By Philip R. Scheier, , Shoreline Your Feb. 10 article by Emily K. Alhadeff, “Moving beyond the one-trick pony,” where the University of Washington’s Stroum Jewish Studies guest speaker Simon Greer alleged one of his goals is to change the tide of American Jewish politics from Israel-focused to America-focused, isContinue Reading
By Robert B. Godwin, , Lacey In the previous issue of JTNews is a review by Edward Alexander of Michael Weingrad’s marvelous work, American Hebrew Literature, published by Syracuse University Press in 2011 (“Continue Reading
By Robert Wilkes, , Bellevue In Paula Chester’s letter (“Wasted tomatoes,” Feb. 10) she states that my column (“Barghouti’s Own Life Reveals BDS Deception“) is offensive to those who “sincerely seek to repair the world.” All Jews I know long to repair the world, but some of us want toContinue Reading
By Rabbi Sholom Ber Levitin, Chabad-Lubavitch of the Pacific Northwest, Congregation Shaarei Tefillah-Lubavitch It was the summer of 2008, on a Shabbos afternoon in Brooklyn, New York, in the Hebrew month of Elul. It was the Shabbos before the yahrtzeit of my paternal grandfather Zeida Shmuel. I always make aContinue Reading
By Rafael Medoff , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — The news that a Mormon temple in the Dominican Republic recently conducted a posthumous proxy baptism of Anne Frank, the most famous diarist of the Holocaust, undoubtedly will cause some offense in the Jewish community. Evidently the baptizers believeContinue Reading
By Mark D. Blitzer, , Seattle I applaud the opening of a Jewish delicatessen in Olympia (“Olympia deli tickles mind, soul and stomach,” Feb. 10). Obviously, an expanded Jewish presence in a place like Olympia is a good thing — and what better than a deli showcasing good-tasting Jewish food?Continue Reading
By Rabbi Oren J. Hayon, Greenstein Family Executive Director, Hillel UW I was grateful to see the editorial by Wayne L. Firestone, Hillel’s president and CEO, reprinted in the JTNews last week (“Colleges playing catch-up on Israel,” February 10). Firestone is absolutely correct when he points out that the restContinue Reading
By Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus, Temple De Hirsch Sinai A seasoned Jewish educator at a large Reform congregation once asked his religious school parents about their most meaningful Jewish childhood experiences. Without a doubt, attending Jewish camp was at the top of the list. There is no question that oneContinue Reading
By David Saperstein and William Daroff , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — During February, Jewish communities across North America observe Jewish Disability Awareness Month. It is an opportunity for us to raise awareness of the needs, strengths, opportunities and challenges of individuals with disabilities in our communities, andContinue Reading
By Paula Libes Chester, , Mercer Island I am frankly puzzled by Robert Wilkes’s extensive dissection of Omar Barghouti’s January 5 talk at our local landmark, St. Mark’s Cathedral (“Barghouti’s own life reveals the BDS deception,” Jan.27). Let’s begin by separating objective facts from opinion. BDS stands for boycott, divestment,Continue Reading
By Ruth Messinger with Jordan Namerow , Shma.com (Sh’ma) — E.F. Schumacher’s 1973 classic Small is Beautiful introduced many of us to the concept of “enoughness” — the antidote to scarcity and the moderation of excess. It’s a concept that I hope calibrates my consumption habits wherever I am —Continue Reading
By Rabbi Rob Toren, Samis Foundation Much has been written lately in these pages about Professor Martin Jaffee’s final (alas!) column, his and the editor’s apologies, letters of praise and castigation. One letter inspired me to look into our traditional Jewish sources, providing a “teachable moment,” an opportunity to learnContinue Reading
By Wayne L. Firestone , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — Just as college students were finishing their winter exams, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg selected a partnership of The Technion Israel Institute of Technology and Cornell University to build a campus on Roosevelt Island that will become aContinue Reading
By Rabbi Sarah Newmark, Congregation Beth Hatikvah Several weeks ago, I received an email from husband/wife rabbi friends announcing the arrival of their firstborn child, a son, after many years of disappointment. The proud father wrote, “We honor the miracle of IVF and thank God for the miracle of childbirthContinue Reading
By Robert Wilkes , Special to JTNews I was an interested people-watcher at the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions presentation hosted at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral on January 5. The featured speaker was author and intellectual Omar Barghouti, now of Ramallah in the West Bank. The hall was packed with well-meaningContinue Reading
By Rabbi Will Berkovitz , Special to JTNews Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where others see nothing. —Pissarro The priest walked past the prostitutes every day. He had no choice. They were stationed along the narrow road across from his seminary in Italy. But itContinue Reading
By Barbara Cooper, , Anacortes I am very disappointed in your response to Martin Jaffee’s article about Myron Cohon (“To the family of Myron Cohon and our community,” Dec. 23). He made a mistake. I’m sure his apology is sincere and he should be forgiven for his lapse. I amContinue Reading
By Perry Weinberg, , Seattle I was saddened and disappointed to read that Professor Martin Jaffee will no longer be writing his column for this paper (To the family of Myron Cohon and our community). He obviously made incorrect and hurtful assumptions in his last column about Myron Cohon, andContinue Reading
By Paul Baenen, , Seattle Undoubtedly Jaffee made errors (To the family of Myron Cohon and our community). Nothing excuses William Cohon’s “he occupies the Samuel and Althea Stroum chair in Jewish Studies, at the University of Washington, which means that both the State of Washington and the Stroum familyContinue Reading
By Sidney Stock, , Bellevue Martin Jaffee blew it. Jaffee used an individual’s life and death to illustrate a continuing concern of the Jewish community, the loss of member(s) to the majority culture. Jaffee assumed incorrectly that in the last part of Myron Cohon’s life, Cohon was lost to theContinue Reading
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