Issue Number 11 Volume 49

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Following the sudden but not unexpected resignation of the Israeli army's chief of staff, pundits are asking how much longer Ehud Olmert, the country's beleaguered prime minister, can survive in office.

This summer, Camp Kalsman opens in Arlington, Wash., representing the 13th North American residence camp operated by the Union of Reform Judaism and a brand new overnight option for Pacific Northwest campers.

Turnout for the Jan. 18 Writers and Scholars lecture at Congregation Neveh Shalom was low, owing to the winter storm from which the city was just beginning to recover.

But that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of guest speaker Janis Plotkin who came from the Bay Area to offer an inside overview of Israeli film, just as the 15th annual Portland Jewish Film Festival was getting under way.

Rabbis provide spiritual support for their communities, but who comforts the comforters? That's where Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, senior faculty member and director of outreach for the Institute for Spirituality comes in. The Institute, founded six years ago, holds spiritual retreats on both the West and East Coasts for rabbis, cantors, educators and most recently everyone else.