Since its founding in 1948, the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center has played a vital role in Marin County. We proudly celebrate and sustain our Jewish cultural heritage and stand as a beacon of tolerance and inclusion for all. Our programs enrich individual lives, build community, and with tikkun olam—the desire to repair the world—we encourage cross-cultural appreciation and understanding.
We warmly welcome everyone to the community of Osher Marin JCC.
The idea for a multipurpose Jewish center began in 1946 when a small group of Jewish men and women living in Marin first gathered. The group was inspired by a rabbi’s moving presentation of a Torah discovered during World War II in Czechoslovakia when he declared “I have come half-way around the world to bring this Torah from a Jewish community that died to a Jewish community that is about to be born.” In 1948, the dedication of the Marin Jewish Community Center occurred and the JCC began operating in a house at Mission and Forbes Streets in San Rafael.
Many have dedicated themselves to our growth over 70 years, creating a home for Marin's Jewish community with programs for all to enjoy.
By the early 1960s, the JCC had outgrown its facility and created a new home on North San Pedro Road. In 1980 a partnership of the Osher Marin JCC, Congregation Rodef Sholom, and Brandeis Marin Day School was created to develop a Marin Jewish Community Campus, one of the first of its kind in North America. The new campus opened in 1991 with a 80,000 square foot state-of-the-art JCC.
The JCC campus is nestled into a beautiful hillside in San Rafael, CA, with a charming cafe, lounge areas, and modern fitness facilities including award-winning indoor and outdoor pools.
The Osher Marin JCC has earned nationwide respect for its model toddler and preschool programs, for our commitment to lifelong wellness and learning, and for our award-winning Camp Kehillah.
Throughout the pandemic, the JCC successfully reopened programs and facilities as it became safe to do so. Today, 3,500 participants attend in-person and virtual programs each week. Our outstanding virtual cultural programs, geared to older adults isolated at home, have received national recognition and are enjoyed by seniors across the continent through a first-of-its-kind virtual collaboration with 50 JCCs. Preschool enrollment for this fall is already near pre-Covid numbers, and we are again able to provide hydrotherapy and swim lessons in our indoor pool and live classes are increasing.
With the generous support of our donors, our members, and program participants, the JCC remains vital, resilient, and optimistically focused on a future destined to enrich lives, build community, and celebrate Jewish culture for the years to come.
Leadership
Board of Directors
Daniel Barenbaum, President
Katie Taylor, Vice President
Stephen Wilkes, Treasurer
Vivian Cohen, Secretary
Jon Welner, Immediate Past President
Nicole Blacksburg
Paul Castro
Gilli Cherrin
Rachel Kertz
Sonia Fromm Lurie
Bob Nadjibi
Christina O’Keefe-Sally
Orlee Rabin
Melanie Sperling
Emily Tejani
Matt Wertheim
Marika Paez Wiesen
Management
Judy Wolff-Bolton, Chief Executive Officer
Tim Egan, Chief Financial Officer
Samantha Kelman, Chief Operating Officer
Elissa Coleman, Health & Fitness Director
Aaron Golbus, Facilities Director
Pamela Johnson, Human Resources Director
Samantha Kniffin, Interim Associate Development Director
Tamar Lai, Early Childhood Education Director
Karen LeFever, Marketing Director
Brittany Mihalik, Camp Director
Jessica Rosenberg, Taube Center for Jewish Peoplehood Director
Tim Schmidt, Membership Director
James Sokol, Adult Learning and Living Director
Past Board Presidents
Jon Welner
Eric Toizer
Deborah Stadtner
Marty Friedman
Rachel Kertz
Ruthellen Toole
Becky Pell Kaplan
Joel Renbaum
Sharon Young
Barbara Waxman
Susan Kolb
Ruth Abramovitz
Steve Isaacs
Sue Davis
Kenneth Kurtzman
Madeleine Simborg
Richard Green