Volume 51, Issue 4

On Nov. 5, the Oregon Area Jewish Committee will present its prestigious Judge Learned Hand Lifetime Achievement Award to Brian Booth of Tonkon Torp LLP.   read more »

In this age when stand-up comedians have run out of things to say that can embarrass us, when seemingly nothing is unsayable, there remains a deep, stifling, pervasive silence concerning a political belief.

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1968 marked a turning point in Brett Morgen’s life, along with hundreds of thousands of other Americans. But he wasn’t fighting in Vietnam, or protesting the war at home.  read more »

Humorist David Sedaris will speak at Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Oct. 31.  read more »

The eighth 1-800-Shabbat in Portland attracted 81 young adults (singles and couples ages 21-39) on Sept. 19.  read more »

On Sept. 28, Sinai Family Home Services drew 16 walkers for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Memory Walk.  read more »

NATIONAL

Ithaca professor may sue  read more »

Just two years after its inception, Hinenu has grown from a group of young adults telling Neveh Shalom about their wants and desires to an active reality that has helped create a sense of community for the approximately 500 people on its listserv.  read more »

The Oregon Area Jewish Committee board, meeting last month, has formally taken stands on several measures on the November ballot.  read more »

Eight Portland board members traveled to Fort Lewis, a U.S. military base, Oct. 3-5 for the annual NCSY Leadership Training Seminar. Joined by the Seattle and Vancouver chapters, board members learned about character development, reliability and other important leadership qualities. Portland and Vancouver arrived just minutes before Shabbat due to heavy traffic on the way. Despite having to cancel some programming because of this, the weekend was still a success. Chapters began bonding as a region. Army personnel spoke to the group about being Jewish in the military and the challenges they have overcome. As the Shabbaton came to an end, board members helped build the sukkah for the Jews of the army base.

Here at the Jewish Review we don’t support or oppose political candidates. It has to do with our non-profit status, which seems proper. 
 
That said, current events have made me long for something in the race for the White House.  read more »

The Oregon Holocaust Resource Center presents “An Evening with Madame F” at 2 p.m., Nov. 2 at the World Trade Center Auditorium.  read more »

Tamar Yarom’s controversial documentary “To See If I’m Smiling” will be shown Sunday Nov. 2 as part of the Northwest Film Center’s series, Global Concerns: Human Rights on Film.  read more »

Portland’s Profile Theatre is presenting the works of Neil Simon for its entire 2008-09 season.  read more »

Israeli writer and filmmaker Etgar Keret will speak at Portland’s Hollywood Theater on Wednesday, Oct. 29 after the screening there of film “Jellyfish,” winner of the 2007 Camera d’Or Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.  read more »

At age 53, after reading the late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal’s powerful book “The Sunflower,” I embarked on an emotional journey to some of the key sites of the Holocaust.  read more »

Portland’s Lions of Judah will launch their year with a speaker who so enthralled them on his last visit that they wanted to bring him back to speak to their husbands, children and friends who share their commitment to strengthening the Jewish world.  read more »

Since its move two years ago from its Old South Portland home on Meade Street to the new heart of the Jewish community in Southwest Portland, Congregation Kesser Israel has seen a dramatic increase in attendance.  read more »

Congregation Kol Ami, a Vancouver-based congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, has hired Jan Rabinowitch as the director of education.  read more »

Among Jews concerned about the future of U.S.-Israel relations after the upcoming November election not everyone is worried about who will occupy the Oval Office. Some think there is a more important arena.
 
Both candidates for president of the United States “are strong friends of Israel,” according to Zack Bodner, the Northwest regional director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
 
Bodner, who is based in San Francisco, was in Portland Oct. 6 for an evening presentation at Congregation Beth Israel.

“Whoever is in the White House, we’re sure we’ll have a friend in the Oval Office,” said Bodner.
 
Bodner thinks the more compelling concern for Israel supporters this election season is Congress.
 
“The most under-reported story now is the race for Congress,” he said. “We could have 60, 70, 80 new members of Congress.”
 
Pointing to congressional approval earlier this month of $2.46 billion in aid for Israel, Bodner wondered if the new members of the next Congress would understand the necessity for this and for Israel to maintain its military edge over its neighbors.
 
“Few candidates are coming (to Congress) with real foreign policy experience,” he said.
 
