By Gwen Davis, Special to JTNews “Islam is the perfect religion for Muslims. Christianity is the perfect religion for Christians. Judaism is the perfect religion for Jews,” said Rabbi Jim Mirel at “Two Faiths, One God,” an event that brought Jews and Muslims to the synagogue to pray and breakContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews How do you make Jewish education interesting and relevant to teenagers? It’s a question probably as old as the Jewish people. And the organizers behind Jewish High are taking a stab. “We’re tremendously improving the curriculum, especially the Jewish philosophy or ethics curriculum,Continue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent Move over Generations X and Y, the Jewish “Generation Z” is making its Seattle debut. Through a new Jewish high school program focused on social justice, there will be no classrooms in sight. Gone is the Community High School of Jewish Studies (Hebrew High) thatContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent Husband-and-wife team Rabbi Avi and Marave Herbstman hope the new afterschool Hebrew program at the Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder will be an intimate and warm place, which kids won’t want to miss a minute of. “Our program is about Jewish history, Jewish culture, Jewish values,Continue Reading
By Olivia Rosen, other Traditional Hebrew school has undergone a 21st-century makeover with the introduction of Live Online Learning (L.O.L.), a new Seattle-based Jewish education program that provides an innovative way for students to study Torah online. L.O.L., a project of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth in conjunction with TorahTutors, an internationalContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews I tasted the shilshka at Stopsky’s Delicatessen just a few hours after our waiter had. The Eastern European dish is one of the half-dozen selections on the Mercer Island restaurant’s new dinner menu that debuted this week, and oh, was it good. If you’reContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews Sometimes a salad is not just a salad. For every Hadassah salad purchased at the Island Crust Café, a percentage will go to Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc. in honor of its centennial year. Talby Gelb, a local HadassahContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews Sheryl Gordon McCloud has been arguing cases before the Washington State Supreme Court for 25 years. Now, she’s running for position 9 on that court, a seat vacated by Justice Tom Chambers and vied for by three other candidates. McCloud largely argues ConstitutionalContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Filmgoers may not notice the immediate changes, but when the Seattle Jewish Film Festival rolls around next spring, its underlying structure will be far different from the way it has operated since its inception 17 years ago. On June 20, the board of theContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Should she win a seat on one of the state’s three courts of appeal, Pamela Loginsky will be looking at many of her colleagues from the other side of the bench. Loginsky, who is running in a crowded field of six candidates for theContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews David Ruzumna wants to be the next “mensch on the bench.” “There isn’t an area of law that doesn’t genuinely interest me,” he says. Somewhat sheepishly, he confesses that even in his spare time he enjoys listening to oral arguments and readingContinue Reading
By JTNews Correspondent After a near-death experience following the loss of two major donors, the Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder has raised enough funds to stay afloat. “We raised around $330,000 this year, which is more than we raised last year or the year before,” said the school’s development chair TziviahContinue Reading
By , JTNews Correspondent University police still have no leads following incidents both on and off the University of Washington campus of racist graffiti earlier this month. Most of the graffiti was found July 3 in the Communications building. The largest was a swastika found on the office door ofContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews Shelly Crocker was probably not voted “most likely to succeed” in her yearbook. “I had a rough patch in there,” she says. “I dropped out of high school when I was 15.” But she may be “most changed.” The candidate for the WashingtonContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent Jessyn Farrell, a Democrat, is running for the state House of Representatives in the 46th Legislative District in Seattle as an environmental activist with local experience reforming transportation policy. But her legal training as a mediator who’s tried to make partners out of opponents andContinue Reading
By Tim Klass , JTNews Correspondent Two Jewish candidates for Congress have similar platforms but markedly different closing strategies for uphill battles in Washington’s newly redrawn 1st and 7th Districts. In the 1st, former state Rep. Laura Ruderman, a veteran political fundraiser, is relying on shoe leather, small donors andContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Associate Editor, JTNews For Sue Parisien, running for a judge position in the King County Superior Court is a natural progression. After more than two decades of litigation, it makes sense to want to go “from an advocate to mutual decision-making,” says the senior trialContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent When current Washington State Supreme Court Justice Steven González began his court appointment in January 2012, he made history as the fourth Jewish judge on the court and the second person of color to serve on it. But now, as he canvasses the state talkingContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews Imagine, said Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, what a symphony would look like to a deaf person: The cello player moving one way, the trumpet players moving another, and a man in front waving a stick. But introduce sound, and this cacophonous picture makesContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews (Olympia, WA) — Citing the state’s anti-SLAPP statute, a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday morning that five Olympia Food Co-op members must pay defendants $160,000 in damages. Judge Thomas McPhee ordered plaintiffs Jeffrey and Susan Trinin, Kent and Linda Davis, andContinue Reading
