Volume 51, Issue 10

WASHINGTON (JTA)—U.S. officials are denying Ehud Olmert’s claim that he persuaded President Bush to abstain from a U.N. Security Council call for a cease-fire, leaving Condoleezza Rice “shamed.”  read more »

KARNEI SHOMRON, West Bank (JTA)—Less than an hour-and-a-half after a long-range Grad missile struck a home in Ashkelon, the rebuilding began.  read more »

PRAGUE (JTA)—Confronting a rising storm of anti-Semitism as the conflict in Gaza intensifies, European Jews are grappling with the best way to express their support for Israel’s fight against Hamas.  read more »

The Union for Reform Judaism-Pacific Northwest brings their 2009 PNW Biennial, “At the Shore of the Sea: Facing the Challenges Ahead,” a weekend of dynamic programming, to Congregation Beth Israel, Portland, Feb. 6-8.  read more »

The Jewish Review, which since its creation in 1959 by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland has been governed by a committee of the federation, has been reorganized as an Oregon limited liability corporation.  read more »

When Israel sent out a call in May of 1967 to young Jews around the world to assist the Jewish state in a then looming war, Paul Liptz took a leave of absence from his post at an international trading company in what was then called Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and headed for the Promised Land.  read more »

Holocaust survivor and author Gerda Weissmann Klein returns to Portland Feb. 25 for Impact: An Event for Women.  read more »

The Mittleman Jewish Community Center and the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation accept applications from Jewish groups who wish to receive assistance from the “Living Room Fund.”  read more »

MOMMY AND ME—Susie Reiter holds her granddaughter Lucy Fujita, whose mom Carly Fujita is at right, at the final December session of Mommy and Me hosted by Chabad of Oregon.  read more »

Winter’s worst weather could not keep Congregation Kol Ami from celebrating the installation of Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker as spiritual leader of Vancouver, Wash.’s oldest and largest synagogue during the Shabbat Service, Friday, Dec. 19.  read more »

A historic collection of Dolls for Democracy, used to teach diversity in schools by B’nai B’rith Women (now Jewish Women International), are on display at Temple Beth Sholom in Salem.  read more »

From Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, Portlanders will have opportunities in two settings to study with Jewish educator Rachel Brodie.  read more »

Portland Jewish Academy introduces two new programs in the middle school.  read more »

Oregon and Southwest Washington athletes planning to compete in the 18th World Maccabiah Games in Israel in this July are getting a helping hand.  read more »

The Ku Klux Klan seemed normal, even neighborly, when Randy Blazak grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia. After all, his best seventh grade friend became an Exalted Cyclops of the Southern Nights.  read more »

Hot on the heels of the successful Oregon birthright trip to Israel in December, Portland Jewish Events and the Jewish Student Union are organizing a free summer trip for those 18-26 who never have been on a peer trip to Israel.  read more »

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA)—Rabbi Alan Lew, who was known for his efforts to bridge Judaism and Buddhist teachings, died unexpectedly.  read more »

As news of 65-year-old Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield’s untimely death spread, it inspired an outpouring of grief from Jewish and interfaith communities.  read more »

PORTLAND TEENAGERS from the Jewish and African-American communities will spend Jan. 18-21 in New Orleans for a community service/educational program  read more »

The Ulum Group, one of Oregon’s top five public relations and public affairs firms, has named Bela Friedman vice president of its Portland office.  read more »

Yael Schweitzer, LCSW, has opened a private practice in mindfulness-based therapy.  read more »

The Jewish Business Network in Vancouver, Wash., will hold its third annual fundraising event entitled, A Day of Hope at the Hilton Hotel in Vancouver on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.  read more »

After I take my five-year-old son to his kindergarten classroom at Hayhurst Elementary in southwest Portland, I always cut through the school cafeteria, beyond which is the parking lot. I don’t do it just because it’s a shortcut to my car; I do it because there are always several children sitting at tables, eating a free or reduced-price breakfast.  read more »

Four 20-something Oregonians—Briana Carp, Samuel Asarnow and Viviana Gordon from Portland, and David Eber from Salem—are spending a year performing community service through Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps.  read more »

Pulitzer Prize winning author Geraldine Brooks will read from her most recent novel, “People of the Book,” Jan. 19 at Powell’s Books on West Burnside.  read more »

Profile Theatre’s season of Neil Simon plays continues with the opening Jan. 17 of “Biloxi Blues,” the second in Simon’s “Eugene Trilogy” of semi-autobiographical plays.  read more »

“Selfless” is the title of the soon to be published first adult novel by Portland children’s book author David Michael Slater. It incorporates the humorous slant of his children’s books, but on a more sophisticated level.  read more »

Portland children’s author, David Michael Slater, (“The Book of Nonsense, “ “Cheese Louise!”) presents his first novel for adults, the moving comic drama, “Selfless,” at the book’s nationwide launch party Jan. 21 at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.  read more »

An exhibit of new paintings by Julia Waco will open Thursday, Feb. 5, at Portland’s Attic Gallery.  read more »

Hot on the heels of the successful Oregon birthright trip to Israel in December, Portland Jewish Events and the Jewish Student Union are organizing a free summer trip for those 18-26 who never have been on a peer trip to Israel.  read more »

GAZA (JTA)—Perched on the third-floor balcony of a commandeered Palestinian villa, Lt.-Col. Yehuda gazes over the Gaza Strip, his posture suggesting a man in repose rather than a soldier poised to press home an offensive.  read more »

Upwards of 700 members and friends of the Portland Jewish community were present at Congregation Beth Israel for the Community Solidarity Gathering in Support of Israel Jan. 12.  read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA)—As Hamas vowed to rearm despite international calls to stop arms smuggling into Gaza, Israeli officials said the withdrawal of their troops from the coastal strip would likely be completed before Barack Obama is sworn in  read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) -- The cancellation last week of a major Jewish educational conference is the latest sign that the Jewish nonprofit world will shrink in coming months as some organizations move closer to extinction and others seek mergers.
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WASHINGTON (JTA) -- It was a week dedicated primarily to marking the election of the first African-American president in U.S. history, but the ongoing ceremonies were punctuated by several Jewish moments, wrinkles and parties.  read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA)—With a cease-fire in place, Israelis are asking whether the 22-day war against Hamas in Gaza achieved its aims.  read more »