By Wendy Rosen , Special to JTNews With the presidential election campaign in full swing, that quadrennial question arises once more — how will the Jews vote? The majority of American Jews have been voting Democratic for some 80 years, often overwhelmingly so. Before each national election the Republicans tryContinue Reading
By Akiva Kenny Segan , Special to JTNews On Sept. 25 The New York Times published an op-ed of significance to Jews everywhere, including Jews throughout Puget Sound and Washington State. Titled “The Sin of Sowing Hatred of Islam,” by the new president of the Union for Reform Judaism, RabbiContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Columnist Motherhood can be one of the most joyous times in a woman’s life. However, a small, somewhat controversial 2012 study from Tel Aviv University published in the June issue of the Israel Medical Association Journal found that nearly one-third of the 89 post-partum womenContinue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist “I studied painting in college and got away from it when my kids were growing up,” explains artist and businesswoman Stephanie Schriger. About 10 years ago, she and her husband Stan bought a cabin on Whidbey Island and “I started painting there [again].” SheContinue Reading
By Ari Weiss , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — To eat: a cup of black beans, a few ounces of pasta and a bit of tuna. To drink: water. This was my dinner menu one Friday night last November as my fellow dinner guests dined on standardContinue Reading
By Rabbi Rick Harkavy , Congregation Bet Chaverim Picture your grandparents. Try to visualize them. Now try to picture your great-grandparents. Try to visualize them wherever they came from and, if you can, set them in a synagogue. Imagine them singing while holding the Torah scroll in their arms duringContinue Reading
By Rabbi Anson Laytner , Special to JTNews A response from the Jewish Federation can be found at here. Although the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle’s new allocations model has broadened the breadth of beneficiaries, it also presented a dilemma: More mouths around the table to feed but less foodContinue Reading
By Executive Committee , Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle The article to which this column is responding can be found here. “Whither the Jewish Federation” raises several critically complex questions and offers insightful inquiry. But it hasn’t been “business as usual” at the Federation — quite the contrary. A closerContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist If you’ve been to a San Francisco 49ers football game in Candlestick Park, then you’ve heard Matt Crevin’s voice as he calls the plays in the stadium. “I’m up in the press box,” he explains. “I’m the voice up there.” Matt riffed on that part-timeContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor and Acting Publisher, JTNews As we begin our new year and reflect on the one drawing to a close, we often use this as a time to think about how we can better support our Jewish community. One way to support your community, and atContinue Reading
By Lawrence Grossman , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — When world leaders converge on New York this month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will again be present. The occasion is the opening of the United Nations General Assembly session. This time, though, Ahmadinejad comes with enhanced diplomatic credentials.Continue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist You might say Janet Varon has stayed the course as she navigated her career. The founder and director of NoHLA, Northwest Health Law Advocates (www.nohla.org), has always worked, through legal and legislative means, to right societal wrongs. Growing up in Riverdale, the Bronx, she attendedContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Columnist It might come as a surprise to most people under the age of 50 that one of the fastest growing online user groups ranges from 51 to 65 years old and over. This demographic is joining online sites to schmooze with peers in growing numbers,Continue Reading
By Michael Natkin, JTNews Columnist On Rosh Hashanah, tradition suggests we eat apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year, and a “new fruit” to celebrate the season — often a pomegranate, which is apocryphally claimed to have 613 seeds, the same as the number of mitzvot. This recipeContinue Reading
By Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum , The Kavana Cooperative I returned recently from a wonderful summer in Israel, where I had the privilege of serving on the faculty for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel program. It was a total treat to teach the group of 26 fellows — high schoolContinue Reading
By Gerald M. Steinberg , JNS.org UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon — who decided to visit Tehran Aug. 29—31 for the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) — would have been wise to more carefully ponder the lesson provided by Mary Robinson. During her tenure as UN Commissioner for HumanContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, Maybe it was the madeleine on the cover of his book, “Proust was a Neuroscientist.” Who knows? But I was a huge fan and follower of Jonah Lehrer. Now I have a quandary. Why would someone so bright and talented risk hisContinue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist 1 As you read this, Ariel Vardy is on his way to a seriously big adventure. The recent Skyline High School grad from Sammamish will spend a gap year — a non-academic year between high school and college — as a fellow of theContinue Reading
By Rabbi James L. Mirel , Temple B’nai Torah Rabbi Raphael Levine was a great mentor to me and many other rabbis and ministers over the years. Rabbi Levine came to Seattle and Temple De Hirsch in 1942, and served the temple until his death in 1985. Beginning in 1960,Continue Reading
By Rabbi Shalom D. (Berry) Farkash, Chabad of the Central Cascades A few weeks ago, the children were all home after the last day of school, and we were getting ready for the start of a long summer vacation. After dinner we had a roundtable discussion regarding the upcoming monthsContinue Reading
