By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews More than two years after leaving her job as the Jewish Federation’s first professional lobbyist in Olympia, Randi Abrams is returning to the work of Jewish community advocacy, but this time she’ll be in the other Washington. At the start of 2002, Abrams willContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews After Sept. 11, we all searched for concrete ways to help people in New York and Washington heal. While most of us donated money, second graders at the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle wanted to make a more personal connection. They used wordsContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews King County Executive Ron Sims’ November memo reminding his workforce to remember religious diversity this holiday season was nothing out of the ordinary in politically correct Seattle. But the telephone calls and e-mail response from people across the country — mostly from outside KingContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Jewish Day School defeats Seattle Hebrew Academy in boys’ basketball The Jewish Day School narrowly defeated the Seattle Hebrew Academy Nov. 19 in the first of two meetings in boys’ basketball. Allon Freiman led all scorers for JDS with 14 points. Andrew Schwartz contributed nineContinue Reading

By Amirav Davy, Special to JTNews For decades Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath Synagogue members Gustav and Ruth Samter have hosted students at their Seward Park home. The Samters will be honored at the BCMH 110th anniversary dinner at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 16 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The past 10Continue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent Less than a year after opening, The Summit at First Hill, the first independent and assisted living complex serving seniors in the Jewish community, is 95 percent full, a big improvement over the industry average of two years to fill a new senior apartment building.Continue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Entrepreneur and philanthropist Alex Shulman, who bought and sold many businesses during his career, has died at age 89. Shulman was born in Seattle to Minnie and Abe Shulman on March 8, 1912. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Minsk via NewContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews JCC President Paul Etsekson says he has been amazed at the community response to a series of financial and organizational challenges that hit the Stroum Jewish Community Center this year. “I believe that the problems we’ve had have sort of captured the imagination ofContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Jewish Family Service will once again conduct its popular Hanukkah Tzedakah drive. Through the generosity of the community, many people who would not experience the joy of Hanukkah are remembered with gifts and greetings. It’s a simple matching program. Carol Mullin, JFS director of EmergencyContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Like many others in the greater Seattle area, Yechezkel Rapoport and his wife Ora make their living as computer professionals. By day it’s all about data and HTML. But when they’re not on the clock at Microsoft, Yecheskel and Ora spend their time voluntarily organizingContinue Reading

By Josefin Kanin, Special to JTNews In 1999, the JCC Association began an ambitious project to establish Young Judaea groups as endorsed programs at Jewish community centers nationwide. The Stroum Jewish Community Center of Greater Seattle was among the first to take on this challenge. Last year, the JCC offeredContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent About 60 students gave the enthusiastic Rabbi Sholom Ber Levitin of Chabad-Lubavitch their full attention at Seattle Prep School’s comparative religion class on Nov. 7. Levitin talked about what it is like to be a rabbi and a Jew. He also spoke about having theContinue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent Congregation Kol Shalom, a growing Reform congregation on Bainbridge Island, has welcomed a new, part-time rabbi into its community to lead them in worship, education and spiritual growth. In her new and second career as a rabbi, Cindy G. Enger combines her six years ofContinue Reading

By Sarah Shay, Special to JTNews All men have hobbies. Some fish, some garden, some collect antiques. My father, Robert Shay, runs the largest Jewish video collection in the United States. “The Jewish Education Council of New York’s collection is actually larger,” he admits, “but their collection includes many non-JewishContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent “In light of recent national events and as the youngest Holocaust survivors generation approaches, the desire to share information and perspectives has elevated,” said the Frye Art Museum’s Art Director Richard V. West about the “Witness & Legacy” exhibit currently on display at the museum.Continue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Nearly 350 people gave back-to-back standing ovations at a American Jewish Committee salute to John Rindlaub, president of Bank of America, Northwest Region, on Nov. 10, at the Four Seasons in Seattle. Business and community leaders turned out to honor Rindlaub, who received the AJC’sContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews After serving seven years as executive director of the Va’ad HaRabanim of Greater Seattle, David Grashin will be leaving the Va’ad effective the beginning of 2002. Grashin was instrumental in helping to establish the organization, which oversees issues relating to halacha (Jewish law) that affectContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Fielding a new interscholastic sports team at any school usually means starting out with a loser. But that’s not how things went at Seattle Hebrew Academy for its newest team. Two months ago, a group of 13 girls, most of whom knew nothing about volleyball,Continue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Dina Elikan, MSW/ACSW, the new director of Senior Services at Jewish Family Service, says her 97-year-old grandmother, who still lives independently, is her role model for senior living and one of the reasons Dina chose this career direction. “The most common response to why peopleContinue Reading