I’m terribly disturbed by a second article written by Janis Siegel about a young Jewish man accused of “inappropriate communication with a minor.” (“Judge grants continuance to August in Varon case,” June 13). How insensitive and callous to villainize and embarrass a young man before the court’s verdict as toContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, Jewish Sound Columnist Chimichurri is the quintessential sauce of Argentina, and deserves to be better known in the northerly climes. It is somewhat like an Italian pesto, but made from parsley, and without the cheese or nuts to thicken it. Like pesto, it comes together in aContinue Reading
By David Shayne, Special to the Jewish Sound A while back, I heard Palestinian academic Nadia Elia brag that the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is so effective that Israel’s very existence is threatened. “Empty bravado from the side that is clearly losing,” I thought. Afterward, I heard some pro-IsraelContinue Reading
By Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — The Jewish world has been shaken by the decision of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest from three companies that it claims “further the Israeli occupation of Palestine.” The denomination has placed itself squarely on the side ofContinue Reading
Shoshana Wineburg’s impassioned plea for “transparency” regarding BDS and other issues germane to the Israel-Palestinian conflict in her open letter to Ari Shavit (June 13) begs an obvious question: Short of unconditional surrender to Mahmoud Abbas and his kleptocratic Palestinian Authority, when might we expect some transparency on the partContinue Reading
This is in response to Shoshana Wineburg’s open letter to Ari Shavit of June 13. I am a Millennial. I have been on Birthright and formed lasting friendships. I have participated in the full range of Jewish observance, from Reform to Orthodox, and have invested much personal time and effortContinue Reading
Asher A. Nov’s letter (“The Greatest Sin?” June 13th) decrying the JTNews’s reporting of the facts surrounding the Eli Varon case displays an unfortunate corruption of priorities. Janis Siegel did not humiliate anybody. She reported the facts of an important case that deals with an issue that our community mustContinue Reading
After reading the recent opinion piece by Rabbi Oren Hayon (“How much have we lost?” May 30) about the divisive BDS debate at the UW, I’m struck by the strong, thoughtful, effective leadership we enjoy and have enjoyed at our Hillel. Rabbi Hayon didn’t fully describe the important strategic roleContinue Reading
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, Jewish Sound Columnist Dear Rivy, I know there seems to be no shortage of awful things that happen to us Jews, and maybe on some level we should get used to it. As I read about anti-Jewish activities in France for example, I confess — IContinue Reading
By Rabbi Bruce Kadden, Temple Beth El Earlier this month we celebrated Shavuot, the holiday of “matan Torah,” the “giving” or “gift” of Torah. It had special meaning for our family this year because our first grandchild, Matan Aviv Ballon, was born on May 5, which was not only CincoContinue Reading
By Ed Harris Households across America this month celebrated Father’s Day. June, with its “Dads and Grads,” is probably a great month for Hallmark, especially now that most of humanity has embraced Facebook as a way to offer free birthday congratulations, a transgression I have committed more than a fewContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Columnist As part of his U. S. brain initiative in 2014, President Obama visited Israel and learned about groundbreaking brain research developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers. This is part one of a two-part look at some of those technologies. He’s Ben-Gurion UniversityContinue Reading
By Michael Natkin, Jewish Sound Columnist Green garlic is one of those wonderful farmer’s market ingredients. You don’t often see it at grocery stores, but it’s at every market in the early summer months, where it overlaps with last year’s storage potatoes. Green garlic is simply the shoot of anContinue Reading
By Nurit Asnash, Special to the Jewish Sound I had never heard about BDS (the boycott, divest and sanctions movement against Israel) until about a year ago when I attended an “Israeli Diversity Week” at Antioch University in Seattle. These three-day, 1-1/2-hour sessions were initiated by a courageous Israeli studentContinue Reading
I was immensely moved by both the story of triumph and loss in Rabbi Hayon’s recent piece on boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS), and his courage in revealing the painful sacrifice wrought by such a victory (“How much have we lost?” May 30). So many of us decry the ManicheanContinue Reading
Thank you Rabbi Hayon for an honest assessment of the risk of limiting our response to boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and all criticism of Israeli policy with the blunt and stultifying tools of the past (“How much have we lost?” May 30). While your commentary may draw the ireContinue Reading
It’s wonderful that UW students working together, with the support of Rabbi Oren Hayon, StandWithUs Northwest, and others, helped defeat the anti-Israel divestment resolution considered by the UW student senate. But I would like to respectfully disagree with Rabbi Hayon’s characterizing their victory as possibly “Pyrrhic,” so costly that itContinue Reading
How could this newspaper feature on its front cover a handwringing and unnecessarily lengthy editorial about the cost of turning back the BDS (boycott, divest and sanction) resolution at the University of Washington student senate (“How much have we lost?” May 30)? Rather than simply reporting the news on itsContinue Reading
I commend Rabbi Oren for his article in this week’s JTNews (“How much have we lost?” May 30). His argument that winning the battle against the divestment vote at UW came at a high cost of alienating many of Hillel’s students. Those who specifically were in favor of the divestmentContinue Reading
I was shocked and deeply disappointed to read Janis Siegel’s article (“Arrest made on inappropriate behavior charges,” May 30). There is no greater sin than the public humiliation of a fellow Jew. What possible purpose does this article have other than destroying this young man’s reputation and well being, beforeContinue Reading
