Stanford student senate defeats Israel divestment measure
(JTA) — The Stanford University student senate defeated an Israel divestment resolution. On Tuesday night, the Associated Students of Stanford University had nine votes for the measure and five against, with one abstention. But to pass, the measure required 66 percent of the senators to approve and finished with 64Continue Reading
French anti-Semitism watchdog slams Obama for calling deli attack random
(JTA) — A French watchdog on anti-Semitism said President Barack Obama mislabeled the slaying of four Jews near Paris as “random.” Sammy Ghozlan, founder of the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, and a former police commissioner, spoke out against Obama’s assertion Wednesday in an interview with JTA.Continue Reading
Jon Stewart to leave ‘The Daily Show’
(JTA) — Jon Stewart will be stepping down from his post behind the desk of “The Daily Show” later this year, ending a 16-year run. Stewart, 52, announced his plans to leave during Tuesday’s taping of the show, a move that was confirmed by a statement from Comedy Central. AlthoughContinue Reading
Incubating Jewish identity — without leaving the house
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound This is the true story of three to five strangers picked to live in a house to work together for pluralistic and innovative Jewish programming. Moishe House, with 75 houses in 17 countries, is dedicated to bringing Jewish twenty-somethings together in communal living situationsContinue Reading
Netanyahu’s U.S. speech exposes partisan fault lines on Israel
By Ron Kampeas, JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) – The controversy over whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress next month is worrying pro-Israel Democrats about its possible impact on the 2016 elections. Even more worrisome, some Democrats say, are the voter trends underpinning the currentContinue Reading
Netanyahu says speech will go ahead as planned
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is determined to speak to Congress on March 3. “At a time when there are those who would deal with protocol and politics, an agreement with Iran is taking shape in Munich that would risk Israel’s existence,” Netanyahu said onContinue Reading
Rivlin announces project to integrate Arab-Israelis into workforce
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli President Reuven Rivlin launched a project to help integrate Arab-Israelis into the workforce. Rivlin announced the project Sunday during a meeting at the president’s residence in Jerusalem with CEOs and employers involved in the initiative. Days earlier, Rivlin met with the mayors and local council headsContinue Reading
U. of Calif. student group votes to divest from Israel, U.S.
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The University of California Student Association passed two resolutions urging the university to divest from several countries, including Israel, the United States and Mexico. On Sunday, the association’s board of directors cited human rights violations in several countries in backing measures that urged the University ofContinue Reading
Muslim teacher quits French Muslim school citing anti-Semitism, radicalism
(JTA) — A Muslim teacher said he resigned from a French private high school for Muslims because of rampant anti-Semitism and radicalism among his students. Soufiane Zitouni, a former philosophy teacher at the Averroes high school in Lille, in northern France, revealed his reasons for quitting five months after startingContinue Reading
Tunisian again quits tennis tourney before facing Israeli
(JTA) — A Tunisian tennis player who withdrew from a 2013 match rather than face an Israeli quit a match in France with an Israeli opponent up next. Malek Jaziri cited an elbow injury for his withdrawal Feb. 4 from the Open Sud de France after winning the first setContinue Reading
Slain journalists Foley and Sotloff honored in memory of Daniel Pearl
(JTA) — James Foley and Steven Sotloff, American journalists who were killed by ISIS, were honored with an award in memory of the murdered Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl. The ADL Daniel Pearl Award was presented to the parents of Foley and Sotloff last Friday during the organization’s National Executive CommitteeContinue Reading
Le’Or aims to put marijuana legalization on the Jewish agenda
By Rebecca Spence, JTA World News Service (JTA) — “You know, it’s a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob, what is the matter with them?” That was President Richard Nixon speakingContinue Reading
A letter to our community
Dear readers, Over the past several years, we have watched as the world has shifted from consuming its news in print to online. At the same time, the Jewish Federation has been questioning whether the best vehicle for community outreach and communications would be through a print newspaper such asContinue Reading
What will you do for the Jewish people?
By Rabbi Shaul Engelsberg, Derech Emunah Seattle Jewish Girls High School My wife’s grandfather, Mordechai Szimonowitz, survived World War II. When the Nazis forced all the Jews of Budapest, Hungary to move into the ghetto, Zeide — as we called him — was able to procure false identification papers andContinue Reading
A Bar Mitzvah of sorts • Teaching Torah at a Jesuit school
By Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Columnist Think of it as a Bar or Bat Mitzvah of sorts: This Sunday, Rabbi Jay and Janine Rosenbaum of Mercer Island’s Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation will be honored for 13 years of service at the congregation’s Legacy Brunch. “In our tradition we look atContinue Reading
Hey Mom, it doesn’t matter if you can’t carry a tune — sing anyway!
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Columnist Most mothers know that singing to their baby can be a special time between mother and child and that they don’t have to sound like Barbra Streisand or Taylor Swift to do it. But if your new bundle of joy was born prematurely, as,Continue Reading
Wendy Bensussen and John Lefor
Wendy Bensussen had all but given up dating when John Lefor sent her a message on JDate. “‘What the heck,’” she had said. “‘I’ll just respond.’” They went on their first date last November, and Wendy planned, as usual, to get there first and sit at the end of theContinue Reading
Zach and Corinne Stroum
For Zach and Corinne Stroum, the local Jewish community was central to their relationship. “We used to go to a lot of Jconnect events together,” says Corinne. “It framed all of our dates.” They attended a class for engaged couples offered by Hillel at the University of Washington, which “gotContinue Reading
Clarinetist Anat Cohen brings ruach to music, and Seattle
By Gigi Yellen Kohn, Jewish Sound Correspondent With some 20 albums to her name, countless awards and glowing reviews from festivals, clubs and concerts worldwide, jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen’s work as bandleader, soloist, and “sideman” is as influential as a music career can be. Born and raised in the 1960sContinue Reading