By Nicole Gyulay, Special to JTNews “Without tradition, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.” So said Tevye, the embattled protagonist from Fiddler on the Roof. Tradition has always been an integral part of Jewish culture, and now Fiddler on the Roof is part ofContinue Reading

By Deborah Ashin, Special to JTNews It rivals Hollywood’s most fantastic archaeological adventures, featuring layers of buried ancient cities that contain mysteries and treasures from the past. Tel Dor, perched above the coastline about 30 miles from Tel Aviv, is one of the largest and most intriguing archaeological excavations inContinue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent After 47 years of defending and promoting human rights, religious freedom and inter-group relations, Washington State Supreme Court Justice Charles Z. Smith retired on Jan. 1. Anyone who knows Smith, the first minority and African-American justice to sit on the Court, knows this 75-year-old inspirationContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent Seattle’s Northend neighborhoods have been taking on more of a Jewish flavor as the community has blossomed. Both the number of Jews living in the area and the scope of businesses and services that have sprouted up to serve them have contributed to a richerContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews One of the first things Rob Horwitz noticed when he arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina last month was how well people were dressed. Yet he and 170 other participants in a nationwide United Jewish Communities mission did not travel to this cosmopolitan world-class city toContinue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent What does Adolf Hitler have in common with Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein, besides a particular brand of brutality? According to Dr. Theodore L. Dorpat’s newly released book, Wounded Monster: Adolf Hitler’s Path From Trauma to Malevolence, (University Press of America, $47), Hitler came fromContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent “I’m not an advocate for Saddam Hussein,” announced Rep. Jim McDermott, as he laid out the reasons he believes the U.S. should not send its army into Iraq. McDermott said to the standing-room-only crowd at Temple Beth Am in Seattle’s Northend, “I think he’s aContinue Reading

By Joshua Runyan; Transcript Acting Editor Joel Magalnick contributed to this report., other PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — Several Jewish groups reacted with “alarm” and “serious disappointment” to President Bush’s executive orders issued Dec. 12 that expands federal funding for faith-based groups. But Orthodox groups hailed them as an important step forward.Continue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent On Sept. 21, American-Israelis Yonnah Ben Levy and her husband Chaim Bezalel opened their own gallery and art center, Stanwood House, in the small town of Stanwood. “It’s a Scandinavian town and here we are, [American] Israelis plunked down in the middle of it,” saidContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent America’s largest Klezmer orchestra, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, will once again visit Seattle’s Benaroya Hall this month. The 11-member group, now in its 22nd season, caters to a diverse audience, performing a mixture of music from the old country to modern jazz and swing. “It’sContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Levitas, on tour to promote his book The Terrorist Next Door (Thomas Dunne Books, 2002, 416 pages) spoke at a joint meeting of the Jewish Federation and at Congregation Beth Shalom on Nov. 26 as a part of Jewish book month. Levitas says another attackContinue Reading