By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews A detailed study of the acts at this year’s Bumbershoot show that with the exception, perhaps, of a backup singer or two, the musical acts are woefully bereft of Jews. Where in the past we had Monotonix (the Israeli punk band whose act was cutContinue Reading
By Judy Lash Balint, JNS.org SEATTLE—Most Orthodox rabbis who earn the title “emeritus” retire to a quiet life of teaching and learning and visiting the sick. Emeritus Rabbi Simon Benzaquen, who recently retired after decades of service to Seattle’s Sephardic Bikur Holim congregation, does all of those activities, but nowContinue Reading
By Michael Fox , Special to JTNews To everyone under 40, and anyone outside of New York, the popular Catskills summer resorts of the mid-20th century must seem as distant, obscure and foreign as the Yiddish theatre. The comparison is not inapt, for both institutions were important signposts in theContinue Reading
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By Erin Pike, Special to JTNews If the biggest question on your mind this weekend is, “Where can I get my hands on a Jewish version of “˜Fifty Shades of Grey?’” well, you’re in luck — sort of. “Fifty Shades of Schwarz” has “parody” stamped right on the cover. However,Continue Reading
By Charlene Kahn , JTNews Correspondent Though known as strong supporters within the Jewish community, Seattleites Herb and Lucy Pruzan are also longtime patrons of an evolutionary Northwest art scene. Through Oct. 6, Tacoma Art Museum will share more than 100 works in a retrospective exhibit from the Pruzan’s half-centuryContinue Reading
By Tori Gottlieb, Special to JTNews Most people would never imagine that there was ever a time when Idan Cohen wasn’t a dancer. But they would be surprised to find out that the 35 year old, now a world-renowned choreographer, was somewhat of a late bloomer, moving into the worldContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent “Let my people go” may be one of the most recognizable Jewish phrases, but Moses likely said it in a language that most Jews wouldn’t even recognize today, said Harvard comparative literature professor and linguistic scholar Marc Shell. After all, Shell told the audience ofContinue Reading
By Herb Krohn, Special to JTNews Most of the Jewish-related films at the Seattle International Film Festival have passed, but this one is a must-see for Jews and non-Jews alike. Inequality for All Rating: Outstanding Genre: Documentary USA Sunday, June 2, 2013 — 6:30 p.m. – Egyptian Theatre Monday, JuneContinue Reading
By Dikla Tuchman, JTNews Correspondent For more than 40 years, Seattle has been home to two of the largest, best-known music festivals on the West Coast: Bumbershoot and Folklife. Both happen to fall during the time of the year when our city receives a short respite from the rainy months,Continue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent With a voice that combines an exotic hybrid of his French roots, a decade in Israel, and a nod to the Pacific Northwest incorporated from his current environs in Seattle, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue’s Rabbi Olivier BenHaim’s new six-step meditation CDs feature his self-described straightforwardContinue Reading
By Gwen Davis , JTNews Correspondent Who were the first Jews in Washington State? How were they able to assimilate into American and Washington culture? Why did they move here and what were their lives like day to day? On June 2, the Washington State Jewish Historical Society (WSJHS) andContinue Reading
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By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews What do you do when the person you love turns out to be vastly different than the person you thought he was? This is the question Northwest art lovers, Jewish and not, have been asking themselves in the months since ceramics artist CharlesContinue Reading
By Gigi Yellen-Kohn, JTNews Correspondent We may be Boomers or Millennials, Gen-Xers or Generation Thumbs, but all of us alive in this era are witnesses to the Holocaust. Survivors are still among us. We hear their reports, document them, read them, and work to maintain them accurately in the faceContinue Reading
By Interview by Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews Stephen Tobolowsky has appeared in films and sitcoms from Groundhog Day to Mississippi Burning, from Glee to Californication. Tobolowsky is in Seattle this weekend to talk about his new collection of personal stories, “The Dangerous Animals Club.” He talked to JTNewsContinue Reading
By Erin Pike, Special to JTNews The story of Sala Garncarz is full of heartbreak, horror, injustice, and, somehow, hope. Through the five years she spent in Nazi slave labor camps, Sala kept a diary and collected hundreds of letters she received while in the camps. For 50 years sheContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews Did you know Wyatt Earp was buried in a Jewish cemetery? This question was all it took for Ann Kirschner to tug at a loose string in the tightly knit fabric of codified history, unraveling an alternative narrative of the American frontier andContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews It’s hard to imagine, with the abundance of Holocaust literature and films, that stories of mind-blowing value still remain largely untold. In 1942 Ukraine, 38 men, women and children slid deep into the earth to spend 511 days hiding from the NazisContinue Reading
