By Keith Dvorchik, Special to the Jewish Sound I read with horror this week about the attack in a synagogue in Israel that left five dead, many injured, and millions of Jews around the world demoralized and shaken. How did we arrive at such a place when the vicious murdersContinue Reading
By Tziporah Heller Dear friends, Yesterday at about 7 a.m. my daughter Miri called. “Mordechai just came home from shul. He said that Arabs came in and are shooting, and that a man with an axe is hitting everyone. Some of the people threw chairs at them, but it didn’tContinue Reading
By Mark Dratch NEW YORK (JTA) – In a recent JTA Op-Ed, Rabbis Marc Angel and Avi Weiss made a number of claims about the Rabbinical Council of America’s conversion system. While some of their arguments have merit, they paint only a partial picture of what we’re doing in theContinue Reading
By Avi Weiss and Marc Angel NEW YORK (JTA) — The Israeli government recently moved to decentralize the conversion system by allowing local courts to convert individuals on their own. Ironically, as Israel moves away from centralization, here in America the Rabbinical Council of America is enthusiastically embracing it. TheContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound Every morning, Seattle mayor Ed Murray wakes up, walks his dog, then gets a report on what happened overnight throughout the city. Invariably, he told a crowd of nearly 200 at Temple De Hirsch Sinai on Oct. 19, there will have been anContinue Reading
By Elana Sztokman, JTA World News Service MODIIN, Israel (JTA) — With the news that Rabbi Barry Freundel, a prominent Orthodox rabbi, has been arrested for peeping at the naked bodies of his female congregants through a secret camera in the mikvah, or Jewish ritual bath, many disturbing questions areContinue Reading
By Eugene Lipitz, Special to The Jewish Sound When my daughter Sophie went to Israel, one moment for her seemed a profoundly transformational experience. It wasn’t seeing the Western Wall or the huge variety of Jewish people so different from her own experience. It wasn’t even going to a venture capital meetingContinue Reading
By Rabbi Will Berkovitz, Special to the Jewish Sound (RNS) On the eve of the Day of Atonement, the story goes, when the house was quiet, the tailor went to the closet and took out a ledger. “Master of the Universe,” he said, “the time has come for You andContinue Reading
By Jon Bridge and Carol Gown, Special to The Jewish Sound This summer was hard for any supporter of Israel. As members of New Israel Fund’s local leadership, we shared in the turmoil of Israel under fire and its terribly destructive response. Some of us watched from afar, while someContinue Reading
By Russell Lidman, Special to The Jewish Sound Governor John R. Rogers enjoys a prominent place in this state. Schools are named after him in Seattle, Spokane, Olympia and elsewhere around the state. His statue is located in Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia, in front of the Office of theContinue Reading
By Randy Kessler, Special to the Jewish Sound As children, we were taught to not talk to strangers. But for those of us who care about educating our fellow citizens about Israel, talking with strangers is exactly what’s needed. I was recently invited by a friend to go see AlisonContinue 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
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 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 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
