JTNews | November 1, 2013

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JTNews | The Voice of Jewish Washington for November 1, 2013

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JT JEWISH
TH E VO I CE O F

NEWS

WA S H I N GTO N

UNSuRE ABOuT INiTiATiVE 522?
Look to Israel for Guidance

Israel: To Your Health is on page 10

JEwS AND GUN REFORM PAGE 7 JUST A LITTLE PINPRICK PAGE 20 PLAN YOUR GIVING CENTER SECTION
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Creativity through politics and purses

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school. Even then, “I wanted “a solid two-state Since graduating from to be in that political world,” editorial line,” is “a Northwest Yeshiva High she says. great place for me to School in 2006, Elisheva During that year she explore Israeli poliGoldberg  has achieved her went on a tour that included tics when they intergoal of living and working in spending a day with Palsect with American Israel.  estinian peers in Hebron, politics.” The resident of Jerusalem’s which drove home the She recently Abu Tor neighborhood (and importance of being able to wrote two pieces former JTNews intern) wears communicate with them. that became quite two professional hats: She popular — they is an international relations TOMER APPLEBaUM She began studying Arabic explored a politi- Elisheva Goldberg, who at Penn (class of 2011), has analyst and editor for Molad: cal balance between works as an analyst for an been on a summer program The Center for the Renewal of Member of why young Dias- Israeli NGO and as a writer in Egypt, spent a semester in Israeli Democracy, and a freeMorocco, and is currently in pora Jews don’t like for Open Zion. lance writer of Open Zion, a the Tribe “an advanced spoken class” conservative Israeli blog on The Daily Beast. (Find at Al Quds University in Jerusalem. politician  Naftali Bennett  and a “parallel her work easily with your favorite search Living in New York before moving to piece about why young Israeli Jews do like engine.) Israel, Elisheva says she “grappled with Naftali Bennett.”  Molad, where she primarily does issues of egalitarianism,” studying with She wanted to understand Bennett’s research, is “an incredible place,” says EliRabbi Ethan Tucker at Yeshivat Hadar. It appeal, even when he says things “that sheva, “an Israeli progressive policy instiwas while living in New York that Elisheva are hard to hear…especially for Ameritution,” or “think tank,” modeled on met journalist Peter Beinart  and helped can Jews,” she says, and translate “in some American counterparts like the Center for him start the Open Zion blog. part” for American readers.  American Progress. A basketball player in high school Like “many Modern Orthodox kids,” Open Zion is where she can express and college, Elisheva continues to play in Elisheva spent a year in Israel after high her opinions. The blog, which takes Israel “with a group of middle aged men,” mostly American, “and they’re very, very good.” She’s also learning to play accorThe bridge from your neighborhood elementary dion, an interest she shares with her dad, school to the high school of Dr. Sheldon Goldberg (JTNews, “Singing your choice. for a cure, March 22, 2013).

DIANA BREMENT JTNews Columnist

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M.O.T.

It was good news and bad news when purse designer and artisan Susan Amira Weinstein found she’d lost her job earlier this year. The good news? She could finally throw herself full-time into launching Susan Amira Designs and to building inventory — which she does herself, one bag at a time. “I love to sew,” she says. “I’ve been sewing since I was 12 years old.” She started at Seattle’s Sharples Junior High School with teacher Mrs. Cushion. Really. She still has “the apron I made in that class,” she says, and uses it from time to time. After getting a speech and hearing degree from the University of Washington, Susan decided against teaching and enrolled at Seattle Central Community College for a degree in apparel and design services. She then worked for Nordstrom where, by coincidence, her husband Alan also worked, although they actually met at the JCC. Susan often consults their grown daughters, Sari and Tori, on her designs. Currently, you can see and purchase her bags, and contact her at www.etsy. com. She says that building her own website with selling capability is a high priority for her this year. Each handbag style
XXPAge 5

Grades 6–8
at Green Lake
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Academic Excellence Personalized Advisory Integrated Outdoor Program Exceptional Faculty

Open Houses: Tuesday, November 12 and Wednesday, December 4 at 6:30 pm www.billingsmiddleschool.org 206-547-4614

COMMUNITY
ring

IT’S ABOUT

K-8 OPEN HOUSE
i ns p i

NOV 14, 2013 5:30-7:30 PM
Since 1926, The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle has strengthened the bonds of community through service. You enable us to support organizations that lift people up — locally, in Israel and overseas. Join us in fulfilling shared hopes for a better future.

206.691.2625 seattlecountryday.org

gifted

children

OF GREATER SEATTLE

THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. 206.443.5400 THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.

www.jewishinseattle.org

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INSIDE

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STOrIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Every weekday at 3 p.m., JTNews sends out an email with stories from near and far about what’s happening in our Jewish world. Here are some stories you may have missed over the past couple weeks: n Prisoners released, tensions flare n I, Thou, and everyone else n Pop Judaism n Songs of sunshine and romance Want to be in the know? Sign up for the 3 O’Clock News by visiting our website at www.jtnews.net, scroll down, and give us your name and email address. Find all of these articles on our website.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Rabbi’s Turn
With Hanukkah approaching so early this year, Rabbi Ron-Ami Meyer exlains why the Jews of the Hellenic era felt the need to fight back against the Greeks, and what it means within our changing Jewish landscape.

News in brief
Kavana Cooperative is honored, a noted educator will be teaching in Seattle, and a Seattle doctor is honored for his lifelong work.

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Guns on the ballot
An effort to bring gun reform to next year’s election has strong backing from our Jewish community.

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A celebration of Torah learning
Herzl-Ner Tamid’s seventh annual Torahthon brings in rabbis and educators from Seattle and as far away as Israel to make Torah relevant — and fun — for all of us.

REMEMBEr WHEN

Meet the rabbis
Temple Beth Am has not one, but two new rabbis to lead its congregation. Learn about who they are and where they come from.

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Tzedakah Center section
Looking for ways to give your time and money as the holidays approach? We have suggestions galore for you here.

Golems, deserts and unknown destinations
Music of Remembrance celebrates its 15th season with a mix of performances ranging from a dance performance to chamber-style sonatas.

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Northwest Jewish Family Preparing for college

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Two students thinking about what happens after graduation give tips on how high schoolers can make sure they’re properly preparing for college.

From the Jewish Transcript, November 1, 1965. Members of Temple Beth Am in Seattle’s Wedgwood neighborhood celebrated at four events as their new building across from Dahl Field Park was dedicated. Though it has gone through extensive remodels in the ensuing 48 years, the temple has always embraced change. Most recently that change has been with its rabbinical leadership, who you can meet page 9.

Northwest Jewish Seniors Being holier than thou Just a little pinprick

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Sometimes the best way to save a relationship with a loved one is to become more flexible in your beliefs.

Canada’s first Yiddish-language film, a story of lost love found, makes its way to Seattle this weekend, with the director in tow.

