By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews Leaders of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle allocated a total of $5.9 million to Jewish causes here and abroad for fiscal year 2002 — about $150,000 more than was allocated in fiscal 2001. The $5,917,040 allocated makes up the bulk of pledges fromContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent More than 200 attended a Torah dedication at Sephardic Bikur Holim and Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath on July 1, when Mark Birulin and his sister Gloria presented a new Torah to Seattle Hebrew Academy. The Orthodox Jewish day school had an older Torah, which has beenContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent After 34 years at Northwest Harvest, Executive Director Ruth Velozo is retiring at the end of this month. She says she will listen to God to show her where he wants her next: “There is still much to be done.” Hundreds of people crowding Seattle’sContinue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent The Jewish Studies Program at the University of Washington has set its sights on two areas of research that play to the strengths of the Pacific Northwest and that they hope will establish the department as a premier Jewish academic and research destination. With theContinue Reading

By Jessica Davis, JTNews Correspondent The Seattle Jewish Chapel has its first permanent home in more than two years, following the dedication at the end of June of the Mel Wolf Tahara, where the Jewish traditions for preparing a body for burial will be performed. The new building, which isContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews Talk to the people who knew and loved Herb Rosen and you may begin to form the mistaken impression that he worked in the construction industry. But Rosen, who died June 19 at age 79, did not construct buildings with his hands; he formedContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews When Rabbi Earl Starr sat down to reminisce recently about his 30 years at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, one of the first things he did after taking a sip of tea was to make a joke about gathering information for his obituary. For aContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews During a year when many saw the impacts of an economic downturn, the Jewish community dug deep to pledge more than $9 million to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle’s 2001 Community Campaign. The total of $9,040,000 fell short of the $10 million goalContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews Gary Pollock says his 17th year as director of the Stroum Jewish Community Center will be his last. He has decided to move on to new career challenges after his contract expires this December. “For a long time, there have been people out ofContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Over the past six years, many JDS students in grades 5—8 have chosen to spend a wintery Sunday morning taking either the PLUS or SAT test as part of the Johns Hopkins University National Talent Search. Students scoring in the 97th percentile or above onContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Eight JDS students in grades 2—5 will join hundreds of other students in a three-week summer program sponsored by the Bellevue School District. Operation Exploration, now in its 25th year, provides an opportunity for students to stretch their abilities through accelerated academics and higher level,Continue Reading

By Abigail Brown, Special to JTNews Ninety students and twenty-somethings from Seattle or Hillel Foundation for Jewish Campus Life at the University of Washington will tour Israel, are participating in Birthright Israel trips this June. This Birthright trip will be the first free10-day trip for the constituents of Hillel atContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion ordained Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, a native of Tacoma, and Rabbis Laurie Rice and Philip Rice, who are moving to the Seattle area, at the end of May. Rabbi Norman Cohen, acting President of HUC-JIR, ordained 31 rabbis andContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews NEW YORK — Late last month, the Mandel Foundation convened the third assembly of a new tier of senior professionals in Jewish education. Thirty-five alumni of the Teacher Educator Institute (TEI) met to exchange the most innovative approaches to the professional development of teachers inContinue Reading

By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent The prophet Isaiah exhorted: “All of your children shall be taught of the Lord.” Some rabbinic scholars say that the word in Hebrew translated as “your children” can also be interpreted as the Hebrew word for builder, implying that Jewish children need Jewish education toContinue Reading

By Lorraine Sidell, Special to JTNews There were more than a few misty eyes among those gathered to escort the newly acquired Torah into The Summit on First Hill. On a recent balmy spring evening, a group of Summit residents — along with other interested Jewish community members — assembledContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews The American Jewish Press Association presented The Jewish Transcript with a first-place honor in its Simon Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism at the organization’s annual meeting in Denver earlier this month. And during the American Jewish Press Association’s business meeting, new officers wereContinue Reading

By Donna Gordon Blankinship, Editor, JTNews Washington state residents who survived the Holocaust are tired of waiting. Despite well-publicized announcements of compensation settlements, survivors are becoming increasingly skeptical about ever receiving a penny. With patience waning and their numbers dwindling, a group of local survivors have decided to form aContinue Reading

By , Special to JTNews On May 20, the Jewish Club of Washington held its annual election meeting and at the same time celebrated Klaus Stern’s 80th birthday. Klaus was president of the club for many years and was honored for his devoted service. The club started right after WorldContinue Reading