Another voice for Israel in Seattle
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound Reut Cohen knows what it feels like to be a minority. The Mizrachi Israeli grew up in Kiryat Haim, a suburb of Haifa, in a family that struggled economically. In high school, she came out of the closet. “The Israeli society isContinue Reading
Divestment debate comes to the UW
By Emily K. Alhadeff Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound On April 15, as Jewish students were celebrating the first day of Passover, a resolution was introduced to the University of Washington student senate calling on the university to divest from corporations that do business with Israel. Resolution 20-39 calls upon theContinue Reading
Electronic ‘guide dog’ being developed by Israeli students
Three undergraduates from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Technion in Israel are developing an electronic guide dog for the blind. The students came up with the idea when one of them, Tzahi Simkin, saw a blind man struggling to cross the street. Simkin along with his two colleagues areContinue Reading
First Jewish boat to set sail in Amsterdam gay pride parade
Amsterdam’s 18-year-old annual Pride Canal Parade will include, for the first time ever this year, a Jewish boat, which Monday, got the thumbs up from British actor Stephen Fry. The Jewish boat is scheduled to make waves on Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht canal on August 2. The ship was one of about 80Continue Reading
School district to revise essay assignment arguing whether Holocaust happened
(JTA) — A California school district said it will change an eighth-grade assignment that asked students to argue whether or not the Holocaust happened. The writing assignment for eighth graders in the Rialto Unified School District asked students to write an argumentative essay about the Holocaust in which they mustContinue Reading
Finding heroes: Bellevue veteran compiles database of Jewish military yahrzeits
By Marilyn Corets, Special to the Jewish Sound Following the death of my mother, Roberta, on May 9, 2011, my father, Ellis Corets, started to dedicate his time to remembering American Jewish military members who never returned home from overseas combat. A Korean War veteran, now 82 years old, DadContinue Reading
Bringing back bakashot: Young Sephardic Jews embrace an old musical tradition
By Talia Bloch, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — The group of young Jewish professionals had gathered to participate in the revival of a Sephardic tradition hearkening back to the days of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Arriving at an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, they greeted eachContinue Reading
How we learn how to give back
By Austin Matloff, Special to the Jewish Sound J-Team is an innovative, hands-on program that introduces Jewish teens in the Seattle area to the field of charitable giving. In the early fall of each year, any Jewish high school student in the Seattle area is eligible to apply to beContinue Reading
Meet the star: The “other” Jewish musical comes to the stage
By Erin Pike, Jewish Sound Correspondent Sarah Rose Davis stars as Fanny Bryce in Village Theatre’s upcoming production of “Funny Girl.” The Jewish Sound spoke with Davis about the part. Jewish Sound: Are you excited to be playing this role? Sarah Davis: I am! I haven’t yet had the timeContinue Reading
Jewish groups voice disappointment with Supreme Court decision
In a 5-4 decision handed down on Monday, the US Supreme Court reversed a lower appeals court decision in favor of a lawsuit brought by Susan Galloway (Jewish) and Linda Stephens (Atheist) in the upstate New York city of Greece. The plaintiffs held that the prayers should be nonsectarian, which the conservativeContinue Reading
Life’s worst disruptions: An interrupted sleep
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent It’s happened to all of us. Whether we drank too much coffee before bedtime, ate too much rich or spicy food, exercised too close to lights out, or consumed too much alcohol, we toss and turn, and maybe fall asleep for a while beforeContinue Reading
Be quiet? Not a chance!
By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, Jewish Sound Columnist Dear Rivy, I can barely contain myself. I just read the article by Paul Greenberg, “Holocaust Day Again” — posted all over the Internet. It is revolting on so many levels. Here is what he writes: Another year, another Holocaust Day — justContinue Reading
Israel’s marriage blacklist said to break privacy laws
By Ben Sales, JTA World News Service JERUSALEM (JTA) — When she decided to split up from her husband, she went before an Orthodox rabbinical court and, after two perfunctory hearings and little discussion, received a religious writ of divorce. It was only months later that the woman learned thatContinue Reading
Israeli Declaration of Independence published in US papers
Today, readers can find the full reprinted text of the Israeli Declaration of Independence from 1948 when opening the New York Times or USA Today. The full-page ad was funded by The Helmsley Charitable Trust and appeared in both paper’s Monday editions on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut). Continue Reading
Israeli population rises to 8.18 million
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Days before Israel’s 66th Independence Day, the Israeli population reached 8.18 million people, according to a report by the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics. This is more than 10 times the size of the population (806,000) when independence was declared in 1948. Israel’s Jewish population numbers aboutContinue Reading
Spring is in the air, and so is picnic time
By Michael Natkin, Jewish Sound Columnist This salad is great to have in your back pocket for those potlucks and picnics that are starting to pop up on your calendar. It is easy to make, light and healthy, and packed with flavor that adults will love, but manageable for kidsContinue Reading
Brooklyn couple rescues raccoon
Local Brooklyn blog reported today that a couple found a baby raccoon trapped within their apartment walls. When the couple realized the animal was reachable, they hammered through the wall and rescued the creature. The next day, the raccoon was collected by (and we’re not making this up) the NiceContinue Reading
Sapling from Anne Frank’s tree planted on U.S. Capitol
JNS.org A sapling grown from the original tree that stood outside the hiding place of Holocaust teenage diarist Anne Frank was planted on the U.S. Capitol’s west front lawn. Frank wrote about the original tree in her diary. “Our chestnut tree is in full blossom,” Frank wrote on May 13,Continue Reading
Presidents Conference rejects J Street’s membership bid
WASHINGTON (JTA) — J Street failed to gain admission to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The vote of Presidents Conference members Wednesday was 17 in favor, 22 against and three abstentions, according to four sources. “This is a sad day for us, but also for theContinue Reading