JTNews is the Voice of Jewish Washington. Our mission is to 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 JTNews (ISSN0021-678X) is published biweekly by The Seattle Jewish Transcript, a nonprofit corporation owned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, 2041 3rd Ave., Seattle, WA 98121. Subscriptions are $56.50 for one year, $96.50 for two years. Periodicals postage paid at Seattle, WA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to JTNews, 2041 Third Ave., Seattle, WA 98121.

JT
NEWS
Reach us directly at 206-441-4553 + ext. Publisher & Editor *Joel Magalnick 233 Associate Editor Emily K. Alhadeff 240 Sales Manager Lynn Feldhammer 264 Account Executive David Stahl Classifieds Manager Rebecca Minsky 238 Art Director Susan Beardsley 239

MORE Community Calendar 4 Israel: To Your Health: What Israelis are doing about GM foods 10 Crossword 10 The Arts 11 Where to Worship 12 Lifecycles 19 The Shouk Classifieds 16

Coming up November 15
Eats, Arts & Reads

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chuck Stempler, Chair*; Jerry Anches§; Lisa Brashem; Nancy Greer; Cynthia Flash Hemphill*; Ron Leibsohn; Stan Mark; Cantor David Serkin-Poole* Keith Dvorchik, CEO and President, Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle Celie Brown, Federation Board Chair *Member, JTNews Editorial Board §Ex-Officio Member

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THE CALENDAR
to Jewish Washington
For a complete listing of events, or to add your event to the JTNews calendar, visit calendar.jtnews.net. Calendar events must be submitted no later than 10 days before publication.

@jewishcal
Featuring author, columnist and commentator Yossi Klein Halevi and Pakistani-born “Muslim Zionist” Kasim Hafeez. Israeli wines and kosher hors d’oeuvres served with book signing. $36. At Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave., Seattle. 7 p.m. — Abráce: Vocal Harmonies and Percussion from Around the World

Karen Sakamoto at [email protected] or 425-603-9677 or templebnaitorah.org Abráce, named for the Spanish and Portuguese word for “embrace,” is dedicated to building intercultural understanding through musical collaboration. Free. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue. Sondheim’s company in concert with the New York Philharmonic. Record this Friday night broadcast to watch after Shabbat. On KCTS Channel 9.

SUNdAY

Candlelighting times November 1........................ November 8...................... November 15...................... November 22..................... FRIdAY

5:35 p.m. 4:24 p.m. 4:16 p.m. 4:08 p.m.

6:30–9 p.m. — Secular Shabbat with Anne Levinson

Secular Jewish Circle at [email protected] or 206-528-1944 or secularjewishcircle.org “Jewish Roots and Social Engagement” features the Honorable Anne Levinson, who will speak about issues related to social welfare and justice. Contact SJC for location details.

1 NOVEMbER

9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. — Cookies Galore

Shelly Goldman at [email protected] or 425-603-9677 or www.templebnaitorah.org Karen Baer teaches how to make coconut macaroons (not just for Passover!) and mandel bread. Space limited, register early. $5 at the door. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue. 2 p.m. — Expose Yourself to Art with Beersheva Hadassah

Meryl Alcabes at [email protected] or 206-723-1558 Docent-led tour of Frye Art Museum with Hadassah. $10 suggested donation. At Frye Art Museum/ Sorrento Hotel, 704 Terry Ave., Seattle. 6–9 p.m. — StandWithUs Northwest Annual Community Reception Event

Rob Jacobs at [email protected] or 206-801-0902 or www.standwithus.com/ northwest

3 NOVEMbER

SATURdAY

5–7 p.m. — SJCC Parents Night Out: Nick at Nite

Daliah Silver at [email protected] or 206-388-0839 or www.sjcc.org Games, arts and crafts, and dinner for kids while parents go out. SJCC member $30/sibling $15;guest $40/sibling $20. At the Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.

9 NOVEMbER

SUNdAY

WEdNEsdAY

NOW PLAYING IN

Only at Seattle’s Pacific Science Center

7–9:30 p.m. — Torahthon

Rabbi Jill Levy at [email protected] or 206-232-8555 or www.h-nt.org Area rabbis, professors and teachers present topics of personal and professional interest to a broad spectrum of learners. Attend one, two or all three days: November 6, 10 and 13. At Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, 3700 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.

6 NOVEMbER

THURsdAY

7:30 p.m. — WSJHS Presents: ‘In the Land of Rain and Salmon’

Lori Ceyhun at [email protected] or 206-774-2277 or www.wsjhs.org/events.php Witness the experiences of Washington State’s Jewish pioneers, brought to life on stage by the Washington State Jewish Historical Society and Book-It Repertory Theatre. Doors open at 7 p.m. At Nordic Heritage Museum, 3014 NW 67th St., Seattle.

7 NOVEMbER

6:45–9 p.m. — Fall Concert: Until When?

John Huffstetler at [email protected] or 206-3657770 or www.musicofremembrance.org World premiere of a new dance set to “The Golem” score by Betty Olivero, plus music by two other Israeli composers and a jazz-inflected sonata by Erwin Schulhoff. $40. At the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle. 7:30–9:30 p.m. — BCMH Sisterhood Ceramics Painting

Rhonda Rubin at [email protected] BCMH Sisterhood hosts a “paint the fall blues away” party for women only. All items range from $5 to $60 (w/average price around $18). RSVP required no later than Mon., Nov. 4. At Emerald City Fired Arts, 3333 Rainier Ave. S, Seattle.

10 NOVEMbER

MONdAY

FRIdAY

Special screening with the film’s director, Daniel Ferguson, on November 13 at 7 p.m. Save $3! Use code “JRJT” when purchasing online or in person (valid only for screening on Nov. 13)

IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation

Located under the arches, near the Space Needle pacificsciencecenter.org

5:30 p.m. – Shabbaton with Rabbi Hillel Goldberg

[email protected] or 206-236-7200 Scholar, author and lecturer Rabbi Hillel Goldberg will lead Shevet Achim’s fall Shabbaton, titled “What Mussar Means for Us Today.” Goldberg will lead three lectures throughout the weekend. Free. At Congregation Shevet Achim, NYHS, 5017 90th Ave. SE, Mercer Island. 7:30 p.m. — Meaning Well and Doing Harm: Potential Pitfalls of Tikkun Olam

Stacy Schill at 206-498-1066 or www.kolaminw.org Guest speaker Cliff Mass, an authority on weather in the Pacific Northwest, will speak about tikkun olam in relation to his work and his life. Free. At Congregation Kol Ami, 16530 Avondale Rd. NE, Woodinville. 9–11 p.m. — PBS Fall Arts Festival: Stephen Sondheim’s Company with the N.Y. Philharmonic

kcts9.org/tv-schedule PBS Fall Arts Festival brings world-class arts to your living room. This episode features Stephen

8 NOVEMbER

9:30 a.m.– 3:30 p.m. — SJCC School’s Out Camp: Spy Day

Daliah Silver at [email protected] or 206-388-0839 or www.sjcc.org Full and half-day camp features Spy Day: Solve riddles and clues like James Bond, perform challenges like in “Mission: Impossible,” and use detective skills like investigators on CSI. SJCC member $50/guest $60. At the SJCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.