Bodner singled out Ohio Democrat Marcia L. Fudge, the former mayor of a Cleveland suburb who was appointed recently to fill a vacancy in the Ohio congressional delegation and is now running for election to that post in November.
 
Earlier this year, before Fudge was named to succeed Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones who died, AIPAC enlisted Fudge to take part in a mission to Israel where she met Knesset and religious leaders, scholars and ordinary citizens.
 
“Now we have a new friend of Israel,” said Bodner, underscoring AIPAC’s role in building support for Israel.
 
“We need to make sure the next Congress is even more pro-Israel than this one,” he added.
 
Looking around CBI’s Pollin Chapel where about 25 persons had gathered to hear him, Bodner said, “You can help. …You are the ones who care. I’m asking you to do something.”
 
He called on those present to set a political agenda, to become “a key contact” on current Israel-related issues, to host parlor meetings to inform others about Israel-related issues and to become members of AIPAC.
 
“Part of why we are successful is that we have citizen lobbyists all over the country,” said Bodner. “There is nothing more American than lobbying for what you believe in.”
 
During a question-and-answer period Bodner responded to an inquiry about the race for Oregon Republican Gordon Smith’s Senate seat. The questioner was concerned about what he characterized as Smith opponent Jeff Merkley’s earlier change of position on Israel. Merkely issued a pro-Israel position paper after news stories appeared about his expressions of sympathy for Palestinians.
 
Bodner called Smith “a tremendous friend of Israel.” About Merkley he said, “All indications are he would be a friend of Israel.”
 
On the subject of Iran and the perceived threat it poses to Israel, its other Middle East neighbors and the West, Bodner said, “Iran needs to be the No. 1 priority for our elected officials, which it is not now.”
 
He said non-military options remain for the United States vis a vis Iran.
 
“We still believe there are diplomatic options,” said Bodner. He pointed to international sanctions to raise the cost to Iran of not acceding to international demands regarding its nuclear program.
 
He singled out the anomaly of oil-rich Iran having to import gasoline and other refined petroleum as a pressure point the community of nations can exploit to induce Iran to be more cooperative.
 
He cited also Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s failure to deliver on his election promises of reform in Iran as possibly undermining his political future there.
 
On the subject of the threat to Israel from Iran, Bodner called the recent delivery to Israel of the United States’ vaunted X-band radar “a huge victory for Israel.”
 
The Raytheon-developed radar system—set up temporarily at the Nevatim air base in the Negev before a planned move to a permanent site in a few months—more than doubles the range of Israel’s detection capabilities of enemy missile launches, according to a Pentagon source.

 “It is Congress that is doing all of this,” said Bodner. “We need to thank them.”

Congregation Beth Israel’s new 20/30 something group, Jews Next Dor (not a typo—Dor means generation in Hebrew) has opened its doors to all who are interested in participating in fun, informal and inclusive monthly Shabbat services.  read more »

The Adam Ross Memorial Jewish Coed Kickball League for young adults finishes its first season with playoffs Oct. 16.  read more »

Machar, Portland’s national model young adult leadership incubator, launched its second group Sept. 21 at a champagne brunch in North Portland that brought the new Macharniks together with members of the original Machar cohort.  read more »

FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. (JTA)—It’s 9 o’clock on a foggy morning in late September and two dozen young Jews have gathered in a field to watch nine goats get shechted—slaughtered according to Jewish law.  read more »

WASHINGTON(JTA)—Paul Krugman, a columnist for The New York Times, won the Nobel Prize for economics.  read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Rosh Hashanah: a time for contemplation? Of course.

A time for Jewish lawmakers to stop and reconsider how to save Wall Street from itself? Makes sense—four Jewish lawmakers changed their votes over the holiday.  read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA)—A campaign by a new dovish pro-Israel group to get Jewish newspapers not to run Republican Jewish Coalition attack ads has raised questions about what’s kosher and what isn’t in this fraught political season.  read more »

“We cannot make history undone; but we can learn from it. … Sometimes artwork speaks more than words,” said German Consul General Rolf Schuette at the opening of the “Charlotte Salomon: Life? Or Theater?” exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum.  read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Barack Obama is making significant gains among Jewish voters, according to two new polls.  read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Are you a Heebster?

Jon Stewart is. Adam Sandler is. Superman and Spiderman are. Even Curious George is.  read more »