By Charlene Kahn, JTNews Correspondent Thinking about the Holocaust often comes from a Central and Eastern European focus, with recognition of the existence, established lives, and the eventual destruction of much of Sephardic Jewry further out on the periphery. Now those boundaries are expanding, thanks, in part, to a symposiumContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews For the first time in almost three decades, Jewish Family Service of Greater Seattle is set to bring on a new leader. Will Berkovitz, who will succeed long-time CEO Ken Weinberg, takes over the social-service agency at the beginning of July. “It is extremely exciting,”Continue Reading
By , JTNews Correspondent Joel Magalnick, who has been editor of JTNews since 2003, was named publisher this week by the JTNews board. He served as acting publisher since May 2012 following the departure of former longtime publisher Karen Chachkes. He will maintain the role of editor as well. “I’mContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Grab a Frisbee and a few friends and you’ve got yourself a game of Ultimate. But get serious about it, and maybe the sport can bring together Israeli Jews, Arabs and Palestinian teenagers to become a meaningful effort toward peace in the ongoing MiddleContinue Reading
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA)—He had them until abortion. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) was addressing the Reform movement’s Consultation on Conscience conference about his passion, human rights and success in creating mechanisms to combat human trafficking and shine a light on global anti-Semitism. The crowdContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Erica Nash got her finish line after all. When the Nash family arrived at their Bellevue home just after midnight last Friday morning, they didn’t expect a dozen friends to be there waiting in the dark with a surprise: The finish line Nash wasn’tContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent Enrollment in greater Seattle area Jewish day schools has been something of a roller coaster over the last decade, according to several longtime educators here, but the onset of the global economic recession in 2007 forced many families to rely on grants and scholarshipsContinue Reading
By Gwen Davis , JTNews Correspondent In early spring, the AP physics class at the Northwest Yeshiva High School was one of only 100 teams around the world to qualify for the 2013 Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). However, May 11, when the team would fire its rocket, is aContinue Reading
By Edmon J. Rodman , JTA World News Service LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Sit back by the bonfire and pop open a brewski, it’s Lag b’Omer. Since we have been counting the Omer — a biblical measure of barley that was brought as an offering to the Temple — eachContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Editor’s Note: This is part two in a series about the turnover in the Seattle Jewish community’s leadership. With the turnover of so many top-level Jewish professionals in our community, what should agencies be looking for in their new leadership? Josh Gortler, who spent 37Continue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Correspondent In 2000, a Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle demographic study showed Seattle’s northeast quadrant as the state’s fastest growing Jewish community. Recent U.S. Census data suggests it still is. Add to this a trend of young adults turning away from organized religion, and you haveContinue Reading
By Gigi Yellen-Kohn , JTNews Correspondent As a college English major, I learned the prologue to the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer’s 14th-century language invokes the onset of springtime — April with “his showers sweet” — as an inspiration for pilgrimages. Nowadays, catching up on what I didn’t learn in college, IContinue Reading
By Charlene Kahn , JTNews Correspondent During the first weekend in April, guests from California to Connecticut converged on Seattle in honor of Ruth Schocken, whose life story is a poignant reminder of survival. She turned 100 on April 3. The life of this German-Jewish immigrant who escaped the NazisContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent It would likely be an impossible task to separate Jonathan Medved’s love of Israel from his position as the founder and CEO of OurCrowd, his newest cutting edge Web-based venture capital fund. The fund allows would-be investors to peruse hundreds of Israeli startup companiesContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series about the large turnover in leadership within metropolitan Seattle’s Jewish community. This issue, JTNews will focus on the synagogues. The next will focus on our local agencies. When the announcement came two weeks agoContinue Reading
By Charlene Kahn, JTNews Correspondent The front page headline in the March 27 issue of Salom Gazetesi, the weekly newspaper of the Istanbul Jewish community, reads, “Apology brings friendship and stability.” By all accounts, President Barack Obama is credited with brokering the reconciliation between Israel and Turkey on March 22.Continue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews For a country that has historically shied from the global spotlight, Bulgaria has been in the news lately. Mainly stemming from an attack last July in the city of Burgas that killed five Israelis and a tour bus driver, the diplomatic community has keptContinue Reading
By Gwen Davis , JTNews Correspondent When some discover their life goals cannot be achieved, they shrug their shoulders and move on. Others, however, decide to empower themselves. When they see that their dream cannot be actualized they throw in a “…not yet.” This is the story of Marla Gamoran.Continue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews Daniel Offer remembers the day in December 1947 when he and his schoolmates were excused from class and summoned to the auditorium. “The principal called all us seniors in the auditorium and said they’re discontinuing the senior class,” remembers Offer. But summerContinue Reading
By Charlene Kahn, JTNews Correspondent A rabbi who served as plaintiff in a precedent-setting case for religious freedom in Israel visited the Seattle area on March 11. The case, brought before the court in 2005 by Rabbi Miri Gold and backed by IRAC, the Reform movement’s political and advocacy centerContinue Reading