11 NOVEMbER

FRIdAY

12–3:30 p.m. — Half-Day School’s Out Camp: Iron Chef

Daliah Silver at [email protected] or 206-388-0839 or www.sjcc.org Themed camp day “Iron Chef”: Compete in a cooking contest with a secret ingredient. At the SJCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island. 9–11 p.m. — PBS Fall Arts Festival, Great Performances: Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma

kcts9.org/tv-schedule This episode features Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma.” On KCTS Channel 9. XXPAge 5

15 NOVEMbER

“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

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OPINION

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THE RABBI’S TURN

The candle is the mitzvah, the Torah is the light
RAbbI RON-AMI MEYERs Congregation Ezra Bessaroth
For most Americans, November means Thanksgiving is just around the corner. This year, in an unusual confluence of the Gregorian and Jewish calendars, Hanukkah falls out on Thanksgiving. According to my sources, it will only happen again in the year 79,811! This year’s reality, then, offers a unique opportunity to reflect on Hanukkah independent of the atmosphere of the American holiday season. We are all familiar with the Hasmoneans’ unlikely military victory and the miracle of the cruse of oil. But if we delve deeper, we should ask: What was the root of the conflict between ourselves and the Greeks? Our sources state that on the Greek agenda was the spiritual annihilation of our people; since the Greeks knew us as the “People of the Book,” they attempted to rob us of this identity. In the words of the Hanukkah prayer Al Hanisim, inserted into the Amidah and the Birkat Hamazon, the plan was “to cause us to forget Your Torah and have us transgress Your statutes.” And yet the Greeks themselves, immersed in art, literature and philosophy, were anything but anti-intellectual. Why, then, does Jewish tradition characterize the Hellenistic influence as “darkness?” What was there about the Greek orientation that posed such a threat to the Jewish survival? The answer may lie in the nuanced language of the Al Hanisim: We don’t assert that the Greeks opposed Torah learning per se, but that they threatened hukei ritzonach, Your statutes. The Hellenists supported Torah study only as a branch of Greek wisdom, as another intellectual discipline. Jewish resistance against such an orientation, and the ultimate rediscovery of the flask of oil, prompted the sages to institute the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah for eight consecutive days. Each Hanukkah night we celebrate “Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah or” — “A candle is a mitzvah, and the Torah is light.” The pure oil with the Kohen Gadol’s stamp mirrors the rekindling of an authentic, Godly Torah that had been withheld from us. In the wake of the Pew Research Center survey on American Jews, many of us parents, educators and communal leaders have begun to re-examine the messages we are conveying and the direction in which we are taking our respective Jewish families and communities. Along with an emphasis on Jewish engagement and the appreciation of diversity within our communities, it’s now time to ask some tough questions: Are we, the Jewish leadership, also successfully conveying the eternal, immutable components of Jewish belief and practice? Are we effectively transmitting the profundity and beauty of a personal life built on Torah study and mitzvot? Are we igniting the uniquely Jewish flame in the souls of our fellow Jews? In a recent blog post in the Times of Israel, Prof. Jeffrey Woolf of Bar Ilan University remarked on the stark contrast between the Pew findings and a parallel Israeli study. Prof. Woolf notes: The findings are almost symmetrical opposites. Israeli Jews believe in God (over 80 percent). There is a  Jewish Renaissance  (in Study, Culture, and Observance)  in Israel that literally boggles the imagination (even as it confounds the usual definitions of Religious and Secular). And, while individualism and individual expression are certainly not absent, the sense of national cohesion, what we call bayachad, is movingly strong. Woolf observes that while Judaism protects and values the individual, it makes demands upon him. Instead of striking a balance between Jewish particularism and universalism, “American Jews,” Woolf laments, “have attempted to effect that separation by totally recasting and denuding Jewish tradition, in order to align it with contemporary mores.” On the eve of Hanukkah 5774, we as a Jewish community must consider certain existential issues that we have been avoiding until now. Comfortable in our respective “denominations,” preaching to the converted, many are realizing that we have been lulling ourselves into believing that everything will be just fine. Question: If the Jews of the first Hanukkah took such an approach, what would the Jewish world look like today?
Rabbi Meyers is rabbi of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, head teacher of the new women’s learning program, “The Midrasha of Seattle,” and a rebbe of Talmud and Chumash at Northwest Yeshiva High School.

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR: We would love to hear from you! You may submit your letters to [email protected]. Please limit your letters to approximately 350 words. The deadline for the next issue is November 5. Future deadlines may be found online. The opinions of our columnists and advertisers do not necessarily reflect the views of JTNews or the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.

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bears a Sephardic woman’s name, reflecting her heritage. (I like “Estreya” in the big polka dots, although “Rachel” has practical appeal.) “I love fabric,” Susan declares, and enjoys the creative process. “I get bored if I make the same thing [repeatedly].” She likes print designs, but knows that customers need “basic colors” that go with everything. Susan grew up in, and she and Alan were married at, Seward Park’s Sephardic Bikur Holim. They are active members of Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, but maintain “a strong Sephardic influence” in the home, says Susan, who notes that her grandmother and namesake, Amira, also sewed. When she’s not sewing — which is almost all the time now — Susan makes time for Jazzercize classes. You’ll find her bags at the Grow Washington artisans’ cooperative in Snohomish and she’ll be at a number of upcoming crafts fairs, including Pickering Barn through Nov. 2 in Issaquah and at the Bellevue Club holiday bazaar Nov. 9, and at the

in the top 5 percent of the 1.5 million students who take the PSAT standardized test. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of
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educational excellence in our nation,” commented a spokesperson for National Merit Scholarship Program. The son of Carol and Jerry Strassman, Joshua is the vice president of the student council and co-captain of the basketball team. He enjoys blogging about sports.
5–9 p.m. — AIPAC Washington Gala Event

Seattle Office at seattle_offi[email protected] or 206-624-5152 or www.aipac.org Annual AIPAC gala dinner. Contact the office for details and location. 5–9 p.m. — Seattle Hebrew Academy’s Annual Gala

Bev Falgione at [email protected] or 206-323-5750 or www.seattlehebrewacademy.org Honoring Hazzan Isaac Azose. At the Showbox SoDo, 1700 First Ave. S, Seattle.

SUNdAY

ALan WEInSTEIn

Susan Amira Weinstein with one of her purse designs.

Vasa Park Craft Fair the weekend after that. (Reminder: Hanukkah begins on Nov. 27).

