By Dikla Tuchman, JTNews Correspondent People in recovery typically don’t associate the Twelve-Step program with Judaism. Rabbi Rami Shapiro would argue otherwise. Shapiro has spent decades working with the concepts of Judaism and spirituality and their applications to our daily lives. While also a practicing spiritual leader, he brings hisContinue Reading
By Dikla Tuchman , JTNews Correspondent Seattle Hebrew Academy parent Jo Kershaw cares about the environment. But her passion for being green goes beyond recycling and composting — she saw a way to improve the environmental impact on her children’s school and made it happen. This month, SHA will receiveContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews The idea is that if you send it, they will come. What’s being sent, about 1,500 children’s books to local Jewish families, has been an unqualified success, according to Rosalie Eisen, director of community development for PJ Library, a program of the Massachusetts-based HaroldContinue Reading
By Charlene Kahn , JTNews Correspondent A once-vibrant part of Seattle Jewish history has drawn to a close. The Jewish Club of Washington, organized by Holocaust-era German Jewish refugees over 70 years ago, held its final meeting April 24 at The Summit at First Hill retirement community. At its highContinue Reading
By Dikla Tuchman , JTNews Correspondent There is no doubt about it: The Jewish landscape in American is changing. Whether consciously or not, every generation of Jews faces the issue of how the younger generations of American Jewry are connecting — or not connecting — with Jewish life. Dr. StevenContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent At the age of 35, Gil Hoffman is one of the top journalists in Israel. But the chief political correspondent and analyst for the Jerusalem Post is not your average seasoned Mideast political commentator. Raised in Chicago by Israeli parents, he is also asContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Social-service agencies often hold their breath at the end of each legislative session, hoping their programs won’t be cut in that year’s budget. This year was even more of a nail-biter given the surprise special sessions that pushed lawmakers into all-night budget negotiations. InContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent On April 17, Dr. Peretz Lavie flew nearly 7,000 miles to Seattle. The president of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology spent a few hours in town, had dinner, then flew back to his post in Israel, but not before awarding Olympia philanthropist Hal MarcusContinue Reading
By Dikla Tuchman , JTNews Correspondent Gershom Gorenberg identifies himself as “a left-wing, skeptical Orthodox Zionist Jew.” Yet, others might simply describe him as a journalist who encourages congestive dissonance. Gorenberg has worked as an associate editor of The Jerusalem Report and has contributed features and commentary on politics, religionContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews William Kronblatt was the lucky kid to find the afikomen. His sister Melissa also took part in the search. During the migration of Soviet Jews to the United States in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, thousands settled throughout the Puget Sound. In the ensuing years,Continue Reading
By , JTNews Correspondent Then the voice of the Divine called out, “who shall I send, who shall go for us?” And I replied, “here am I. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8) As Jews, we have a special obligation to not separate ourselves from the community. From biblical times to today,Continue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Assistant Editor, JTNews Uriel Cohen was substituting for a Sephardic Religious School class at the Stroum Jewish Community Center one day when, while reviewing the Shema prayer, he reached “…and you should write [these words] on your doorposts and your gates” — the origin ofContinue Reading
By Charlene Kahn , Special to JTNews The plotlines of a political thriller are all contained within the complex, tangled web of the modern Middle East and its often misunderstood history. For three weeks, Resat Kasaba, director of the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, discussedContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent Traveling to the community meeting at a downtown Westlake Ave. venue on the subject of ending poverty in Seattle was a feat of strategic proportions — due to construction, closed streets, and congestion over massive Seattle Center renovations that signal the upcoming high-priced upgradesContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNewsContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews Passover begins on the evening of Friday, April 6 this year. If you don’t yet have a place to go, many local synagogues and organizations will be hosting seders on both Friday and Saturday night, plus a few alternative seders and gatherings thatContinue Reading
By Tim Klass , JTNews Correspondent Irit Zvieli-Efrat, head of an Israeli lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender information clearinghouse called Hoshen, doesn’t mind being asked about “pinkwashing.” What she can’t comprehend is how gay activists in Tacoma — and, even more, a municipal LGBT advisory panel in Seattle — couldContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Assistant Editor, JTNews Meet Adam Kipust, baker, philanthropist and rising star in the food world. He’s 10 years old. Adam never expected his love of his grandmother’s apple cake would lead to a featured video on allrecipes.com. The clip has already been viewed over 5,000Continue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Admit it. It has been a hard week. The last thing you want to do is come home and make a nice Shabbat dinner, especially the fresh-from-the-oven challah your family expects. But your family expects it. That’s something Sharon Smith Elsayed recognized, and onceContinue Reading
By Diana Brement , JTNews Correspondent It actually was a dark and stormy night when Michael “Mikey” Weinstein launched his book tour at Lake Forest Park’s Third Place Books. Despite the Monday night storm, about 20 people came to hear the founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) explainContinue Reading
