. He was born in Buttenheim, Bavaria on February 26, 1829 to Hirsch Strauss and his second wife, Rebecca Haas Strauss. Levi’s father died of tuberculosis, after which he and his mother, including two of his …More

A San Francisco-based site focused on sharing the story of Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa is reporting monthly hits numbering near 100,000. Jimena is a series of 11 sub-sites, each focused on the 850,000 Jews that have been forced over the last century from their homes in Middle Eastern and North African nations like Egypt, Syria, Turkey and Libya. The stories are told through a series of photos and archival evidence, tracing the path of persecution over the course of hundreds of …More

With the tenure of two serving chief rabbis rapidly coming to a close, candidates vie for primacy before the June election. [Jerusalem Post] Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett denounced the corruption in his party that took place during last year’s primary elections. [Times of Israel] Israel has repatriated hundreds of Sudanese refugees in recent months. [ABC News] A Pennsylvania prison has recorded increasing numbers of "Jewish" prisoners seeking kosher food. Many believe these inmates are not actually …More

San Francisco’s last kosher grocer is closing, ending more than six decades of service for the local community. Israel’s Strictly Kosher opened in the City by the Bay in 1949, and went through several incarnations. At one point customers could choose their own live chicken to have butchered on the spot. Today, the 3,500-square-foot shop sells a variety of baked goods, knishes, latkes and dry kosher wares hard to come by at other stores. But customers will soon have to look elsewhere, as owner Faina …More

The owner of San Francisco's only kosher market says she is closing her doors. Israel’s Strictly Kosher Market, which opened its doors 65 years ago, will close in March, owner Faina Avrutina told the J weekly. Avrutina has been running the shop for the last 10 years. The store has belonged to her family for the last two generations, according to the newspaper. The store’s lease came up for renewal this month, and Avrutina decided not to renew it, telling the J weekly that the store is too expensive …More

Elana Widmann, NoCamels - Israeli Innovation News Some would argue the internet is made for arguing. Comment sections on most sites see people from all corners of the globe and from completely divergent opinions, debating with each other, anonymously. Face-to-face arguments are of a whole different nature, particularly because looking at a person and having that gaze reflected often encourages a more self-awareness. New Israeli startup Deeyon (Hebrew word for debate) has created a platform for online video …More

Mark Zuckerberg and his younger sister Arielle may become competitors in the near future. Arielle works as a junior product manager for Wildfire Interactive Inc., which is based in San Francisco and was just recently acquired by Google. Wildfire is a startup that focuses on advertising using social networking sites and is a marketing partner with Facebook. Google has been in competition with Facebook since it launched Google+ in June 2011. Google+ currently has 250 million registered active users. Arielle …More

A San Francisco synagogue will hold a memorial service for the 1,558 known suicide victims who have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco’s Congregation Sha’ar Zahav will host a special Yizkor, or remembrance, service on August 7 to raise awareness about suicides and bullying, according to j., the Jewish news weekly of Northern California. Jewish filmmaker Jenni Olson, who made the 2005 documentary “The Joy of Life” about the bridge’s history of suicides, told j. the idea …More

On June 28 and 29, marketing, digital media and social media professionals will gather in San Francisco for a chance to meet with leading industry influencers at the AllFacebook Marketing Conference. The event, which will feature the likes of Brian Madden of Hearst Digital and Robert Scoble of Rackspace, serves as an opportunity for professionals to further their knowledge of building brands, engaging customers and generating real revenue through proper use of the social networking tool. The full two-day …More

Developers, publishers, mobile advertisers and social media pros alike will gather for the Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit in San Francisco on June 26. The conference, which will feature SoftTech venture capitalist Charles Hudson as the keynote speaker, is expected to attract mobile gaming beginners, experts and notable press. The aim of the one-day conference is to teach professionals the key strategies needed to take their companies or startups to the next level through a deeper understanding of the …More

For a while, it appeared an upcoming panel on Jewish activism might be canceled. The gathering of Jewish activists lost their San Francisco venue after it was discovered one of the panelists participating belonged to an organization with controversial views on Israel. Now the Workman's Circle sponsored panel has found a new home at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav and will resume on May 24. “Reclaiming Jewish Activism: Rediscovering the Voices of our Ancestors” plans to highlight the efforts of activists …More

Apparently, a picture is worth more than just a thousand words. For Facebook, it's worth $1 billion. The social network announced Monday that it has acquired the photo-sharing service Instagram, a two-year-old San Francisco-based company with only 13 employees. Instagram allows its more than 30 million users to apply filters to images and share them across various social networks. The deal marks Facebook's largest acquisition to date, but Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg released a statement saying, …More