By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist There’s no doubt that Phil Levin is passionate about his job. This enthusiasm is one reason the board of the Seattle Aquarium gave him their conservation research award, donating $10,000 to the aquarium’s research center in his name earlier this year. A community ecologist, conservationContinue Reading
By Rabbi Seth Goldstein, Temple Beth Hatfiloh Upon receiving change recently I noticed one of the coins I was handed was the bicentennial quarter — the quarter issued in 1976 to celebrate America’s bicentennial. A drum-playing patriot and a flame surrounded by 13 stars had replaced the bald eagle onContinue Reading
By Akiva Segan, , Seattle It’s “interesting” that the JTNews editors would print a front-page article about fundraising by evangelical Christian “friends of Israel” without once mentioning the unprecedented success these Christian leaders, churches and organizations have in converting Jewish youth and young adults to Christianity (“Christians unite — forContinue Reading
By Rabbi Dov Gartenberg, Founder and Director, Panim Hadashot — New Faces of Judaism, Seattle I want to commend JTNews for its Viewpoints page, which featured a debate on the issue of outreach to the intermarried (“Stop sugarcoating intermarriage,” “Don’t write off the intermarried,” Feb. 16). As founder of anContinue Reading
By Steven M. Cohen , JTA Columnist NEW YORK (JTA) — Not many years ago, it was taken as axiomatic that intermarriage constitutes a significant threat to Jewish continuity. For individual families, we understood that more often than not, the children of the intermarried would be raised as non-Jews. AndContinue Reading
By Sam Levinson, , Seattle When I read the column written by Rabbi Ted Falcon (“Listening to tradition,” Feb. 2) in your current edition, I was reminded of the denunciation of Jews attracted to the “flesh pots of interfaith relations.” What central tenets do the Christians have that they haven’tContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist This column is dedicated to my father, who celebrated his ninetieth birthday this past week of Parshat Yitro, in which the Torah records the episode of the revelation at Sinai and Ten Commandments. Dear Rivy, I have always wondered about the Ten Commandments. AreContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist Freelance writer Michelle Goodman has been sharing her experience and advice with other self-employed writers for a long time, so it was logical that her first book be The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube. The book launchesContinue Reading
By Rabbi Ted Falcon, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue I remember the story that was told when I was in rabbinical school about the two student rabbis who went out to interview for a job at the same synagogue. The first was to speak on Friday evening, and the second onContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist Deborah Rosen of Mercer Island has been nominated to serve as a national vice-president of the American Jewish Committee. She’ll be formally elected at the AJCommittee annual meeting in Washington, D.C., this May and will be the first Washington state resident to serve as aContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews After months of building and designing, the new jtnews.net Web site is now live! We encourage you to visit the site, but here are a few tips and features we hope you’ll start to use on a regular basis. You may notice that youContinue Reading
By Gail Broder, MHS, Community Education Project Manager, HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Seattle I wanted to point out a significant error that appeared in the JTBest 2006 article in your January 19 issue. Specifically, in the “Best Mohel” section, you commented that circumcised men are less likely to pass onContinue Reading
By Rabbi Anson Laytner, American Jewish Commitee My colleague and friend, Rob Jacobs, executive director of the Pacific Northwest chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, leaned over to me the other day and asked: “Are you getting calls about your participation in the interfaith dialogue on the Mideast that appeared inContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, I grew up without a Jewish education, but have come to love learning. I have finally, after many years of wavering, gotten up the courage to take a beginner’s Hebrew class. I am really struggling and ready to give up. With soContinue Reading
By Albert Feldmann, , Seattle The JTNews generally maintains a high journalistic standard, so the occasional slip-up must be pointed out. Specifically, I am referring to “A living Judaism” by Benjamin Gown, in the issue of Dec. 15. Farzin Shadpour, whatever his Jewish qualities, doesn’t know much about his heritage.Continue Reading
By Jack D. Israel, , Bellevue The article, “Weathering the “˜Hanukkah Storm,’” (Jan. 5) reminded me of a poem I wrote on the occasion of a previous windstorm. Let There Be Light I had to be prepared, When the wild windstorm came. Without some heat and light, There’s only myselfContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist Long-time Seattle resident Meta Buttnick was honored in her home state of Alaska in November. The occasion was a fund-raising dinner to benefit the nascent Alaska Jewish Historical Society Museum and Community Center, a project of Rabbi Joseph Greenberg of Chabad in Anchorage. Ninety-three-year-old ButtnickContinue Reading
By Harvey Grad, , Renton The opinions I express here are my own in response to your story, editorial and letters from the Dec. 15 issue. There are, in reality, two issues. First, that of whether or not Jews should display their Judaism publicly. Some come down on this, asContinue Reading
By Nancy Gordon, , You should be ashamed of yourself for printing the “responses” to the airport tree issues. Even the secular newspapers such as the Times or the P-I didn’t print such hate-filled, anti-Semitic letters. The letter from Michael Ball of Spokane was particularly appalling, suggesting that Rabbi BogomilskyContinue Reading
By Jacqueline Bollen, , Seattle I deliberately did not renew my subscription when it expired, because with friends like the “JT,” who needs enemies. I feel you do a tremendous disservice to the Jewish people of Seattle, of Washington State, and indeed, of the world! The final straw was yourContinue Reading
