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By Ken Shiovitz , , Seattle Regarding the political cartoon by Steve Greenberg in which Senator Joe Lieberman heads alone into the wilderness as a pariah between two stone idols representing the dominant U.S. political parties (Nov. 28): Do you hear that Joe? Look behind you and see the tensContinue Reading

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By Albert A. Feldmann , , Seattle Thanks for the excellent article by Noah S. Friedland (“The demise of land for peace,” Nov. 28). He has pointed out what others, whose descriptions are often colored by wishful thinking, generally omit. Turning over the entire Sinai to Egypt, which actually hadContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Jonathan Singer, Temple Beth Am As I looked up at the beautifully appointed sign posted on Denny Way in downtown Seattle, I could not help but think of the 1970 hit song — “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign/Do this, don’t do that. Can’t you read the sign!” TheContinue Reading

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By Noah S. Friedland, Ph.D. , Special to JTNews Since the dust settled after the Six Day War, the main tenet of the Arab-Israeli peace process has been Land for Peace (LFP). Under this equation, Arab countries would enter into formal peace agreements in exchange for Israel ceding lands acquiredContinue Reading

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By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy , All I hear these days is of our foreboding economic circumstances — and for good reason. People are losing their homes, retirement savings are plummeting, and some people’s sources of income are severely threatened if not evaporating by the minute. WeContinue Reading

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By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist Julia Eulenberg has been doing some detective work for the past three years — the historical kind. She’s writing a book about Jews who came to the Washington Territories in the 1850s and 1860s, mostly young men looking for opportunities in the far west. “TwelveContinue Reading

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By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist Marvin Stern is the new executive director of Washington Appleseed, a non-partisan, non-profit public interest law center that works to identify and address injustices in the community through education, legal advocacy, community activism and policy expertise. The Seattle native says the work dovetails nicelyContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Simon Benzaquen , Sephardic Bikur Holim I want to share with JTNews readers the message I delivered to my congregation, Sephardic Bikur Holim, on Shemini Atzeret, Sukkot because it should be applied to our everyday life. The festival of Sukkot requires us to be happy. In Deuteronomy 16:14Continue Reading

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By Amy Hirshberg Lederman , Special to JTNews I was in the fourth grade, hiding in the girl’s bathroom with Fran Schneider, when the loudspeaker rang out: “All students are to return to their classrooms immediately.” We looked at each other and giggled nervously, afraid that we would get bustedContinue Reading

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By Alvin J. Ziontz , , Bellevue Robert Wilkes begins with the strange assertion that “America is British, not French” (“Why Jews Are Democrats, and Why I Am Not,” Oct. 31), praising the glories of British government and denouncing French political philosophers. Sorry, Mr. Wilkes, our form of government owesContinue Reading

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By Diana Brement , JTNews Columnist Last we heard from nationally known women’s health educator Toni Weschler, almost four years ago, she was writing another book. Cycle Savvy, her book for teen girls, is now available. It grew out of one of the most common responses to Toni’s first book,Continue Reading

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By Robert and Gail Stagman , , Mercer Island With all due respect for Rabbi Kletenik, we believe his reasoning on Initiative 1000 (“Life is sacred,” Oct. 17) is misguided. Clergy do not have the moral authority to dictate to others how they will make a personal life decision affectingContinue Reading

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By Midge Levy , , Seattle I applaud Rabbi Laytner’s letter on the Death with Dignity Initiative (“Freedom of Choice,” Oct. 17) in which he offers alternative views to Rabbi Kletenik’s perspective. Rabbi Laytner addresses the dilemma where prolonging life sometimes prolongs the dying process, which is “unacceptable” to JewishContinue Reading

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By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, I have heard a number of people talking about Mussar of late. It sort of seems like it is this year’s Kabbalah, so to speak. From what I understand, it is a Jewish self-improvement program from the past. Can you enlighten me?Continue Reading

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By Rabbi Moshe Kletenik, Congregation Bikur Cholim- Machzikay Hadath This November, Initiative Measure 1000 will appear on the ballot in Washington State. “This measure would permit terminally ill, competent, adult Washington residents, who are medically predicted to have six months or less to live, to request and self-administer lethal medicationContinue Reading

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By Murray Meld , Special to JTNews Both presidential aspirants agree: Let’s get out of the Iraq debacle. But they differ as to how and when — and neither forewarns us that withdrawal without safeguards might result in a Blackwater Company attempt to take over “security.” Given the number ofContinue Reading