Day Two

Pacific Heights to the Pacific

Start your day at the 5 Haas-Lilienthal House (2007 Franklin St.; 441-3004). Operated by the Foundation for San Francisco Architectural Heritage, this stunningly preserved 1886 Queen Anne Victorian was built for wholesale grocer William Haas, a great-nephew of Levi Strauss and patriarch of a philanthropic family that continues to share its wealth. The lavishly appointed house offers a peek at late 19th century upper middle-class Jewish tastes. Docent tours Wednesday and Saturday noon-3 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

6 Congregation Sherith Israel (2266 California St.; 346-1720) was founded April 8, 1851, along with Congregation Emanu-El. Together, they have the two longest-practicing Jewish congregations in San Francisco. The current Congregation Sherith Israel building, consecrated in 1905, made it through the 1906 earthquake unscathed and was used briefly as a temporary city hall. A registered landmark, the temple’s entrance has a massive stepped arch that curves above a 12-cusped rose window. One stained glass window of the sanctuary depicts Jewish themes against a backdrop of the American West, Yosemite’s Half Dome.

7 The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (3200 California St.; 346-6040) is the oldest on the West Coast. The center, built in 1932 was razed in 2002 and replaced by an ultra-modern facility twice as large, though some original Art Deco features were preserved. This beehive of services and resources — gym and pool, dance studios, classrooms, library, performance hall, Dayenu Gift Shop — buzzes with programs designed to preserve Jewish life. Open to all.

The 30,000-volume 8 Jewish Community Library (1835 Ellis, 567-3327), operated by the Bureau of Jewish Education, is a repository for anything in print that touches on Jewish content from religion to trash fiction. Closed Friday, Saturday and holidays.

The current temple of 9 Congregation Emanu-El (2 Lake St.; 751-2535) is the third site for this congregation, whose earliest members were pioneers of America’s mid-19th century westward migration. Consecrated in 1926, a year later the temple was called the finest piece of architecture in Northern California by the American Institute of Architects. Its Near Eastern look is a fusion of Byzantine-Roman and early medieval traditions. Enter the temple through the courtyard, which features a mosaic-embellished fountain. The main focus of the temple interior is the ark, covered by a pyramidal roof supported by green columns, and a magnificent 4,500-pipe organ. The temple also houses the Jacob Voorsanger Library, a fine collection of rare works of Judaica.

The Richmond District in the northwest corner of the city — north of Golden Gate Park and west of Park Presidio Blvd. — is the closest San Francisco can come to a Jewish neighborhood today with its thriving community of mainly Russian Jews. 10 Israel Meat and Poultry (5621 Geary Blvd., 752-3064) is one of two kosher shops in the city. The other is south of the park, 11 Tel Aviv Meats and Deli (2495 Irving, 661-7588).

The 12 House of Bagels (5030 Geary Blvd.; 752-6000), open 6 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, offers 14 flavors of bagels — including jalapeño — with seven spreads, and hamentashen cookies year round plus pastry ones for Purim.

George Segal’s “Holocaust Memorial” in Lincoln Park

Outside the Palace of Legion of Honor is George Segal’s 13 “Holocaust Memorial” in Lincoln Park, a powerful sculpture depicting emaciated bodies in a heap. It was controversial when installed in 1984 and continues to evoke anguish. A prison-garbed figure stands nearby, his back to the horror, staring out in wistful irony at the idyllic entrance to San Francisco Bay.

Precious metals mogul Adolph Sutro, of the legendary Comstock Lode fame, bought about 100 acres at the northwest edge of San Francisco in the 1880s, including a bluff overlooking the Cliff House and Seal Rock. There he built a mansion and gardens with abundant statuary and fountains, a railway and a saltwater bathhouse adjoining the Cliff House. A popular destination at the turn of the century, by the 1930s Sutro Baths had closed and the gardens had fallen into ruins. Fire later destroyed the mansion and the bathhouse. The National Park Service took over both properties and has been gradually restoring them. 14 Sutro Heights Park, at the end of Point Lobos Avenue, is a magical place that offers a spectacular view of the ocean.

NEXT