By Rabbi Will Berkovitz, Special to the Jewish Sound (RNS) On the eve of the Day of Atonement, the story goes, when the house was quiet, the tailor went to the closet and took out a ledger. “Master of the Universe,” he said, “the time has come for You andContinue Reading
By Rabbi Ben Hassan, Sephardic Bikur Holim What is Yom Kippur? What does a Day of Atonement mean? Does it mean we can come to synagogue, say some prayers, and fast one day a year so we can run wild the other 364? And then come back next year toContinue Reading
Kudos to the Samis Foundation for the amazing work it is doing (“Samis allocations sustain the community, locally and in Israel,” Sept. 19). Although I thought I was familiar with the Samis Foundation, I never understood the full breadth of its work until I saw the list of grants publishedContinue Reading
By Jon Bridge and Carol Gown, Special to The Jewish Sound This summer was hard for any supporter of Israel. As members of New Israel Fund’s local leadership, we shared in the turmoil of Israel under fire and its terribly destructive response. Some of us watched from afar, while someContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, Jewish Sound Columnist From May through October, we have a farmer’s market just a couple of blocks from my house. Our regular ritual is to swing by in the afternoon, select what looks great, then walk home and figure out what to cook with our bounty. IfContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Columnist Since 2002, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev virologist Dr. Leslie Lobel has been traveling to Africa more than four times a year testing the blood of Ebola-infected survivors. Lobel is trying to figure out exactly why the more than 120 subjects in his studies eitherContinue Reading
By Rabbi Oren Hayon, Hillel at the University of Washington We call God by many names — practically as many names as there are human experiences of the Divine. Literally dozens of metaphors for God fill the pages of our sacred scriptures and our prayer books. We call God shepherd,Continue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist “I was always looking for the mountains,” says Rabbi Sarah Niebuhr Rubin of her return to Seattle last month. Raised in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, she grew up attending Temple Beth Am. A Roosevelt High School grad, she left town to attend Ohio StateContinue Reading
By Ed Harris, Jewish Sound Columnist You can recognize the approach of the High Holidays at the Harris household by the sight of my family members forcing their hands over their ears and fleeing the premises as if their very lives were at stake. The panic is set off ratherContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, Jewish Sound Columnist Dear Rivy, I know that many might feel that the world has a no shortage of horrible — nay, catastrophic — flash points erupting. Still, I cannot let go of the news item that some may see as petty. But it has servedContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist Naomi Weiss Newman doesn’t like to play favorites, but the consummate volunteer for so many Jewish organizations in the Seattle area, admits to a soft spot for Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology. Fifteen years ago, she was the driving force behind the formationContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent Israeli researchers from Tel Aviv University, the University of Haifa and the Goldschleger Eye Research Institute at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, found what they’ve called a “foolproof” method of diagnosing children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Given ADHD’s uncodified set of symptoms, itsContinue Reading
By Russell Lidman, Special to The Jewish Sound Governor John R. Rogers enjoys a prominent place in this state. Schools are named after him in Seattle, Spokane, Olympia and elsewhere around the state. His statue is located in Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia, in front of the Office of theContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, Jewish Sound Columnist Rosh Hashanah is right around the corner, and what could be more appropriate for the New Year than a dessert featuring honey as well as egg-rich crepes? You can even substitute apples for the plums if you’d like to add another traditional element. IContinue Reading
By Rabbi Harry Zeitlin, Congregation Beth Ha’Ari You don’t need a rabbi to let you know which way the wind blows — the world is in crisis. Massacres in Syria and Iraq and Nigeria and Mali, regional wars between Russia and Ukraine, renewed race riots in the United States, muchContinue Reading
I’m writing to publicly congratulate Robert Jacobs of StandWithUs Northwest for his leadership and advocacy during this heart-wrenching month of conflict in Israel. We reside in a community in which there’s a “multivocality” of opinions regarding the Middle East. It is essential that Seattle’s Jewish community have an atmosphere inContinue Reading
In my many years working as the editor or reporter on newspapers in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and most recently as editor/publisher of The Jewish Transcript, I am shocked — and angry — that the JTNews ran what appeared to be a paid half-page ad blasting Israel, for fighting backContinue Reading
I believe that there is a substantial, well-funded, anti-Semitic movement in Seattle as well as other large communities in Washington State (“Seattle solidarity events find various ways to support Israel,” Aug. 8). Who is funding the movement can only be laid at the doorstep of anti-Semites even though they professContinue Reading
By Rabbi Jason Levine, Temple Beth Am Who says that we only get one chance for a first impression? We are currently in the midst of reading D’varim, the book of Deuteronomy, the final book in the Torah. The crux of this book is a series of farewell addresses byContinue Reading
By Randy Kessler, Special to the Jewish Sound As children, we were taught to not talk to strangers. But for those of us who care about educating our fellow citizens about Israel, talking with strangers is exactly what’s needed. I was recently invited by a friend to go see AlisonContinue Reading
