By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews Anti-poverty advocates and Jewish community lobbyists last week commended state senators for taking action to restore cuts to medical assistance for the indigent and the disabled and encouraged the House of Representatives to follow suit. In a statement last week, Jewish and Christian advocacyContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews As you squeeze into Hillel next week, seeking a place among the overflowing crowd to enjoy your Passover lunch, the leaders of the campus Jewish center are hoping you will recognize that the organization has outgrown it building and needs a new facility. They’reContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Pesach to Shavuot is the time of preparation as we ascend from the consciousness of slaves leaving Egypt to the consciousness of a people receiving Revelation at Sinai. In the biblical period, Jews marked that time with the counting of the Omer. During the KabbalisticContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Following the recommendations of its Strategic Planning Committee, the Washington State Jewish Historical Society has taken steps to increase the productivity and recognition of the organization by hiring a part-time executive director and establishing a free-standing office. Susan Levine, who had been the coordinator ofContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews TACOMA — Author and columnist James Carroll will speak about “Anti-Semitism, History and Conscience: A Christian Reflects” on April 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kilworth Memorial Chapel at the University of Puget Sound. “I want to help people, especially college students, see this asContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent Fifty-two performers in the Eifman Ballet will make their Seattle debut at the University of Washington’s Meany Hall with “A Russian Hamlet: The Son of Catherine the Great,” through March 24. The company’s creator, Boris Eifman, although a non-practicing Jew, said that his choreography bringsContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Community leaders asked to share a memory of Sam Stroum offered the following stories: “When we first came to town 27 years ago, Sam and Althea were among the first to greet us. They took Julie and me out to dinner and to the OperaContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent After contacting all of the synagogues in Washington state, the following said they would welcome you to join them during Passover: Second night seders Bet Alef Meditational Synagogue will host a seder on April 8 at East Shore Unitarian Church. Balabuste Catering will prepare theContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews To repair earthquake damage and bring the 1909 Seattle Hebrew Academy building up to the modern earthquake code could cost between $2.5 and $5 million, according to school officials. That puts an enormous burden on the owners of the nearly four-acre property, which wasContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews Another earthquake struck the greater Seattle Jewish community this month. The community’s leading philanthropist, Samuel N. Stroum, died on March 9 after an 11-month battle with pancreatic cancer. At a funeral service at Temple De Hirsch Sinai on March 11, rabbis, friends and Stroum’sContinue Reading

By David Chesanow, JTNews Correspondent Olympia’s Temple Beth Hatfiloh will hold its fourth annual “Blintzapalooza” blintz-making contest on Sunday, March 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The juried competition offers blintz artistes the chance to strut their stuffing, so to speak, and will raise funds for worthy causes inContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Diane Sigel and Robin Wehl, two women instrumental in the growth and success of the Pacific Northwest Region’s Young Judaea movement, have been chosen to receive honors at this year’s Community Havdalah, “M’Dor L’Dor—From Generation to Generation.” The Third Annual Havdalah, an evening for theContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Congregation Shaarei Tefilah-Lubavitch is dedicating its new synagogue in the View Ridge neighborhood on March 18. In keeping with centuries-old Jewish tradition, the move to the new synagogue will be celebrated by a festive procession during which the Torah scrolls will be carried through theContinue Reading