JTNews | May 13, 2011

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the voice of jewish washington
diversity training chronicling the bandit more women to watch summer books

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may 13, 2011 • 9 iyar 5771 • volume 87, no. 10 • $2

MeliSSA RivkiN/NYHS

On Tues., May 10, the students and faculty of Northwest Yeshiva High School celebrated Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s 63rd Independence Day, by holding Israeli flags and singing as they paraded two-and-a-half miles from their school to Island Crust Café for a pizza lunch. The school hopes to make the Israel walk, planned by senior Sarah Varon, an annual event.

How should Jews respond to bin Laden’s death?
Sue FiShkoFF JTA World News Service
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — When the news of Osama bin Laden’s death at U.S. hands hit the airwaves May 1, America breathed a collective sigh of relief. Spontaneous celebrations broke out in front of the White House as crowds gathered to wave the Stars and Stripes and chant their delight. But how should Jews respond when an evil-doer meets his end? There is no easy answer, leading rabbis say. Even asking the question is very Jewish, writes Rabbi Tzvi Freeman on Chabad.org. “It’s so typically Jewish to feel guilty about rejoicing,” he opined. A number of prominent rabbis spoke to JTA on the subject, sharing their conflicted reactions borne of a tension within Jewish teaching itself. “As the president said, justice was done,” said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. “Bin Laden was an evil man. He preyed on the weak. He killed in the name of God. “But,” the rabbi continued, “I was not comfortable with the celebrations. Thoughtful discussion and thoughtful remembrance of recent events are to be preferred to dancing in the streets.” There are examples within Jewish tradition of celebrating an enemy’s death, of asking God for their destruction.
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Thank You!
SPONSORS

We cannot thank our family, friends and neighbors enough for the tremendous outpouring of support expressed at the May 9th Community of Caring Luncheon. Over 1,000 of you donated $811,427 to provide crucial assistance to JFS clients here at home. By doing so, you are helping ensure that JFS will, as we have since 1892, assist those in our local community who have the greatest needs. After all, family matters…always has, always will.
Thank you for being a community that cares.

$10,000

All of us supporting you.
U.S. Bank is proud to have financed the expansion of the Jewish Family Service Campus.
At U.S. Bank, we are committed to making the communities in which we work and live a better place. Our commitment means supporting the programs and organizations that enrich the quality of life for our neighbors. Because when our community succeeds, everyone wins.

SPONSORS

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Congratulations to Jewish Family Service on their new facility

usbank.com
Member FDIC

SPONSORS

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• The Commerce Bank of Washington • Harrison Berkman & Claypool PLLC • JP Morgan Chase & Co.

• Simon Family Charitable Trust and NOVA Foundation • Swedish Health Services • Wells Fargo Bank

• Anonymous • Bernstein Global Wealth Management • BlackRock, Inc. • Congress Asset Management • Deloitte & Touche • glassybaby • Glazer’s Camera

• International Value Advisors, LLC • Lytle Enterprises and The Bellettini • Majestic Bay Theatres & the Alhadeff Family • Moss Adams LLP • NorthRoad Capital Management • Nosh Away

• Paragon Investment Management, Inc. • PENN Capital Management • Seattle Children’s Hospital • Sprague Israel Giles, Inc. • United Insurance Brokers, Inc. • United Way of King County • Wellspring Group PS, CPAs

SPONSORS

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JFS services and programs are made possible through generous community support of the Family Matters Campaign.

Event Chair: Donna Benaroya

www.jfsseattle.org I (206) 461-3240

friday, may 13, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTNews

OpiNiON

THE RAbbI’s TuRn

LETTERs TO THE EDITOR
WORLD vIEW

What would I do?
Rabbi Chaim Levine Hope for Heroism
As I write this column I’m sitting in Israel, a few days after Yom HaShoah and a few days before Yom HaZikaron, the Day of Remembrance, and Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day. Israel is wrapped in blue and white — it seems like every car, street, and traffic circle has Israeli flags dangling somewhere prominent. Entire municipal buildings are lit up in blue. A program on Israeli television last night exemplified the character of those moments when practically every Jew in the world is overcome with a mixture of pride and gratitude. The program was about Yoseph Goodman, a young IDF soldier in Maglan, an elite unit in the paratroopers. On February 6, 2006, during a routine training, Yoseph jumped out of a plane and somehow his commander’s leg became entangled in Yoseph’s parachute. They both began an immediate plummet to their deaths. Often when I hear about these moments of intense crisis, I can’t help but ask myself, “What would I do?” They were in a situation where both were certainly going to die, but there was at least a chance that if one cut himself free he would save them both. Again, what if it was me? I can only tell you what 20-year-old Yoseph Goodman did. He didn’t give his commander — and friend — even a chance to decide who would cut the rope. He immediately cut his parachute, saving his friend’s life. He tried to open his reserve chute, but was too close to the ground for it to open. Yoseph is buried on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. I have had the unending privilege to work with injured Israeli combat soldiers since 2007 through Hope for Heroism. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that this level of selflessness is something these young men live with and are ready to act on today at a moment’s notice. I have stopped counting the times I have met a young man who will spend years of his life trying to rehabilitate his body because of his decision to put himself between a terrorist and a group of civilians. In Israel, Hope for Heroism is run entirely by injured combat soldiers and the leaders tell me they continue to see expressions of this selfless giving everyday. When they encounter injured soldiers in the hospital, the first and only request they often hear from them is to instead help a friend who has been injured. If an injured soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress is in a moment of personal crisis in the middle of the night, he will have his brothers by his side in an instant and they won’t leave him until they feel he is able to manage on his own. It doesn’t matter what his happening in their own lives that week, everything is dropped to help a brother in need. I don’t know what I would do in Yoseph Goodman’s situation, but I know exactly what any of our injured soldiers would do: They would fight to be the first one to cut their own parachute, no matter the consequences. In the Jewish calendar we also find ourselves in the midst of Sefiras HaOmer, the time when we count the days from Passover to the holiday of Shavuot and the bringing of the omer offering in the Beit HaMikdash. During this time, until we reach the 33rd day of the omer, there is a tradition for the Jewish people to observe signs of mourning, including letting one’s beard grow, as a remembrance of the the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who died during this period. We not only observe outward signs of mourning but are also meant to reflect on fixing in ourselves what the Talmud says was the spiritual cause of the death of Rabbi Akiva’s students: They did not accord respect to each other. Disrespect and dishonor can only come from a spirit of selfishness and taking. I know the reason the television channel chose the program about Yoseph Goodman had nothing to do with Rabbi Akiva’s students, but the timing could not have been better. I used to think that the mourning and reflection we do during this time was only for us to remember to act in a respectful way toward the people around us, but I realized last night that it’s also about something more. Even if we show respect to each other, we do not come into this world simply to live for ourselves. We are here to go beyond ourselves for the sake of someone else. In Hebrew the word for sacrifice is “hakravah.” It is not an accident that hakravah also has the meaning “to come close.” We need look no further than our precious injured soldiers to see this truth in action. They share a purity and closeness that leave anyone who meets them feeling touched and inspired.
Chaim Levine is Levitan executive director of Hope for Heroism. The injured Israeli soldiers will be in Seattle on their annual Hope for Heroism delegation on May15th–23rd. During this time they will spend two days bonding with injured U.S. soldiers who have recently been inspired by Hope for Heroism to start a similar organization here in Washington State.

I was amused and also a bit dismayed by Robert Wilkes’s chauvinistic piece on why Americans (not to mention Jews) are exceptional (“American Jews are twice chosen,” April 29). He says, “Americans are chosen because each individual citizen knows, or should know, he is responsible for his government, his nation and his neighbors.” Surely he doesn’t think that this is true only of citizens in our country. He also says President Obama is “wrong” in not thinking of America as “exceptional” and accuses him of being weak, à la Jimmy Carter. I just returned from almost a month in Asia, and everywhere I went, people brought up (unasked) President Obama, telling me how much they liked him. This was also true when I was in northern Spain last September. When I traveled during the years the last President Bush was president, no one ever volunteered an opinion, which I assume was out of politeness, because when I asked what they thought, the answer was incredibly — and uniformly — negative. President Obama is a beacon for our world, and that’s what makes a great leader. We don’t have to cringe at a cowboy mentality or a lack of knowledge of history, current events and culture, or an unconscionable defense of torture — all of these attributes to me signify weakness. I am deeply thankful for President Obama and for his strong leadership by example. Carole Glickfeld seattle
In DEFEnsE OF MOM

The editors of JTNews recently published a letter (“Taking Sides,” Letters, April 29) attacking my mother, Rochelle Kochin, for her defense of the State of Israel’s right to defend herself from the evil actions of an enemy who specifically targets and murders Jewish civilians (“A moral compass,” April 15). The author writes that my mother’s views imply that “she must have no moral compass” if she cannot see the mitigating historical factors that motivate these terrorists. In these times of economic stress, the role of a Jewish community’s paper should not be to devote its limited resources to apologists for those who murder Jewish infants sleeping in their cribs. Those wishing to attack the State of Israel suffer from no shortage of financial support and forums to publish their deranged views. Rochelle Kochin has provided many years of selfless service and contribution to the needs of the Seattle’s Jewish community. An attack on the moral integrity of my mother has no more place in JTNews than deranged arguments of those who would deny the Holocaust. On this Mother’s Day, I call upon the editors of JTNews to reflect on their decisions. JTNews should use its limited resources to celebrate people like my mother. Israel Kochin new York, n.Y.
OnE MORE OpTIOn

I applaud Rabbi Mirel’s effort to encourage nonaffiliated Jews in the greater Seattle area to join a Jewish community in his article “An offer you can’t (and shouldn’t) refuse” (Rabbi’s Turn, Feb. 25). He lists several types of congregations to choose from, including Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal and Meditative, and he notes, as a caveat, that he is intentionally excluding messianic synagogues from the list of acceptable choices. One type of Jewish community that exists in Seattle but is not included in Rabbi Mirel’s list is Humanistic Judaism. As a member of the Secular Jewish Circle of Puget Sound, the local affiliate of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, I would like to correct this oversight. Although SJC is not a synagogue, it provides many of the same services as other Jewish communities, e.g. monthly community get-togethers, holiday celebrations, Sunday school, adult education, lifecycle celebrations, cultural programming, etc. SJC is a viable alternative for people who want to participate in a Jewish community that offers a world view that may resonate for them. SJC also actively engages in the larger local Jewish community, taking part in events at the Jewish Community Center, sponsoring cultural events such as the Seattle Jewish Film Festival, and supporting community organizations such as Jewish Family Service and the Jewish Federation. I appreciate you remembering to include Humanistic Jewish organizations such as ours in the list of viable alternatives for those seeking affiliation. We’re another type of vibrant Jewish community with much to offer and provide another doorway to affiliation. Judy blinder seattle

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR: We would love to hear from you! Our guide to writing a letter to the editor can be found at www.jtnews.net/index.php?/letters_guidelines.html, but please limit your letters to approximately 350 words. The deadline for the next issue is May 17. Future deadlines may be found online.

