By Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz, Director, West Seattle Torah Learning Center, I was hurt and saddened by the letter to the editor in your last edition (Oct. 5) from Dr. Noah Friedland, and by his accusations and innuendo that the Kollel, and therefore myself as a rabbi and employee of theContinue Reading
By Ken Leibert, , Seattle I have lived in the Seward Park area for 10 years. My wonderful wife Marilyn Leibert works for the Seattle Kollel. Our family has supported it and enjoyed its programs for years. We attend congregation Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath. We have three children who have attendedContinue Reading
By Elisheva Miriam Stone, , Brooklyn, NY I would like to respond to the letter from Dr. Noah Friedland (Letters, Oct. 5). As a former Seattle/Seward Park resident (soon to be again, God willing) I enjoyed the unity aspect in Seattle/Seward Park/Western Washington. My rabbi is the Ashkenazic rabbi ofContinue Reading
By Robert Stagman, , Mercer Island The JTNews review of David Klinghoffer’s latest book, Shattered Tablets: Why We Ignore the Ten Commandments at Our Peril (“Touring Seattle’s moral landscape,” Oct. 5), including copious quotes from the author, reveals Mr. Klinghoffer to be a person of remarkable arrogance and chutzpah. FromContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist David Bishins is a temporary Seattleite, playing the role of Atticus Finch in the Intiman Theater’s production of To Kill a Mockingbird, which has been extended through November 10. The New York-based actor came to Seattle just for this part. Bishins felt he could learnContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, Every year, my children come home from Hebrew School telling me that their teachers told them that they should not go “trick or treating” on Halloween, and that Halloween is not for Jewish children. I tell them that there is nothing wrongContinue Reading
By Rabbi Jonathan Singer, Temple Beth Am, Seattle I am thankful for the coverage of our fabulous new K’hilah center. It is a beautiful addition to the greater Seattle Jewish community. However I want to clarify one thing: as a student of Mordecai Kaplan who taught that Judaism is aContinue Reading
By Hilary G. Bernstein, Interim Regional Director, Pacific Northwest Region, Anti-Defamation League, I was dismayed to read the letter from Faith Tapper (Sept. 21), in which she claimed that no one at ADL had responded to her discrimination complaints following Rob Jacobs’ departure from the Seattle office in August 2007.Continue Reading
By Dr. Noah Friedland, , Seattle Not all change is for the better. The Seattle Kollel and its acolytes represent a foothold in our city for a dangerous brand of Haredi Judaism that those of us who have been fortunate to live in Israel are very well acquainted with. AnyoneContinue Reading
By Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation In my summer visit to Washington, D.C., I began to reflect on the parallels between American and Jewish history. Both civilizations have seen their ideas evolve over time. American freedom has taken shape in stages. In 1789 came the revolutionary idea ofContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist It’s a purple garden in a purple house. The purple house is real. It’s Ruz Gulko’s home in Bellevue and a local landmark. The purple garden — Gan Argamam in Hebrew — is a metaphor and the name of the Jewish lab, or experimental school,Continue Reading
By Josh Basson , , Seattle Ron Kampeas’s insightful column was quite informative (“In no one’s interest,” Aug 24.) Kampeas states that the “the Palestinian people need decent governance first, as a prerequisite for statehood” according to Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani rightly points out that “too much emphasis has been placedContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, Around January 1 every year there is a lot of talk about New Year’s Resolutions. Do we Jews have anything like that at Rosh Hashanah time? Though we have the whole repentance, t’shuvah thing happening, which is far more intense and introspectiveContinue Reading
By Linda J. Clifton, Regional Chair, Pacific Northwest Chapter, Anti-Defamation League, Last issue’s JTNews carried three letters of appreciation for the pivotal leadership of Rob Jacobs, our former ADL regional director, in broadening the Jewish community’s dialogue with each other — especially the dialogue about how we each support Israel,Continue Reading
By Norman Levin, , Mercer Island Put me squarely on the side of Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, who has strongly criticized Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, for his “profoundly ignorant and terribly superficial” speech to the Islamic Society of North AmericaContinue Reading
By Rabbi Michael Adam Latz, Kol HaNeshamah Progressive Congregation Jewish tradition teaches us of the importance of t’shuvah, turning our lives anew toward God and asking forgiveness for the wrongs we have committed. Our Yom Kippur liturgy teaches that for transgressions against the Eternal One, we are forgiven. But forContinue Reading
By Faith Tapper, , Seattle When I saw in the JTNews that Rob Jacobs had resigned from the Anti-Defamation League, I was very worried. A year ago, I’d turned to the ADL for help when I was nearly fired when I insisted on taking off from work on Rosh Hashanah.Continue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist I recently received an e-mail from Amy Gray. She told me my closets were dusty. How did she know, I wondered? She really wasn’t being rude. The e-mail was actually for clients and friends of Empty Your Nest Professional Organizing (www.emptyyournest.com). Amy has been inContinue Reading
By Daniel Hemel , JTA News & Features OXFORD, England (JTA) – Long before Larry Craig pleaded guilty to “disorderly conduct,” American Jewish groups harbored serious doubts about the Idaho Republican. In June 1990, when Craig, then a congressman, was running for an open Senate seat, The Jerusalem Post bemoanedContinue Reading
By Rabbi Jill Borodin, Congregation Beth Shalom How does one prepare for the High Holy Days? Cooking, shopping, buying new clothes, extending invitations, sending cards, wishing shana tova. And on a spiritual level, how do we prepare? Our daily morning prayers offer us guidance. At the end of services forContinue Reading