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Northwest Yeshiva High School senior Joshua Strassman has been named a National Merit Commended Scholar. These scholars have placed

2–3:30 p.m. — Global Day of Jewish Learning: Focus on Creating Friendship

Shelly Goldman at [email protected] or 425-603-9677 or www.templebnaitorah.org Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg will explore friendships in the Bible, the Talmud, and the ancient world. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue. 3 p.m. — WSJHS Presents: ‘In the Land of Rain and Salmon’

Lori Ceyhun at [email protected] or www.wsjhs.org/events.php Witness the experiences of Washington State’s Jewish pioneers, brought to life on stage. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. At Temple Beth El, 5975 S 12th St., Tacoma.

17 NOVEMbER

MONdAY

6:30 p.m. — SJCC: Hanukkah Cooking Class

Kim Lawson at [email protected] or 206-388-0823 or www.sjcc.org The head chef of Stopsky’s Delicatessen puts a new spin on classic Hanukkah dishes. Class includes appetizers, wine, dinner, and delicious recipes. SJCC member $65/guest $80. At Stopsky’s Delicatessen, 3016 78th Ave. SE, Mercer Island.

18 NOVEMbER

“I didn’t want to feel that way anymore. I wanted to do something about it.” — Federation shooting victim Cheryl Stumbo, on how she became the citizen filer for gun reform Initiative 594. See the article on page 7.

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NEWS BRIEFS
Kavana named as one of America’s top 50 Jewish innovators
For the fifth time in its seven-year existence, the Kavana Cooperative was listed in the annual Slingshot Guide as being among the top 50 innovative Jewish organizations in the country. In light of the recently released Pew Research Center survey on American Jews, “It’s nice external validation that the work we’re doing here is important for the bigger picture, particularly with all the talk in the Jewish community in recent weeks,” said Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, Kavana’s founder and executive director. Kavana, based in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood, formed in 2006 to bring together prayer, community-building, and social justice to allow any of its participants to express their Judaism in ways that make them feel most comfortable. With the Pew study showing that Jewish organizations do need to adjust to the changing landscape of involvement, “ours is one of the models that’s being held up on the national level,” Nussbaum said. While Slingshot was originally formed by the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies in 2004 to help young Jews with family foundations understand where they should direct their funding, it has since become a resource for creating best practices and connecting these organizations. Meeting with these organizations has “been a really nice source for a peer network. Out of that have grown a number of collaborative relationships,” Nussbaum said. At the same time, however, with the funding opportunities that being included in the guidebook present, “it’s really nice for our individual donors to understand that the work we’re doing is important,” she said. big ideas and big questions, the little ones are testing their theories,” said Liat Zaidenberg, director of education services at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, which is sponsoring the event. “We thought that bringing her to expose her ideas, with her examples, here in Seattle would be beneficial to all the teachers.” Ivey’s two courses will be hands-on and put her theories into practice, Zaidenberg said. The first course, “Thinking About Thinking: Developing Metacognition in Young Children,” will take place Mon., Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. at Seattle Hebrew Academy. The second, “Doubting and Believing: The Roots of Constructivism,” is scheduled for Tues., Nov. 5, at 4 p.m. at Congregation Beth Shalom. STARS, Clock Hours and JTC credits are available for both courses. Each will focus on how teachers can develop their students’ cognitive abilities and support their ideas. Interested teachers should contact [email protected] or 206-774-2256 for registration information. “I’m excited to bring someone like her to our community,” Zaidenberg said. “We have to be open to make our work better and work toward excellence, and this is a great way to start and continue.”

Rivkin to be honored for ovarian cancer work

Renowned educator to bring theories to early childhood teachers

Alise Shafer Ivey, founder and director of Evergreen Community School in Santa Monica, Calif., will teach two courses for local Jewish early-childhood teachers on Nov. 4 and 5. Ivey is a pioneer on helping young children explore and develop their higher-level thinking skills. “All the big ideas of society and community and how people have to behave — all those

Dr. Saul Rivkin, who founded the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research, will be honored on Nov. 9 by the center for his 17 years of work in research and treatment of the disease. The center is named for his first wife, Marsha, who died of ovarian cancer in 1993. The award, called the Babs Fisher Valor Award, is named for Fisher, a member of the Jewish community who died of the disease in 2004. According to the Rivkin Center, ovarian cancer affects approximately 200,000 women worldwide, 18,000 of them in the U.S., and 70 percent of those diagnoses are terminal. However, the center also notes that 90 percent of early diagnoses offer greater chances for survival. Jewish women who carry the BRCA1 or 2 gene mutation, which is better known for its high connection to breast cancer risk, also has a 45 percent risk of developing ovarian cancer. Rivkin was one of Swedish Medical Center’s first medical oncologists when he began working there in 1971, and retired from Swedish this past July to devote more time to the Rivkin Center.

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Food Lifeline — Brings hope to the table now and throughout the year
Most of us take eating for granted. In fact, for many people, getting enough to eat is not the problem, getting too much is. It may be surprising to learn that there are over a half-million people right here in Western Washington who don’t get enough to eat on a daily basis. For children and adults living in or close to poverty, securing good, healthful food can be a real problem. That’s why Food Lifeline is so important to the Northwest. This efficient, non-profit organization is dedicated to helping end hunger in Western Washington. Food Lifeline works hard to make every bit of donated food and cash count. In 2012, Food Lifeline distributed over 36 million pounds of food, the equivalent of over 30 million meals. 95% of the food that Food Lifeline distributes is donated. Three of the programs that handle these donations are Seattle’s Table Program which is supplied by local restaurants and caterers who contribute prepared food, Produce for the People that collects fresh produce from wholesalers and retailers, and the Grocery Rescue Program that collects products such as meat, dairy, fresh produce and baked goods from local grocery retailers. QFC participates in the Grocery Rescue Program year-round. QFC is proud to support Food Lifeline as our Charity of the Month in November and December. Through our “Bringing Hope to the Table” campaign we will be helping collect both food and cash donations that will assist in feeding thousands of hungry people during the cold winter months of the holiday season and for many months thereafter. Each year, QFC’s Bringing Hope to the Table campaign plays a crucial role in making sure that Food Lifeline has food items and assets to distribute food to hungry people through its many food banks, meal programs and its shelter network. There are many ways in which QFC customers can help support Bringing Hope to the Table. One way is to buy a pre-made bag of groceries for $10. These bags contain dry-good grocery items that Food Lifeline says its clients often request. You can also purchase food bank recommended items and donate those in our donation bins. There will be

items throughout the store marked with special tags to make it easy to know what to purchase and donate. QFC will also have $1 and $5 donation cards available at the checkstand as well as $10 virtual bag donation cards. Just hand the card to your checker and your donation will be added to your order. The virtual bag donations get tallied and delivered to Food Lifeline as full cases of product. You can also donate your spare change into change jars available at your checkstand. Thank you for supporting QFC and Food Lifeline to help feed the hungry during the holiday season and beyond.

If you have comments or questions, please contact Amanda Ip at [email protected].