“Society becomes how you act.” — Eric Liu, co-author of The True Patriot and Imagination First, speaking at the Jewish Family Service gala luncheon on May 9.

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wOrld News

JTNews . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 13, 2011

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Consider the Purim story, where the Jews feasted after slaying those who were, admittedly, arming to slay them. Or God’s command to King Saul to obliterate the entire house of Amalek for its wicked ways: “Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (I Sam. 15: 2-3). Conversely, one of the best-known rituals of the Passover seder is spilling 10 drops of wine when mentioning the Ten Plagues to symbolize a lessening of our own joy in the face of Egyptian suffering. In Sanhedrin 39b, God admonishes the angels for rejoicing when the Egyptian soldiers drown in the Red Sea, saying “The work of My hands is drowning in the sea, and you want to sing?” “I don’t think we ‘celebrate’ a death,” explained Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the professional association of Conservative clergy.

In the case of bin Laden there is, she said, “a sense of relief, an affirmation God’s justice has been carried out.” Such an event, however, “is a time for sobriety, not celebration.” Nevertheless, Schonfeld added, one needs to distinguish between an ideal, religiously inspired response and the reality of human nature. “Sept. 11 was a day of tremendous trauma,” she said, and the raucous street celebrations can be viewed as a kind of catharsis. “What we’re seeing is a reminder of how personally people were affected. It’s an understandable human response that we as Jews are blessed to elevate to a Jewish response.” Rabbi Basil Herring, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, the professional association for Orthodox clergy, also distinguished between the ideal and the real. “In an ideal world, we serve God because we want to do His will, not

because he rewards us or we fear punishment,” he said. “But we’re human, we’re not angels. We live in a world where people need reinforcement, need a sense that it’s all worth it in the end.” The Jewish way is not to gloat, Herring said. It is appropriate to rejoice when evil doers get their just reward, but the rejoicing should be because we are witnessing God’s power and justice. It shouldn’t come, he said, from “a self-satisfied smug sense of ‘Yes, I’ve been proven right.’ “It’s an affirmation that God is not just an abstract idea, a Creator, but part of our lives,” Herring continued. “God cares. God loves us. That’s an essential article of our faith, that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. We rejoice because our faith is borne out.” Rabbi Arthur Waskow, a Jewish Renewal rabbi and director of Philadelphia’s Shalom Center, said he would have preferred that the Navy SEALS had brought bin Laden back to the United

States to stand trial. Just as Israeli agents didn’t kill Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann when they found him in Argentina a half-century ago, but tried him in Jerusalem to expose the true horror of the Holocaust and give its victims a chance to speak their truth, so would putting bin Laden on trial have been an opportunity to uncover the real face of al-Qaida, he said. “That would have been an extraordinary act in support of upholding the values we claim make us different,” Waskow said. Pointing to the story of Moses, Waskow quotes the Midrash as saying that one reason Moses was not permitted to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land was because in his youth he killed an Egyptian overseer, taking justice into his own hands without bringing him to trial. Trying bin Laden “would have been messy,” Waskow acknowledged, “but in the long run I’m sure it would have been better.”

QFC is proud to be the local presenting sponsor of the Komen Puget Sound Race for the Cure®
By Eric Miller, QFC Public Affairs Specialist The 18th annual Komen Puget Sound Race for the Cure® will be held on Sunday, June 5th at Seattle Center. We are just weeks away! Thousands of us will spend that morning together; connected by our experiences, our love, and through our shared support of one another. Every hug, every smile and wave, every pink balloon, wig, ribbon and painted face is a symbol that reminds us what is truly important - joining together to find a cure. QFC is honored to be this year’s Local Presenting Sponsor. For all of us at QFC it’s about taking an active role in the communities we serve. The key is being able to educate our customers and associates about breast cancer as well as raising funds for research and treatment. Chances are good that the disease has touched you in some way during your life. Perhaps a family member, co-worker or friend has needed your strength and support; maybe you have needed theirs. Ensuring all women have access to breast cancer early detection and quality treatment support is the ultimate goal. Over the past 30 years, Komen for the Cure has helped to change the way we study, treat and talk about the disease. In 1982 when Susan G. Komen for the Cure was launched, the five-year survival rate was 74% if the cancer was diagnosed before it spread beyond the breast. Today that rate is 98%! This proves how powerful early detection coupled with advances in treatment can be against the number one health concern for women. Understanding the facts about the disease and knowing the warning signs can help protect you and your loved ones. Here are some useful tips:
n Talk to your family and learn about your family n n n n n

health history Complete monthly breast self-exams Be alert to any changes in your body Notify your doctor immediately if you notice any changes or have any concerns Have yearly check-ups and mammograms, as recommended Spread the word by talking and sharing with mothers, sisters, family and friends. Love and knowledge are powerful weapons in this battle! So what can you do to help? Please join us on Sunday, June 5th at Seattle Center

for the Komen Puget Sound Race for the Cure®. You can run, walk, or even “Sleep in for the Cure.” To register online, visit www.komenpugetsound.org. We would love for you to join Team QFC – simply navigate through the Komen menu and select the QFC store team where you shop! During May, each customer will have the opportunity to donate to Komen Puget Sound by using $1, $5, or $10 scan cards at all QFC checkstands, by dropping coins in our coin boxes or by designating the 3 cent bag reuse credit be used as a donation to Komen Puget Sound. QFC is committed to serving our customers, our communities and to finding a cure. We couldn’t do it without you, thank you so much for your support!

Eric Miller is the Public Affairs Specialist for QFC. He can be reached at [email protected] or 425-990-6182.

“The help from JFS was a life saver in an ocean of despair.”
– Emergency Services Client, Jewish Family Service
JFS services and programs are made possible through generous community support of

For more information, please visit www.jfsseattle.org

friday, may 13, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTNews

iNside

YIDDIsH LEssOn
by Ruth PeizeR Az dos medyl ken nisht tantsn, zogt zi, di klezmorim kenen nisht shpiln.
The girl who can’t dance says the band can’t play.

InsIDE THIs IssuE
the rise and fall and rise and fall of religion in america
Prof. Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University is a perpetual student of Jewish community in the United States. He came to Seattle this week to talk about what he knows.

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Jewish sensitivity training
After three men who put on tefillin prior to a flight from Mexico to Los Angeles were escorted from the plane, Alaska Airlines turned to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle to learn more about Judaism.

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Help local Jewish veterans this Memorial day
Two local Jewish veterans, Robert Shay and Alan Silverman, have launched the Jewish Veterans Remembrance Project to recognize Jewish veteran gravesites throughout the Seattle area this Memorial Day. Shay and Silverman are currently gathering the names of deceased Jewish veterans from the greater Seattle area, as well as gender, cemetery, gravesite number (easily attainable from cemetery offices), branch of military, and rank when discharged. They also seek volunteers — including individuals, youth groups, scout troops, Hebrew schools or others — to help place and remove plaques on Memorial Day. For more information about the plaques or volunteering, contact Robert Shay at [email protected] or Alan Silverman at [email protected].

Five women to watch: giti Fredman and diane burnett

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Our series of Five Women to Watch continues with Giti Fredman, who brings a sense of Jewish community to local Jewish women, and Diane Burnett, who uses her own experience in helping people trying to overcome substance addiction.

Summer books: History through fiction

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Sometimes the best way to learn history is through the eyes of fictional characters, because it makes the period more personal. This month’s review section focuses on historical fiction.

in the name of peace

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Yariv Oppenheimer, the director of Israel’s Peace Now movement, came through Seattle to talk about his mission, his challenges, and his hopes for the near future.

Remember when
From the Jewish Transcript, April 24, 1998: A special section on Israel’s 50th anniversary, which preceded a celebration festival at Seattle Center, included an exhibit by ninth-generation Israeli photographer Keren Tzur of the city of Jerusalem. The exhibit later went to the Stroum Jewish Community Center.

MorE M.o.t.: documenting the barefoot bandit a view from the u: the kitchen remodel community calendar crossword the arts Lifecycles the Shouk classifieds

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Correction The preview story of the Music of Remembrance concert (“Setting a personal history to music,” April 29) referred to Thessalonika as an island. It is actually on Greece’s mainland. JTNews regrets the error.

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meet the interests of our Jewish community through fair and accurate coverage of local, national and international news, opinion and information. We seek to expose our readers to diverse viewpoints and vibrant debate on many fronts, including the news and events in Israel. We strive to contribute to the continued growth of our local Jewish community as we carry out our mission. 2041 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121 206-441-4553 • [email protected] www.jtnews.net
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cOmmuNiTy News

JTNews . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 13, 2011

The rise and decline of Western (religious) civilization
JoeL magaLniCk editor, JTNews
Religion in America runs in cycles. Sometimes it ebbs, sometimes it flows. Currently, says Prof. Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University, this country is experiencing a religious recession, and the Jewish community is not exempt. “The number of Americans who claim that their religion is ‘none’ has certainly grown,” said Sarna, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History and this year’s lecturer for the Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies at the University of Washington, Revivals and Awakenings in American Judaism. “In the past, every religious decline has been followed by a religious revival. Whether that will happen now, I don’t know.” Sarna thinks of the period between the first two world wars as one that best compares to today. Just like now, with easy distractions like Facebook and the iPhone, technology back then kept parishioners out of the pews. “The automobile, for example, gave [people] something else to do on Sunday morning and it took a while for religion to figure out how to restructure so you make peace with this new piece of technology,” he said. “All of that is a challenge to synagogues and churches, and it will take some time before we see how that all plays out.” The economy in this most recent decline certainly played a role, Sarna said, but something else is at play. “Clearly when the economy collapsed, ‘The first thing I can save money on is synagogue membership,’” Sarna said, explaining many people’s rationale. “But we haven’t seen the kind of recovery in the religious realm that we have seen in the economic realm.” Rabbi Beth Singer of Temple Beth Am, who studied under Sarna, agreed there may be a decline in religious belief. “Most people that I know don’t want to come and sit in services on a regular basis, they don’t want to describe themselves as religious, they are really uncertain about their feelings about God,” she said. However, her experience in Seattle differs from what she and Sarna have both seen in other communities. “We are experiencing this tremendous influx in everything that we do at Temple Beth Am,” Singer said. And while she sees her congregants distracted by online social media, she said, “we’re seeing that that is not enough, and there is a place for a real face-to-face, human-connection, meeting place.” Still, denominational organizations fear for their futures. The Reform movement is struggling with how it can increase its reach and relevance for 21st-century families. The Conservative movement earlier this year approved the implementation of a strategic plan that will overhaul the way it provides services for its adherents. And in February, the Reconstructionist movement combined its organizational arm and rabbinical school, which Sarna called an admission of its significant challenges. Sarna does not have a lot of data on the Orthodox community because so many institutions serve that population. He noted that while Orthodox Jews have many more children than the non-Orthodox, which has provided growth, not all of these children stay within the fold. In addition, the ba’al teshuvah movement that began in the 1970s, which saw many people convert to Orthodoxy, has markedly slowed. “If you talk to rabbis, they don’t see that much of it, and synagogues are no longer filled with religious newcomers who are eager to participate,” Sarna said. The rise of independent minyanim and similar such organizations — he cited Seattle’s Kavana Cooperative as one example of popular alternatives to a traditional shul — that began growing before the recession have also seen a slowdown, if not an outright stalling out. The near future, at least for American Jews, will see much more interest in nonreligious ways for people to express their Judaism, Sarna believes. If there has been a

