By Daniel S. Mariaschin, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — Before the HarperCollins Middle East atlas story is deleted from email inboxes, it pays to spend another moment ruminating on the damage caused by companies that ought to know better. On its website, HarperCollins bills itself as “one ofContinue Reading
By Rabbi Moshe Kletenik, Va’ad HaRabanim of Greater Seattle This Shabbat we will to begin to read and study the Book of Shemot. It is the book of slavery and of redemption, of Torah and of Mishkan — the beginning of Peoplehood. The Midrash attributes our redemption from bondage to our meritContinue Reading
While I was a bit surprised to learn that the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project has expanded to offer trips for men (“It’s Birthright Israel — for Jewish moms,” Dec. 12, 2014), I was even more surprised to learn that “the women visit a group children’s home and attend a cookingContinue Reading
Apparently the irony of Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) co-opting both the celebration of Hanukkah and the events in Ferguson, Missouri to promote their virulently anti-Israel agenda was lost on JTNews (“Jews in Seattle and beyond light Hanukkah candles for racial justice,” Dec. 19, 2014). Hanukkah is not just aContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, Jewish Sound Correspondent When you want to serve bread with dinner, the two obvious options are to buy a nice artisan loaf, or make your own yeast bread — which is terrific, but not something we all make time for, or think about far enough in advance.Continue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist “It started in 2012,” explains Zoe Mesnik-Greene, when “I saw a video about children…with cleft palate condition.” She can’t pinpoint why, but that video made her want to do something. “I asked myself, am I going to take action…or just put it on Facebook?”Continue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Columnist The next time you question someone’s place on the evolutionary chain by calling that person a Neanderthal, it might be wiser to look elsewhere, a team of scientists led by Israeli researchers have found. As it turns out, we humans share 99.84 percent ofContinue Reading
By Ed Harris, Jewish Sound Columnist Is it just me, or has the sense of not completely fitting in, which Jews traditionally experience at Christmas, been a bit lacking this season in the Pacific Northwest? As a child growing up in suburban New Jersey in the 1960s and ’70s, aContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist A couple of issues ago, I mentioned King County Metro’s Poetry on Buses project and poet Merna Ann Hecht, whose poem about bread is one of 50 poems currently featured on the system’s Ballard Rapid Ride line. The project is managed by Bellevue nativeContinue Reading
By Rabbi Marc D. Angel, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals The Shabbat of Hanukkah was observed among Sephardim of the Ottoman Empire as “Shabbat Halbashah,” the Shabbat of providing clothing for the needy. Traditionally, the rabbi would deliver a sermon that day on the mitzvah of charity and lovingkindness.Continue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, Jewish Sound Columnist Dear Rivy, Two issues, both Hanukkah related. Every year we host our family’s Hanukkah party, which is lovely and we are happy to do it. Issue number one: I feel as if most of my family knows nothing about what Hanukkah is reallyContinue Reading
Federation CEO Keith Dvorchik echoed many of my feelings in his recent column (“As we mourn, let us stop the divisiveness about Israel,” Nov. 21). We, the Jewish people, are 0.2 percent of the world’s population. In today’s world, however, it’s easy to feel close only to those Jews whoContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent Each year, many heart disease patients in the U.S. and around the world die waiting for a heart transplant because there are just not enough organ donors to serve all of the patients on waiting lists. Tissue engineering is now becoming a real optionContinue Reading
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — The stabbing of a rabbinical student at Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in New York underscores three things that Jewish security officials have been urging in recent years: Be alert for copycats, cooperate with law enforcement, and don’t stay away from shul. AmericanContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Correspondent “It’s an interesting lens of the 20th century, but through the eyes of one world,” says Laura Ferri, director of “Letters to the Editor,” Book-It Repertory Theatre’s performance that brings our state’s Jewish community to life on the stage — through the pages ofContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, Jewish Sound Columnist An all-out hanukkah latke binge is something I look forward to every year, and I’m a purist. Please do not darken my doorstep with tales of pumpkin-chipotle latkes or Thai-spice latkes. For me, a latke should contain: Russet potato, onion, egg, salt, and beContinue Reading
By Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, Special to the Jewish Sound “Bringing down Israel will really benefit everyone in the world and everyone in society, particularly workers.” These words were spoken by Lara Kiswani, executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, at a Nov. 12 panel discussion at U.C. Berkeley organizedContinue Reading
Dear Rivy, I just saw Christopher Nolan’s movie “Interstellar.” I am baffled. The science is way beyond my comprehension — if it is science at all — and I just do not know what to make of it. I understand that the film has nothing to do with Jews orContinue Reading
By Rabbi Seth Goldstein, Special to JTNews One of my challenges as a rabbi is to make Judaism relevant across demographics. Part of the challenge comes from the fact that what necessitates how we teach Judaism to kids is different than how we teach Judaism to adults. And very oftenContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist Happy Jewish Book Month to writers and readers everywhere! I decided to reach out to Merna Ann Hecht after the Seattle Times did a lovely profile of her and her poem that won a place in the King County Metro poetry on buses competition.Continue Reading
