By Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound As this 91-year experiment in community outreach comes to a close, I have a question: Can we talk? I mean, really talk? In particular, I want to talk about Israel, because it seems like nobody else is. When I mean talk about Israel,Continue Reading
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist Please hand me that freshly sharpened stylus. I need to etch this in cuneiform on my clay tablet. When it’s dry, I’ll call the Pony Express to carry it to my editor. Then a typesetter will set my words, one letter at a time,Continue Reading
By David Chivo, Special to The Jewish Sound Our “mirror, mirror on the wall” moment has arrived. The Jewish Federation’s 2014 Greater Seattle Community Study provides a comprehensive picture of what Jewish life in Puget Sound looks like. Do we like what we see? Here are five observations to consider:Continue Reading
By Avi Goldwasser, Special to The Jewish Sound In response to Rabbi Anson Laytner’s article “Challenging ‘The J Street Challenge’” in the March 12 Jewish Sound, it was disheartening to read Rabbi Laytner’s critique of ‘The J Street Challenge,’ a film produced by the non-profit educational organization Americans for PeaceContinue Reading
By Rabbi Anson Laytner, Special to the Jewish Sound After the Washington Coalition of Rabbis, the umbrella body for non-Orthodox rabbis in our state, wrote a letter criticizing the showing of “The J Street Challenge” here in Seattle because it potentially would sow seeds of mistrust among Jews here, weContinue Reading
By Jay Ruderman, JTA World News Service BOSTON (JTA) — In the past decade, a new class of Jewish mega-givers has emerged, reshaping the Jewish philanthropic landscape. This has been, without a doubt, a tremendous boon for Jewish life. Super-donors are facilitating the expansion of the Jewish enterprise. With theirContinue Reading
By Alan H. Gill, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — Jewish perseverance, and more than a bit of chutzpah, lies at the heart of the Purim holiday we celebrate this week. It is one of the reasons we are instructed to mark this raucous holiday with boundless joyContinue Reading
By Edward Alexander, Special to the Jewish Sound “In the modern world, the Jew has perpetually been on trial; still today the Jew is on trial, in the person of the Israeli—and this modern trial of the Jew, this trial which never ends, begins with the trial of Shylock.” —PhilipContinue Reading
By David Shayne, Special to The Jewish Sound “In other cases, the more or less universally used description of ‘eligibility” [to be considered ‘refugees’] included those people who were forced to leave ‘permanent’ or ‘habitual’ homes. In the case of Arab refugees, however, the definition had been broadened to includeContinue Reading
By Jamie Rubin, Kveller.com (Kveller via JTA) — Since the news of the recent Disneyland measles outbreak and the subsequent chatter on Facebook began, I discovered I have at least four Facebook friends (and likely a few more) with healthy, non-immunocompromised, vaccine-aged children who have decided, for non-medical reasons, to not vaccinate.Continue Reading
By Susanna Heschel, JTA World News Service HANOVER, N.H. (JTA) — The 50th anniversary of the 1965 march at Selma is being commemorated this year with the release of the film “Selma.” Regrettably, the film represents the march as many see it today, only as an act of political protest.Continue Reading
By Mayim Bialik, Kveller/JTA World News Service I grew up in a public school that had enough Jewish kids that I felt represented. I went to Hebrew school twice a week and had a chavurah, or fellowship, through my Reform synagogue with kids my age. A portion of my family was Orthodox. IContinue Reading
By Maital Friedman NEW YORK (JTA) — The events of the last few weeks have shaken me to the core. Beyond the devastation I felt over the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, I was heartbroken to learn that the police officers involved would not stand trial. “Hands up!Continue Reading
By Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin A eulogy by President Rivlin at the funeral in Jerusalem for the victims of the attack on the kosher shop in Paris: Dear families, Yoav, Yohan, Philippe, Francois-Michel, this is not how we wanted to welcome you to Israel. This is not how we wantedContinue Reading
By Simone Rodan-Benzaquen PARIS (JTA) — The kosher supermarket was chosen deliberately. Men, women and children were shopping and preparing for Shabbat. Only two days before the attack, terrorists had left 10 of the best-known satirical journalists and cartoonists dead at Charlie Hebdo. Three French police officers were also struckContinue Reading
By Daniel S. Mariaschin, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — Before the HarperCollins Middle East atlas story is deleted from email inboxes, it pays to spend another moment ruminating on the damage caused by companies that ought to know better. On its website, HarperCollins bills itself as “one ofContinue Reading
By Rabbi Marc D. Angel, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals The Shabbat of Hanukkah was observed among Sephardim of the Ottoman Empire as “Shabbat Halbashah,” the Shabbat of providing clothing for the needy. Traditionally, the rabbi would deliver a sermon that day on the mitzvah of charity and lovingkindness.Continue Reading
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — The stabbing of a rabbinical student at Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in New York underscores three things that Jewish security officials have been urging in recent years: Be alert for copycats, cooperate with law enforcement, and don’t stay away from shul. AmericanContinue Reading
By Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, Special to the Jewish Sound “Bringing down Israel will really benefit everyone in the world and everyone in society, particularly workers.” These words were spoken by Lara Kiswani, executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, at a Nov. 12 panel discussion at U.C. Berkeley organizedContinue Reading
By Rabbi Seth Goldstein, Special to JTNews One of my challenges as a rabbi is to make Judaism relevant across demographics. Part of the challenge comes from the fact that what necessitates how we teach Judaism to kids is different than how we teach Judaism to adults. And very oftenContinue Reading