CouRTeSY BRANDeiS uNiveRSiTY

Prof. Jonathan Sarna, this year’s Sam and Althea Stroum lecture Series’ scholar-in-residence.

true rise in Jewish organizational involvement, it has been through organizations like American Jewish Word Service, which aims to strengthen Jewish identity through a social justice lens. “We’ve seen this great movement back to social justice activities across the Jewish spectrum, including the Orthodox,” he said. But, just as the anti-religious ideologies of Marxism and socialism “seemed to be capturing the hearts and minds of a lot of young people” in the 1920s, Sarna
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15749 NE 4th St. Bellevue, WA 98008 425.460.0200 www.jds.org

A Celebration of Jewish Music Featuring the Temple B’nai Torah Choir
Under the direction of Cantor David Serkin-Poole
From ancient to modern, serious to fun,

Annual Meeting
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 7 PM Greenstein Athletic Center The Jewish Day School 6:30 PM Wine and Cheese Reception Installation of 2011-2012 Board of Trustees

with Stephen Marshall-Ward

Board of Trustees
Joann Bianco* Janice Brumer Cindy Caditz Bonnie Cape* Robin Castrogiovanni* Norm Chapman* Jerry Dunietz Jill Friedman Lela Franco* Richard Galanti (President) Mindy Geisser Marc Gonchar Barry Goren* Judy Greenstein Dena Herbolich Deb Kadish Alan Kipust Michelle Kohorn (PA Chair) Marty Lazoritz Amy Schottenstein Charlene Steinhauer* Robert Sulkin

Featuring compositions of the greatest Jewish composers from the 17th century to the present, including Lewandowski, Steinberg, Pundy, Friedman, Shur, and more.

Join us as the Temple B’nai Torah Choir sings its favorites!

Sunday, May 22, 2011 - 7:00 p.m. Free and open to all! In the Temple B’nai Torah Sanctuary
Rabbi James L. Mirel Cantor David Serkin-Poole Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg
15727 NE 4th Street

* nominated for new three-year term

Thank you board members Marcy Bockow and Sharon Lott whose terms have ended. RSVP to Elizabeth Goertzel at 425.460.0230 or [email protected]

www.TempleBnaiTorah.org

Bellevue, WA 98008

(425) 603-9677

friday, may 13, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTNews

cOmmuNiTy News

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Airline undertakes training in Judaism following tefillin incident
JaniS SiegeL JTNews Correspondent
When three observant Jewish men on a flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles in March alarmed the flight crew by standing, wrapping black leather straps to their arms, binding small black boxes to their heads, and praying loudly in Hebrew, they were removed from the flight. A day after that event, Seattle-based carrier Alaska Airlines quickly reached out to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle for a crash course in Jewish religious practice. In a series of ongoing meetings between the airline, the Jewish Federation and the Va’ad HaRabanim of Greater Seattle, Alaska Airlines hopes to learn about Judaism, and has already taken action by creating an internal website and related written documents for its top-level staff so they may more easily recognize the sights and sounds of common Jewish practices, as well as those of other religious groups. “We took this very seriously,” said Bobbie Egan, media-relations manager for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, Alaska’s partner airline, speaking with JTNews. “We had a lot of employees who said they wanted to be a part of this.” Several of Alaska’s senior staff attended the April meeting, including directors from the flight department, which oversees flight attendants, representatives from diversity training, in-flight crew training and crew selection. Employee resource groups, which include diversity groups and the human resources department, attended as well. “We’ve launched a computer-based training [program] for our 2,600 flight attendants,” Egan said. “In addition, we are finalizing our new employee orientation and will have a handout focusing primarily on the most popular religious practices for the regions we serve.” Immediately after the incident, Alaska Airlines issued a swift apology and offered to reimburse the passengers’ airfares once it learned that the small black boxes with leather straps, known as tefillin, were a part of daily morning prayer rituals for observant Jews. “We are including a model of training on non-verbal communication and what different behaviors could mean,” Egan said. “In addition, we’re producing another document that highlights some common prayer rituals.” The incident was resolved once the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and airport police met the plane, questioned the men and searched their bags. According to Egan, an internal company review determined that the flight crew acted appropriately, but she could not recall, at this time, whether the three passengers involved have taken any formal action against the airline. While attempting to refund the men’s airfares, Alaska Airlines found disconnected or incorrect phone numbers, which made subsequent attempts to contact the men, reported by the Jerusalem Post as Mexican nationals, difficult but still ongoing, Egan said. The Jewish Federation’s CEO Richard Fruchter and its director of marketing and communications, Wendy Dore, along with Seattle Va’ad representatives, interim director Al Maimon and Rabbi Simon Benzaquen, collaborated with the airline to help them become more sensitive to Jewish religious rituals. In a statement on the Federation’s website, Fruchter praised Alaska Airlines for its concern and attention to the matter, while acknowledging that security is the priority, even as all of the parties involved strive to build understanding. “They contacted us to learn what this particular ritual is and what is involved so that they could learn what is acceptable, and what might be normal behavior, versus behaviors that they might be on alert for,” Dore told JTNews. “We’ve already provided them with photos and articles about tefillin, what they look like, and we had a demonstration by a local Va’ad rabbi.” Although the Seattle Va’ad makes Jewish religious rulings on almost any issue, including kosher regulations, divorces, marriages, conversions, and more, Maimon told JTNews that the Va’ad has never been called on to help an airline become more religiously savvy, but they are happy to help in any way they can. “We don’t have an agenda here,” said Maimon. “But if you know you’re going to be doing something that’s out of the norm, let the staff know what’s coming and make sure that they agree to the time and the place that it could be done so that it’s not disruptive.” Benzaquen agreed and said he believed that the altercation probably had something to do with the passengers’ personalities as much as it did with Jewish law. “There are certain rules on the plane because of safety and you have to be sensitive to that,” the rabbi told JTNews and Alaska Airlines executives at the meeting, reaffirming the Jewish law on the subject. “If you are already on the plane, and you didn’t take the tefillin [out], and you are already sitting down, you have to talk first to the flight attendant.” At the same time, knowledge is power, he said. Once educated on the subject, the plane’s crew can handle this situation with

ANDReW W. SieBeR/CReATive CoMMoNS

calm and ease the next time. “If somebody asks if they can do their prayers, [flight attendants] can know what it is instead of being panicky,” Benzaquen said. While he had the airline’s attention on the subject of Jewish religious habits, Maimon said he took the opportunity to lobby, in a friendly way, for more explicit kosher certification symbols to be printed on the snacks it sells so those who observe Jewish kosher laws can more easily see them. However, he did not lose sight of the issue that brought the group together and he offered his thoughts on the matter. “There should be no one feeling entitlement to do what they need to do regardless of the environment or the authority of the people where they are,” he said. The group plans to meet again at the end of May.

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m.O.T.: member Of The Tribe

JTNews . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 13, 2011

barefoot bandologist writes book • Also: Music is business for three teens

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have to pace yourself and work at it every day.” And, no, he hasn’t interviewed Colton. No one has. A founding board member of West Seattle congregation Kol HaNeshamah, Jackson is “somehow…back on the board again after almost six or seven years off [it].” The 8-year-old congregation got its start when — after much talk — “a group of eight of us had dinner at Buddha Ruksa in West Seattle” and created the progressive congregation. “We’re a synagogue that got its start over Thai food,” he says. It’s a natural fit for Jackson, who grew up in Boston attending Temple Israel, where he and his dad were both active members. He finds “a Jewish lesson” in Fly, Colton, Fly about community and community responsibility. “It’s a cautionary tale,” he says. We’re captivated by a story about a modern American outlaw folk hero, “but it’s also a sad story about a child who was Joel MAgAlNiCk Jackson Holtz autographs copies of Fly, Colton, Fly at elliott bay neglected and began stealing to survive.” book Co. during a book launch event in April. Jackson has moved to features reporting for The Herald, but he for a book. His proposal was picked up by still covers the bandit when news emerges. Penguin’s New American Library. He lives in Seattle with his partner, Jeremy He wrote the book in “just over a Moser, and their cat Emily. “I love to month” so it could come to market while cook,” he says, and last summer he and interest still abounded. The pace was Jeremy started a pea patch. Find more daunting, he says, but as a runner he cominformation at www.jacksonholtz.com. pared it to “any endurance event…you “I covered the story from the beginning…in early 2007,” says “barefoot bandologist” Jackson Holtz. The Herald of Everett reporter just released his book, Fly, Colton, Fly, about “Barefoot Bandit” Colton Harris-Moore, the teenage Camano Island burglar who branched out into national and international theft before being arrested in the Bahamas. The book draws on the 100-plus articles Jackson wrote working the paper’s crime beat. After the bandit’s 2010 arrest, Jackson felt there was a strong enough narrative, and certainly enough material,

Diana bRement JTNews Columnist

2

tribe

of soccer and other sports,” he says. Ben Jacob Goren, Ben Spear and plays on the Yeshiva golf team (yes, the Zac Zilz have been schoolmates, yeshiva has a golf team!). A budding filmfriends and campers at Camp Solmaker, he finds similarities in audio editomon Schechter for many years. Last ing and running a sound system. summer that all coalesced into a business. Zac is involved in B’nai B’rith Youth They were emceeing the camp’s evening and spent this year helping the Eastside shows and putting on skits. One night they chapter increase its membership. A “conasked if they could DJ a dance, and a new noisseur of all kinds of music,” he also DJ business was born. plays water polo. He says the best part Back in the Seattle area, Benzacob — of Benzacob is “all the new people we a mesh of their names — quickly began getting work in and outside the Jewish community. They’ve played for youth groups and schools, for Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties and family events, and organized independent dances for high schoolers, using Facebook to publicize the events. With Seattle residents Jacob and Ben graduating from Interlake High School JoSH voSS i n B e l l e v u e a n d From left to right, Jacob Goren, ben Spear, and Zac Zils, the DJs Northwest Yeshiva, benzacob. respectively, and Zac meet.” It’s been great, he says, to learn from Mercer Island High, Benzacob will to “approach people and take risks,” all be on partial hiatus for the next few years. skills he expects he will be able to use in Jacob will attend the University of Washthe future. ington and has access to the equipment if he’s needed; Ben will study at Derech Eitz Haim yeshiva in Israel; Zac is attendA correction: I transposed information ing University of Redlands. Although the about Inge Marcus in the last issue. She three will be at Schechter this summer, retired from Saint Martin’s University in they can get away for bookings. (Ben will Lacey as an assistant professor in biology return to the UW next year.) in 2007 and only taught very briefly at Aside from school and Benzacob, Jacob Pacific Lutheran in 1985. has been active in the business leadership organization DECA. He also plays “a lot

