The power of community service
By Emma Graham In BBYO, the unspoken rules of high school do not apply. All are welcome, and everyone is made to feel important and included. In this environment, weekly meetings and events become outlets for teens who shy away from raising their hands in class or joining school clubs.Continue Reading
Miriam Bacharach Cory and Rose Susan Bacharach Palmieri
Cousins Miriam and Rose will celebrate their Bat Mitzvah together June 20, 2015 at Temple Beth Am in Seattle. Miriam is the daughter of Julia Bacharach and Dan Cory of Seattle and the sister of Ariana. Rose is the daughter of Debby Bacharach and John Palmieri of Seattle and theContinue Reading
Sophia Mariel Lazarus
Sophie will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on April 18, 2015, at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation. Sophie is the daughter of Patty and Jonathan Lazarus, and the sister of Jake and Micah Lazarus. Her grandparents are Joseph and Maryellen Eastern of Woodinville, Earl Lazarus of Mercer Island, the late Merielle Eastern, andContinue Reading
Lauren Rachel Harris
Lauren will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on March 28, 2015 at Temple Beth Am in Seattle. Lauren is the daughter of Jess and Judi Harris of Kirkland and the sister of Aliza. Her grandparents are Don and Alice Schindel of Highland Park, Ill., Joyce Harris of Atlanta, Ga., and theContinue Reading
Gabrielle Lynn Kadish
Gabrielle will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on March 28, 2015 at Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Bellevue. Gabrielle is the daughter of Deb and Marc Kadish of Issaquah and the sister of Elana. Her grandparents are Judy and Norm Rosenbloom of Portland, Ore., and Susi and Ira Kadish of Seattle.Continue Reading
Nazi refuge discovered in Argentine jungle, archaeologist says
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — A team of archaeologists and researchers discovered what they believe was a refuge for Nazis in an Argentine forest near the border with Paraguay. It is believed that the Nazis prepared the hideout in the first half of the 1940s as a place to fleeContinue Reading
White House: Looking to next Israeli government to recommit to two states
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama administration said it would look to the new Israeli government to recommit itself to the two-state solution. “We will look to the next Israeli government to match words with actions and policies that demonstrate a genuine commitment to a two-state solution,” Denis McDonough, the WhiteContinue Reading
Cruz, announcing presidential bid, says he’ll stand unapologetically with Israel
(JTA) — Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas criticized President Barack Obama’s relationship with Israel while announcing his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. “Instead of a president who boycotts Prime Minister Netanyahu, imagine a president who stands unapologetically with Israel,” Cruz said during his announcement Monday at LibertyContinue Reading
Israel chides ‘absurd’ censure by U.N. women’s panel
(JTA) — Israel slammed a U.N. commission’s resolution blaming “the Israeli occupation” for the lack of advancement of Palestinian women in their society. The resolution passed Friday by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is “politically motivated, factually disconnected and morally flawed,” Israeli diplomat Nelly Shiloh said inContinue Reading
Netanyahu facing challenges, criticism from Jewish liberals
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) – With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing escalating criticism and pressure from the White House, he could use some help from Israel’s erstwhile allies in the American Jewish community — especially those with sway in liberal and Democratic circles. But severalContinue Reading
On election night, remembering when Israelis loved Iran
By Julie Wiener, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — While Israel’s election results were still rolling in, one predominantly Jewish audience in New York was watching Israelis talk about Iran. But the Israelis in the documentary screened Tuesday night at the Center for Jewish History weren’t addressing theContinue Reading
Lavie Tidhar brings together unlikely mix of Jews, zombies and aliens
By Beth Kissileff, JTA World News Service (JTA) — Forget Iran and anti-Semitism. Lavie Tidhar and British fantasy author Rebecca Levene’s newly released short-story anthologies “Jews Versus Aliens” and “Jews Versus Zombies” (both published by Jurassic London, with all profits going to MOSAC, a British group that assists victims ofContinue Reading
For Passover, a clergy couple’s vegetarian seder menu
By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Vegetarian food brought Cantor Jenna Greenberg and Rabbi Josh Ginsberg together. The two met as students at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, when a classmate organized a singles dinner at a kosher vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown. Greenberg had become a vegetarianContinue Reading
Scrambled egg potato muffins for a kid-friendly Passover breakfast
By Shannon Sarna, Kveller.com Passover is bad enough without having to feed your kids, too. And breakfast during Passover can be pretty tricky: No toast, no oatmeal, no (palatable) cereal, and no traditional syrup-drenched pancakes. Aside from making matzoh brei every day, the options are somewhat limited for American kids.Continue Reading
The sparks of a radiant tomorrow
By Rabbi Olivier BenHaim, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue Our tradition assumes the possibility of four different levels of interpretation to any text, from the literal to the esoteric. One of these levels, the allegorical level, allows us to understand our Biblical stories as universal archetypes relating to the human spiritualContinue Reading
Marking the passage from slavery to freedom
By Dasee Berkowitz, JTA World News Service JERUSALEM (JTA) — Transitions are never easy. You decide to leave one place you know for unfamiliar territory. You don’t feel quite like yourself (and probably won’t for a while). You try to act like everything is fine even though you know thatContinue Reading
March of the Living: My journey
By Michal Lotzkar, Special to the Jewish Sound I went on a trip to Israel a few months ago. I had been to Israel many times before, and each time I travelled there by way of a different route. This time I traveled to Israel via Auschwitz, on the MarchContinue Reading
A Passover feast: Where eggs and lemons meet fish
By Shelley Adatto-Baumgarten, Jewish Sound Columnist Growing up Jewish-Turkish in Seattle, the eight-day festival of Passover was quite meaningful to me. Celebrating the flight from bondage in Egypt to liberation translated into a lot of holiday preparation. The Sephardim from Turkey were committed to the rules of grand hospitality andContinue Reading
It’s Jewish Seattle’s moment — let’s grab on and take advantage
By David Chivo, Special to The Jewish Sound Our “mirror, mirror on the wall” moment has arrived. The Jewish Federation’s 2014 Greater Seattle Community Study provides a comprehensive picture of what Jewish life in Puget Sound looks like. Do we like what we see? Here are five observations to consider:Continue Reading
Passover and the Promised Land
By Rita Berman Frischer, Special to The Jewish Sound The Hebrew people may have schlepped on foot for 40 years, but modern transportation has updated traveling to and through the Promised Land. Kar-Ben Publishing marks this year’s Festival of Freedom, Passover, by featuring “Engineer Ari” and his intrepid train asContinue Reading