By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent Land. To some it is nothing more than dirt, a few rivers and maybe some trees. But for many Jews, Muslims and Christians living today in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza is a promised land. Those few square miles of soil hold the destinyContinue Reading

By Joshua Rosenstein, Special to JTNews Celia Kerr, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Washington, traveled to Israel on the most recent Hillel birthright trip this past December. Before the trip, she identified as a Jew and generally supported the idea of Israel, but she did not feel anyContinue Reading

By Dan Aznoff, Special to JTNews Growing up in the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, Miriam Bogoslavsky spent her childhood at the keys of her beloved piano. She hoped the music could somehow drown out the sights and sounds of oppression. Today, she is free toContinue Reading

By Melissa Marlowe, Special to JTNews Michele Blue is seriously contemplating purchasing a tool belt. Ever since stepping onto her first worksite in 1996, she felt it would be a helpful asset to the volunteer work she does; right now, Blue is building her ninth home. A Mercer Island native,Continue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent Before now kids had to go all the way down to Santa Rosa, Calif. — or even farther — just to attend a Reform Jewish summer camp. Beginning in the summer of 2005, that will no longer be the case. With the purchase last monthContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg , JTNews Correspondent George Gordon knew his younger sister was dead. When he was a 14-year-old Jewish resistance fighter in Warsaw, a comrade reported that the hospital Krystyna and their mother were working in had been destroyed, killing everyone inside. So, when as an older man inContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent Jewish bakery Sweet Lorraine’s will serve its last rugelach on Feb. 1. The building at 3055 21st Ave. W in Magnolia that housed both the storefront and production area was sold this month. The new landlord has raised the rent by approximately 60 percent, accordingContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg , JTNews Correspondent These are hard times for commercial real estate in Seattle, which also means harder times for Jewish day schools in the area. The connection between the two is the Samis Foundation, which controls the 500 properties acquired over the years by Samis Land CompanyContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent Government censorship threatens a Jewish theater troupe’s new show in the Washington State premiere of Ernest Joselovitz’s play-within-a-play, Vilna’s Got a Golem at West Seattle’s ArtsWest from Jan. 20-Feb. 7. Upon presenting their new Yiddish play in the Lithuanian town of Vilna in 1899, theContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent What did the chicken say as she crossed the road? What else? Next year, in Jerusalem. That is (an admittedly bad) Jewish joke. Jews have been using humor, like nearly everything else at hand, to cement the community together and hold fast to a commonContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent Maybe it was the Thai food, or perhaps the baby knew what was at stake. Either way, Ezra Asher Leyton Mason wins the prize for the very first baby of the New Year. Little Ezra, at just a week old, has already won the heartsContinue Reading

By Rabbi Moshe Kletenik, Special to JTNews My wife Rivy and I were among some 200 guests invited to the White House Hanukkah Reception on Monday, December 22, 2003. I was also part of a group of 16 Jewish leaders — among them seven rabbis — representing the different movementsContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent The snowstorm that snarled the region on Tuesday did not give any relief to the area’s Jewish agencies. Early morning phone calls, televisions blaring school closures, and empty parking lots at synagogues and other organizations took precedence over normal business activity for the day. OnContinue Reading

By Emily Moore, JTNews Correspondent How many years have Jews from all over the globe created luscious Hanukkah treats, always accented with oil or fried to commemorate the Maccabean miracle of eight days of oil burning in the Temple? Not just during 21 decades — which might seem conceivable —Continue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent In order to accommodate to their growing needs and attract more members, some Seattle Jewish youth groups are adopting new programs and hiring new employees. Young Judaea Young Judaea, a peer-led Zionist youth movement, reopened its Seattle office in September and hired Mindy Katz toContinue Reading

By Melissa Marlowe, Special to JTNews Upon his 2001 graduation from Yale University, Matthew Kerner moved to Seattle to pursue a career at Microsoft. At the time, he had high expectations. “My thoughts were Microsoft will create a life that’s professionally challenging and financially secure,” he says. “I did notContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent The Internet has come to the aid of World War II-era Holocaust victims from Hungary whose possessions were stolen from them twice: first by the Nazis and then by the liberating American army. Shortly before Thanksgiving, the Seattle law firm of Hagens Berman, which filedContinue Reading

By Manny Frishberg, JTNews CorrespondentContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent Norm Chapman has a plan. For however long it takes, he will send books to Israel to help children become proficient in English. He has already gotten started. In the past year, Chapman has sent more than 6,000 books, mostly to the Kiryat Malachi andContinue Reading