TEMPLE De Hirsch Sinai
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You are invited to SJCS’s Annual Meeting
Monday, May 23, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
Help us recognize the work of our outstanding staff and Volunteer of the Year – Joe Blumenzweig.
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Seattle Campus: 1441 16th Ave. Street, Seattle, WA 98122 Bellevue Campus: 3850 156th Avenue SE, Bellevue, WA 98006

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‘eternal soup’: The professor’s guide to surviving your kitchen remodel
maRtin JaFFee JTNews Columnist
Last fall our family bit the bullet. After years of complaining about our cramped 1950s-vintage kitchen, we decided: It’s time! So we hired an architect-contractor, drew up the plans, and were ready to roll. We planned to begin right after the autumn festivals and finish up by Hanukkah — New Year’s Eve at the latest. Simple, right? Right? For one reason or another the work didn’t begin until early November. Our guy projected a three-month time frame that forecast a finish well before Purim. Various delays — the most aggravating concerning the floor guy — ultimately pushed the grand opening till just before Pesach. Have you ever moved your kitchen into your living room for four months? As those of you who’ve redone a kitchen well know, the new kitchen is really a minor issue; the first problem is what to do with the stuff already in your old kitchen. For one thing, everything — including the kitchen sink — must go somewhere. Here’s how we reconfigured our living space: All pantry stuff, pots and pans, and dry goods are now boxed in the guestroom. Sorry, guests! Everyday needs, such as peanut butter, breakfast granola bars, the coffee maker, and the Scotch, are laid out on tables brought into the living room. The fridge, dislocated from its former kitchen post, now guards the entrance to the living room. You might recall seeing it on camera when, in the comfort of my living room, I was interviewed by KING 5 News about the “blood libel” controversy we’ve all forgotten about. Ketzel, the cat, also upstaged the honored interviewee with a guest cameo, stalking through the room looking for his bowl. As for cooking gear, we made do with a single-burner hot plate, a crock pot for cholent, a microwave, and a soup kettle. We ate mostly on paper, to avoid having to wash the dishes in the bathtub. Not exactly “green,” but hey: Look at the electricity we saved! The place may look like Costco, but it’s cozy. We lived like this for — count ’em — six months! But necessity, they say, is the mother of invention! In order to minimize cooking clean-up (in a living room with no counters or sink, and a bathroom with a backbreaking bathtub squat for dishwashing), we pioneered a way to extend our Shabbos chicken soup so it becomes the foundation of a meal that lasts most of the week. We call it “Eternal Soup.” This miraculous soup cooks up for Shabbos and, like the lechem panim (the “Bread of the Presence”) of the Temple, that stayed fresh from Shabbos to Shabbos, grows tastier as the week unfolds. The foundation of “Eternal Soup” is your good ol’ Shabbos chicken soup. Make it the way you (or Mom or Bubbe) usually do, but leave the chicken parts to steep in the broth on the blech over Shabbos. By Saturday night you’ll have a thick, gelatinous stew which, after it cools by Sunday, will be the foundational “lead” of an alchemical transformation into the “gold” of “Eternal Soup.” The result is a classic minestrone-like crowd pleaser that, if necessary, can nourish four for dinner Monday–Wednesday, with bread and green salad. Of course, you can start dining on your “Eternal Soup” as early as Sunday, but that’ll leave Wednesday and Thursday open. I recommend using Sunday as Island Crust pizza day. That gets you soup through Wednesday. On Thursday we heat up canned veggie chili. On Friday: make another batch of your mother’s (or Bubbe’s) chicken soup and repeat the cycle. Can you think of a better way of feeding your family out of a single pot all week? Our soup pot gets its bath Wednesday night, rests on Thursday, and is ready to rock and roll on Friday! This is how the Jaffees have survived the Winter of the Kitchen Remodel. Extra added benefit: That hot plate really cranks out the heat on those chilly, rainy Seattle evenings! Double extra added benefit: there’s no better way to deal with cold cholent. So — any takers for Monday night dinner chez Jaffee?
Martin S. Jaffee currently holds the Samuel & Althea Stroum Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of Washington. His award-winning columns for JTNews have recently been published in book form as The End of Jewish Radar: Snapshots of a Post-Ethnic American Judaism by iUniverse press. Find the recipe in Marty’s column online at jtnews.net.

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JTNews . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 13, 2011

Diane Burnett Using No longer alone:
emiLy k. aLhaDeFF Assistant editor, JTNews
“I have given my background to just about every population except my own,” says Diane Burnett, the new director of the Alternatives to Addiction program at Jewish Family Service. “I had been told about the position here at JFS, and I wasn’t even looking. But something told me to investigate it further. It just grew to be an obvious match.” Like several of our other Women to Watch, Burnett relays a sense of a guiding force that brought her to her current position. “It just shows you, you don’t always know the best thing for yourself,” she says. Burnett comes to JFS with a Master of Social Work from the University of Washington and a Chemical Dependency professional certificate, as well as experience working with Harborview and UW Medical Centers, the King County Jail and King County Drug Court. She has been a member of several chemical dependency clinical studies to define best practices. Burnett has served veterans, the elderly, people of color, women and teens, but never the Jewish community exclusively. “Our program is designed to increase awareness of drug and alcohol abuse in the Jewish community,” she says. “There is a

experience to help others
myth in the Jewish community that Jews don’t have a problem with addiction.” Alternatives to Addiction seeks to remove the barriers between Jews struggling with addiction and the help they need, connecting them with the community at large. The program is three years old, and Burnett is the second director. Among the addictions prevalent in the community, “I think that there’s a lot of alcoholism,” she says. “There’s a huge problem with prescription narcotics. A lot of people have chronic pain...We need to keep our kids safe from our medicine cabinets.” But addiction extends to other

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behaviors, too. “Anything we do to try to change our reality can become addictive,” Burnett says. It’s “a symptom of dissatisfaction with the world.” Burnett suggests that Jews feel like they’re letting down the whole community, while some may feel too high profile to get recovery. “I think shame and guilt is a big barrier to Jews getting clean and sober,” she says. Burnett also notes that Jews tend to shy away from 12-step programs, viewing them as Christian, a myth Burnett tries to dispel. While she promotes them, she also stresses creative problem solving. Burnett speaks highly of the 12-step programs — that’s how she got clean 21 years ago. “It never dawned on me that I have a problem,” says Burnett, who found herself reliant upon alcohol and narcotics in 1990. “I was completely alone in my misery.” “I went to my first NA [Narcotics Anonymous] meeting and I recognized myself immediately,” she says. “First of all, they were laughing at their experiences. I found that to be extremely attractive.” Support and humor gave Burnett the strength to change. “I was no longer alone,” she says. “That’s what I want for any Jews who are feeling isolated in their addiction.” Burnett says she sees many crossovers between Jewish teachings and addiction recovery. “The most obvious is teshuvah, repentence,” she says. When addicted, “we’re so full of our own ego,” but tikkun middot, repairing personal and spiritual qualities, is purifying. “The very thing that was your very source of shame becomes your source of dignity,” she says. “You can look at the world with much more appreciation. “I can turn it over to God, to a higher power. I don’t have to know where my path is leading to walk it. It enables me to have my sense of humor, my sense of joy.”
To learn more about Jewish Family Service’s Alternatives to Addiction program, contact Diane Burnett at 206-861-8782 or [email protected].

call 206.282.5777 • www.theviewpointe.com • 2450 Aurora Avenue North • Seattle, WA 98109

friday, may 13, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTNews

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11

Giti Fredman:Judaism home bringing
emiLy k. aLhaDeFF Assistant editor, JTNews
As Giti Fredman talks, a theme emerges: Inspiration. She describes how she landed in West Seattle (of all places), building Jewish community and leading women’s trips to Israel as a result of inspired choices and an unusually grounded sense that she can make change in the world. The Lakewood, N.J. native had her life more or less planned out during the eight years she and her husband, Rabbi David Fredman, spent living in Jerusalem and Ramat Beit Shemesh, where she ran a baking business. “We thought we were going to live in Israel forever,” Giti, 29, says. But after her husband was inspired by a going-away party for his best friend, who had been hired by the Seattle Kollel’s Rabbi Avrohom David to lead a Kollel in Portland, they knew what they had to do. The Fredmans picked up and moved to West Seattle to help build the Jewish community. The couple runs the West Seattle Torah Learning Center, where they dedicate their time to hosting Shabbat meals, leading classes and holding events. “Our goal is just to unite and get to know the Jews of West Seattle and let them know there is a Jewish resource here,” Giti says. The Torah Learning Center is one of two synagogues that have popped up in West Seattle in recent years. But she tries to dispel the myth that one can only attend the institution where he or she pays dues. “We’re not just a synagogue, we’re a Jewish resource,” she says. “It’s not a contradiction. You can be a member somewhere else and come to our Shabbat dinner.” Besides, she pointed out, they don’t collect dues. The same sense of following a calling that brought the Fredmans to Seattle is what gave Giti the strength to start leading yearly trips to Israel for Jewish mothers. The trip is through the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, which focuses on bringing Jewish values to a central place in Jewish homes through women’s education. “I knew about this trip for a while, and I thought, ‘I can’t do it, I can’t leave the kids,’” she says (she’s got four). But after attending a conference for women in kiruv — the practice of reaching out to less observant Jews — and hearing more about the JWRP, she changed her mind. After the conference she called her husband and her mother-in-law to let them know they would be taking care of the kids while she went to Israel. “It’s kind of like a Birthright for Jewish moms,” Fredman says. By taking women with children still at home to Israel to engage more deeply with Judaism, she hopes that the women will return and “inspire her husband and her kids living at home.” “All these women are bringing what they learned back to their families,” she says. “All the women are more committed to learning about Judaism.” What’s unique about Fredman as a woman to watch is her dedication to Jewish womanhood in and of itself. “We believe the woman is the foundation of the home,” she says. Fredman hosts the monthly Lunar Latte Rosh Chodesh women’s discussion group and until recently was leading a Jewish Mommy and Me series. Her new project is “Jewish Kids in the Kitchen” and

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she’d like to start a Jewish storytime. “I feel like I’m a Jewish woman, I have a lot of talent, I’m really capable and have a lot of energy,” she says. “I have a deep desire to share what I know with other women. I’m very happy with my role.”
For more information about attending the next Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, which leaves later this month, contact Shaindel Bresler at [email protected] or 206-779-4373.

