By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews Since 1892, when it was called the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society and it cared for immigrants, widows and orphans, Jewish Family Service has not had a building it felt it could call its own. JFS’s former home, the Jessie Danz building on CapitolContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Following pressure from possible protestors, a professional workshop scheduled for Thursday between LGBTQ groups in Tacoma and a delegation of representatives from similar groups in Israel was cancelled. A letter posted on Facebook by one protestor suggested the Israeli government was engaging in a “pinkwashing”Continue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent Some might say he’s a big shot in Bulgaria, but the 34-year-old neuro-ophthalmologist and up-and-coming European Jewish communal leader, Dr. Alexander Oscar, unassumingly mingled throughout the crowd, waiting to take the podium at the March meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle’s MaimonidesContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Something happened this year. For the past 10 years, JTNews has brought Royal Wine Distributors to our offices to offer tastings of a selection of kosher-for-Passover wines so we could tell you how your seder table could be elevated above the syrupy sweetness ofContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews Supporters of the Olympia Food Co-op’s boycott of Israeli products rejoiced Monday when Thurston County Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit brought against the store’s board for its July 2010 decision. Judge Thomas McPhee ruled in favor of the defendants’ special motion to strike,Continue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Though the persuasion skills employed at a neighborhood presidential caucus might be as much in play as in a vigorous discussion of Torah, observant Jewish Republicans who like to do both may not have such an opportunity this coming Saturday. The Republican caucus, which afterContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews Nigel Savage has been named one of the most influential 50 Jews in the United States by The Forward, he’s produced two independent British films (Solitaire for 2 and Stiff Upper Lips), and he’s the first English Jew, as far as he knows,Continue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews What’s so exciting about the 1940 census? “There’s really nothing special about this release to make it any more exciting than the 1930 release ten years ago,” according to Stephen Morse, a developer of online tools for genealogy searches. But, he noted, “the anticipation hasContinue Reading
By Edmon J. Rodman, JTA World News Service LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Falling between the giving season of Hanukkah and the getting season of tax refunds, Purim time finds households like mine searching for ways to keep holiday expenses down to earth without losing the mirth. What with the costContinue Reading
By , JTNews Correspondent The Seattle Sephardic Treasures Initiative of the Stroum Jewish Studies Program at the University of Washington, in conjunction with the Seattle Sephardic community, seeks to uncover, collect, preserve, digitize and make accessible the rich heritage of the Sephardic Jews. They are asking for your help. IfContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent Kibbutz Magen, located in the northern Negev about a 90-minute drive from Tel-Aviv, supports itself by exporting crops such as wheat, peanuts, and potatoes. Its most successful and widely distributed product by far, however, are its plastic sunlight absorbers and heat-relay technology used forContinue Reading
By Charlotte Anthony , Special to JTNews On their first stop on a 10-day-tour of college campuses around the Pacific Northwest, two Israelis, one Jewish the other Druze, presented “Israeli Soldiers’ Stories” on Feb. 21 at the University of Washington. Ran Bar-Yoshafat started his presentation with the photo of aContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews As David Serkin-Poole stood among the 100 attendees at the ceremony in Olympia in which Gov. Christine Gregoire signed the bill that legalized same-sex marriage, he said he felt a collective holding of breath until the signature was complete. “There was this moment of anticipation,Continue Reading
By JTA Staff, JTA World News Service (JTA) — Washington’s state Senate approved a bill that would allow families to block autopsies for religious reasons. Under the measure, which passed Feb. 9 by a vote of 46 to 2, families would have 48 hours to register religious objections to anContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Though the conversation about Israel can often hinge on the extremes of one side or the other, there’s a middle that makes up about 70 percent of the population in this country. While there may be plenty who don’t have an interest in talking aboutContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews Nearly two weeks after the facilities manager found a swastika painted on the side of Temple B’nai Torah, Bellevue police don’t have any leads on who vandalized that building or the church across the street. “We have no answer to who did it orContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Assistant Editor, JTNews On the page, noted author Nathan Englander is clear and concise, like each word has been polished and placed alongside the others on a trophy shelf. When he speaks, however, his thoughts come at a pace that could best be described asContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff , Assistant Editor, JTNews On the page, noted author Nathan Englander is clear and concise, like each word has been polished and placed alongside the others on a trophy shelf. When he speaks, however, his thoughts come at a pace that could best be described asContinue Reading
By , JTNews Correspondent For the past five summers, Jewish teens from Hungary and Israel have spent several weeks in the Puget Sound region working at day and overnight camps as well as learning about American Jewish life, Northwest style. For the program to continue, several families are needed toContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent There’s a city, not even a hundred miles north of Seattle, that is home to a rare community of modern Jewish Vikings who hope to expand their numbers — once they move into a new building that will house their growing community. The Viking,Continue Reading
