Our Blog

Bold. Relevant. Barrier-Free.

Founded 33 years ago, Or Shalom Jewish Community has embodied the values of courageousness, connection, and accessibility undeterred by our transitional periods. Our work to heal the world has brought comfort and support to countless community members and friends, both the familiar and the stranger. Or Shalom Jewish Community continues to thrive as the sole source for Reconstructionist observance in the greater San Francisco area. While we prepare our new space in Bernal Heights for Tikkun Olam opportunities, we feel the time is right to move our brand identity forward.

Our Marketing Team reflected on our brand identity, with valuable input from our community members. We express our sincere gratitude for their candor. We could not have done this without our community’s guidance. Together, we distilled Or Shalom's most exemplary qualities:

• Our warm community of members, new and long-established
• Our roots in compassion and peace-seeking activism
• Our unique and down-to-earth Jewish practices
• Our bold and enthusiastic initiative
• Our open arms to all

Our objective was to evolve our brand to visually express these virtues. Completely opposed to erasing our heritage, we opted to derive the best qualities from our original logo, retain its symbolism, and expand on its visual presentation.

Both the dove and the olive branch within our original logo symbolized our community's mission for peace. We deemed it essential to keep the dove as well as the Star of David. To illustrate our passion and activism, we redesigned how the bird takes flight inside the Star of David. When you gaze upon our new logo, take note of the orange flame created by the curves of our new dove’s wings. The dove is also positioned to open up each inner corner of the Star of David to represent our openness and refusal to be constrained by religious or cultural edict.

The original color palette consisted of blue tones, a color commonly utilized by Jewish communities. We opted for gem tones that are unique, easily distinguishable, and memorable. Our new font is soft yet easily readable, selected for its distinctness and warmth.

We are thrilled to present our new brand identity to you and the world. We worked hard to develop these changes that respect our history, exemplify who we are today, and propel us into the future. Henceforth, we will update our website, email and print communications, and social media profiles with our new logo, fonts, and color scheme. We hope this revival in our communications will please you and bring new people into our warm and engaging community.

Or Shalom Marketing Team
Liz Isaacs, Amy Mallor, Ross Matican, and Naomi Rodriguez Finer

Consultants
Rebecca Hoffman and Susan Weeks