Volume 50, Issue 8

Harsch Investment Properties of Portland has sold its Clay Tower Apartments, a 17-story, 235-unit apartment complex serving the low-income elderly and people with disabilities to Cedar Sinai Park. The $30-million transaction was announced Dec. 3.

Total assets of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation increased over the preceding year by more than 20 percent, reaching $43,418,922 by the end of the fiscal year June 30, 2007.

TEL AVIV (JTA)—It’s been a long journey for the brittle pieces of parchment inked more than 1,000 years ago along the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

The manuscript considered the most authoritative text of the Bible, the Aleppo Codex, was studied by Maimonides, ransomed by Crusaders and dismembered during rioting in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

WASHINGTON (JTA)—It’s still a Hillary vs. Rudy race for American Jews, but national polls suggest that their top challengers are rapidly gaining ground.

Gates backs Israeli nukes

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Robert Gates defended Israel’s nuclear program. The U.S. defense secretary was asked during a Bahrain conference Dec. 8 whether he believes that Israel’s nuclear program threatens Middle East stability.

When Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman went to Portland Jewish Academy to discuss community with second-graders, he said he was amazed to hear the 7- and 8-year-olds calmly using words such as urban growth boundaries, zoning, sustainability and power points.

Kirchner cites terror as she takes office

BUENOS AIRES (JTA)—Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner referred to terrorist attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina as she took office as the country’s president.

Rabbi Ariel Stone, of progressive Congregation Shir Tikvah, and Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman, of traditional Congregation Shaarie Torah, discuss the nature of God at the annual Melton Lunch & Learn w

In 2003, Jewish Family and Child Service’s TASK Inclusion Specialist Corinne Spiegel began discussing with her Catholic and Presbyterian counterparts how faith communities could combine their resources to help religious organizations be more welcoming of people with disabilities.

Jodi Berris and her cohorts at Portland Jewish Events are at it again—creating a fun, offbeat event for young Jewish adults featuring kosher pizza, Jewish humor and music.

In the southern Israel border town of Sderot it’s safer if you don’t fasten the seatbelt in your car.

Tamar Boussi of Portland knows firsthand. Since a year ago she has made six visits to the beleaguered Israeli development town near the Gaza Strip border.

To describe cultural anthropologist Ruth Behar as exceptionally honest risks insulting others in her field, but there’s just no getting around it.

As part of their full year of programming, Beth Israel Sisterhood is offering a new option designed to teach women in the community about the connection between rhythm and spirituality.

Do Jump aerial dancers and acrobats bring Marc Chagall’s paintings to life this month at Newmark Theater as the main feature of the theater company’s annual holiday show.

ORLANDO (JTA)—Delegates to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism biennial apparently didn’t expect much when Arnold Eisen took the stage here, offering only tepid applause for th

“This is a beautiful moment—this opportunity to gather together teens from all over Portland,” said Rabbi Michael Cahana, whose Congregation Beth Israel hosted more than 250 teens at a community-wide Hanukkah celebration Dec. 5.

Portland Area Jewish Educators invited all congregations with high school programs to gather for a special session of Wednesday Night School on the second night of Hanukkah.

Nili Isenberg, daughter of Portlanders Charles and Marsha Schiffman, in the far left of the chorus, sang at the White House Hanukkah Reception  with the Zamir Chorale on Dec. 10.

Dara Meller, Ann Wilson, Molly Miller, Cole Takahashi and Rabbi Laurie Rutenberg light Hanukkah candles at the Dec. 8 Hanukkah Party for TASK families and Tikvah members. TASK and Tikvah are disability inclusion programs of Jewish Family and Child Service.

In the Dec. 1 Jewish Review we published an article that named Jews who were among the top 50 Oregon lawyers, irrespective of gender and the top 25 women lawyers, as determined by Super Lawyers magazine and its parent.

Having endured centuries of anti-Semitism, we Jews have long stressed the importance of respect for other faith and ethnic groups and have taken on a moral obligation to combat hate. That’s why it’s troubling whenever it’s one of our own—in this case, a prominent figure in Israel—who is the purveyor of intolerance. And it’s even more troubling when that intolerance is directed at other Jews.

