Volume 51, Number 11

Watch out husbands (and kids): the girls’ night out is morphing into girls’ get-aways.  read more »

Imagine spending the night in what looks like a large eyeball suspended spider-like from old-growth trees, a treehouse for grownups that rocks you gently to sleep in the wind.   read more »

A bereavement support group sponsored by National Council of Jewish Women begins in February.  read more »

Eli Rosenbaum, director of the Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Dept. of Justice, captivated about 200 people Jan. 21 when he spoke about some of the more memorable Nazi war criminals he has pursued and prosecuted in the past two decades.  read more »

Giving away most its money has revitalized the Portland section of the National Council of Jewish Women, according to president Meryl Haber.  read more »

After 10 days of calm, the Israeli military said its warplanes bombed three smuggling tunnels on Egypt’s border with Gaza in reprisal for the death of an Israeli soldier in a roadside bomb attack in Israel near the Gaza border  read more »

For Portlander Steve Gradow, the movie Defiance hit close to home. The story of the Bielski Otriad, a Jewish partisan group that fought the Nazis, mirrored much of his father’s experience in Poland.   read more »

After being canceled due to heavy snow, the December lecture by author Ellen Eisenberg entitled “From Protest to Collaboration: Western Jews and the Plight of Japanese Americans during World War II” has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 23.  read more »

Oregon Jewish memoirist and poet Floyd Skloot has been selected by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association to receive its 2009 William Stafford Memorial Poetry Award  read more »

Jewish American band Safam will perform at a concert at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 7 at Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland.  read more »

Portland’s Jewish Theatre Collaborative will present “Charlotte Salomon: Life? Or Theatre?” for just three performances on Feb. 14 and 15 at the West End Theater downtown.  read more »

In collaboration with the Jewish Community Task Force, which is forming to deal with the current economic crisis and maximize the resources available to the community, Jewish Family and Child Service recently launched the “Mensches in the Trenches” life skills volunteer program.  read more »

What do eight doctors and B’nai B’rith Camp have in common? Location, location, location.  read more »

To turn around the harsh economic conditions currently engulfing the country, President Obama has proposed a massive investment in rebuilding and strengthening the nation’s infrastructure. To fortify the Jewish community, the Foundation for Jewish Camp suggests an investment, as well, in our “spiritual infrastructure.”  read more »

The Portland Jewish Youth Initiative is holding its second city-wide Teen Wednesday Night event on Feb. 4 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Congregation Shaarie Torah.  read more »

The Menendez brothers and Bob Kitts, the Cleveland-area contractor who recently found $182,000 in the wall of a home he was renovating, are two of the six cases that Jewish Learning Institute students will examine under a Talmudic microscope this February.  read more »

Seven Oregonians are among the 125 college students on Year Course—Young Judaea’s program for first-year college students in Israel—who spent part of January working to make a difference in areas affected by the crisis in Gaza.  read more »

Every time the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland sells tickets to an event, such as Impact or Men’s Night Out, 3 percent of those proceeds are sent to Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.  read more »

The Maimonides Jewish Day School 2009 Auction and Raffle on March 22 will honor Priscilla and Anthony Kostiner in recognition of their tireless efforts on behalf on numerous Jewish organizations in the community and beyond.  read more »

Teal Ribbon Luncheon II, a gynecological cancer awareness and research fundraiser, is slated for May 17.  read more »

There is still time to sign up for Men’s Night Out, the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s event just for Jewish men of all ages. MNO is set tfor Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.  read more »

A mother-daughter team brought Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein to share her inspiring story of hope with Portland women nine years ago. Perhaps it reflects Klein’s intergenerational appeal that another mother-daughter duo is bringing her back.  read more »

“It Takes a Shtetl: Getting Through Hard Times, It’s a Jewish Tradition” provided workshops and talks about how the community can deal with the country’s economic crisis  read more »

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Storahtelling, Congregation Neveh Shalom will bring this innovative translation of the Torah reading onto center stage during services Feb. 7.  read more »

Northwest Reform Jews will gather in Portland Feb. 6-8 when Congregation Beth Israel hosts the 2009 Union for Reform Judaism—Pacific Northwest Biennial.  read more »

Twenty-five years after arriving in Portland, Chabad of Oregon will consolidate nearly all of its adult programs under one roof when renovations are complete on its newly purchased Chabad House.  read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA)—In an election season compressed into just three weeks due to the military operation in Gaza, during which campaigning ground to a virtual halt, Israel’s political parties have begun to roll out their campaigns ahead of the national elections Feb. 10.  read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA)—An 1,800-year-old figurine was discovered during an excavation in Jerusalem’s City of David.  read more »

Israeli historian Paul Liptz, in Portland Jan. 21 for two public lectures told his audience that evening at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center that Israel’s survival depends on making sense of the Middle East. He spoke earlier in the day at Portland State University.  read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA)—There’s been a rush of speculation about the answers George Mitchell, President Obama’s special envoy, may bring to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.  read more »

Four Jewish organizations in harness with a Jewish organic farmer plan to cultivate Judaism’s agrarian roots and plant the seeds for community supported agriculture, gleaning and family education in Portland.  read more »

From preschoolers to seniors, dozens of people cheered, cried and rejoiced at Congregation Neveh Shalom as they watched the historic inauguration of President Barak Obama.  read more »

In this time of historic economic uncertainty, there is at least one thing of which we can be certain: the vital necessity of reaching out to those less fortunate than us.  read more »

There were several things that made my recent whirlwind trip to Israel unusual.  read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) -- In an echo of the 2007 controversy over the Latin Mass, Jewish interfaith leaders again are expressing concern that a Vatican action aimed at promoting unity within the Church may have adverse effects on Catholic-Jewish relations.  read more »

In the United States, we just finished a very long and somewhat angry election cycle and people have begun to put their differences aside and continue life normally.  read more »