By , JTNews Correspondent After being notified of a video on which guru and Democratic donor JZ Knight spouted anti-Semitic, homophobic and anti-Catholic epithets, Washington State Democratic Party chairman Dwight Pelz announced on Oct. 26 that the party would donate $35,000 both to the Anti-Defamation League and to the ReferendumContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent A Hebrew text from 1797, one of the most widely read and influential Jewish books of its time, caught the imagination of one of today’s foremost Jewish scholars because it promoted harmony and the coherence between science, nature, and the Divine. David Ruderman, a professorContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews As Hadassah members continue to celebrate the women’s Zionist organization’s centennial year around the world, local members are looking forward to hosting two powerful women this month, Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korach, the first female director of Hadassah University Hospital, and Audrey Alhadeff Shimron, Hadassah’sContinue Reading
By , JTNews Correspondent Looking for ways to send relief funds in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy? Here are some Jewish resources: Union for Reform Judaism Hurricane Relief Fund: Visit www.urj.org and click on the relief fund link, or send funds to: Hurricane Relief Fund, Union for Reform Judaism, 633Continue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews “When you have a bleak reality, you try to escape to dreams,” said Yosef Mendelevich on the night of Oct. 24, before a rapt audience at the Seattle Kollel. The former Soviet refusenik came to Seattle on short notice while touring theContinue Reading
By Tim Klass , JTNews Correspondent After serving in the Marine Corps and National Guard and earning a bachelor of science degree at The Evergreen State College, Bryan Bright narrowed his job search down to the Seattle police and the Oregon State Police. Concerned he might be assigned to EasternContinue Reading
By Gwen Davis, Special to JTNews All she wanted to do was raise a few bucks for a soup kitchen in Israel. Little did she know, her modest effort to chip in would celebrate the lives of over 240 Holocaust survivors, raise more than $800,000 for Jewish organizations all overContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent Joshua Samuels appreciates each and every congregant that comes through the door at Congregation Beth Israel. Coming from his last rabbinical post in Los Angeles, where, as in most big cities, Jews have choices for worship and community, the Bellingham Reform synagogue’s new rabbiContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews In a room on the second floor of the Seattle Kollel, three 9th-grade girls sat around tables strewn with Tanakhs, binders, worksheets, and cookies. They were explaining “The Hunger Games” to their teacher, Shirley Edelstone, before she began the next lesson onContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Planning a Bat Mitzvah? How about your wedding? Maybe getting ready for that first baby? As a congregational rabbi, Yohanna Kinberg has seen it all. Because she’s been on the front lines of a decade’s worth of lifecycle events, she knows the players. SoContinue Reading
By Tim Klass , JTNews Correspondent Washington State’s Jewish community is on the verge of a couple of political milestones, a cause for caution as well as celebration, says one of those responsible. Based on primary election results, Jews could well hold nine seats in the 63rd Washington Legislature whenContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews The first Jewish baby of 5773: Netzach Mordechai Brody Born September 17, 2012 at 3:55 p.m. Weight: 6.68 lbs. Length: 18.5 in. Sarah Brody knew she was going to give birth on Rosh Hashanah. “I had such a strong feeling,” she says.Continue Reading
By Debs Gardner, Special to JTNews The Ravenna Kibbutz, the Jewish intentional community formed in 2007 in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood, closed its doors October 1 when the kibbutz’s landlord decided to sell the house. And so, five years of Shabbat dinners and events come to an end. The Ravenna KibbutzContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews As momentum builds toward Election Day on Nov. 6, many local Jewish organizations are working overtime to encourage approval of Referendum 74, the decision to legalize civil same-sex marriage in Washington State. According to a fact sheet put out by Seattle’s JewishContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews While viewers may not notice a change when the Seattle Jewish Film Festival rolls around at the beginning of March, the backbone of the organization will be very different. That’s because at the beginning of this month, the board of the Stroum Jewish Community CenterContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews Rachel Smith-Mosel’s ketubah, or Jewish marriage contract, features two intertwining trees. “I think that’s what a marriage is,” she explains. “Deep roots, strong and tall as a tree.” But Smith-Mosel is not technically married, even though she and her partner, Sandy Mosel,Continue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews Saturday, October 6 will mark the first annual Congregation Beth Shalom Sukkot lunch honoring the memories of Norman and Shirley Rosenzweig, founding members of the Conservative synagogue. In 1956, Norman and Shirley Rosenzweig and their three children, David, Michele and Betty, movedContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews You have undoubtedly heard of IBM. The 100-year-old company pioneered computing as we know it today, and its complex systems run everything from transit networks to entire governments. But the company has a dark history, one that investigative journalist Edwin Black will be speaking aboutContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent While Syria continues to slaughter its own people, and Iran races toward a bomb-grade level of uranium enrichment, one of the world’s most sought after and staunchly liberal international human rights lawyers will be the guest of StandWithUs Northwest on October 14 to makeContinue Reading
By Gwen Davis , Special to JTNews Martial arts and the commandment of honoring one’s parents go hand in hand, according to Jacob Lunon. Lunon, who has been training and teaching for more than 40 years and holds a ninth-degree black belt in Shaolin White Dragon Kung Fu, is theContinue Reading