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summer bOOks

JTNews . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 13, 2011

Summer books:
by Diana bRement JTNews Columnist
Readers can often benefit from learning history through fiction, a testament to historical fiction’s enduring popularity. An author can “know” a fictional character more deeply, creating a more sympathetic, moving and personal portrait than an historical figure might make. Three new historical novels, all from foreign authors, offer insight into specific periods spanning about a century of time. Gratitude, by the Hungarian-Canadian author Joseph Kertes (St. Martin’s, cloth, $26.99), explores Hungarian Jewry’s short but traumatic entry into the Holocaust, starting with the 1944 Nazi invasion through the end of the war. Until the moment of invasion, Hungarian Jews and gentiles lived under an illusion of protection they assumed the Hungarian-German alliance gave them. Kertes dramatically captures the speed at which the Nazis move to violate and dismantle the lives, confidence and patriotism of those Jews. We learn the facts through the characters of the Beck family in Budapest, whose first hint of the future comes when they take in Lily, the sole Jewish survivor of her village’s ruthless evacuation by Nazi and Hungarian soldiers. Their individual and

History through fiction’s eyes
group actions show the range of experience of survivors and martyrs alike. Some are killed, some hide, and some become Swedish citizens under the auspices of Raoul Wallenberg, a small, but important character in the book. Jewish and gentile characters are pulled into the maelstrom. Some go to the camps, some disappear, and as the living nightmares churn on, we see how people react — some driven to action, some to despair, and some to heroism. In Valley of Strength, (Toby, cloth, $24.95), Israeli novelist Shulamit Lapid novelizes a period not often given much thought. More than 50 years before the Holocaust, horrific pogroms were sweeping across Eastern Europe, driving many to emigrate. Written in Hebrew in 1982 and only recently translated into English, Valley tells the story of Fania, a 16-year-old girl, the sole survivor of her village’s pogrom, who arrives in Ottoman-ruled Palestine in the late 19th century with her deranged brother, her intellectual uncle, and her baby, a product of rape. She hastily agrees to marry a farmer and moves to the remote farm settlement of Gai Oni, now the town of Rosh Pinah. Through Fania’s life we learn the early history of the area and of Israel’s earliest European immigrants who, side by side with their Arab neighbors, struggled to make a living off an unyielding land. From 20th-century terror we move to 21st-century terrorism in The Fourth Target, by Nik Klieman (independent, paper, $15). This book, by an Americanborn Israeli and former El Al publicist, caught my interest because it has a map of Washington on the cover with an alarming flag pin stuck into Tacoma, marking it as a target of terrorism. Journalist Jonathan Summers is an airline terrorism expert who becomes an amateur detective enmeshed in an international conspiracy after his daughter is killed in an airline bombing. The book suffers from many of the problems of self-published books. Despite writing, punctuation and factual problems (it’s Pike Place Market, not Pike’s Place, and it’s Puget Sound, not the Pacific!), layout and formatting issues, the story still held my interest. I of course kept reading to learn the Pacific Northwest’s role in the plot. In Breakfast with the Ones You Love, by Eliot Fintushel (Bantam, paper, $12),

Lea Tillem, a 16-year-old runaway with unusual powers, meets Jack Konar. Jack is building a spaceship in anticipation of the arrival of the Chosen Ones, who will in turn herald the coming of the Messiah. The author — a stand-up comic and hurdy gurdy player — thrives on word play and esoteric Jewish knowledge, and I can’t help think that in his defense he’d say that there’s nothing wilder here than some of the stories in the Tanach.

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Books in brief
Diana bRement JTNews Columnist
JuDaiSm
Imagine: John Lennon and the Jews, A Philosophical Rampage, by Ze’ev Maghen (independent, paper, $12.50). Don’t be put off by the title of this book, it’s about a lot more than John Lennon, although the author uses a critique of the song lyrics as a foundation for his “philosophical rampage.” His “Why be Jewish?” argument has its roots in a long-ago encounter with some Israeli Hare Krishna acolytes at the Los Angeles airport. Maghen — American-born, but now an Israeli professor of Arabic literature and Islamic history at Bar-Ilan University — writes, “the ensuing pages are what I would have said to them,” had he had the time and opportunity. Maghen is smart (very!), funny, critical, irreverent and lucid, and he puts it all together with equal doses of philosophy, pop culture and religion, and lots of entertaining anecdotes. Where else could you find Star Trek’s Mr. Spock and philosopher Immanuel Kant quoted in the same paragraph? Even if you don’t agree with him (and he delineates at the beginning who should and shouldn’t read this book), it’s a thought-provoking and entertaining ride. In the Valley of the Shadow: On the Foundations of Religious Belief, by James Kugel (Free Press, cloth, $26). When this preeminent biblical scholar got a cancer diagnosis about 10 years ago, and given only a few years to live, he was not just worried. He writes that “the background music stopped…the music of daily life that’s constantly going, the music of infinite time and possibilities.” In the face of death, in that silence, and in the passive state of “patienthood,” he thought he discovered clues to the origins of religious belief. Fortunately, Kugel survived to write this book, an exploration of scripture and scholarship, in which he proposes that religion developed in response to the common human existential emptiness and ability to see ourselves as a very small part of a very big world. It’s that “ancient sense of self,” which Kugel felt personally when his “background music” stopped, that led him to explore this phenomenon on a wider scale. Building on the framework of his personal cancer experience, he brings history, neurology, anthropology, poetry and religious writing together to paint a portrait of the development of religion in human society. God of Me: Imagining God throughout Your Lifetime, by Rabbi David Lyon (Jewish Lights, paper, $16.99). Lyon, in a sense, introduces us to God. This short and sweet book bridges the God-talk gap, helping bring God into our modern, everyday lives. Moving through the different stages of life, he uses Torah to demonstrate the point of each chapter, and concludes with questions for discussion. Parents of teens and young adults may find this book particularly helpful when following the Deuteronomy’s injunction to “teach them to your children to discuss them,” especially while their kids are at the stage of questioning their beliefs or challenging their parents’ beliefs or instructions. stadt (Schocken-Nextbook, cloth, $24.95). The award-winning historian presents a readable and fascinating reevaluation of the groundbreaking trial that became a touchstone for judicial proceedings worldwide in which victims of genocide confront their perpetrators. Beginning with the capture of SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann by Israeli agents in Argentina in 1960, Lipstadt moves on to describe his televised Tel Aviv trial, which riveted the world. Lipstadt was a leader in bringing Holocaust survivors to talk publicly about their experiences and focuses on the dramatic effect that survivor testimony had in that court of law, testimony that itself was not without controversy. In a world that had not really understood the personal stories of the millions who died and the hundreds of thousands who survived, the trial meant, writes Lipstadt, “the story of the Holocaust…was heard anew… The telling may not have been entirely new, but the hearing was” (author’s emphasis).

non-FiCtion

hoLoCauSt

The Eichmann Trial, by Deborah E. Lip-

Better by Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong, by Alina Tugend (Riverhead, cloth, $25.95). We are all wrong on occasion, and we all make mistakes, so why is it so hard to admit them? The New York Times columnist tells us that a piece she wrote about making mistakes became one of the Times’ “most e-mailed” articles, and the responses filled the author’s inbox with readers’ stories about their own mistakes. Tugend explores how we make mistakes, usually cover them up, and how we should really

go about handling them as parents, as spouses, as students, as doctors, but most especially in the wake of the financial collapse of 2008, as business people. There’s a downside to striving for perfection, and rewards in acknowledging and embracing the imperfection in all of us.

7:00 pm at uW hillel

Thursday, May 26Th

17th Avenue NE, Seattle

Kugel Throwdown
Guest Kugel Cooks include: Karen Binder, rabbi dan Bridge, hannah Cordes, Joanne Glosser, Cindy Masin, rabbi Jay rosenbaum and david sanford Leah Jaffee will serve as consultant to the cooks. Guest Chef: Joel Gamoran Joel will create a hip-hop, happening, take-it-to-the-next-level kugel.
Co-sponsored by hillel’s JConnect. $10 for community members, no charge for JConnecters. space is limited. Call Lori Weinberg Ceyhun at 206-774-2277 to reserve your spot or for more information.

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14

cOmmuNiTy caleNdar

JTNews . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 13, 2011

Avoid Gossip
by Mike Selinker

This Week’s Wisdom

Candlelighting times May 6 .............................. 8:09 p.m. May 13 .............................8:19 p.m. May 20 ............................ 8:26 p.m. May 27 ............................ 8:35 p.m. FRiDay

choreographers. $18/general, $15/children, seniors, military. At Mt. Tahoma High School, 4634 S 74th St., Tacoma.

tueSDay

Sages caution against the spread of “Lashon Hara,” meaning “evil speech.” More harm can be done with a softly spoken word than with a hundred swords. Three people are hurt by every word of malicious gossip, as this puzzle shows.

ACROSS 1 Sound of shock 5 Like road games 9 Stockpile 14 Site of the Kon-Tiki Museum 15 Nutty as a fruitcake 16 National Poetry Month 17 With 27-, 39-, 47-, and 60-Across, all three people hurt by a piece of gossip 20 Electric start? 21 Mariner’s goal at the plate 22 Honeycomb manufacturer? 23 Pester 25 Failed 21-Across attempt 27 See 17-Across 31 “When it ___, it pours” 35 Consecrated 36 Eastern “way” 37 Jim Henson’s frog 38 Australian biped 39 See 17-Across 41 Ring result, briefly 42 Blush 44 See 69-Across 45 Celestial body 46 ___ the storm 47 See 17-Across 49 Celestial bodies 51 Celestial body 52 Bashful housemate? 55 Suffix with sex or multicultural 56 Breathtaking organs? 60 See 17-Across 65 Bumbling 66 Part in a play 67 Paquin of True Blood 68 Vending machine offerings 69 With 44-Across, Sean Lennon’s mom 70 Pleasant, as an outlook
Answers on page 15

DOWN 1 Fan of The Cure and Bauhaus, perhaps 2 Like a recently used fireplace 3 Go tobogganing 4 Louisiana sandwich 5 Ginger ___ 6 That’s amazing! 7 German exclamation 8 Chocolaty beverage 9 Snags 10 Zoo attraction 11 Grouch 12 Walk in the woods 13 Otherwise 18 Person, place, or thing 19 Drink daintily 24 Climb aboard 25 Particles of light 26 What a golfer tries to break 27 Over yonder 28 Comfortably cheery 29 Escape the grasp of 30 Used to exist 32 Right Said Fred hit “___ Sexy” 33 Camera brand 34 Platoon director Oliver 37 They’re fit to be tied? 39 Liberals 40 Conclusion 43 Beehive and pixie cut 45 Where to go for Help 47 Weapons depot 48 Hawaiian dance 50 Poisonous serpent 52 Offenses written up at traffic stops 53 Seattle skater Apolo 54 Like Harvard, after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe 57 Impermissible act 58 Second Amendment subject 59 Don’t go anywhere 61 Facial location? 62 Rick Derringer hit “Rock and Roll, Hoochie ___” 63 Big deer 64 The Matrix hero

7:30–9 p.m. — Nishmat Shabbat
Shellie Oakley at [email protected] or 206-577-2391 or www.betalef.org/shabbat.html#nishmat At this unique event, Bet Alef teachers share their passion for meditation, mystical chant and the deeper transformational messages of Jewish tradition. Silent and guided Jewish meditations, ecstatic chanting and dancing, and Judaism’s non-dual spiritual teachings are alternately offered throughout the evening. $10 donation. At Queen Anne United Methodist Church, 1606 5th Ave. West, Seattle. 7:30 and 10 p.m. — Shabbaton with gila Manolson
Marilyn Leibert at [email protected] or 206-722-8289 or seattlekollel.org Shabbaton with Gila Manolson, international speaker and author on love and relationships. Dinner at 7:30 with lecture “Finding Yourself in the Crowd: Judaism and Individuality.” Oneg Shabbat at 10 p.m. with lecture, “Keeping Your Feet on the Ground When Your Head is in the Clouds: Realistic Expectations of Love and Marriage.” $20/adults, $10/children, free/6 and under. At the Seattle Kollel, 5305 52nd Ave. S, Seattle.

