By Maayan Jaffe, JNS.org Jews around the world were inspired last month when Arab-Israeli teenager Mohammad Zoabi cloaked himself in an Israeli flag and spoke into a bedroom video camera, “I am an Israeli and will remain an Israeli. Israel will remain a Jewish and a democratic country.” What fewContinue Reading
(JNS.org) Hamas was likely planning a major attack on Israel during Rosh Hashanah using its complex system of tunnels under the Israel-Gaza border, Israeli security sources said. According to the report, Hamas planned to send 200 terrorists at a time through several tunnels to attack several western Negev towns and toContinue Reading
By Uriel Heilman, JTA World News Service (JTA) — Until this latest war, if you asked most Israelis about the threat from Gaza, they would probably start talking about Hamas rockets. But that has changed over the last few days of fighting, for two reasons. One, the much-heralded success ofContinue Reading
By Aaron D. Panken, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) – When the siren sounded, the Rolling Stones’ tortured 1969 track “Gimme Shelter” popped into my head, oddly enough. That haunting song offered a stunning reminder of the endless horrors of war, reawakening a sleepy world with a vividContinue Reading
By Ed Harris Seattle residents like to complain that they never know for sure when summer will finally start. I, however, have a sure-fire technique for picking the last cloudy, overcast, unseasonably cool day of the season: The precise moment we leave town for our annual family vacation. For severalContinue Reading
Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent Rabbi Jessica Yarkin began her love affair with America in her teens when she realized that she was undeniably attracted to its openness, religious freedom, and willingness to accept many religious points of view. So, after making a few family trips here and spending twoContinue Reading
Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent Like many Jewish leaders over the millennia who were called to serve their flocks, it wasn’t always obvious to the two new clergy now on staff at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Rabbis Jaclyn Cohen and Micah Ellenson, that the rabbinate was their destiny. Multi-talented and drawnContinue Reading
Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound Torah Day School has had no shortage of changes and challenges over the past two years, and it has met each one swiftly and, so far, successfully. This fall marks another season of change for the little Orthodox elementary school that could.Continue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound Hamutal Gavish has what will be a busy but important short-term goal: To meet and get to know every family of the 180 or so kids who attend the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle. In the long term, her goals may be aContinue Reading
Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound When Rabbi Shaul Engelsberg moves to Seattle from Detroit next month, he’ll be taking on a new role in the community, but he’s not exactly new. The Orthodox rabbi lived in Seattle from 1994 to 1999, where he taught Judaics at Seattle HebrewContinue Reading
Deborah Gardner, Special to The Jewish Sound In 1997, Adam Rubin was in services at Congregation Beth Shalom listening to Rabbi Dov Gartenberg. Rubin was spending the academic year in Seattle before returning to Los Angeles to finish his Ph.D. in modern Jewish history. He loved the synagogue and theContinue Reading
Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound Rabbi David Lipper believes in the power of storytelling. He tells of a new documentary in which its producers built a large box and filled it with pen, pad, a video camera and one question: What does God mean to you? “Over the course ofContinue Reading
Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent AKIM Israel, Israel’s National Association for the Habilitation of the Mentally Handicapped, and the largest provider of services to the disabled, is now moving hundreds of kids and their families to safer cities in the north of the country to keep them stable and calm. AKIM’sContinue Reading
By Hillel Kuttler, JTA World News Service BALTIMORE (JTA) — Sean Carmeli, a sergeant in the Israeli army, was stationed in Israel’s South awaiting possible orders to enter Gaza. He was exchanging Facebook messages with his friend Ian Benisti, a U.S. Marine reservist who was visiting Israel from California. TheContinue Reading
NEW YORK (JTA) –United, U.S. Airways and Delta Airlines canceled their flights to Tel Aviv after a rocket fired from Gaza struck near the Israeli airport. Delta and United both said they were suspending all flights to Israel until further notice. A spokesman for American Airlines, the parent company of U.S. Airways, told JTA that theContinue Reading
Dikla Tuchman, Jewish Sound Correspondent Hundreds of supporters gathered in downtown Seattle’s Occidental Park Sunday in a solidarity rally in support of the State of Israel. The rally was organized by the Pacific Northwest chapter of Israel advocacy organization StandWithUs and cosponsored by the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah, Sephardic BikurContinue Reading
Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Correspondent “We have been back all of three weeks,” said Rabbi Paul Strasko when we spoke last week. The newly appointed rabbi of north Kitsap’s Congregation Kol Shalom, located on Bainbridge Island, and his wife, Sandra Andrews-Strasko, have returned to the Northwest after living in Europe andContinue Reading
By Uriel Heilman, JTA World News Service (JTA) — Rebecca Scoggin lived in a lot of places growing up: Juneau, Nome, Fairbanks, Homer, Anchorage. But except for the two years she lived in Seattle after high school, she never lived outside Alaska. At least she hadn’t until a few monthsContinue Reading
Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Correspondent Hometown: Eugene, Ore. Favorite book: “I pretty much inhale books — I can’t name a favorite.” Favorite Jewish historical figure: Rabbi Israel Salanter Hidden talent: Able to identify individual breeds in mixed-breed dogs. “It is a gift.” Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg used one leadership transition to createContinue Reading
By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA World News Service DNEPROPETROVSK, Ukraine (JTA) — Anatoly Lazaurenko’s face betrays no emotion as he watches footage of an old woman he used to know lying in the rubble of what once was his home in the war-torn city of Slavyansk. Oblivious to her mangled face,Continue Reading