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Jewish community seeks to influence gun reform initiative
DIKLA TUCHMAN JTNews Correspondent
It has been almost one year since the Sandy Hook school shooting that rocked the nation last December. As demolition crews this week razed the school in Newtown, Conn., where 20 1st graders and six employees were killed by a 20-year-old gunman, grassroots community organizers have been taking to the streets in Washington State with petitions for new gun-reform legislation, Initiative 594, which community leaders hope will appear on the fall 2014 ballot. I-594 would require background checks for online sales and private transactions, such as those that occur at gun shows. The checks would be conducted at federally licensed firearm dealers, where potential buyers must already undergo such scrutiny before purchasing a new weapon. Helping to lead the way for the I-594 campaign is Cheryl Stumbo, a former marketing director for the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, who filed the motion with the secretary of state. Stumbo was one of five women wounded during the 2006 shooting at the Federation’s offices. One woman, Pamela Waechter, issue, WAAGR decided to dedicate organizers to the faith community. “We help support their efforts because [the faith communities] support this issue of gun responsibility and background checks,” Stumbo said. Stumbo did not immediately gravitate toward gun-reform activism. Even after physically healing from the incident at the Jewish Federation, she continued to struggle with the winding path of emotional recovery. “Whenever I saw anything on the news [about the shooting] I would feel a little destroyed for a few days or a week,” she said. “I didn’t want to feel that way anymore. I wanted to do something about it.” Once she made that decision, it became easier for Stumbo to become proactive in the gun-reform movement in Washington State. “I went down to Olympia and testified about the bill that [State Rep. Jamie Peterson (D–43rd)] was trying to advance for background checks in the state,” Stumbo said. “That’s when I met Zach Silk.” As campaign director for Washington United for Marriage, which successfully worked to pass the referendum last year to uphold same-sex marriage, Silk had moved on to the group Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility to lead the initiative campaign for gun responsibility. Working closely with Silk was Zach Carstensen, the director of government relations and public affairs at the Jewish Federation. “This community, this Federation has had firsthand experience with gun violence,” Carstensen said. “At the most basic level, that is the reason why this Jewish Federation cares so much about this issue.” Carstensen emphasized the mandate that Federation leadership has issued over the years since the shooting to pave the way for significant, impactful gun reform. He points out that the Federation has supported all manner of policy solutions — mapping public schools and religious schools, increased security funding for vulnerable institutions, and in particular, improving the mental health system in the state. Alongside the efforts of the WAAGR,
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ZaCH CaRSTEnSEn

Naomi Kramer and Charyl Kay Sedlik take part in a training session to talk about I-594 at signature gathering spots and in synagogues.

died in the attack. Stumbo now works with the nonprofit group Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility as one of its faith organizers. “We go out and help different organizations work with their social justice congregation members and faith leaders getting those congregations activated around this issue,” she told JTNews. Because of the divisive nature of this

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Torahthon 5774: Expansive questions to ponder
JANIs SIEGEL JTNews Correspondent
Torah study goes way outside the box at each year’s Torahthon. This year, at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation’s seventh event, they are going to need an even bigger box. Learners can take in political sessions like “Israel’s Settlements: Fulfilling God’s Will or Leading to Disaster?”; social justice topics like “The Immigration Debate: 1914 and 2014”; eco-sessions on “What’s Jewish About Jewish Environmentalism”; or traditional prayer subjects like “The Kaddish: What is it and Why?”; and even personal development modules like “Jewish Criticism: Must I Tell You When You Are Wrong?” But don’t stop there. There will be wider opportunities this year to expand your mind with topics like “Southern Rabbis and Civil Rights” or “Sex: What is the Jewish Perspective on Pleasure?” Going further out, how about “The Jewish Virgin Mary,” or even “Breaking Bad and The Yetzer HaRa: Morality Tale or Moral Relativism?” Of course, there’s plenty of traditional and analytical text study, too, which is why the variety of teaching at the event has enough to satisfy questions that many Jews probably haven’t yet thought of. “A record number of teachers approached us, without having to be asked, and offered to teach,” Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, senior rabbi at Herzl-Ner Tamid told JTNews. “We tried not to turn anyone away. We had more offers than we could accommodate this year — a wonderful problem to have.” During his teaching, Rosenbaum will examine the male-female duality of the Shechinah, the Hebrew word for God’s feminine qualities. If God is one, posits Rosenbaum, than both male and female must operate simultaneously. “For example, on the High Holidays, I quoted thinkers who believed that women are better at relationships than men,” Rosenbaum said. “Do we agree, or is that sexist?” Rosenbaum cited the Talmud, the compilation of Jewish law and legend, which says that when two people study together the Shechinah is there, too. This “presence,” Rosenbaum said, embodies “receptivity, acceptance, listening, and relationship.” On the continuum of an individual’s tendency to focus on the self, Temple De Hirsch Sinai’s senior rabbi, Daniel Weiner, will take on the subject of the yetzer ha-ra, or the “evil inclination,” which according to Weiner, the rabbis say we all have but probably don’t manage very well. Through the lens of Walter White, the cancer-plagued former chemistry teacher who decides to sell crystal methadrine in AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” Weiner told JTNews that this often rejected or hidden part of our personalities can also be used as a force for good, even when it seems so “bad.” “It has opened a window into the soul of our cultural moment, as many of us were both horrified by his descent and rooting for his success,” wrote Weiner in his course description. But, without giving it all away, Weiner told JTNews that we also have the ability to transform this part of ourselves. “Remember, the rabbis also teach that the yetzer ha-ra is necessary for a healthy ambition,” said Weiner. “A channeling of the yetzer ha-ra is what is advised. There’s no way to extinguish it.” Shirah Bell, the senior teacher at The Mussar Institute who directs its core program, Everyday Holiness, may be able to help with that. Bell’s central mission is to guide individuals toward turning their daily schedules into spiritual opportunities. Her session, “Guilt-Free Parenting! Mussar Principles for Raising a Mensch While Becoming More of One Yourself,” could transform a parent’s daily routine of car trips to and from the market and

IF YOU GO
Torahthon will be held on Wed., Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., and on Sun., Nov. 10 at 9:30 a.m. at Herzl-Ner Tamid, 3700 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island. On Wed., Nov. 13 sessions will take place at 7 p.m. at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, 1441 16th Ave., Seattle. Cost is $15 per session, or $36 for all three days. Visit www.h-nt. org to register online or call 206232-8555, ext. 207.

