By Paula Libes Chester, , Mercer Island When Abraham our father opened his tent to two strangers, he was committing a revolutionary act. Fear of the stranger is deeply ingrained in human consciousness. When we examine the word “kindness” we see that it contains the root “kin.” It is farContinue Reading
By Eran Ben-Sira, , Rainier, Wash. I agree with Steven Hemmat (“Allowing diverse opinions,” Letters, Sept. 13). Why does JTNews give a floor to opinions that side with people that want to destroy the Jewish state of Israel? Palestinian leadership tried to destroy Israel even before 1948 under British ruleContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist 1 With the addition of Aaron Katsman to our stable of JTNews columnists, we can truly say we are a world-renowned organization. A Seattle native, the son of Rabbi Phillip Katsman and the late Tzivia Katsman, Aaron attended Seattle Hebrew Academy, Northwest Yeshiva High SchoolContinue Reading
By Donniel Hartman , The Shalom Hartman Institute Facts rarely shape or change our opinions. We prefer to select the facts that mirror and justify that which we already hold. The release of the recent Pew survey, “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” with its treasury of facts and figures, hasContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent Millions who suffer from nerve damage and even paralysis may soon be able to take a heretofore impossible giant leap forward after the results of two successful Tel Aviv University studies — one using a gel inside a biodegradable nerve wall implant, and theContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin , JTNews Columnist Homemade minestrone has got to be one of the best rainy day foods in the world. Living in Seattle, we’ve got ample opportunity to test that theory. It is certainly miles beyond the canned version. Add a glass of wine and a couple ofContinue Reading
By Abby J. Leibman , Special to JTNews On Sept. 19, the House of Representatives passed a bill that slashes nearly $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). It’s difficult to capture just how monumental a shift this is in American policy. ItContinue Reading
By , , In response to Elliott Magalnick’s letter, “Making Provisions for Provisions“ (Sept. 13), differences of opinion about Judaism are common and I welcome his and other points of view, but please let me correct the misconception that I had “punished” Jews for observing Yom Kippur by not makingContinue Reading
By Carolyn Hale, President, Circle of Friends for Mental Health, Seattle I live at Council House and have for about eight years. I am a “people” person and am the present greeter for new tenants to our building. I know both Knate and Charlene Stahl well and assure you theyContinue Reading
By Carol Stockton, Chair, J Street, Seattle The New Year is a time of renewal, joy, and, above all, hope for the future, and this year is indeed a time of hope. Twenty long years ago, the world watched as two bitter enemies, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, found aContinue Reading
By Ron Kampeas , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — The good news for Israel in President Obama’s speech at the United Nations was his insistence that any steps Iran might take to solve the standoff over its nuclear program must be transparent and verifiable. The bad news wasContinue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist Some expert JTNews sleuthing has turned up yet another Maccabiah games medalist from the greater Seattle area. Just kidding. Ben Belur’s grandfather, Jack Belur, sent an email telling us that Ben had been part of the U.S. Men’s golf team competing in Israel thisContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik , JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, As always, I enjoyed the High Holiday services and this time of year. Although it can get a bit cumbersome juggling life and the seasonal demands, it is all worthwhile. One piece that really continues to mystify me, however, is theContinue Reading
By Salomon Menashe, , Scottsdale, Ariz. As one born in Rhodes, I feel I must correct Vic Alhadeff’s article (“Rhodes: Embracing the past,” Aug. 30). The Spanish Inquisition was in 1492 and the expelled Jews spread along the Mediterranean on both the north and south coasts, and many who movedContinue Reading
By Steven Hemmat, , Seattle The JTNews Editor and Publisher recently chided several members of the Jewish community for questioning the appropriateness of publishing a letter by Linda Frank defending the Palestinian Authority and its policies toward the Jewish people. In your statement, you defended publishing Frank’s letter by citingContinue Reading
By Elliott Magalnick, , Denver, Colo In response to the article by Knate Stahl (“Between myself and God,” Aug. 16), I found this article offensive. He seems to know so much of Yom Kippur for someone who totally rejects it by holding a program to help the needy. Offering freeContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist After chatting with Zach Grashin about hummus for half an hour, I had to go home and make myself a batch. It wasn’t Garbanzo Bros.’ chef David Babani’s recipe. That is a top-secret component of Garbanzo Bros., the business Zach and David founded last year.Continue Reading
By Michael Natkin, JTNews Columnist Cooking pasta by the absorption method instead of boiling in a gallon of salted water may seem scary if you grew up with noodle orthodoxy, but it actually works great and can be a big time saver. You don’t have to wait for water toContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Columnist As the Jewish community enters the New Year and atones for the “not-so-nice” acts of thoughtlessness or unkindness we might have done to others, it might also be a good time to look at what we do to ourselves. A growing body of clinicalContinue Reading
By Rabbi Ben Aaronson , Capitol Hill Minyan You’re late for a meeting. You pull into the parking lot, and it’s entirely full except for one illegal spot right near the entrance. If you park there, you’ll make it to your meeting on time. If you have to find anotherContinue Reading
