By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews     Max Rosencrantz Medin’s parents are excited about his birthdate: 01/02/03. Max, at barely a week old, probably doesn’t care so much about his sequentially numbered birthdate, but he couldn’t be happier about taking the crown of first Jewish baby of the new year.Continue Reading

By Arlene Plevin, Special to JTNews Observing Rosh Hashanah in Taipei, Taiwan reminded me of what I’d forgotten: all over the world, in places other than Baltimore, Tel Aviv, London, New York, and even Seattle, the Jewish people gather to observe and share. The flavor of a place, its customsContinue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent After 47 years of defending and promoting human rights, religious freedom and inter-group relations, Washington State Supreme Court Justice Charles Z. Smith retired on Jan. 1. Anyone who knows Smith, the first minority and African-American justice to sit on the Court, knows this 75-year-old inspirationContinue Reading

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By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent Seattle’s Northend neighborhoods have been taking on more of a Jewish flavor as the community has blossomed. Both the number of Jews living in the area and the scope of businesses and services that have sprouted up to serve them have contributed to a richerContinue Reading

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By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews When the state legislature starts its new session this Monday, the mood will be anything but jovial. With the governor’s new budget proposal looming over their heads and well over $2 billion in cuts, lobbyists and social services will be pushing hard to keep fromContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews One of the first things Rob Horwitz noticed when he arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina last month was how well people were dressed. Yet he and 170 other participants in a nationwide United Jewish Communities mission did not travel to this cosmopolitan world-class city toContinue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent What does Adolf Hitler have in common with Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein, besides a particular brand of brutality? According to Dr. Theodore L. Dorpat’s newly released book, Wounded Monster: Adolf Hitler’s Path From Trauma to Malevolence, (University Press of America, $47), Hitler came fromContinue Reading

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By Manny Frishberg, JTNews Correspondent “I’m not an advocate for Saddam Hussein,” announced Rep. Jim McDermott, as he laid out the reasons he believes the U.S. should not send its army into Iraq. McDermott said to the standing-room-only crowd at Temple Beth Am in Seattle’s Northend, “I think he’s aContinue Reading

By Joshua Runyan; Transcript Acting Editor Joel Magalnick contributed to this report., other PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — Several Jewish groups reacted with “alarm” and “serious disappointment” to President Bush’s executive orders issued Dec. 12 that expands federal funding for faith-based groups. But Orthodox groups hailed them as an important step forward.Continue Reading

By Joshua Runyan; Transcript Acting Editor Joel Magalnick contributed to this report., otherContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent On Sept. 21, American-Israelis Yonnah Ben Levy and her husband Chaim Bezalel opened their own gallery and art center, Stanwood House, in the small town of Stanwood. “It’s a Scandinavian town and here we are, [American] Israelis plunked down in the middle of it,” saidContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent America’s largest Klezmer orchestra, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, will once again visit Seattle’s Benaroya Hall this month. The 11-member group, now in its 22nd season, caters to a diverse audience, performing a mixture of music from the old country to modern jazz and swing. “It’sContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Levitas, on tour to promote his book The Terrorist Next Door (Thomas Dunne Books, 2002, 416 pages) spoke at a joint meeting of the Jewish Federation and at Congregation Beth Shalom on Nov. 26 as a part of Jewish book month. Levitas says another attackContinue Reading

By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews Until recently, West Seattle had only a small but fragmented Jewish community. In October, a new educational center opened to help bring that community together. The Torah Learning Center of West Seattle, under the auspices of Seattle Kollel, opened its doors to the public OctoberContinue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent As mayor of the Gush Etzion region of Israel, Shaul Goldstein is not only a leader, he’s also a businessman, a visionary and by necessity, even a part-time soldier. Goldstein, who has been the mayor of Gush Etzion since 1999, visited Seattle for four daysContinue Reading

By Rita Weinstein, JTNews Correspondent On November 20, Muslims across the world ended Ramadan, their 29-day fast of observance. At the University of Washington, Jewish students joined them in the first-ever “Fast-Food” dinner. The B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation at the University of Washington, along with the Muslim Students Association, jointlyContinue Reading