Volume 51, Issue 12
Nasty Battle over U.N. Palestinian aid agency
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Crooks. Prostitutes. That’s what they call each other in polite company. read more »
Bob Simon, CBS misrepresent reality of life in Israel
On Jan. 25, Bob Simon said on a CBS 60 Minutes segment entitled “Time Running Out For A Two-State Solution?” that “Palestinians...when they want to travel from one town to another, they have to submit to humiliating delays at checkpoints and roadblocks. There are more than 600 of them on the West Bank.” read more »
Vatican response to denial must be Holocaust education
Richard Williamson, one of the four excommunicated bishops whom Pope Benedict XVI wants to bring back into the Roman Catholic fold, is not the only Holocaust denier in the Society of St. Pius X, an ultra-right-wing splinter group of the Roman Catholic Church. read more »
Oregon's 10th IHAD founders to speak
Oregon “I Have a Dream” Foundation class 10 founders Sonja Straub, Ph.D., and Julie Diamond, Ph.D., will discuss the I Have a Dream program at the Kol Shalom Sunday Forum read more »
Communal professionals to network
Jewish communal professionals in Portland have launched a new group to support and unite professionals working in local Jewish institutions. read more »
Women's day of learning enters new era in year 10
So packed with content was the recent Women’s Day of Jewish Learning, session moderators also played the part of parent, offering the “five-minute warning” to the roughly 60 attendees from across the Jewish specturm to help transition the group from one workshop to the next. read more »
Sisterhood bakes up Hamantaschen
A tradition of the Shaarie Torah sisterhood for more than 60 years, the art and recipe of creating hamantaschen have been passed from generation to generation. read more »
Spend year in Israel for $500
A gap year in Israel for just $500 plus airfare? read more »
Peace Vigil Interfaith
Among several Jews taking part was Eileen Fromer, third from right. The vigil was sponsored by the Interfaith Council of Greater Portland. read more »
Lawton explores future Feb. 24
Catlin Gabel teacher Mark Lawton will present the findings of his year-long foray into the field of future studies and its implications for education read more »
Oscar-night goldrush has deep Jewish roots
Such a month, this February. What with a shy rodent on the 2nd, a naked tatellah slinging the arrows on the 14th and a toast to all the U.S. presidents two days later, genug es genug. read more »
150+ attend regional Reform conclave
Over the weekend of Feb. 6-8, Congregation Beth Israel hosted the Union of Reform Judaism Pacific Northwest Regional Biennial, opening its doors to more than 150 participants from Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia. read more »
Rabbi Saperstein leads off Reform regional meeting in Portland
At the Friday afternoon session, Saperstein compared voter trends from various religious and ethnic groups over the past several decades. read more »
PE, art, music, dance, still make the grade at Portland Jewish Academy
The national trend for schools to reduce budgets for non-academic offerings such as art and physical education has been accelerated by the current economic crisis, which is forcing both public and private schools to cut already strapped budgets. read more »
Livni likely to find friends in Obama administration
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Tzipi Livni lacks familiarity with the senior figures in the Obama administration—that may be a plus. read more »
Water scarcity, peace topic of March 1 program
“Across the globe, a lack of clean water and sanitation forces many … into poverty. I believe that by securing and by sustainably managing freshwater supplies we have an opportunity to foster hope and peace,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). read more »
Klein's tale of overcoming adversity to have Impact
As Americans face unsettling economic news every time they pick up a newspaper or turn on the evening news, Gerda Weissmann Klein’s story of hope and survival is “the right person, speaking at the right time on the right topic.” read more »
New group eyes Darfur
The genocide and humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan has spurred a good deal of interest among the Portland Jewish community. read more »
Turkish scholar reveals dangers
Portland State University Turkish Studies Chair Birol Yesilada spoke about the growing influence of Islam in Turkey at the Oregon Area Jewish Committee’s Feb. 4 lunch lecture. read more »
Youth to learn about sports fun
