By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent Reforming Palestinian culture and implementing a successful version of a “road map” to peace may take a while, according to one renowned professor. Offering an unflinching look into what is, by his account, a violent and antiquated Palestinian culture in the West Bank and Gaza,Continue Reading

By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Correspondent It is a religion of food, this chewing over of our history at the seder. If religion is a blend of faith, belief and knowing, then food plays a teasingly sporadic starring role, emerging here and there with a responsibility seemingly beyond its humbleContinue Reading

By Salty Pepperberg, Special to JTNews Matzoh Brei is not Matzoh Brei without the salt. The way it glistens with oil as it’s spooned from the pan, crystals reflecting in the kitchen’s morning light. When my tastebuds see matzoh, they think, “uh oh, cardboard again?” Yet when I soak thoseContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent Nowhere in Africa Seattle premiere Germany, 2002, 141 min. German with subtitles Caroline Link, Director Based on the best-selling autobiographical novel by Stephanie Zweig, the Academy-Award winning Nowhere in Africa is narrated by Regina (Karoline Eckertz and Lea Kurka), a young girl whose German JewishContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Joshua Slotnick has the military in his blood. “He is the product of soldiers,” said his father, Jeff Slotnick of Tacoma. “He is the product of soldiers,” said his father, Jeff Slotnick of Tacoma. Both of Joshua’s grandfathers served in the Korean War. His motherContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent Amen France, 2002 Constantin Costa-Gavras, Director The great Japanese film director Akira Kurasawa once said that if he could explain what his movies were about in a few words, he would scrawl them on a placard instead of making the film. Constantin Costa-Gavras has neverContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent While the United States fights a war with Iraq, a play has opened that is particularly poignant. From the author of Driving Miss Daisy, Taproot Theatre presents Alfred Uhry’s comedy, The Last Night of Ballyhoo. The play is set in Atlanta in 1939, as theContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews After only three years on the job, Jewish Day School’s Rabbi Stuart Light, the Director of Judaic Studies, has received two awards for his school. The awards were given to Rabbi Light earlier this year at the Jewish Education Assembly, a conference of Conservative-movement educators.Continue Reading

By Gigi Yellen-Kohn, JTNews Correspondent In a season marked by war, the upcoming concert by Music of Remembrance carries special importance. On Sunday, April 27, MOR commemorates Yom HaShoah with “An Unsilenced Music.” The concert features the world premiere of “Fathers” by Lori Laitman, a song cycle based on poemsContinue Reading

By David Chesanow, JTNews Correspondent Ah, the signs of spring! The flowers and the bees, the birds in the trees — and Blintzapalooza at Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia. According to organizer Linda Blustein, this year’s festivities on March 30th had hungry blintz lovers lined up around the block. TheContinue Reading

By Deborah Ashin, JTNews Correspondent Private art lessons are generally not an option for the children at Dunlap Elementary School. Almost 85 percent are on the state’s free and reduced lunch program, and the school, located in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of Seattle, doesn’t even have a PTA. That’s whereContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent The unorthodox nature of electoral politics in Israel produced unusual results, netting a predictably unpredictable conclusion, according to Judy Lash Balint, a freelance writer from Seattle currently living in Jerusalem. A freelance writer, Balint contributes articles to theMatzav.com, an unsponsored, non-political Web site that sinceContinue Reading