By Carolyn Hathaway, Co-Chair, StandWithUs Northwest, Bellevue Your article on “The hard conversation” at Evergreen State College is important (“Evergreen: The hard conversation not taking place,” Dec. 10). Anti-Israel rhetoric is so pervasive at Evergreen that intellectual discourse is not possible. Steve Niva, quoted in your article, heads a MiddleContinue Reading

By Robert Kaufman, , Seattle I am glad to see the JTNews giving the Evergreen issue the coverage it deserves (“Evergreen: The hard conversation not taking place about Israel,” Dec. 10). In an op-ed I wrote (“The tragic indoctrination of Rachel Corrie,” June 25), I referred to a student whoContinue Reading

By Dan Brown , eJewishPhilanthropy.com The Jewish communal world has a problem. Well, several, but today let’s focus on one: The continuing gender gap in North American Jewish organizations. A recently released study, titled “Jewish Communal Professionals in North American: A Profile,” provides an unprecedented look at more than 2,000Continue Reading

By Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation The character Larry David plays on TV is one of the most annoying, infuriating people any one of us could ever meet. He is self-centered to the point of absurdity and his need to be right about everything jeopardizes his closest relationships.Continue Reading

By Sheryl Kipnis, , Seattle “Jewelry is something which can make even an ugly one beautiful.” Seriously? I must be missing something here. Is this the best you can cull from the wisdom of the Ladinos (Ladino Lesson, Nov. 19)? I am appalled that something so trite and offensive wouldContinue Reading

By Dr. Rafael Medoff , Special to JTNews “What is there to give thanks for, anyway?” That was the provocative question posed by the featured speaker on Thanksgiving Day 1968 at Kehilath Jeshurun, one of the largest Orthodox synagogues in Manhattan. The provocateur was Elie Wiesel, recently turned 40 andContinue Reading

By Daniel S. Mariaschin , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — How’s this for a philosophical question: Can you hold a conference dedicated to the open debate of some of the biggest issues in society in a nation that is among the least amenable to any free and openContinue Reading

By Carole Glickfeld, , Seattle While Robert Wilkes is entitled to his opinion, it is incumbent upon JTNews to correct the misinformation and falsehoods in his column (“Epiphanies and the search for truth,” Oct. 29). I looked all through that issue and could find nothing to counter the outrageous claimsContinue Reading

By Josh Basson, , Seattle News reports indicate that the Obama administration would like Israel to cede most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians to achieve a peace agreement. Palestinian leaders have made no secret they will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state and continueContinue Reading

By Fred Scherlinder Dobb and Terry Gips , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — With a tradition thousands of years old, Judaism informs us on taking the long view — the Divine view, as it were, since God is concerned even to the thousandth generation in the future (ExodusContinue Reading

By Rabbi David Fine , Union for Reform Judaism Questions. We love questions, and we love asking questions of our rabbis. How many letters are in the Torah? (304,805, assembled into 79,847 words). How deep is the Dead Sea? Is it the saltiest body of water in the world? (It’sContinue Reading

By Fredric Tobis, , Mercer Island I write to respond to a blatant distortion of Senator Patty Murray’s support for the State of Israel published in an ad paid for by the Republican Jewish Coalition (Oct. 15). I have been an activist supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship for 25 years. IContinue Reading

By David S. Frockt, , Seattle Recently, the National Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) sponsored a full-page advertisement in the JTNews (Oct. 15) charging that Senator Patty Murray was not a friend and supporter of the State of Israel. The RJC’s charge is false. Patty Murray has been and remains aContinue Reading

By Miriam Schwartz Stuart and family, , Redmond Thank you for your article about our congregation (“Woodinville congregation holds its own through hard times,” Oct. 15). Let me encourage all those in search of a Jewish “home” in the area to stop by. My family and I moved here severalContinue Reading

By Akiva K. Segan, , Seattle In response to Mr. Basson’s claim that I “do not realize that both Hamas and Fatah’s charters call for the destruction of Israel in its text,” (Letters, Oct. 15) I wonder why Mr. Basson wrote such a claim as to what I know andContinue Reading

By Rabbi Ben Aaronson , Capitol Hill Minyan Richard Feynman, recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics, worked as a young graduate on the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb during World War II. The greatest physicists of the day would regularly visit to consult on the project. NielsContinue Reading

By Robert Wilkes , Special to JTNews This is the third in a series of articles by Robert Wilkes, who hopes to convince Seattle-area Jews that it is in the best interest of the Jewish people to consider voting for Republicans, or Democrats with more conservative viewpoints. We all haveContinue Reading

By Rabbi Sholom Ber Levitin, Regional Director, Chabad of Washington State and Congregation Shaarei Tefilah-Lubavitch As a prerequisite for atonement, in preparation for Yom Kippur, halachah (Jewish law) mandates that we ask for forgiveness — michala — if we have offended, hurt, maligned or otherwise done harm to our fellowContinue Reading