Jewish youth in fifth to 12th grade are invited to an information and kosher pizza party Feb. 18 to learn about the opportunities to play sports and socialize with their peers in the Portland Maccabi Club. read more »
Middle schoolers serve hungry
SHAARIE TORAH WEDNESDAY NIGHT SCHOOL middle school students Jori Halpern and Matan Horenstein, both 8th-graders, pick up plates of food to serve to people who came to Blanchette House for a free meal Jan. 14. read more »
‘Rabbis Gone Wild’ unites local clergy in laughs March 5
Six rabbis walk onto a stage. That’s not a lead in to a bad joke. Rather, it’s the concept behind Rabbis Gone Wild read more »
Maimonides school auction to honor Kostners
Ever since their arrival in Portland in 1974, Tony and Priscilla Kostiner have been active participants and leaders in Portland’s Jewish community. read more »
Jewish World War II vet film needs funds
Gary Mortenson’s wife is Jewish and it is that fact, he said, and the memorial service for one of his Jewish in-laws who served in World War II that sparked his interest in the role played by Jews in the U.S. military during World War II. read more »
Havazelet drills down into family denial
As children, Sol’s sons didn’t know about the Holocaust. A survivor himself, he wouldn’t tell them. He wrote to strangers expressing condolences, but never sat down to explain it to his own boys. read more »
Time to find preschool
February is the month when many preschools begin registering students for the coming school year. read more »
Aleph Bet/MJDS poised to meet potential
Maimonides Jewish Day School and its Aleph Bet Preschool are “poised to really fulfill their potential,” according to education director Sharon Pollin. read more »
Emlen follows family tradition of aiding camp
Books and camp have special significance for 12-year-old Ariella Emlen—they are two of her loves and they reflect the passions of her grandparents. read more »
Men's Night Out helps bring campaign nearer goal
This year’s Men’s Night Out Feb. 3 in the Mittleman Jewish Community Center ballroom attracted some 120 Jewish men. read more »
New PSU president reveals relevant ties to Judaism
Before launching into his standard message of his five priorities for Portland State University, new PSU President Wim Wiewel told members of the Institute for Judaic Studies that his background was “not irrelevant” to his address at the IJS 26th annual meeting. read more »
Who were my ancestors? How to find your roots
Too often, I hear people saying, “I’ll never be able to find who my ancestors were because the Nazis destroyed all the Jewish records in Europe.” read more »
Salem man healing Lower Ninth Ward
While Mardi Gras parades and events at the Superdome are back on TV, most areas in New Orleans are still devastated more than three years after Hurricane Katrina hit the coast. read more »
Lacking public debate, voters went with gut feeling
JERUSALEM (JTA)—This election was decided by the Israeli gut. The biggest unknown when Israeli voters went to the polls Feb. 10 was who would have the edge between Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima chief Tzipi Livni, and just how much Avigdor Lieberman’s right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu would grow. read more »
Old South Portlanders kibbitz after all these years
When Mutzy Enkelis shows up the place starts hopping. Anyone can tell you that. read more »
Portland teens changed by mission to New Orleans
Nine Portland teenagers may not have changed the world during their four-day intercultural mission to New Orleans, but they made a difference to the people whose neighborhoods they helped and in their own perceptions of the world. read more »
Bottled-water magnate transforms problematic product into a solution
Jonathan Greenblatt has a low opinion of the bottled-water industry here and around the world. read more »
NW Reform leaders hear Rabbi Ellenson
“In many ways, the vision of (Reform founder) Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise of a unified American Judaism is where we are today,” according to Rabbi David Ellenson, the president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Union of Reform Judaism’s four-campus university. read more »
A Different look at Israel's election
As I arrived in Kfar Saba on Election Day via the No. 29 bus I was sure I remembered precisely where my polling place was located. read more »
Netanyahu asked to form government
Compiled from wire reports
Israeli President Shimon Peres invited Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Feb. 19 to form Israel’s next government, setting the stage for Netanyahu’s return as prime minister, a post he held a decade ago. read more »