school into a personal growth class. “Interactions with our children give us ample opportunities to see where our behaviors and attitudes are poor reflections of our pure soul,” Bell told JTNews. “Rather than ‘fixing’ our children or our spouses, we can use the difficulties to get to work repairing ourselves.” Bell also holds local Mussar classes and mentors individuals in Mussar and spirituality. “As a parent we can treat our children as seeds that are sprouting,” said Bell.
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A tale of two rabbis
JOEL MAGALNICK Editor, JTNews
When Rabbis Beth and Jonathan Singer announced they would be leaving their positions as co-senior rabbis of Temple Beth Am earlier this year, it left this North Seattle synagogue in the unenviable position of having to find not one new rabbi, but two. Following multiple discussions within the synagogue community and with the Union for Reform Judaism’s Central Conference of American Rabbis, Beth Am introduced its two new rabbis at the beginning of August. One plans to stick around for a while. The other hopes she won’t. Rabbi Jason Levine, Beth Am’s new assistant rabbi, graduated from Hebrew Union College this past spring. “For me, as a new rabbi, it’s an extremely supportive place,” Levine told JTNews. “People so far have been very receptive to a new rabbi who’s still learning on the job, learning the ropes as I go.” Levine, a born-and-bred Midwesterner — he grew up in St. Louis and Cleveland — originally intended to become a scientist. He didn’t actually feel the call of the rabbinate until he went to college. “I got involved in a lot of communitybuilding activities, social justice activities, a lot of interfaith activities,” he said. “All the things that I love doing in my life are the tasks and roles of the rabbi, and they just melded perfectly together.” Where he particularly found joy in the idea of becoming a rabbi was the idea that “I could work with people, help them during the difficult parts of their lives, the celebratory parts of their lives, help them grow up together, [and] help them enjoy said, “along with the sense of informality and just sheer fun.” On the flipside of Levine is Rabbi Ilene Bogosian, whose role as intentional interim senior rabbi is to be just that: Interim. Bogosian had long dreamed of the rabbinate long before women were allowed ordination. And because women — “they called them girls in those days,” she said — did not go to seminary, Bogosian instead became a psychiatric social worker. “I’ve since discovered that a lot of the women of my generation who had a calling for the rabbinate wound up in psychology one way or another,” she said. But she reached a turning point in her career, and someone suggested she actually go through with rabbinical school. Upon ordination, she spent 10 years at a Hillel in the Boston area, but decided she wanted to work with a broader population. That work included chaplaincies in long- and short-term care facilities. Then the Reform movement’s placement director suggested interim work. “I was very skeptical at the time, I think partly because of my psychiatry background,” Bogosian said. “And here I am, nine years later, still doing this work, and getting feedback from people that there’s something about my presence and the way I work with congregations when they’re in transition that is very useful, very helpful.” Rabbi Deborah Prinz, who oversees CCAR’s intentional interim rabbi program, told JTNews that “the need is very clear for there to be a transitional time for the congregation to regroup and recover and reassess what it is and what it wants to be under the circumstances in the intentional interim period.” Due in part to her social work background, Bogosian has a “great skillset in this area,” Prinz said. “We turn to her as one of the veterans and really skilled people in the field.” The intentional interim program began because leadership within the URJ and CCAR became concerned about congregations making mistakes in their rabbinical searches. “Congregations that didn’t allow themselves this time and the expertise of an intentional rabbi would often find themselves having an unintentional interim,” Prinz said. “The rabbi would end up staying for a year or two instead of a longer time.” While Bogosian has her normal rabbinical duties — leading services, comforting bereaved families, teaching courses — she
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JOEL MagaLnICK

Temple Beth Am’s new rabbis, Jason Levine and Ilene Bogosian.

life together,” he said. While many of his fellow rabbinical students stayed relatively close to HUC’s Cincinnati campus, “I was keeping my options open as wide as possible,” Levine said. “I love traveling, I love trying out new places, so geography was not limiting for me.” Among other options were returning to Hillel to work with students, but Levine said he doesn’t see a big difference between that and what he’s doing at Beth Am. “One of the things that I’m happy about here is this sense of curiosity, this sense of community building, this sense of responsibility to the world, which is so passionate in the Hillel community,” he

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ISRAEL: TO YOUR HEALTH

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Stabilize Your Government
by Mike Selinker

Confused by I-522? Look to Israel for guidance
JANIs SIEGEL JTNews Columnist
If you’re baffled by Initiative Measure No. 522, the proposed genetically modified food labeling ballot measure in the upcoming Nov. 2013 Washington State election, it might be instructive to explore Israel’s agricultural research and its regulation of GM foods. It may not necessarily clarify your position on the subject, but Israel’s approach to the use of To Your the technology along with Health the rest of the world’s varied responses to allowing it into their food supplies are worth considering. GM foods typically contain DNA from a plant or animal of the same species inserted into them to obtain a desired trait. Many detractors of the process have raised serious objections to the more unconventional transplantation of DNA or genetic material from one species to another nonrelated species. This is relatively new territory that began in the early 1970s and is on the verge of entering the mainstream food chain in the U.S., where genetically engineered salmon is expected to be FDAapproved in the next few weeks for sale in stores. It will be the first GM animal ever approved for human consumption and contains genes from an “eel-like fish” and another breed of salmon. The genetic engineering of plant seeds can save populations by optimizing the presence of life-saving vitamins in them, increasing their insect and virus resistance, upping their yields, and designing them to tolerate higher amounts of herbicides. However, GM seed can also leave human populations vulnerable to everything from serious digestive problems to documented deadly allergic reactions, as well as their economic and environmental effects on the land. For over a decade, the European Union has resisted pressure from the United States, via the Free Trade Agreement, to accept our GM food imports. The U.S. has already genetically modified several crops used in most domestic food products, including corn, soy, and canola, and the modification of the cottonseed oil crop is quickly accelerating. Just this past month, a Mexico judge banned GM corn due to its harmful environmental effects. In Israel, agricultural research in universities is heavily subsidized by the Israeli government and international corporations. Universities are very accepting of GMs in the laboratory. Most of the research is on the genetic modification of plants and it focuses on improving its resistance to diseases, herbicides, and pests. Currently, food researchers are experimenting with a tomato that would be resistant to viruses and grown without seeds. Tomato researchers are also working to modify genes to manipulate the amount of non-saturated fat in the plants. But Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture highly regulates the research on GM foods to prevent the contamination of GM seed to other non-modified crops within the country. Seed drift is a large problem wherever GM foods are grown. Globally, local and organic farmers have sued corporations accusing them of intentionally allowing their seed to contaminate local crops in order to claim patent infringement and overtake them. In Israel, a highly specific research plan must be submitted by anyone wanting to experiment with GM plants and their related microorganisms. But perhaps most importantly, in addition to the initial strict application process in Israel, researchers can only develop a technology to the “proof of concept,” or research, stage. Although Israel allows the use and sale of GM foods in the country, it does not allow them to be grown there commercially. Once developed, a GM technology that is ready for a real-world application must be exported to other countries for testing. GM researchers can only test small projects in enclosed greenhouses or, if in open fields, it must be far away from agricultural areas. In addition to the health effects of GM foods, which are in dispute with many of its promoters, Israel’s laws of kashrut complicate the issue. Some religious groups do not see it as a threat while others support its detractors. The Israeli kosher authority has ruled that genetic engineering doesn’t affect a product’s kosher status because genes are microscopic. However, other Jewish groups believe that the foods created by transferring DNA from one species to another is in direct violation of the biblical directive to not mingle different seeds and breeds together — whether plant or animal. There are no requirements for labeling GMs in Israel. However, its Ministry of Health is preparing regulations to require labeling when a food product contains GM corn or soy. The proposal would require the words “genetically modified” to be printed on packaging. Should Washington State do the same?
Longtime JTNews correspondent and freelance journalist Janis Siegel has covered international health research for SELF magazine and campaigns for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

