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By Akiva Kenny Segan, , Seattle As an occasional-to-frequent pro-Israel advocate in the JTNews letters section — my first letter on Israel and the conflict was in 1999, the year I made my first teaching trip to Israel; my most recent followed my seventh teaching Israel teaching trip this MayContinue Reading

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By Goldie Gendler Silverman, , Seattle In a letter on August 19 (“No more criticism“), Michael Behar asked, “Would it be too much to expect that Washington’s sole Jewish newspaper serve as an unapologetic advocate of the Jewish State?” The answer to that question is, Yes, it is far tooContinue Reading

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By Jerry Shulkin, , Mercer Island I most recently attended an elaborate and impressive Bat Mitzvah. That prompted my daughter to ask about my Bar Mitzvah almost 70 years ago in Minot, North Dakota. At its height during the early ’40s the congregation numbered about 40 families. This year aContinue Reading

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By Randy Kessler, , Mercer Island The debate between Joel Alperson (Judaism is more than tikkun olam,” Aug. 5) and Eric Yoffie (“Judaism is always tikkun olam —  and more“) offered two very different perspectives on whether non-Orthodox movements can survive long-term. And while it’s interesting to read point-counterpoint argumentsContinue Reading

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By Michael Behar, , Seattle Week after week, month after month, in articles, op-eds and letters, the very legitimacy of the State of Israel is battled out on the pages of the JTNews. Israel’s critics are granted more than sufficient ink in the Seattle Times, The New York Times andContinue Reading

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By Joel Alperson , JTA World News Service OMAHA, Neb. (JTA) — A lot of my hometown of Omaha, Neb., was under water in the final days of July. Pumps were set down at various locations, including at a nuclear power plant located not far from town that had toContinue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle I commend Anav Silverman for her perceptive op-ed column (“No yellow brick road for Palestinian UN bid,” July 8) as right on the mark. Silverman rightly points out the lack of accountability of funds among the Palestinian leadership and that the majority of Palestinians livingContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Bruce Kadden, Temple Beth El I have just returned from spending a week on the faculty of Camp Kalsman, the regional Union for Reform Judaism camp, culminating with the camp’s fifth anniversary celebration. The opportunity to spend a week at camp has been one of the highlights ofContinue Reading

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By Ilana Cone Kennedy , Special to JTNews I am honored to have recently been selected as a recipient of the Pamela Waechter Jewish Communal Service Award. Having known and admired Pam, this award is especially meaningful to me. In a recent discussion about the award, two of the HolocaustContinue Reading

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By Robert Wilkes , Special to JTNews I can only imagine what my grandfather experienced as a Jew in the Ukraine before he immigrated to America in 1905. In my earliest memories he is very old; my mother was the last in a large family. In his musty Victorian houseContinue Reading

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By Tani Zarelli, , Vancouver, Wash. In response to Simcha Shtull’s comments on Israel controlling the lives of 2.5 million Palestinians (“Israel must act,” Letters, June 24). This is a topic of discussion that can have many different views. Everyone has their opinion on how to solve the tension betweenContinue Reading

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By Jeff Morton, , Gig Harbor As a black American who keeps a watchful eye on Middle East anything, the person from Seattle who writes: “Israel currently controls the lives of 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank. I therefore find it difficult to understand Wendy Rosen’s dire prediction” (“Continue Reading

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By Simcha Shtull, , Seattle Israel currently controls the lives of 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank. I therefore find it difficult to understand Wendy Rosen’s dire prediction (“The coming Palestinian winter,” June 10) that declaring a Palestinian state will mark an end to Israel as a Jewish state.Continue Reading

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By Joseph Schvimmer, , Pikesville, Md. As an infrequent visitor to the area I was interested in the JTNews and the opinions expressed in the letters written to your publication. The letter to Congress written in the J-Teen section (May 27) was interesting in what it did not say asContinue Reading

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By Akiva Kenny Segan, , Seattle Just back from my seventh Israel teaching trip and read my favorite JTNews section: Letters. Re: Mr. Israel Kochin’s letter, “In Defense of Mom“ (May 11): I agree. Israel desperately needs safety and security. Ditto Palestine. Mr. Kochin writes: “The author writes that myContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Jessica Kessler Marshall , Temple Beth Or We just celebrated the holiday of Shavuot, and when we explain this holiday, we typically say that we sanctify God’s giving us the Torah. But as modern Jews, is it possible to believe in revelation? Did any revelatory event in factContinue Reading