By Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg, Congregation Kol Ami For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people. — Isaiah 56:7 For the past 15 years, Congregation Kol Ami in Woodinville has shared space with the Bear Creek United Methodist Church (BCMU) — at one time out ofContinue Reading
By Rabbi Will Berkovitz, Special to the Jewish Sound (RNS) On the eve of the Day of Atonement, the story goes, when the house was quiet, the tailor went to the closet and took out a ledger. “Master of the Universe,” he said, “the time has come for You andContinue Reading
By Rabbi Ben Hassan, Sephardic Bikur Holim What is Yom Kippur? What does a Day of Atonement mean? Does it mean we can come to synagogue, say some prayers, and fast one day a year so we can run wild the other 364? And then come back next year toContinue Reading
Kudos to the Samis Foundation for the amazing work it is doing (“Samis allocations sustain the community, locally and in Israel,” Sept. 19). Although I thought I was familiar with the Samis Foundation, I never understood the full breadth of its work until I saw the list of grants publishedContinue Reading
By Jon Bridge and Carol Gown, Special to The Jewish Sound This summer was hard for any supporter of Israel. As members of New Israel Fund’s local leadership, we shared in the turmoil of Israel under fire and its terribly destructive response. Some of us watched from afar, while someContinue Reading
By Rabbi Oren Hayon, Hillel at the University of Washington We call God by many names — practically as many names as there are human experiences of the Divine. Literally dozens of metaphors for God fill the pages of our sacred scriptures and our prayer books. We call God shepherd,Continue Reading
By Russell Lidman, Special to The Jewish Sound Governor John R. Rogers enjoys a prominent place in this state. Schools are named after him in Seattle, Spokane, Olympia and elsewhere around the state. His statue is located in Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia, in front of the Office of theContinue Reading
By Rabbi Harry Zeitlin, Congregation Beth Ha’Ari You don’t need a rabbi to let you know which way the wind blows — the world is in crisis. Massacres in Syria and Iraq and Nigeria and Mali, regional wars between Russia and Ukraine, renewed race riots in the United States, muchContinue Reading
I’m writing to publicly congratulate Robert Jacobs of StandWithUs Northwest for his leadership and advocacy during this heart-wrenching month of conflict in Israel. We reside in a community in which there’s a “multivocality” of opinions regarding the Middle East. It is essential that Seattle’s Jewish community have an atmosphere inContinue Reading
In my many years working as the editor or reporter on newspapers in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and most recently as editor/publisher of The Jewish Transcript, I am shocked — and angry — that the JTNews ran what appeared to be a paid half-page ad blasting Israel, for fighting backContinue Reading
I believe that there is a substantial, well-funded, anti-Semitic movement in Seattle as well as other large communities in Washington State (“Seattle solidarity events find various ways to support Israel,” Aug. 8). Who is funding the movement can only be laid at the doorstep of anti-Semites even though they professContinue Reading
By Rabbi Jason Levine, Temple Beth Am Who says that we only get one chance for a first impression? We are currently in the midst of reading D’varim, the book of Deuteronomy, the final book in the Torah. The crux of this book is a series of farewell addresses byContinue Reading
By Randy Kessler, Special to the Jewish Sound As children, we were taught to not talk to strangers. But for those of us who care about educating our fellow citizens about Israel, talking with strangers is exactly what’s needed. I was recently invited by a friend to go see AlisonContinue Reading
By David Chivo, Special to the Jewish Sound What if every family attending Bellevue’s Jewish Day School hastily packed up and left Seattle by year’s end? Would our community take notice? What if campers attending the Stroum Jewish Community Center’s summer programs begged their parents to stay home, fearing verbalContinue Reading
By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA World News Service (JTA) — My friend Alain Azria gave me a puzzled look when I told him, with some indignation and disbelief in my voice, that I had just heard talk of killing Jews at an unauthorized anti-Israel demonstration last month in Paris. A youngContinue Reading
Rabbi Berele Paltiel Chabad of Snohomish County Just over two years ago, my wife Goldie and I with our two little girls moved from New York City to Edmonds, Wash. to run the Chabad of Snohomish County. It has been an exciting two years, meeting many wonderful people while learningContinue Reading
I find it highly offensive that the Jewish Federation demanded that an NRA lobbyist be fired because he voiced his opinion that Jews should be against restrictive gun laws (“On anniversary of shooting, Jewish Federation tells NRA spokesman to step down”). The idea that the Holocaust could not have beenContinue Reading
I am writing about my dismay over the fact that recently there were two separate solidarity events for Israel; the first taking place in Pioneer Square and the second at Congregation Beth Shalom. One was co-sponsored by the Orthodox congregations and the other co-sponsored by the Conservative, Reform and otherContinue Reading
By Yehudah Mirsky, JTA World News Service JERUSALEM (JTA) — As we approach Tisha b’Av, the State of Israel is at war. The day’s commemoration of sorrow and pain, and urgent calls for introspection and reflection, couldn’t be coming at a more needed time. On Tisha b’Av we take uponContinue Reading
By Robert Singer, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is spilling over into Europe, where in the past several weeks, Jewish communities have witnessed a chilling display of anti-Semitism, the likes of which has not been seen in many years.Continue Reading