ISRAEL:

Eighteen centuries ago, the Pirkei Avot coined the axiom “Pray for political stability, for if not for fear of the government, men would swallow each other alive.” A functioning government seems crucial to societal progress, yet in recent weeks that has seemed quite elusive. This puzzle includes some pointedly punny barbs in the direction of those who turned off the lights.
ACROSS 1 Republicans 4 Shine brightly 8 He inspired Kevin Clash’s book My Life as a Furry 12 13 14 15 17 19 20 21 22 27 DOWN 1 Second Amendment concern 2 Disney Junior’s spy bear series 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 16 17 18 20 22 23 24 25 26 31 32 34 35 36 37 38 39 43 44 45 46 47 48 50 51 56 57 58 59 60

28 29 30 31 32 33 40 41 42 43 46 47 49 52 53 54 55 57 61 62 63 64 65 66

Red Monster Country that opposed 13-Across WWII faction Cook ahi, perhaps What the Republicans reached a point of, or hoped to get from voting the way they do most of the time? What some Oscars honor Rent-___ This American Life’s Glass Greek letter Emulate the House since the Republicans gained a majority? With “The,” its 10/08/13 headline was “Congressional Aides Withholding Sex Until Budget Compromise Is Reached” ___ Day Now (Alan Cumming film) Alternative to Slurpees Nonetheless Least frequent NFL result Noted hallucinogen What the Republicans found the government impasse to be? Hill occupant DC Comics cowboy Jonah Vote against He-Man’s sister It was founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation Palmolive spokesperson who said “You’re soaking in it!” Emulated a Republican strategist on 10/01/13? Path of a catapulted stone “Blecch” Type of saxophone French Polynesian vacation site Ex-House Majority Leader who last shuttered the government in 1995, suggesting his name was apt? Mortgage option, slangily Cain’s brother Caustic agent House Majority Leader Cantor Feel bad for Use a needle

Special Agent ___ One who takes something and gives nothing Death March origin Town far from the city’s core Broadcast Site with a Bing search button One seeking mental diversion Permit ___ d’ Lavishly decorated ___-1 (Ghostbusters’ automobile) Quest for Indy With 37-Down, Detroit vehicle? Unwelcoming Train rider, perhaps And higher, as in a cost Placed What My Son John had off, and also on Hard rock band that released... ...this explosive single in 1976 Unit of illuminance Drug buster Skilled at thinking logically Clutched See 18-Down Herb in a Simon & Garfunkel line Looked at 2003 Samuel L. Jackson remake Zimbabwe’s capital Reptiles lithographer Query One way to put it Kick in, as chips French assent Glengarry Glen Ross author “___ Fell” (Beatles tune) Beer source ___-Wan Vote for Tree used for making longbows

Answers on page 11 © 2013 Eltana Wood-Fired Bagel Cafe, 1538 12th Avenue, Seattle. All rights reserved. Puzzle created by Lone Shark Games, Inc. Edited by Mike Selinker and Gaby Weidling.

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Thursday, November 7 at 7 p.m. JewDub Talks Lecture Back by popular demand, the second annual JewDub talks are back in action. These TED Talk-style lectures are fastpaced discussions on big ideas in Jewish history and culture, organized and presented by the Stroum Jewish Studies Program at the University of Washington. This one-night event features four UW faculty members giving quick, memorable talks on compelling issues such as converso Jews in medieval Spain, the modern legacy of Spinoza, anti-Semitism as a Christian problem and searching for shtetl roots in the Pale of Settlement. At the UW Tower Auditorium, 4333 Brooklyn Ave. NE, Seattle. Free. Following the talks, a kosher reception will kick off the Stroum Jewish Studies Program’s 40th anniversary celebration. For registration information, visit jewishstudies.washington.edu/jewdubtalks.

Saturday, November 16 at 8 p.m. Una Festa Hebraica Concert Ensemble Lucidarium’s “Una Festa Hebraica – Celebrating Life” employs a variety of Renaissance instruments to capture the party music of Jewish lifecycle events. Using recorders, lutes, dulcians, percussion, colascione, viola da mano, and more, the ensemble will share the music from around the liturgical year, from humorous poems to the music of women’s gatherings. Lucidarium’s current Ars Hebraica project seeks to reconstruct Jewish music of Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Presented by the Early Music Guild. At Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle. Tickets $20-$42. For more information visit townhallseattle.org, or reserve tickets through Kadima by calling Richard at 206-547-3914.

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Wednesday, November 13 at 8 p.m. Yermi Kaplan Music With five solo albums in his repertoire, Yermi Kaplan has been called one of the most passionate musicians in Israeli rock.
Born in Chicago, Kaplan started his music career during high school with Israeli singer and composer Rami Kleinstein. In the early ‘90s, he was a member of rock trio “Taarovet Eskot.” Later, as a solo artist, Kaplan released hits such as “Modedet” (Measuring) and “Madua Lo Bat” (Why didn’t you come). At the Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Ave., Kirkland. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 for adults, $35 for youth and seniors. For tickets, visit kpcenter.org/performances/yermi-kaplan.

O'Clock News
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A concert to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Kristallnacht

Until When?

6:15 p.m. Meet the Artists: Choreographer Pat Hon & Clarinetist Laura DeLuca

November 10 at 7:00 pm Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Benaroya Hall

World Premiere of Dance Commission and Works by Three Israeli Composers
Cornish College of the Arts dancers unveil Pat Hon’s choreography to Israeli composer Betty Olivero’s klezmer-like suite from The Golem. Also Eugene Levitas’ song cycle Until When? sung in the original Hebrew with a dramatic reading in English by Kurt Beattie, Artistic Director of ACT Theater. Plus MOR’s stellar chamber ensemble in works by Ernest Bloch, Erwin Schulhoff and Marc Lavry.

One Night Only!

