Shock, disbelief and questions greeted the news of the apparent murder-suicide of a mother who had spent the past 14 years relentlessly working to ensure her daughter—described by many as happy, spiritual and a light to all who met her—had every opportunity to overcome her cerebral palsy and dyslexia.

JERUSALEM (JTA)—As the Annapolis peace parley rapidly approaches, some of the Arab and Muslim players expected to play a key role in creating conditions for a favorable outcome are proving to be more of an obstacle than an asset.

CHICAGO (JTA)—Collectively they have published more than a hundred books and countless articles. Four are tenured professors at elite American universities. Internet searches reveal them to be widely cited experts on international affairs and American foreign policy.

Inclusive Judaism campaign launched

NEW YORK (JTA)—Those committed to a more inclusive Judaism can join a new coalition. Rabbi Kerry Olitzky, executive director of the Jewish Outreach Institute, announced the new outreach advocacy campaign Oct. 14 in Washington at the group’s third annual conference.

Livni to head Israel’s Annapolis delegation

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Tzipi Livni will lead Israel’s negotiators at next month’s U.S.-sponsored peace conference. On Oct. 14 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert named Livni, his foreign minister, as chief negotiator at the parley on Palestinian statehood, a move seen as a snub to Vice Premier Haim Ramon.

Just a week after opening, Kenny & Zuke’s Delicatessen will host “A Taste of NY in PDX,” a grand opening celebration for the traditional New York style delicatessen to benefit the Jewish Family and Child Service’s TASK Program for disabilities awareness.

NEW YORK (JTA)—The country’s largest Jewish foundations give about a fifth of their funds to Jewish causes—and that number could fall, according to the researchers behind a report released this month.
   

In sharp contrast to the figures reported by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research regarding who receives grants from Jewish foundations in America, slightly more than 82 percent of the grants made by the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation in its 2006 fiscal year went to Jewish causes.

NEW YORK (JTA)—The overseas relief arm of the North American Jewish federation will give more than $8 million this year to non-Jewish causes.
   

Congregation Kol Ami received an anonymous pledge of $6 million to build a synagogue in Clark County, Wash., announced CKA President Doug Green at the Reform congregation’s Rosh Hashanah serv

Portland’s Jewish day school principals reflect most of the findings from a recent survey of principals nationally; however, they differ dramatically in one major area—for at least 18 y

Capping an evening of tributes to Sharon Margolin Ungerleider on Oct. 7, Portland philanthropist Harold Schnitzer contributed $50,000 in her honor to pay off a project close to Ungerleider’s heart—the recent expansion and remodeling of Hillel House at University of Oregon.

Just weeks after the release of a recent study that found only half of American Jews under the age of 35 are comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute announce

Aviel Brodkin (right) shows (from left) Kesser Vice President Donna Kuttner, President Harry Glauber and board member Peggy Dorf carpet selections for Kesser Israel’s sanctuary during the Oct. 7 “construction open house” at the historic shul’s new home at 6698 SW Capitol Highway, across from the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

If you hear the sounds of bulldozers and digging near Peaceful Lane, don’t be alarmed—it’s just the beginning of a year-long construction project at Neveh Shalom.

Author Vanessa Van Petten tells about 25 parents on Oct. 8 how to communicate effectively with their teens. She defined common teen lingo, such as ROTFL (roll on the floor laughing) and offered tips on understanding what teens think when they make “dumb decisions.”

“Knead Spirituality?” Then the Portland Jewish Women’s Circle’s challah baking program Nov. 1 may be just what you’re looking for.

Healthcare professionals seeking to make a difference in individuals’ or communities’ physical or mental health can learn about three concrete ways to do so when the Maimonides Society hosts a Nov. 5 program featuring three professionals who will share their volunteer experiences.

Portland Jewish Academy, a community day school serving children in preschool through eighth grade, will host its first open house of the school year, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m.

It is generally accepted that the old textbook image of white Christian pioneers streaming into Oregon in covered wagons is not quite the entire story.

