Welcome to our general information page.

Norcal Shomrim is a fraternal organization founded in 2007 to serve the geographical area between San Luis Obispo and the Oregon border, however Shomrim has been around since the 1920s where it started at the New York Police Department. There are Shomrim chapters throughout the United States and around the globe.

Norcal Shomrim is also a member of the International Association of Jewish Public Service Employees and the National Conference of Shomrim Societies.

Our group meets regularly in locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area where we socialize, enjoy fellowship and food, and discuss life as public safety employees. If you're interested in becoming a member of our organization, please visit our Membership Info page for details on how to join.

A Message from the President
It is with great pride that I invite you to navigate through our website and learn more about the professional men and women who make up NorCal Shomrim, a chapter of the National Shomrim Society. NorCal Shomrim.

Started at Max's Deli in Marin County in October of 2007 by a group of strangers who wanted to network with fellow Jewish cops, the group is now a tightly bonded association. In a short time, we became a family and now meet regularly for dinner, conduct Shomrim business and tzedakah. We are a certified non-profit group made up by officers from a variety of different agencies, ages, experiences and religious backgrounds.

As the president, I have had the pleasure to travel to Los Angeles to attend the Southern California's annual banquet as well as their Hanukkah party; and to Florida to attend the national convention at sea and meet Shomrim members from throughout the country. I invite you to contact us. Zay Gezunt! Jerome Cobert President - Norcal Shomrim

A Message from Rabbi Goodman
Harold Kushner has taught us that “being in God’s presence is not a matter of being in the right place, but of doing the right things.” If we come to services, thinking that’s enough, we should realize that prayer is not enough. If we observe the rituals that we do thinking that’s enough, we should realize that prayer believing is not enough. If we learn and study our Jewish heritage thinking that’s enough, we should realize that study is not enough. None of these are enough. None help us to enter God’s presence; none help us to become the beings that God desire that we become, unless we take what we’re doing and translate what we’ve done, into deeds.

A song that is often sung by adults and children is Al Sh’losha Devraim – translated as on three things. It’s a song that simply states that the world rests on three things: The Torah, Prayer and Gemilut Hasadim (Deeds of Kindness). The first two of these foundations are explicit in what a Jewish community does. We provide a variety of opportunities to learn Torah and our Jewish tradition. The community also gives people opportunities to participate in prayer. The third however, Gemilut Hasadim, is only understood to be important. I believe that most Jews really do not understand that these kinds of acts are a CORE value in Judaism. I wonder how many people realize that without these kinds of acts, Judaism is not complete?

At the core of our Jewish tradition is our commitment to answer the prophetic call for justice in our world. Answering that call leads us to the challenge of tikun olam, the challenge to repair our shattered world. As Jews striving to be faithful to our tradition, the call to justice is not separate from the call to holiness, but emanates from our learning and our prayers. The call to justice is one that touches us in the private and public corners of our lives. If we hear the call, our response must be to pledge to work for the cause of the poor and oppressed, and for the protection of the earth and all the creatures God entrusted to us to care for. And if we don’t hear the call – then we must retrain ourselves so that we begin to hear it. This is a huge responsibility.

Most of our holy days encourage us to become more mindful of our own redemption from slavery in Egypt. Be mindful of it and then commit yourself to help redeem those in our world who are in physical, economic and spiritual bondage. Help others that we all might live, at long last, in a world repaired, a world at peace. It’s what Judaism is all about…..”doing the right things.”

Norcal Shomrim is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization: Tax ID# 26-3987599.