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By Janice Van Cleve, , Seattle Thanks for asking for our opinions. I pick up the JTNews at Victrola Coffee House on 15th Avenue East. I am also a regular reader of Real Change, Seattle Weekly, Seattle Gay News, and The Stranger. I appreciate alternative news because it gets deeperContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Bruce Kadden , Temple Beth El This past year, I had the opportunity to take a four-month sabbatical, spending two months in Israel and two months in Warsaw, Poland. In sharing the plans about our upcoming trip with friends and members of the congregation, almost everyone had theContinue Reading

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By Josh Normand, , Seattle I have to say that I am not happy with the fact that the Democrats in this state are supported by many in the Jewish community, particularly for Governor and Attorney General. Inslee and Ferguson were inferior candidates to McKenna and Dunn. They will bankruptContinue Reading

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By Mordecai Sackett, , Everett A new women’s liberation movement that demands equal pay should insist on women’s rights in other realms as well. (I think that the women’s liberation movement began with Esther). I agree with the Jessica Kessler Marshall column you published (“The Kotel belongs to all ofContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Donniel Hartman , The Shalom Hartman Institute The foundational obligation and responsibility of every nation is to protect its people. When it comes to Israel, this obligation has a particular twist of a profoundly secular nature. Rising out of 2,000 years of powerlessness, and 2,000 years of beliefContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Jessica Kessler Marshall, Temple Beth Or Several weeks ago, Israeli police arrested and imprisoned Anat Hoffman, a founder and organizer of Women of the Wall, and director of the Israel Religious Action Center. What was Hoffman’s crime? Simply wearing a tallit and praying the “Shema” with hundreds ofContinue Reading

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By Ben Cohen , JNS.org Back in September, President Barack Obama likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s anxieties over America’s Iran policy to “noise.” Many pointed out, correctly, that this ill-advised remark was hardly fair to one of the few countries in the world where both the government and theContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Chaim Levine, Hope for Heroism What is it about heroism that moves us so much? Why is it that when we witness human beings putting their lives on the line to help another we feel so inspired that we tell their stories long after they are gone? WeContinue Reading

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By Robert Kaufman, , Seattle Israelis today face growing threats from all sides, with a remilitarized Sinai, Islamists on the rise and the Iranians inching closer to nuclear capability. Rabbi Daniel Weiner (“Lit by the nations?“ Rabbi’s Turn, Oct. 26) points to some extremists who have responded to the risingContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Daniel A. Weiner, Temple De Hirsch Sinai “When Israel has prostitutes and thieves, we’ll be a state just like any other.” —David Ben Gurion David Gruen’s transformation into Daveed Ben Gurion, from European socialist to Zionist utopian, reflected his potent awareness that outward perception impacts inner identity. AndContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Rob Toren, Executive Director, Amy Amiel, Senior Program Director, Samis Foundation, Seattle We commend the JTNews on its recent J-Teen insert in the October 12 edition. What a pleasure to hear first-hand from these impressive young Jewish adults their reflections on their engaging experiences with other Jewish teensContinue Reading

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By Jerry Barrish, , Seattle I read Emily Alhadeff’s article on the Rosenzweig family (“The family Rosenzweig celebrates Sukkot,” Sept. 28), and it reminded me of how important Norm and Shirley were in my Jewish growth. I joined Congregation Beth Shalom in 1988, and both Norm and Shirley Rosenzweig actedContinue Reading

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By Wendy Rosen , Special to JTNews With the presidential election campaign in full swing, that quadrennial question arises once more — how will the Jews vote? The majority of American Jews have been voting Democratic for some 80 years, often overwhelmingly so. Before each national election the Republicans tryContinue Reading

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By Akiva Kenny Segan , Special to JTNews On Sept. 25 The New York Times published an op-ed of significance to Jews everywhere, including Jews throughout Puget Sound and Washington State. Titled “The Sin of Sowing Hatred of Islam,” by the new president of the Union for Reform Judaism, RabbiContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Rick Harkavy , Congregation Bet Chaverim Picture your grandparents. Try to visualize them. Now try to picture your great-grandparents. Try to visualize them wherever they came from and, if you can, set them in a synagogue. Imagine them singing while holding the Torah scroll in their arms duringContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Anson Laytner , Special to JTNews A response from the Jewish Federation can be found at here. Although the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle’s new allocations model has broadened the breadth of beneficiaries, it also presented a dilemma: More mouths around the table to feed but less foodContinue Reading

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By Executive Committee , Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle The article to which this column is responding can be found here. “Whither the Jewish Federation” raises several critically complex questions and offers insightful inquiry. But it hasn’t been “business as usual” at the Federation — quite the contrary. A closerContinue Reading