By Joel Magalnick, Publisher and Editor, JTNews, Seattle The letters that follow this are in response to a letter from a member of our community that ran in the August 16 issue of JTNews. This person, who the respondents below see as vehemently critical of Israel, suggested that comments madeContinue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist Our state sent three competitors and one coach to the Maccabiah games in Israel last month. Since reporting two issues ago that tennis player Bill Cohon came home with two medals, I learned that both our state’s other athletes medaled, too. Half-marathoner Terry Robinson,Continue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, Not sure if you are the address for this but let me give it a shot. I was feeling like people were always putting me in a box, presuming I am a certain way by virtue of the way I dress orContinue Reading
By Rabbi Joshua Samuels , Congregation Beth Israel, Bellingham In less than a week, we’re going to be in the thick of the High Holy Days. This might not be a time of celebration like Simchat Torah or Purim, but unlike those festivals, the High Holy Days — and especiallyContinue Reading
By Nevet Basker, , Bellevue When someone you support says something objectionable, something that’s inconsistent with your values and incongruent with your beliefs, you generally have two options. You can distance yourself from the offensive message — “I mostly agree with this person, but must take exception this time.” Or,Continue Reading
By Robert Kaufman, , Seattle Linda Frank’s attack on the Pamela Geller bus ads lack both facts and logic (Letters, Aug. 16). Her defense of her interpretation is as damning to Abbas as Geller’s attack. She argues that he did not use the words “Jew-free,” but merely said “…that thereContinue Reading
By David Shayne, , Seattle Linda Frank defends PA President Abbas after he was caught stating he envisioned a Jew-free Palestine and distorts the record to make it look like Abbas and the Palestinian Arabs on the whole are ready to live in peace and harmony with their Jewish neighborsContinue Reading
By Michael Behar, , Seattle In your August 16 edition you published a letter from Linda Frank who regurgitated the standard boilerplate common among anti-Israel types. Ms. Frank, a local anti-Israel activist, is well known for her libelous claims against the Jewish State. Her most spurious canard (although not madeContinue Reading
By Knate Stahl , Special to JTNews I live in a senior-housing complex in Seattle. Many of the residents are Jewish. Each Saturday my wife and I coordinate a program — with the help of other volunteers — that provides free food to our fellow residents donated by a localContinue Reading
By Herb Levine, , Tacoma Steven Blum’s discussion of the difficulties of covering Holocaust-denial stories, such as David Irving’s impending trip to Berlin, was right on target (“German preoccupation: Why bother with David Irving?“ Aug. 2). However, in his annoyance at the claims of Irving’s supporters that his “right toContinue Reading
By Linda Frank, , Tacoma Part of what drew me to Judaism and weekly studies at Temple was Judaism’s welcoming, and even encouragement, to ask questions about what I was being told. The article by Janis Siegel titled “Back on the Bus“ (Aug. 2) featured recent bus ads run inContinue Reading
By Rabbi Sholom Ber Levitin , Regional Director, Chabad of the Pacific Northwest and Rabbi, Congregation Shaarei Tefillah — Lubavitch I’ll begin with three short stories. In June of 1967, I was sitting in the central Chabad Lubavitch Yeshiva at the famous 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, N.Y. At approximatelyContinue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist After reading only the first three pages of Matthew Amster-Burton’s memoir, “Pretty Good Number One: An American Family Eats Tokyo,” I was overcome with the need to visit that city. The food writer, humorist and finance columnist, his wife Laurie, and daughter Iris spentContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin , JTNews Columnist We all know we should eat more whole grains, but sometimes they don’t complement the rest of a meal. They work best when you don’t try to use them as a substitute for refined starches. Whole grains tend to have a nuttier, heartier andContinue Reading
By Jacob Kamaras , JNS.org On June 1, 2010, the day after the Gaza flotilla incident in which nine Turkish militants were killed after attacking Israeli soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara, famed reporter Helen Thomas didn’t hide her opinions about Israel in a briefing with White House Press Secretary RobertContinue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist Actor, writer, and now television producer Simon Hamlin says Seattle’s Pike Place Market was always one of his favorite places. He has fond childhood memories of shopping there with his mother and, as a member of the Behar family, and “related in some wayContinue Reading
By Rabbi Allison B. Flash , Temple Beth Am Since becoming a rabbi, I have come to believe there really are five seasons to the year. There are the typical four: Fall, winter, spring, and summer, but for rabbis, there is an additional season called “pre-High Holidays.” It is theContinue Reading
By Steven Blum , Special to JTNews When I found out David Irving, noted anti-Semite, Holocaust denier, and widely discredited “historian” was coming to Berlin, I had the kind of reaction I think many Jews can relate to: I groaned and wanted to move on to the next article inContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Columnist Luckily, in addition to the heady, clinical, and highly technical research that goes on in Israeli institutions, there are also some simple and doable everyday changes we can make to our lifestyles that can have a big impact on our health and happiness. AccordingContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist 1 A third Washington State athlete will represent the U.S. in Israel’s 2013 Maccabiah Games beginning July 18 (see “Singing for a Cure,” Mar. 18, 2013, for more on the other two). Bill Cohon of Shoreline will play grand masters tennis in the international gamesContinue Reading
