By Rabbi Allison B. Flash , Temple Beth Am Since becoming a rabbi, I have come to believe there really are five seasons to the year. There are the typical four: Fall, winter, spring, and summer, but for rabbis, there is an additional season called “pre-High Holidays.” It is theContinue Reading
By Steven Blum , Special to JTNews When I found out David Irving, noted anti-Semite, Holocaust denier, and widely discredited “historian” was coming to Berlin, I had the kind of reaction I think many Jews can relate to: I groaned and wanted to move on to the next article inContinue Reading
By Rabbi Rob Toren, Samis Foundation A waiter approaches a customer to take his order. The customer, thinking aloud, says, “Let’s see. This week is the Nine Days, so I have to eat dairy. I’ll take the fish.” The confused waiter goes back to the kitchen and says to theContinue Reading
By L. S. Davis, , Olympia The “Rabbi’s Turn” on May 22 (“What we’re all about“) featured Rabbi Seth Goldstein of Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia. While he provided interesting facts about the history of TBH and Olympia’s local Jewish community, he does a great disservice to those of usContinue Reading
By Rabbi Sarah Newmark, Congregation Beth Hatikvah When I tell people I’m a Reconstructionist rabbi, I generally get this response: “I’ve heard of Reconstructionism, but I don’t know anything about it.” Those of us who trained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College near Philadelphia are used to this. In fact, inContinue Reading
By Marvin Stern , Special to JTNews My father Klaus Stern died on May 12. Sitting in the hospital with him those last 12 days I was constantly focused on his hands. Obviously as children we hold our parents’ hands and of course over the years I often shook handsContinue Reading
By Rabbi Mark Spiro , LivingJudaism Prior to our arrival in Seattle nearly 10 years ago, we’d heard about the warm, close-knit Jewish community, and in many respects we have not been disappointed. But we’ve also witnessed quite a bit of controversy relating mainly to our schools and synagogues. AtContinue Reading
By Donniel Hartman , Shalom Hartman Institute Dear President Abbas: The new administration in Washington has brought to our neighborhood a Secretary of State who has not yet given up on the possibilities of progress in bringing our conflict to a peaceful and just end. It seems, as well, thatContinue Reading
By Emily Katcher, , Seattle Seattle Public Schools will begin school for the 2013-14 year on September 4, erev Rosh Hashanah. Our families must choose between the first days of school and being practicing Jews. I have been in contact with my board member, Ms. Smith-Blum, who is aware ofContinue Reading
By Dennis Warshal, , Seattle While reading the article “A Jewish Tombstone“ (April 26) by Emily K. Alhadeff, I was appalled by her use and context of the pejorative word goy, referring in part to a “Jewish parent’s worst nightmare.” Her insensitivity to non-Jewish people, her use of a wordContinue Reading
By Edward Alexander, , Seattle As the IRS scandal unfolds, it is worth recalling that, according to the medieval rabbis, the practice of reciting Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, originated in the medieval story of Rabbi Akiva found in Mahzor Vitry. Walking in a cemetery, Akiva meets aContinue Reading
By Rabbi Seth Goldstein , Temple Beth Hatfiloh Whenever I find myself outside Olympia speaking to a member of a local Jewish community, I will invariably be asked two questions. First, I will be asked, “How many Jews are there in Olympia?” When I respond that we have about 150Continue Reading
By Marc Schneier , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is correct to describe a new proposal by the Arab League to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as “a very big step forward.” Yet there will be no serious movement toward peace untilContinue Reading
By Rabbi Moshe Kletenik , Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath On a recent Sunday morning, after morning services and teaching the daily Daf Yomi, the page-of-Talmud-a-day, I was looking forward to an invigorating Pacific Northwest bike ride. A quick weather check confirmed the ominous clouds predicted by weather reports. Not toContinue Reading
By Rabbi Olivier BenHaim, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue In last week’s Torah portion, we read the universally known affirmation: “V’ahavta l’reacha kamocha — Love your fellow like yourself” (Lev 19:18). But this is not the only time in Torah that we are called to love. In the book of Deuteronomy,Continue Reading
By Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus, Temple De Hirsch Sinai I have a confession to make. It has been several months since I consistently visited Seward Park in the morning, which was a part of my daily routine from the very first moment we arrived in Seattle. The temptations were thereContinue Reading
By Akiva Kenny Segan, , Seattle While Jews for Judaism (“Missionary Impossible,” March 22) staff present themselves in such a straight manner as to make their outreach success to young Jews (who are at highest risk for victimization by conversion campaigners) unlikely, they do offer an important if symbolic counterContinue Reading
By Edith Shaked , Special to JTNews The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), should amend the “Proclamation of the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust,” as annually posted at its website, to truthfully commemorate all the different victims. A reading of the first paragraph seems exclusive.Continue Reading
By Rabbi Bernie Fox , Northwest Yeshiva High School One of most beloved elements of the Passover Haggadah is the discussion of the four sons. The Haggadah identifies four children, each with a unique personality. Four short vignettes advise the parent how to best teach each child the story ofContinue Reading
By Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg , Temple B’nai Torah “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” — Peter Marshall As American Jews, when we sit down to our Passover seders this coming week, we shouldContinue Reading
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