13 may

7:30 p.m. — The Changing Middle east
www.townhallseattle.org The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies presents an unparalleled group of experts and eyewitnesses to describe their impressions of what is happening in this crucially important region, discuss its significance for the U.S. and the rest of the world, and answer questions from the audience. Tickets available through www.brownpapertickets.com and at the door beginning at 6:30 p.m. $5. At Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave. (at Seneca St.), Seattle.

17 may

WeDneSDay

7–9 p.m. — israel Matters Series
Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg at [email protected] Local vendors and David Sokal, owner of Peace Oil, speak on Israel Buy-in: Using our consumer power to support Israel. $5 suggested donation. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue. 9–11:30 a.m. — SHA grandparents Day
Sari Weiss at [email protected] or 206-323-5750 ext. 239 or seattlehebrewacademy.org SHA grandparents and friends are welcome for a brunch, tour and program. Free. At Seattle Hebrew Academy, 1617 Interlaken Drive E, Seattle.

18 may

SatuRDay

10:30–11:15 a.m. — learner’s Minyan
Carol Benedick at [email protected] or 206-524-0075, ext. 4 or www.bethshalomseattle.org Join Ron Schneeweiss on the second Saturday of the month to learn about a different aspect of the Shabbat morning service. Free. RSVP requested. At Congregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle. 12–9 p.m. — Shabbaton with gila Manolson
Marilyn Leibert at [email protected] or 206-722-8289 or seattlekollel.org Seudah with NCSY: for details contact Ari Hoffman at 206-295-5888 or [email protected]. Women’s lecture and seudah shlishit at 7:15 p.m.: “Looking Again: Realistic Expectations of Love and Marriage” at the home of Miriam Levy. Contact the Kollel for details. At The Seattle Kollel, 5305 52nd Ave. S, Seattle.

14 may

thuRSDay

7–9 p.m. — SJCC israel 360 Series: Zionism: The Roads Not Taken
Roni Antebi at [email protected] or 206-388-0832 or www.sjcc.org UW Professor Noam Pianko will talk about Zionism and the roads not taken, new perspectives on Jewish nationalism. $10-$15. At Hillel at the University of Washington, 4745 17th Ave. NE, Seattle.

19 may

FRiDay

SunDay

© 2011 Eltana Wood-Fired Bagel Cafe, 1538 12th Avenue, Seattle. All rights reserved. Puzzle created by Lone Shark Games, Inc. Edited by Mike Selinker and Mark L. Gottlieb.

10 a.m.–4 p.m. — Beth Shalom Blood Drive
[email protected] or www.bethshalomseattle.org The Puget Sound Blood Center will park their Blood Mobile across the street from Beth Shalom. Email to make an appointment. At Congregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle. 10:30 a.m.–1 p.m. — NCSY 500
Ari Hoffman at [email protected] or 206-295-5888 or www.seattlencsy.com The much-awaited go-kart race. Get team sponsors and race for free. Open to all ages. At Sky-Kart Indoor Racing, Seattle. 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. — Washington Contemporary Ballet presents “Nevsky”
Ken Kaiser at [email protected] or 253-474-4312 or www.wcbdance.org Washington Contemporary Ballet presents this moving interpretation of the Russian Holocaust in a program including premieres by two contemporary

15 may

7:30 p.m. — Hope for Heroism Dinner
Lauren at [email protected] or 206-691-5096 Join 12 injured Israeli soldiers and Attorney General Rob McKenna for Shabbat dinner. Soldiers will tell their stories over a Sephardic-style dinner. Services at 6:45 p.m. Advance payment reserves seat. Babysitting services available. $25/adults, $14/ children 4–12, free/children under 3. At Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, 5217 S Brandon St., Seattle.

20 may

SunDay

11 a.m.–2 p.m. — lag B’omer Parade, BBQ, Concert and Fair
www.chabadbellevue.org Starting at 10:45 with a parade led by “The Tribe” the Northwest’s only Jewish Motorcycle group, parade from The Eastside Torah Center to Crossroads Park. BBQ with hot dogs, burgers and free drinks, live music by Sasson, games, a raffle and a mitzvah fair. At Eastside Torah Center, 1837 156th Ave. NE and Crossroads Park, Bellevue. 4–8 p.m. — Community-Wide Celebration in Honor of Yom Ha’atzmaut and lag B’omer
[email protected] or 206-443-5400 or www.jewishinseattle.org Features a “Faces of Israel” exhibit, where participants can learn about Israeli topics, and a Jewish fair with shopping and information on Jewish activities in the Seattle area. At X Page 15

22 may

friday, may 13, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTNews

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May 17, 24 and 31 at 7 p.m. Leonard bernstein: The search for ‘something pure’ Lecture In this three-part speaker series, KING-FM host Steve Reeder talks about the beloved musician Leonard Bernstein, Bernstein’s internalization of the modern world’s “crisis of faith” and his subsequent musical and intellectual search for “purity” that served as a theme for his vast repertoire. Reeder will discuss such works as the Second Symphony (“The Age of Anxiety”), Chichester Psalms, the Third Symphony (“Kaddish”) and “Mass.” At the Stroum JCC, 3801 Mercer Way, Mercer Island. 206-232-7115. www.sjcc.org. $60, $50 for SJCC members.

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Friday and saturday, May 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. Against Forgetting: A Concert of Remembrance for victims of the Holocaust Concert This Holocaust memorial concert produced by Choral Arts will feature the works of Gyorgy Sviridov, Herbert Howells and Leonard Bernstein, as well as commissioned works by Giselle Wyers and Eric Barnum, and a performance of John Muehleisen’s “When All is Done” for chorus and trumpet. Composers will be in attendance. May 20 at St. Mark’s Cathedral, 1245 Tenth Ave. E, Seattle. May 21 at Bastyr Chapel at Bastyr University, 14500 Juanita Dr. NE, Kenmore. Contact Matthew Arnold at 614-397-2483 or [email protected]. $18–$23.

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X Page 17 6 p.m., cross the street to Herzl-Ner Tamid for a traditional Lag B’Omer bonfire, kosher barbecue and camp songs. Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. BBQ: $7/adult, $5/child payable online in advance. At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way and Herz-Ner Tamid, 3700 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island. 4–8 p.m. — lag B’omer BBQ
Rabbi David Fredman at [email protected] or 206-251-4063 or seattlekollel.org Bring a baseball glove and an appetite. Enjoy the bonfire pit and hopefully good weather. $7/adults, $4/children 4–12. At Camp Long, 5200 35th Ave. SW, West Seattle. Tour to israel for Jewish Moms
Shaindel Bresler at [email protected] or 206-779-4373 Taking applications now. Travel the land from Tzfat to Jerusalem. Be inspired by women who make a difference in Israel and the Jewish world today. Spend Shabbat in the Old City of Jerusalem, steps from the Western Wall. Runs through June 1. Cost: Airfare only.

thuRSDay

7 p.m. — The great kugel Throwdown
Lori Weinberg Ceyhun at [email protected] or 206-774-2277 Local celebrity judges will consider kugels of every type from Seattle’s best chefs. Taste, vote and take home a packet of recipes. Sponsored by the Washington State Jewish Historical Society and Jconnect. Space is limited; register by email. $8/ member; $10/nonmember. At Hillel at the University of Washington, 4745 17th Ave. NE, Seattle. 7–8 p.m. — Fostering empathy in Children
Kim Lawson at [email protected] or 206-232-7115 Current research shows that bullying and other kinds of violence can be reduced by encouraging empathy at an early age. Join long-time SJCC educators to discuss intentional fostering empathy in young children. $15, $10/members. At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.

26 may

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FRiDay

monDay

12 p.m. — SJCS Annual Meeting
Deb Frockt at [email protected] or 206-522-5212 or www.sjcs.net The Seattle Jewish Community School’s annual meeting features a 3rd–5th grade student performance, highlights of the year, staff tributes, and refreshments. At Seattle Jewish Community School, 12351 8th Ave. NE, Seattle.

23 may

WeDneSDay

12–1:30 p.m. — lunch and guest Speaker Richard Benton
Roni Antebi at [email protected] or 206-388-0832 The Stroum JCC welcomes Richard Benton, Hazel D. Cole Fellow at the University of Washington’s Stroum Jewish Studies Program for 2010–11 for a lecture, “The Parting of the Ways: Judaism and Christianity in the First Century.” At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.

25 may

4 p.m. — Family Camp at Camp Solomon Schechter
Cheryl Puterman at [email protected] or 206-447-1967 or www.campschechter.org On Memorial Day weekend, enjoy a taste of summer camp for the entire family. Private cabins by the lake, special Shabbat for the camper in everyone. Limited space, register today. $350/family. At Camp Solomon Schechter, Tumwater. 7–9 p.m. — Thank god it’s Shabbat “Chappy” Hour and Services
Orly Feldman at [email protected] Nosh and schmooze with other Jews and toast the start of the weekend. Chappy hour starts at 7 and the service begins at 8. Melt away the stress of the week with a little Shabbat. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue.

27 may

Russ Katz, Realtor

Windermere Real Estate/Wall St. Inc. 206-284-7327 (Direct) www.russellkatz.com

JDS Grad & Past Board of Trustees Member Mercer Island High School Grad University of Washington Grad

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Mortgage Banker/Broker

Member

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professional directory
Care Givers
HomeCare Associates A program of Jewish Family Service 206-861-3193 www.homecareassoc.org  Provides personal care, assistance with daily activities, medication reminders, light housekeeping, meal preparation and companionship to older adults living at home or in assisted-living facilities.

to jewish washington
Graphic Design
Spear Studios, Graphic Design Sandra Spear 206-898-4685 ✉☎ [email protected] • Newsletters • Brochures • Logos • Letterheads • Custom invitations • Photo Editing for Genealogy Projects

5/13 2011
Meryl Schenker Photography 206-718-0398 www.merylschenker.com  Family Portraits, Weddings, Bar/Bat mitzvahs, Business Photos, Private Lessons. 20 years experience as a professional photographer.

