By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist At the book launch party for “Horatio’s One Wish,” held at Seattle’s Mockingbird Books, newly minted children’s author Joshua Kriesberg related that he’d written voraciously as a child. In writing “Horatio’s One Wish,” a book for middle-grade readers (ages 8 to 12) he triedContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin , JTNews Columnist Panna cotta is a classic Italian dessert, traditionally made from cream and milk set with gelatin, which isn’t vegetarian. The gelatin is what makes it different from flan (set with eggs) or pudding (set with starch and sometimes eggs). The best panna cotta isContinue Reading
By Marc Schneier , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is correct to describe a new proposal by the Arab League to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as “a very big step forward.” Yet there will be no serious movement toward peace untilContinue Reading
By Rabbi Moshe Kletenik , Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath On a recent Sunday morning, after morning services and teaching the daily Daf Yomi, the page-of-Talmud-a-day, I was looking forward to an invigorating Pacific Northwest bike ride. A quick weather check confirmed the ominous clouds predicted by weather reports. Not toContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Columnist In Boston on April 15, as in Israel, when an improvised explosive device detonated onto a crowd of innocent civilians at the finish line of the city’s signature marathon, bystanders instinctively and immediately rushed in to help the injured, tying improvised tourniquets on thoseContinue Reading
By Rabbi Olivier BenHaim, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue In last week’s Torah portion, we read the universally known affirmation: “V’ahavta l’reacha kamocha — Love your fellow like yourself” (Lev 19:18). But this is not the only time in Torah that we are called to love. In the book of Deuteronomy,Continue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist 1 I suspected Seattle-area traffic reporter Sprince Arbogast was Jewish because I assumed “Sprince” was a variant of the Yiddish name Shprintze. Then one really messy traffic night this winter I heard her mutter on KPLU, “Oy vey, the traffic,” and I was sure. Sprince,Continue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, The Boston Marathon bombing is just devastating and shocking, one more tragic life-changing milestone in our country’s loss of innocence. This has been just a dreadful year of violence what with the shootings at the opening of the Batman movie and thenContinue Reading
By Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus, Temple De Hirsch Sinai I have a confession to make. It has been several months since I consistently visited Seward Park in the morning, which was a part of my daily routine from the very first moment we arrived in Seattle. The temptations were thereContinue Reading
By Akiva Kenny Segan, , Seattle While Jews for Judaism (“Missionary Impossible,” March 22) staff present themselves in such a straight manner as to make their outreach success to young Jews (who are at highest risk for victimization by conversion campaigners) unlikely, they do offer an important if symbolic counterContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist The words “Jewish” and “homeschooling” are not frequently seen together, especially outside of the Orthodox community, but the idea appealed to North Seattle resident Deb Harrick the moment it was planted in her head. “It was such an unusual thing…I was always explaining [it],” saysContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Columnist In 2010, Rabbi Rafael Shmuelevitz, head of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem and a three-decade career educator, could hardly speak, breathe, or walk due to the deadly effects of his advanced stage Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. This neurodegenerativeContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, JTNews Columnist Sabich was a popular Shabbat food for Iraqi Jews, and when they immigrated to Israel and set up a community in Ramat Gan, the sandwich came with them. It has since gained widespread popularity. There is something about the creaminess of the egg and theContinue Reading
By Edith Shaked , Special to JTNews The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), should amend the “Proclamation of the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust,” as annually posted at its website, to truthfully commemorate all the different victims. A reading of the first paragraph seems exclusive.Continue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist When I called Spokane resident Julie Morris just before Passover, she was hands deep in matzoh ball batter and revealed she makes two recipes in advance, half fluffy and half “bombs,” to suit the whole family’s tastes. A long-time member of the national boardContinue Reading
By Rabbi Bernie Fox , Northwest Yeshiva High School One of most beloved elements of the Passover Haggadah is the discussion of the four sons. The Haggadah identifies four children, each with a unique personality. Four short vignettes advise the parent how to best teach each child the story ofContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, Year after year at the seder all is going well, then — there it is — the paragraph that unsettles me every time, that dire dramatic pronouncement of deep Jewish pessimism: “In every generation they rise up against us to destroy us.”Continue Reading
By Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg , Temple B’nai Torah “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” — Peter Marshall As American Jews, when we sit down to our Passover seders this coming week, we shouldContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, JTNews Columnist Braising is something of a lost art, which is a shame because it isn’t at all difficult to do. Learn a couple of basic moves and you’ll be rewarded with a succulent, richly flavored, rustic dish perfect for Passover. A proper braise is composed ofContinue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist A friend with cancer says her doctor is “the singing oncologist.” Recently, he sang the Misheberach (prayer for healing) with her. Intrigued, I called Dr. Sheldon Goldberg of Minor and James Medical in Seattle to ask if he sings to all his patients. HeContinue Reading