Concern that the memory of the history of the Jews of Eugene may soon be lost spurred the creation of the Jewish Federation of Lane County’s History Project.

The Portland Trail Blazers have teamed up with Chabad of Oregon to present a Hanukah Jewish Celebration Night at the Blazer’s Dec. 9 game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Portland Jewish Events—creator of the Maccabees and Microbrews, Megilla Gorilla Purim Party, Silent Night...Not! Party, Israeli Club Nites, and 1-800-Shabbat—has a new offering for young Jewish adults: the Jewish Dodgeball and Drinks League.

The 2007 Hanukah Holiday Gift Fair is about “more than just driedels,” according to the Portland Chapter of Hadassah, sponsor of the fair.

Portland State University Judaic Studies Director Michael Weingrad might have raised a few eyebrows when he introduced the distinguished MacArthur Fellow Peter Cole with a reference to “jasmine and piss.”
   

With “Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible’s Harlot Queen,” Seattle author Lesley  Hazleton again proves herself to be a writerly risk-taker. This former journalist—whose last book was titled “Mary: A Flesh-and-Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother,” takes on subjects so obscured by time and contradictory religious beliefs as to make traditional biography all but impossible.

The intergenerational impact of one man’s flight from Vienna to Shanghai to escape the Holocaust comes across in the Oregon Jewish Museum’s new exhibit created by museum intern Lauren Pressler.

The Portland Symphonic Choir will appear in the Temple sanctuary at Congregation Beth Israel to present a specially commissioned choral work, “Rememberance,” which combines Hebraic liturgy with the works of Shakespeare and other poets. Two concerts are scheduled: Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 28 at 2:30 p.m.

Elie Wiesel once wrote: “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” Let history show that at this moment, we are failing that test.

The following is the second of four excerpts from the first part of the vivid memoirs of Dr. Moisey Wolf, who died in February. Born in Poland in 1922 and a Soviet citizen from 1941 until 1992, when he came to Portland. Dr. Wolf led a life of distinguished achievement that embraced a great variety of languages, cultures, and historical experience, including some of the darkest episodes of the 20th century.

The Northwest Women’s History Project, which includes several Jewish women, will be honored Oct. 27 by the national Oral History Association for its having released on DVD a technically advanced version of its 1981 production of “Good Work Sister! Women Shipyard Workers of World War II: An Oral History.”

The December “dilemma” just scratches the surface of the issues of religion in the public schools that will be discussed when the two Jewish organizations host a panel discussion 1:30-3:30 p.m., Nov. 4 at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

TEL AVIV (JTA)—The more than century-old debate over how to abide—or, some might say, circumvent—the biblical injunction to let the land of Israel lie fallow every seven years turned into a showdown this year between Israel’s fervently Orthodox and religious Zionist camps.

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA)—Jews who say the Birkat Hamazon, or prayer after a meal, sing the first few lines to an upbeat melody recognizable to Jews all over the world.

MOSCOW (JTA)—Despite Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's anti-Semitic slurs against the city of Bobruisk and Israel, the prevailing mood of the isolated European nation's Jewish community is one of nearly surprising calm.

To order a new Jewish year calendar mail $7.50 to the Jewish Review Calendar, 6680 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland, OR 97219. Clearly indicate if there is an alternative mailing address that you would prefer.

NEW YORK (JTA)—As patrons filed into Manhattan's 92nd Street Y to catch a sold-out appearance by Larry David, the scene outside was producing a punch line straight out of his HBO sitcom “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

NEW YORK (JTA)—"I worked all my life for this house," Daniel Okonsky said in a call from his cell phone Oct. 23. "I was able to build it, to maintain it—and now there is nothing."

The following is an edited transcript of an interview conducted last month with National Director of the Anti-Defamation League Abraham Foxman about his new book, "The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and The Myth of Jewish Control." During the interview with JTA, Foxman discussed criticisms of Israel and Jewish groups put forth by former President Jimmy Carter and scholars John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. He also addressed the controversy over his initial refusal to use the word genocide to describe the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I.