Counselors/Therapists
Jewish Family Service Individual, couple, child and family therapy 206-861-3195 www.jfsseattle.org  Expertise with life transitions, relationships and personal challenges. Jewish knowledge and sensitivity. Offices in Seattle and Bellevue. Day and evening hours. Subsidized fee scale available.

Financial Services
Hamrick Investment Counsel, LLC Roy A. Hamrick, CFA 206-441-9911 ✉☎ [email protected] www.hamrickinvestment.com  Professional portfolio management services for individuals, foundations and nonprofit organizations.

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Physician
Vision Improvement Center of Seattle, PS Joseph N. Trachtman, O.D., Ph.D. 206-412-5985 ✉☎ [email protected] 108 5th Avevue S, Suite C-1 Seattle, WA 98104 Serving the Central District. Vision improvement and rehabilitation.

Catering
Leah’s Catering, Inc. Seattle’s Premier Kosher Caterer 206-985-2647 ✉☎ [email protected] Full Service • Glatt Kosher Delivery or Pickup • All your catering needs. • Va’ad supervised.

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Madison Park Cafe Simmering in Seattle for over 30 years 206-324-2626 Full service catering for all your Jewish life passages: Bar/Bat Mitzvahs • Weddings • Brit Milah • Special Occasions. Karen Binder

Mass Mutual Financial Group Albert Israel, CFP 206-346-3327 ✉☎ [email protected] Jamison Russ 206-346-3266 ✉☎ [email protected] Retirement planning for those nearing retirement • Estate planning for those subject to estate taxes • General investment management • Life, disability, long-term care & health insurance • Complimentary one hour sessions available

Insurance
Abolofia Insurance Agency Bob Abolofia, Agent 425-641-7682 F 425-988-0280 ✉☎ [email protected] Independent agent representing Pemco since 1979

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Senior Services

Insurance (continued)

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Dentists
Toni Calvo Waldbaum, DDS Richard Calvo, DDS 206-246-1424 Cosmetic & Restorative Dentistry Designing beautiful smiles 207 SW 156th St., #4, Seattle

Matzoh Momma Catering Catering with a personal touch 206-324-mAmA Serving the community for over 25 years. Full service catering and event planning for all your Life Cycle events. miriam and Pip meyerson

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Solomon M. Karmel, Ph.D First Allied Securities 425-454-2285 x 1080 www.hedgingstrategist.com  Retirement, stocks, bonds, college, annuities, business 401Ks.

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Funeral/Burial Services
Congregation Beth Shalom Cemetery 206-524-0075 ✉☎ [email protected] This beautiful new cemetery is available to the Jewish community and is located just north of Seattle.

Eastside Insurance Services Chuck Rubin, agent 425-271-3101 F 425-277-3711 4508 NE 4th, #B, Renton Tom Brody, agent 425-646-3932 F 425-646-8750 2227 112th Ave. NE, Bellevue We represent Pemco, Safeco, Hartford & Progressive www.e-z-insurance.com 

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Hyatt Home Care Services Live-in and Hourly Care 206-851-5277 www.hyatthomecare.com  Providing adults with personal care, medication reminders, meal preparation, errands, household chores, pet care and companionship.

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Certified Public Accountants
Dennis B. Goldstein & Assoc., CPAs, PS Tax Preparation & Consulting 425-455-0430 F 425-455-0459 ✉☎ [email protected]

Warren J. Libman, D.D.S., M.S.D. 425-453-1308 www.libmandds.com  Certified Specialist in Prosthodontics: • Restorative • Reconstructive • Cosmetic Dentistry 14595 Bel Red Rd. #100, Bellevue

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Mohelim
Rabbi Simon Benzaquen 206-721-2275 • 206-723-3028 Fastest Mohel in the West Certified mohel

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Jewish Family Service 206-461-3240 www.jfsseattle.org  Comprehensive geriatric care management and support services for seniors and their families. Expertise with in-home assessments, residential placement, family dynamics and on-going case management. Jewish knowledge and sensitivity.

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Newman Dierst Hales, PLLC Nolan A. Newman, CPA 206-284-1383 ✉☎ [email protected] www.ndhaccountants.com  Tax • Accounting • Healthcare Consulting

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Martin A. Rabin, D.M.D., P.S. Kirkland: 425-821-9595 Seattle: 206-623-4031 www.rabinimplantperio.com  Specializing in Periodontics. Dental Implants • Cosmetic Gum Surgery Oral Conscious Sedation

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Hills of Eternity Cemetery Owned and operated by Temple De Hirsch Sinai 206-323-8486 Serving the greater Seattle Jewish community. Jewish cemetery open to all pre-need and at-need services. Affordable rates • Planning assistance. Queen Anne, Seattle

Photographers
Dani Weiss Photography 206-760-3336 www.daniweissphotography.com  Photographer Specializing in People. Children, B’nai Mitzvahs, Families, Parties, Promotions & Weddings.

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The Summit at First Hill 206-652-4444 www.klinegallandcenter.org  The only Jewish retirement community in the state of Washington offers transition assessment and planning for individuals looking to downsize or be part of an active community of peers. multi-disciplinary professionals with depth of experience available for consultation.

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College Placement
College Placement Consultants 425-453-1730 ✉☎ [email protected] www.collegeplacementconsultants.com  Pauline B. Reiter, Ph.D. Expert help with undergraduate and graduate college selection, applications and essays. 40 Lake Bellevue, #100, Bellevue 98005

Arnold S. Reich, D.M.D. 425-228-6444 www.drareich.com  Just off 405 in N. Renton • Gentle Care • Family • Preventive • Cosmetic Dentistry

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Michael Spektor, D.D.S. 425-643-3746 ✉☎ [email protected] www.spektordental.com  Specializing in periodontics, dental implants, and cosmetic gum therapy. Bellevue

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Linda Jacobs & Associates College Placement Services 206-323-8902 ✉☎ [email protected] Successfully matching student and school. Seattle.

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W THe ArTS Page 15 sunday, May 22 at 7 p.m. A Celebration of Jewish Music Concert This evening will span the genre of sacred music, from ancient to modern, including the serious and the fun, performed by the Temple B’nai Torah choir under the direction of Cantor David Serkin-Poole with Stephen Marshall-Ward. The concert will feature the works of the greatest Jewish composers from the 17th century to the present, including Lewandowski, Steinberg, Pundy, Freidman and Shur. Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue. Free. May 23 at 7 p.m. The Future Shines, Illuminated by the Past play Portland-based performer, writer and playwright Miriam Feder comes to Shoreline to present The Future Shines, Illuminated by the Past, a meditation on place, memory and sensibility based on her visit to the concentration camp where her grandmother and aunt were interred. She will perform her short play alongside nine other playwrights as part of the ShorelineLake Forest Park Arts Council Readers’ Theater Playwright Showcase. Ballinger Room, Shoreline Center, 18560 1st Ave. NE, Shoreline. Contact Miriam Feder at 503-309-7123 or [email protected] or visit shorelinearts.net. Free.

may 13, 2011

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religious school coorDinator,
part time
congregation Beth israel is nestled in Bellingham, Washington, a university community with a vibrant arts and outdoor scene, 1½ hours from Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., and the Cascade Mountains — a central point from which to explore all the beauty and culture this area offers. Our synagogue is affiliated with the Reform Movement and includes 200-plus families with a broad spectrum of religious observance. We are searching for a Religious School Coordinator who is outgoing, motivated and excited to explore new and creative ways to engage our youth. Candidates should have a substantial knowledge of Judaism and demonstrated administration and communication skills. Our hope is for our children to be infused with a sense of “ruach” and a positive feeling about their Jewish identity. This position is for 10–12 hours per week, which includes Sundays and a mid-week afternoon, and hours for administrative duties. please submit a cover letter and résumé to: [email protected] Contact: Paula Friedman, Religious School Search Team, [email protected]. application review process begins May 16th; applications accepted until position is filled.

seeking artists/ craftspeople
For an outdoor, family-friendly inaugural

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sunday, June 12

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Expert help with undergraduate and graduate college selection, applications and essays.

from noon to 3 p.m. in the courtyard of temple Beth am contact Wendy Marcus 206-525-0915 or [email protected]

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Account Executive
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Traditional Jewish funeral services provided by the Seattle Jewish Chapel. For further information, please call 206-725-3067. Burial plots are available for purchase at Bikur Cholim and Machzikay Hadath cemeteries. For further information, please call 206-721-0970.

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18

lifecycles

JTNews . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 13, 2011

Regina Kaswan Russak 1914–2011
Regina Kaswan Russak was born in a small Romanian village in 1914. She immigrated to Montreal in 1934 and then moved to Vancouver, B.C. For most of her adult life she resided in Seattle, where she and her late husband Boris Russak lived until their passing. She lived through long periods of deprivation as a child, and never saw her parents again once she left home. She endured a very sad situation when she had to say goodbye to them, and then believe that they had perished in the Holocaust. She found out that they had survived and were able to live out their lives in the Holy Land. Unfortunately, they were never able to reunite. Rena, as usual, accepted another disappointment without complaint. She always had the strength and character to move on with her life and hope for a better future. Rena spent her working life in Seattle as a seamstress and shop owner once her children were old enough to take care of themselves after school. She devoted herself to her family, her work, and as many other activities as time would allow. During her time in Seattle she was involved with the PTA, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, the March of Dimes, and many other activities. She was also a charter member of her Hadassah group and a lifetime member of that organization. Her children still recall the many evenings Regina spent attending night school after hard days at work in order to qualify for her U.S. citizenship exam. She was very proud to be an American citizen and be able to participate in the democratic process. She was always thrilled to spend a day at her local voting station, where she prepared other registered voters to do the same. Rena kept busy after her retirement. She was able to travel to Israel and other interesting places. She worked part-time and continued her charitable work. After her driving days were over, she spent considerable energy and time traveling between her home in Seward Park and the University of Washington where her great knowledge of the Yiddish language was shared with professors and students alike. She loved to sing the Yiddish songs that she learned as a child, and felt honored to have had a small singing part on a commercial CD of Jewish music. One of her greatest accomplishments and sources of her modest pride was the time she spent as a volunteer at the Kline Galland Home. For 20 years, she drove, took the bus, and even walked to the home in order to assist the aged and infirmed residents of that facility. When her health declined to the point of needing nursing care, she found herself back among many friends and employees that remembered her from her volunteer days. Rena was very proud of her daughter Carol and son Ed. She was the source of great inspiration and support for them as they grew from children to responsible adults and ultimately became accomplished in their chosen careers. She loved her daughter-in-law Sherry as she loved her own children. They, in turn, had the greatest respect for her support, hard work, unselfishness, devotion, and love. She set a wonderful example to her children and others. She was always a source of moral or financial support, and would reach out to family, friends, and even strangers if she saw someone in need. Her sharp sense of humor, ability to quote famous authors, politicians, and philosophers and even write original limericks in her later years was a source of great entertainment and joy for those who were able to be in her presence. She was very content with her life despite all of its hardships. On the day of her passing, an out-of-town niece of her late husband described Rena to her son Ed as a saint. A sermon given by Samuel M. Stahl, now rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth-El in San Antonio, stated that “Judaism does not call upon us to become saints or to attain perfection. It only asks us to become good. For this reason, our faith presents us with a galaxy of very human Biblical personalities. Not one of them, even Moses, can be considered a saint. They were people who struggled with life’s problems; who tried to make their lives superior to what they were; who strove, not always successfully, to increase their virtues and to minimize their faults. In other words, our goal, as Jews, is not to reach for sainthood. Rather, our task is to improve ourselves and to become better and nobler than we are at the present moment.” Rena Russak could not have been a better example of this path through her extraordinary life. We all feel blessed to have had a person of her character, morality, compassion, and strength in our midst. There is no question in our hearts and minds that she has moved on to her well-deserved place in heaven, and that she is now entertaining the angels with her wit and humor. God will rest her soul, and the wonderful memories of her will remain with us for the rest of our lives.

