By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist Ben Eisenhardt had the same childhood ambition as many kids. “Professional basketball is a dream [that] starts from kindergarten,” he says. But his aspiration is now reality. Soon, the 6’10”, 215 lb. forward will head to Israel to play for Euroleague’s Elitzur Yavne. BenContinue Reading
By Ed Harris, Jewish Sound Columnist On a recent trip with my now-adult daughter to see family in Florida, I reminisced about her initial visit to the Sunshine State, when she hadn’t even reached her first birthday, and wondered where all the time went. One minute, she was an adorableContinue Reading
By David Chivo, Special to the Jewish Sound What if every family attending Bellevue’s Jewish Day School hastily packed up and left Seattle by year’s end? Would our community take notice? What if campers attending the Stroum Jewish Community Center’s summer programs begged their parents to stay home, fearing verbalContinue Reading
By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA World News Service (JTA) — My friend Alain Azria gave me a puzzled look when I told him, with some indignation and disbelief in my voice, that I had just heard talk of killing Jews at an unauthorized anti-Israel demonstration last month in Paris. A youngContinue Reading
Rabbi Berele Paltiel Chabad of Snohomish County Just over two years ago, my wife Goldie and I with our two little girls moved from New York City to Edmonds, Wash. to run the Chabad of Snohomish County. It has been an exciting two years, meeting many wonderful people while learningContinue Reading
I find it highly offensive that the Jewish Federation demanded that an NRA lobbyist be fired because he voiced his opinion that Jews should be against restrictive gun laws (“On anniversary of shooting, Jewish Federation tells NRA spokesman to step down”). The idea that the Holocaust could not have beenContinue Reading
I am writing about my dismay over the fact that recently there were two separate solidarity events for Israel; the first taking place in Pioneer Square and the second at Congregation Beth Shalom. One was co-sponsored by the Orthodox congregations and the other co-sponsored by the Conservative, Reform and otherContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Columnist This is the second of a two-part column on “BRAINS@BGU,” featuring some of the latest brain research from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Last year, BGU toured President Obama through its brain research labs after the president launched his BRAIN initiative, BrainContinue Reading
By Yehudah Mirsky, JTA World News Service JERUSALEM (JTA) — As we approach Tisha b’Av, the State of Israel is at war. The day’s commemoration of sorrow and pain, and urgent calls for introspection and reflection, couldn’t be coming at a more needed time. On Tisha b’Av we take uponContinue Reading
By Robert Singer, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is spilling over into Europe, where in the past several weeks, Jewish communities have witnessed a chilling display of anti-Semitism, the likes of which has not been seen in many years.Continue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist What’s a nice Jewish girl doing in a place like Pakistan? If you’re Edmonds native Margaret O’Connor, you are working as an “academic exchange specialist in the South and Central Asia branch for the office of academic exchanges in the bureau of education andContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, Jewish Sound Columnist Every gardener loves to lament that they get overrun with zucchini and have to resort to baking too much zucchini bread or, worse, ringing the doorbell, dashing and leaving them on people’s doorsteps. Well, let me tell you: You’re doing it wrong. The wayContinue Reading
By Abraham Foxman, Special to the Jewish Sound When it comes to the safety of the Jewish community in Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to think he can have it both ways. On one hand, he makes clear that the Jewish community should feel safe in their ownContinue Reading
By Andy David, Special to the Jewish Sound In newspapers, it is highly unlikely that you will see pictures of Hamas terrorists storing rockets in multiple UNRWA schools, shooting from hospitals, operating from mosques and other civilian structures, as opposed to images of civilian casualties. Since we don’t suspect civiliansContinue Reading
By Edmon J. Rodman, JTA World News LOS ANGELES (JTA) — After weeks of missiles falling on Israel and bombs dropping on Gaza, we land on Tisha b’Av. With the day-to-day images of explosions and tunnels so fresh, I wondered how they might connect to my mid-summer night’s struggle withContinue Reading
By Aaron D. Panken, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) – When the siren sounded, the Rolling Stones’ tortured 1969 track “Gimme Shelter” popped into my head, oddly enough. That haunting song offered a stunning reminder of the endless horrors of war, reawakening a sleepy world with a vividContinue Reading
By Ed Harris Seattle residents like to complain that they never know for sure when summer will finally start. I, however, have a sure-fire technique for picking the last cloudy, overcast, unseasonably cool day of the season: The precise moment we leave town for our annual family vacation. For severalContinue Reading
By Rabbi Jaron Matlow, Special to The Jewish Sound In the last few years, the ugly specter of suicide has popped up twice in my extended family. In both instances, thank God, the attempts were unsuccessful. Both were cases of despondency over poor health and fear of the unknown givenContinue Reading
Those of us who support I-594 (background checks for most gun sales) realize that it is not a cure-all for our country’s gun problem. It is better than doing nothing, however. As mentioned in your June 27 article (“Jews and guns: What’s our responsibility?”), when Missouri rescinded its background checkContinue Reading
Are there readers of the JTNews who think that the recent kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers on a hike will hurt the “Palestinian cause”? If so, they should think again. Killers, like other people, follow the news. They know that every new act of terror, the more barbaricContinue Reading