The Robison Jewish Home Sisterhood hosted its 30th annual White Box Tea in the home's dining room Dec. 4.

George Sidline speaks about his experiences as a child living in Japan during World War II at a gathering at the Clay Tower Apartments.

NEW YORK (JTA)—A congressional bill that would reopen the door to lawsuits against insurance companies that defaulted on policies sold to European Jews before World War II is dividing survivor groups.

Inserted in this edition of the Jewish Review, the Mittleman Jewish Community Center’s winter program guide is chock full of new programs, classes and activities for all ages.

Congregation Beth Israel will once again host the Northwest Portland Ministries free Christmas dinner from noon to 2 p.m. on Dec. 25.

“People from all walks of life gather in Goodman Hall to enjoy a turkey dinner and good cheer,” according to the social action page on Beth Israel’s Web site, www.BethIsrael-pdx.org. “Some are elderly, some are disabled, some are homeless, some are poor, some are lonely and some are simply far from their families.”

More than 50 people packed the “Jews of China” panel discussion held Dec. 9 at the Oregon Jewish Museum. Professor Steve Hochstadt and Rabbi Anson Laytner, both of the Sino-Judaic Institute, provided background and insight into the museum’s current exhibition, “Ludwig Salzer, Man of Letters.”

Cedar Sinai Park’s annual membership phone-a-thon raised $43,000 in 90 minutes on Nov. 26.

Led by Membership Committee co-chairs Sherry Fishman and Karen Blauer, 13 volunteers phoned members and asked them to renew their membership as supporters of the Robison Jewish Health Center, CSP’s nursing and residential care facility. 

The Oregon Jewish Community Foundation’s Distribution Committee and Board of Trustees awarded a total of $20,000 from the OJCF Community Endowment Fund benefiting 11 local and regional organizations.

The Oral History Project of the Oregon Jewish Museum continues the task Shirley Tanzer started in the late 1970s—interviewing members of Oregon’s Jewish community.

The Shaarie Torah Community Chorus is seeking singers, new and returning, in advance of the first rehearsal of its spring season, Jan. 9.

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA)—Leaders of Reform synagogues don’t quite get their members, according to a new study by the movement.

When I first met Rabbi Yonah Geller Z’ZL in January 2004, he impressed me as a visionary scholar and leader.

He said to me, “Rabbi, the future of the Portland Jewish Community lies in its unity regardless of anyone’s religious background or denomination.

SAMUEL HARTOCH

Catherine Saunders and Richard Hartoch, MD, of Portland announce the birth of their son Samuel Alexander Hartoch on Oct. 20.

TEL AVIV (JTA)—Striking high school teachers and the Israeli government may have finally reached a deal to reopen the schools, but the extent of the protracted work stoppage has exposed the depth of a crisis in the country’s public education system that is far from abating.

NEW YORK (JTA)—The Jewish community's largest international relief organization has adopted a budget for next year that includes a $9 million deficit: despite a drop in support from American

NEW YORK (JTA)—Seeing Bob Dylan at a prayer service isn’t all that rare. Hearing a Bob Marley tune played on guitar while a minyan sings the Shema prayer is.

NEW YORK (JTA)—When Dina Najman was hired last year to lead Kehillat Orach Eliezer, a traditional Orthodox-style congregation, it was hailed as a major, if controversial, step forward for the status of women in Orthodoxy.

PAPEETE, Tahiti (JTA)—Bright morning sunlight illuminates the synagogue floor as Francois Yonah Poul sits alone in a dark corner wrapped in a tallit and tefillin.

JERUSALEM (JTA)—As a microcosm of the conflicts gripping the Middle East, Lebanon’s month-long standoff over the presidency is stoking concerns in Israel.

SAN DIEGO (JTA)—Rabbi Eric Yoffie earned only a handful of chuckles in his Dec.

Hezbollah eyes Israeli war film

Hezbollah voiced interest in screening Israeli films about the southern Lebanon conflict zone.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (JTA)—After 28 years without a Torah scroll, Nicaraguan Jews joyously welcomed a new Torah in a ceremony community members say helped rekindle the Jewish spirit in this turbulent Central American country.