Serving the community with dignity & respect.
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Burial  Cremation Columbarium  Receptions Certified Public Accountants Personalized Consulting & Planning for Individuals & Small Business Tax Preparation
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12715 Bel-Red Road • Suite 120 • Bellevue, WA 98005 Phone: 425-455-0430 • Fax: 425-455-0459 [email protected]

Interested in Volunteering?
AIPAC seeks Regional Political Director for San Francisco Office
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) seeks a self-motivated, dynamic community activist to be the Regional Political Director in the San Francisco office. This position requires a minimum of 5 years experience in developing relationships, fundraising or sales, community organizing and a passion for the U.S.-Israel relationship. The Political Director will oversee pro-Israel political activity throughout the Pacific Northwest; organize and speak at political briefings throughout the region; increase the political participation of the pro-Israel community; train AIPAC members to build effective relationships with their elected officials; and conduct educational briefings with candidates running for federal office. Kline Galland Hospice Services needs volunteers who are looking for a stimulating and meaningful opportunity to assist others at a critical juncture in their lives. Volunteers are at the heart of hospice care, providing much needed support and comfort to patients and their families. Through KG Hospice Volunteer Program, volunteers become part of a caring and dedicated team of professionals committed to making a difference. Our volunteers are made up of students, homemakers, retirees, and working professionals. Ample training is provided for this important and rewarding work. If you are interested in becoming part of or care circle, please contact: Jan Kritzer, Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected] or call 206-805-1930

Send résumé and cover letter to [email protected]
For full job descriptions: www.aipac.org/Career_Opportunities

friday, may 13, 2011 . www.JTNews.NeT . JTNews

lifecycles

19

life
Danielle Rachel Bensussen
Danielle will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on May 14, 2011 at Herzl–Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation on Mercer Island. Dani is the daughter of Larry and Shelley Bensussen of Bellevue and sister of Seth and Josh. Her grandparents are Saul and Marion Rothstein of Spokane, Isaac Bensussen of Seattle, and the late Revella Bensussen. Dani is a 7th grader at the Overlake School. She enjoys soccer, basketball, shopping and spending time with family and friends. Dani is collecting donations for the Humane Society and has started a Youth Mitzvah Fund at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle to donate to nonprofit organizations.

Bat Mitzvah

Bat Mitzvah

Maddie Rose Parsons
Maddie will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on May 14, 2011, at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation on Mercer Island. Maddie is the daughter of Robin and Jim Parsons of Bellevue and sister of Ali. Her grandparents are Barbara Springut of Boca Raton, Fla., the late Max Springut, and the late Elmer and Louise Parsons. Maddie is a 7th grader at Chinook Middle School. She enjoys volleyball, basketball, Japanese, music and animals. For her mitzvah project she is conducting a supplies and food drive for the Humane Society of Bellevue.

Bar Mitzvah

Noah Ethan Stulberg Isaac S. Morhaime November 20, 1918–April 17, 2011
Isaac S. Morhaime was born November 20, 1918 in Seattle to Samuel and Sultana Morhaime. He passed away peacefully at his Mercer Island home on April 17, 2011. Ike, as he was known to all of his family and friends, married the love of his life, Sophie Baroh, on June 27, 1942. He is survived by his children, Stan (Esther) Morhaime and Suzanne Morhaime; grandchildren Sarina (Michael) Behar Natkin, Rob (Kate) Morhaime, Ben Morhaime, and Ann Krigsman; and his four loving great-grandchildren Zoey, Olivia, Hadassah and Shmuel. Ike is also survived by Stan and Esther Morhaime’s children and grandchildren, Terry Robinson and children Jordan, Aiden, Ander and Alena; and Ellie Robinson (Rifky) and children Sarala, Esterella, and Mia. Ike enjoyed sports, playing golf until his mid 80s, and watching football, basketball and baseball with his wife Sophie. He also enjoyed playing cards with all his good friends: Pinochle, poker and gin rummy with his lifelong friend, Sam Sidis, who preceded him in death. He would take his wife to the casino to play Texas Hold ’em. Ike served with the 42nd Division during World War II, and was with the troops as they liberated Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. Ike loved his family and friends dearly, along with his Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation where he served as president like his father and brother before him. He will be greatly missed. He was buried at the Sephardic Bikur Holim Brotherhood Cemetery on April 18. Donations can be made to the Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation or the charity of your choice. Noah will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on May 21, 2011 at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation. Noah is the son of Barry Stulberg and the late Gail Stulberg and the brother of Hannah Stulberg. His grandparents are Dr. H. Jerome and Elaine Stulberg and Yoram Stav and Naomi Stuchinsky, all of Sherman Oaks, Calif. Noah is a 7th grader at Pacific Cascade Middle School. He enjoys snowboarding, spending summers at B’nai Brith Camp and hanging out with friends and family. Noah is developing “Carving for a Cure,” a fundraiser for skiers and snowboarders to raise money for ovarian cancer research.

How do i submit a lifecycle announcement?
Send lifecycle notices to: JTNews/Lifecycles, 2041 Third Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 E-mail to: [email protected] Phone 206-441-4553 for assistance. Submissions for the May 27, 2011 issue are due by May 17. Download forms or submit online at www.jtnews.net/index.php?/lifecycle Please submit images in jpg format, 400 KB or larger.

OR

HOPE?

HUNGER

CHOOSE TO HELP.

W STrOUM PAGe 6

said, and signaled the death of religion, hardly a decade later, as Hitler began his march across Europe, a full-blown interest and revival of Judaism emerged, followed in the ’50s by unprecedented synagogue membership. Something equally as disastrous — or a real Mideast peace treaty — could have just as dramatic an impact, but, Sarna cautioned, “it’s hard to imagine that we can really predict what will happen.” The Stroum Jewish Studies Program organized several community events during Sarna’s visit in part because he considers himself a perpetual student of local Jewish communities. “I’ve found it valuable in terms of being able to talk about the American Jewish community and not falling into the trap of imagining that my Jewish community reflects the American Jewish community as a whole,” he said.

2-for-1 “Get Well Soon” Cards
When you let JFS “Tribute Cards” do the talking, you send your best wishes and say you care about funding vital JFS programs here at home. Call Irene at (206) 861-3150 or, on the web, click on “Donations” at www.jfsseattle.org. Use Visa or MasterCard. It’s the most gratifying 2-for-1 in town.
Food Lifeline serves more than 686,000 local hungry people each year. You can help these families by donating to Food Lifeline, and 96% of your contribution will go directly toward procuring and distributing food.

DONATE FOOD DONATE FUNDS VOLUNTEER
www.foodlifeline.org/give
206-545-6600 1702 NE 150th Street., Shoreline, WA 98155

20

wOrld News

JTNews . www.JTNews.NeT . friday, may 13, 2011

view from the left side: the key to israel’s stability
eRiC nuSbaum JTNews Correspondent
Yariv Oppenheimer, secretary general of Israel’s Peace Now (Shalom Achsav) movement kicked off his three-day trip to Seattle with a speech and discussion at Hillel at the University of Washington on May 2 that varied from his usual speaking engagements: Nearly all of Oppenheimer’s questions on Monday came from his political left. One attendee had recently returned from the West Bank, another grew up there. Yet another pointed to news articles showing instances in the past few years when Hamas leaders said they were willing to negotiate with Israel — then wondered why Israel was not willing to be a partner to Hamas. The critical Seattle audience was not unheard of, but certainly unusual for Oppenheimer. “Mostly I’m advocating in front of Israelis,” Oppenheimer told JTNews. “The argument coming from them is from the right side. With arguments from the left, I don’t think it’s about idealism and ideology — it’s mostly about tactics.” Oppenheimer laid out his strong beliefs that a Palestinian state alongside Israel is the key to stability in the region — and argued that the only way to achieve that state would be for Israel to make significant concessions among settlements in the West Bank. “The two-state solution is the only way to guarantee the essence of Zionism,” Oppenheimer said in his informal remarks before an hour-long question and answer session that covered topics ranging from the newly unified Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement to future Israeli elections. However, the tensest moments of the discussion came over disputes in ideology, such as when Oppenheimer was asked about right of return or negotiating with Hamas. “I don’t find a basic ground, even as an Israeli in the Peace Camp, to negotiate with Hamas,” Oppenheimer said. He would, however, be willing to negotiate with a unified Palestinian government that included Hamas, so long as two conditions are met by that government: A willingness to discuss the two-state solution, and a military under the control of a non-Hamas group. Israel’s Peace Now movement began in 1978 as a grassroots effort to urge thenPrime Minister Menachem Begin to continue peace talks with Egyptian Premier Anwar Sadat. Since then, the movement has also taken off in the United States as Americans for Peace Now. “The main goal of this movement is to advocate a solution that’s a compromise with the Arab world,” Oppenheimer told JTNews. “It’s an organization that is taking part in civil society in Israel and gives people who support the two-state solution and would like to fight for it a place in the public arena.” Oppenheimer himself got his start in youth movements of the Labor party. He was given leave from his military commanders to attend a peace rally in Tel Aviv in 1995 in support of the Oslo Accords — the rally at which then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. In 2006, Oppenheimer was called up as a reserve to guard the settlement Ateret in the West Bank. It was exactly the kind of settlement he advocates dismantling as part of his day job as an activist. Residents petitioned for his removal from duty, but Oppenheimer remained. Just like his fellow Israelis, Oppenheimer told JTNews that American Jews have an obligation as well to express not just their support for Israel but their opinions on Israeli policy and politics. “If you are just supporting the government policy without expressing your own views, you are undermining Israel in some ways,” he said. “There needs to be a place for Jewish Americans to say I support Israel but I have a problem with some Israel policy.” Oppenheimer’s previous stop on his

eRiC NuSBAuM

Yariv Oppenheimer, the Israel-based secretary general of Peace Now.

tour of the United States was in Washington D.C. He arrived in Seattle sleepless because he had spent the previous evening among the crowds in front of the White House celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden. “I felt like an outsider,” Oppenheimer said. “I didn’t feel like I was part of the celebration.

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