Volume 50, Issue 10

The Clay Tower low-income residential facility, which was sold by Harsch Investments of Portland in December for $30 million to Cedar Sinai Park, the Jewish senior care and living facility in Southwest Portland, was formally renamed Rose Schnitzer Tower at a celebration Jan. 14 at the downtown Portland highrise.

The b’nai mitzvah project of two Portland children has evolved into a national effort to reduce pain felt by children undergoing cancer treatments at Israel’s largest medical center.

Andy Howard’s homecoming to Portland couldn’t get much sweeter.

JERUSALEM (JTA)—With its focus on strengthening the moderate Arab coalition against Iran, President Bush’s tour of the Persian Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia and Egypt could prove extremely significant for Israel.

Barenboim gets Palestinian citizenship

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The controversial Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim received honorary Palestinian citizenship. Barenboim, a world-renowned pianist and conductor whose left-wing activism has sometimes raised hackles in the Jewish state, was issued a Palestinian Authority passport over the weekend.

New Holocaust diary on sale in France

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The war diary of a Jewish woman living in occupied Paris arrives in French bookstores this month.

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA)—The American Jewish Congress is ramping up its protest against Ms. magazine’s rejection of its pro-Israel ad.

While the Jews of Kenya seem unscathed by the country’s political crisis, Jewish nongovernmental agencies that work there and elsewhere in Africa are bracing for the long-term effects of the sudden outbreak of violence.

The Young Judaea Winter Camp at Shaarie Torah was so successful that plans already are under way to repeat it during winter break next year.

A diverse group of 35 campers, from several synagogues as well as unaffiliated families, participated in four days of activities and projects focusing on Israel.

Talmudist, Kabbalist, genealogist, magician and author Arthur Kurzweil considers himself something of a Jewish King Midas.

Under the leadership of Interim Executive Director Marian Fenimore, Jewish Family and Child Service has embarked on a strategic planning process “to determine where we are and where we want to be going to determine what we want to seek in a director.”

Congregation Kesser Israel is finally home.

The historic congregation’s new synagogue in the center of Portland’s Jewish community opened its doors for Shabbat services during Hanukkah, and will celebrate its grand opening and dedication on Sunday, Jan. 27, with the participation of two national Jewish leaders.

Portlanders are invited to begin celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary by experiencing Israel without leaving Portland.

Even before moving into Moishe House as its third housemate, Jeremy Rogers, 26, has brought his own twist to the events the house will offer each month for young Jewish adults.

More than 220 people turned out for Heebonism Dec. 24 at the Ace Hotel—a Chinese dinner and party for young Jewish adults.

The party was organized by Young Jews on the Come Up, with financial support from The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and Ace Hotel.

Tu B’Shvat, the New Year of the Trees, resonates in environmentally conscious Oregon, where Portlanders celebrate with activities for all ages, although the original purpose of the holiday has long since passed.

Portland biographer and photographer Carole Glauber, whose 1997 book “Witch of Kodakery: The Photography of Myra Albert Wiggins, 1869-1956” was hailed as ground-breaking and provocative

Capturing the entire history of Jews in America within one book is impossible. Fortunately, this does not stop good historians from trying.

Sephardic singer, composer and conductor Cantor Ramón Tasat will perform Fiesta Sefarad at Congregation Neveh Shalom at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 2.

Performance artist and writer Miriam Feder returns to Hipbone Studio in Portland next month with a new one-woman show.

Portland Jewish Academy “is looking to move to the next level of excellence” with its move to become an International Baccalaureate school in primary and middle school.

Parashat Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) is read each year on Shabbat Shira, which celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea during the Exodus from Egypt.

Impact grant requests sought

Applications for Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Innovation Impact Grants are due 5 p.m. March 17.

This year the annual telethon for the local Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is off to a great start before the first phone rings.

On Jan. 27, volunteers will be calling Melton alumni and past supporters to solicit support for the program that provides adult Jewish literacy in two years. This year, for the first $5,000, every dollar pledged will be doubled thanks to a generous matching grant from an anonymous donor.

Since Charles Darwin shook the world in 1859 with his book, “On the Origin of Species,” and his theory of evolution, debate has raged over how to reconcile scientific teachings with classical religious thought regarding when and how humans first appeared on Earth.

Sum Fun Juz, the third annual Dec. 24 party for young Jewish adults, drew 162 people for an evening of music, comedy and kosher snacks.

Portland’s traditional first-Thursday celebration of art gallery openings will include a new show at the Oregon Jewish Museum.

On Thursday, Feb. 7, the OJM will open an exhibit of works by the 12 members of ORA, a local Jewish arts group for women. The museum will host a reception that evening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Wouldn't it seem strange if you heard that mystics had transformed April 15, income tax day, into a festival for celebrating God’s re-emergence? Yet that is what the kabbalists of Safed did in the 16th century when they re-created Tu B’Shevat.

Spanning three nights, six hours and 350 years, the PBS series “The Jewish Americans,” which began airing on Jan. 9, is an ambitious project by any measure. And yet, despite the swath it cuts through the January TV schedule, it is not a program of lasting significance.

The Jerusalem Post claims that the key to resolving the Israeli-Arab conflict is the statement made by President Bush on Jan. 10: “The agreement must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people.”

I returned to Eugene Jan. 7 after having spent a week on the Gulf Coast as a participant in Oregon Hillel’s Alternative Winter Break Program, in which we took one small step toward helping to rebuild New Orleans.

JERUSALEM (JTA)—A right-wing party delivered Ehud Olmert the most overt domestic rebuke yet to his attempts to seek a peace deal with the Palestinians by quitting the prime minister’s coalition government.

JAFFA, Israel (JTA)—Meadow Soprano, Jewish?

“Everyone assumes I’m Italian,” says Jamie Lynn Sigler, 26, with a sigh, pausing over her hummus lunch at the open-air market in Jaffa, one of the stops on her birthright Israel tour. “Even kids on the trip keep asking, 'Are you Jewish?’”

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Digital technology will allow Holocaust survivors, researchers and others access to one of the largest troves of Nazi-era documents—but at a pen-and-paper pace.

LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Two films with Jewish themes were nominated for Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category.

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Despite international and Arab protests, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has indicated Israel will keep up its pressure on the Gaza Strip.

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Efforts to turn American Jews against the presidential aspirations of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) have elicited a stinging protest from a diverse group of Jewish organizations.

BOCA RATON, Fla. (JTA)—As Florida voters prepared to cast the final ballots before the 24 state primaries and caucuses slated for Feb.

I have come here to discuss the future. I do not intend to avoid serious, in-depth and responsible discussion on what has occurred, on what has failed and primarily on what was achieved. This discussion has its place, and I will take part in it as I promised—without cover-up, without vagueness and without evasion.

I have come here to discuss the future. I do not intend to avoid serious, in-depth and responsible discussion on what has occurred, on what has failed and primarily on what was achieved.