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
By Margaret Hinson, Special to the Jewish Sound June 20 is World Refugee Day and a fitting time to consider our community’s ongoing commitment to refugee resettlement. Jewish Family Service was originally founded to help Jews resettling in Seattle, and more specifically to help Eastern European Jews fleeing pogroms —Continue Reading
By Paula Libes Chester, Special to The Jewish Sound The Seattle Jewish community came together Wednesday night, May 28, at a packed Temple De Hirsch Sinai to hear Ari Shavit, author of “My Promised Land,” and the Reverend Kenneth Flowers, of Greater New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit,Continue Reading
Dear Ari Shavit: I was one of the under-30 audience members in your audience at Temple De Hirsch Sinai on May 28 — one of the “lost” youth who avoided the issue of Israel when I was in college because it was, as you said, “radioactive.” I am going toContinue Reading
By Rabbi Oren Hayon, Special to The Jewish Sound In his biography of Pyrrhus of Epirus, Plutarch recounts the details of the ancient Greek general’s costly victory against Rome at Asculum in 279 BCE. According to Plutarch’s account, shortly after the battle, Pyrrhus considered the devastating losses to his MacedonianContinue Reading
By Rafael Medoff, JNS.org U.S. officials say it would be “too risky” to send commandos to rescue the 300 schoolgirls being held hostage by Islamist terrorists in Nigeria. If that’s the problem, they should look to the late George McGovern for the solution. Back in 1944, theContinue Reading
By Rachel Lerner, JTA World News ServiceNEW YORK (JTA) — The recent vote by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations rejecting J Street’s membership bid was not entirely surprising. J Street had been reaching out to conference members and community contacts for weeks. We knew that gainingContinue Reading
By Richard A. Block, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — Freedom of the pulpit is a cherished Jewish value, yet some rabbis hesitate to share their “true views” about Israeli policy from the pulpit, as a study last year from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs found. ThereContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound On April 7, the Washington State Court of Appeals struck down the 2011 lawsuit brought against the Olympia Food Co-op for its boycott of Israeli products. This is a shame, and a shame that taps into a much larger picture ofContinue Reading
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Much ink has been spilled since the release of the Pew Research Center survey on Jewish identity in the United States. Many have addressed a number of the findings of the survey, with varying degrees of concern. But as we approach Yom Hashoah, I would like toContinue Reading
By Ben Cohen, JNS.org When you look at the image of Frazier Glenn Cross, AKA Frazier Glenn Miller, the shooter who cold-bloodedly murdered three Christians in a bloody eve-of-Passover spree at two Jewish community buildings in Overland Park, Kan., what do you see? I’ll tell you what I see. TheContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound When we’ve written about Metro buses in recent years, it has been about the controversial ads that appear on them. This time, I’m asking you to save the vehicles that carry those ads, and a plea to vote yes on the proposition KingContinue Reading
By Carlyn J. Steiner, Special to the Jewish Sound Last July, close to 800 Seattle Jews convened for a “community conversation” on what was called “The Jewish Peoplehood Crisis.” The organizers defined the crisis as a loss of “identification with Jews throughout the world,” the loss of “commitment to JewsContinue Reading
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, Special to the Jewish Sound For better or for worse President Obama has not acted decisively with Western allies in an effort to end the horrific civil war in Syria. The tragic loss of nearly 150,000 Syrians, nine million internally displaced persons and refugees, and the massiveContinue Reading
By Mark Bloome , Special to JTNews Jews who love language, read this! Jews who love their families, read this! It is simple: Throughout the world Jew-hatred is spreading and those who hate us are winning the war of words, and in such a war, words count. We are saddledContinue Reading
By Dan Schueftan , JTA World News Service (JTA) — Ariel Sharon turned into a statesman late in his political career. Two developments made this possible: First, Sharon learned the hard way what he needed to do to become an effective leader of the Jewish state, and second, Israeli politicalContinue Reading
By Rabbi Anson Laytner , Special to JTNews It has been said in many recent articles that the late Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, who died Jan. 11 after being in a coma for many years, was either loved or loathed. I, however, am clear in my feelings: I comeContinue Reading
By Ned Porges , Special to JTNews My 24-year-old sons are fraternal twins. They are the youngest of my four children. I tried to give them a Jewish education. Sunday school and weekly Hebrew lessons were a constant strain. Their mother said you can’t push a child to learn, heContinue Reading
By Annette Powers , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — Last spring, I found myself averting my eyes when my 4-year-old mentioned something about the Easter bunny in front of my dad. We were at my parents’ home in Michigan for Passover and my son said, “When IContinue Reading
By Yosef I. Abramowitz , JTA World News Service JERUSALEM (JTA)—Every decade or so, yet another demographic survey reveals the obvious: The American-Jewish community is in flux, with affiliation falling. Each time, the community circles back to what we know works: high-quality Jewish education, along with Jewish camps and IsraelContinue Reading