Concert Tickets: $40 | (206) 365-7770 | musicofremembrance.org mbrance org

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The poetry of Music of Remembrance: Golem dance coupled with desert music
JACK FALK Special to JTNews
For its fall concert “Until When?” Seattle’s Music of Remembrance promises an enticing mix of music, theatre, and dance, including a newly commissioned choreography to accompany a suite of incidental music for the silent film “Der Golem”; a suite from the Israeli composer who first recorded “Hatikvah”; a song cycle based on the poetry of a Hungarian survivor, with a dramatic reading of the English translation; a 12-year-old violinist whose passion for Jewish music took him to Berlin last summer; and a violin sonata written by a Holocaust victim whose work was banned by the Nazis as “entartete” — degenerate. According to MOR founder and artistic director Mina Miller, “Until When?” invites listeners to “share in the transformative power of music to move from the depths of human suffering to the healing beauty of hope and renewal.” The concert will be performed Nov. 10 at Benaroya Hall. Betty Olivero’s “Zeks Yiddishe Lider un Tantz,” a klezmer-inflected suite for clarinet and string quartet, was originally composed for MOR as incidental music for Paul Wegener’s 1927 silent film “The Golem: How He Came into the World.” Olivero captures the legend of the Golem, in which a massive clay creature is brought to life by the wonder-rabbi Judah Loew, to protect the threatened Jewish community of medieval Prague. Olivero’s suite juxtaposes traditional COURTESy CORnISH COLLEgE Of THE ARTS Hebrew melodies Cornish College of the Arts dancers, who will be performing to Betty Olivero’s with Western con- composition that was set to “The Golem.” temporary music to This performance of Olivero’s suite will evoke the creation of the Golem, tender love serve as the premiere for Pat Hon’s dance scenes, and moments of fire and prayer as composition “Destination Unknown.” the community comes under siege. Miller Hon’s choreography, which recreates the calls the Golem legend “a metaphor for the story of the Golem through dance and movestruggle to survive during a time of persecument, will be performed by her students from tion” — a metaphor that was all too familSeattle’s Cornish College of the Arts. iar to the Jews of Europe so soon after the MOR commissioned Hon’s work after film’s release.

IF YOU GO
“Until When?” takes place on Sun., Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. at Benaroya Hall, 200 Union St., Seattle. A “Meet the Artists” pre-concert talk will take place at 6:15 p.m. Tickets cost $40 and are available through www.musicofremembrance.org, 206-365-7770, or at the door.

a previous collaboration with Donald Byrd of Spectrum Dance Theatre. “Working with live performers on stage…was a transformative experience for Donald’s dancers,” Miller said. “We’re eager to give young artists, at an early stage of their careers, the opportunity to collaborate with professional musicians. And ‘The Golem’ is a perfect story to tell through movement.” Marc Lavry’s “Suite Concertante for Flute, Viola, and Harp” conveys several facets of Israeli music: Pastoral and naïve, lyrical and intimate, rhythmical and energetic. After emigrating to Palestine following a Fascist coup in his native Latvia, Lavry (1903-1967) was eager to toss aside the constraints of European
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WHERE TO WORSHIP
GREATER SEATTLE Bet Alef (Meditative) 206/527-9399 1111 Harvard Ave., Seattle Chabad House 206/527-1411 4541 19th Ave. NE Congregation Kol Ami (Reform) 425/844-1604 16530 Avondale Rd. NE, Woodinville Cong. Beis Menachem (Traditional Hassidic) 1837 156th Ave. NE, Bellevue 425/957-7860 Congregation Beth Shalom (Conservative) 6800 35th Ave. NE 206/524-0075 Cong. Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath (Orthodox) 5145 S Morgan St. 206/721-0970 Capitol Hill Minyan-BCMH (Orthodox) 1501 17th Ave. E 206/721-0970 Congregation Eitz Or (Jewish Renewal) Call for locations 206/467-2617 Cong. Ezra Bessaroth (Sephardic Orthodox) 5217 S Brandon St. 206/722-5500 Congregation Shaarei Tefilah-Lubavitch (Orthodox/Chabad) 6250 43rd Ave. NE 206/527-1411 Congregation Shevet Achim (Orthodox) 5017 90th Ave. SE (at NW Yeshiva HS) Mercer Island 206/275-1539 Congregation Tikvah Chadashah (LGBTQ) 206/355-1414 Emanuel Congregation (Modern Orthodox) 3412 NE 65th St. 206/525-1055 Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation (Conservative) 206/232-8555 3700 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island Hillel (Multi-denominational) 4745 17th Ave. NE 206/527-1997 Kadima (Reconstructionist) 206/547-3914 12353 8th Ave. NE, Seattle Kavana Cooperative [email protected] Kehilla (Traditional) 206-397-2671 5134 S Holly St., Seattle www.seattlekehilla.com K’hal Ateres Zekainim (Orthodox) 206/722-1464 at Kline Galland Home, 7500 Seward Park Ave. S Mercaz Seattle (Modern Orthodox) 5720 37th Ave. NE [email protected] www.mercazseattle.org Minyan Ohr Chadash (Modern Orthodox) Brighton Building, 6701 51st Ave. S www.minyanohrchadash.org Mitriyah (Progressive, Unaffiliated) www.mitriyah.com 206/651-5891 Secular Jewish Circle of Puget Sound (Humanist) www.secularjewishcircle.org 206/528-1944 Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation (Orthodox) 6500 52nd Ave. S 206/723-3028 The Summit at First Hill (Orthodox) 1200 University St. 206/652-4444 Temple Beth Am (Reform) 206/525-0915 2632 NE 80th St. Temple B’nai Torah (Reform) 425/603-9677 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue Temple De Hirsch Sinai (Reform) Seattle, 1441 16th Ave. 206/323-8486 Bellevue, 3850 156th Ave. SE SOUTH KING COUNTY Bet Chaverim (Reform) 206/577-0403 25701 14th Place S, Des Moines WEST SEATTLE Kol HaNeshamah (Progressive Reform) 206/935-1590 Alki UCC, 6115 SW Hinds St. Torah Learning Center (Orthodox) 5121 SW Olga St. 206/722-8289 WASHINGTON STATE ABERDEEN Temple Beth Israel 360/533-5755 1819 Sumner at Martin BAINBRIDGE ISLAND Congregation Kol Shalom (Reform) 9010 Miller Rd. NE 206/855-0885 Chavurat Shir Hayam 206/842-8453 BELLINGHAM Chabad Jewish Center of Whatcom County 102 Highland Dr. 360/393-3845 Congregation Beth Israel (Reform) 2200 Broadway 360/733-8890 BREMERTON Congregation Beth Hatikvah 360/373-9884 11th and Veneta EVERETT / LYNNWOOD Chabad Jewish Center of Snohomish County 19626 76th Ave. W, Lynnwood 425/640-2811 Temple Beth Or (Reform) 425/259-7125 3215 Lombard St., Everett FORT LEWIS Jewish Chapel 253/967-6590 Liggett Avenue and 12th ISSAQUAH Chabad of the Central Cascades 24121 SE Black Nugget Rd. 425/427-1654 OLYMPIA Chabad Jewish Discovery Center 1611 Legion Way SE 360/584-4306 Congregation B’nai Torah (Conservative) 3437 Libby Rd. 360/943-7354 Temple Beth Hatfiloh (Reconstructionist) 201 8th Ave. SE 360/754-8519 PORT ANGELES AND SEQUIM Congregation B’nai Shalom 360/452-2471 PORT TOWNSEND Congregation Bet Shira 360/379-3042 PULLMAN, WA AND MOSCOW, ID Jewish Community of the Palouse 509/334-7868 or 208/882-1280 SPOKANE Chabad of Spokane County 4116 E 37th Ave. 509/443-0770 Congregation Emanu-El (Reform) P O Box 30234 509/835-5050 www.spokaneemanu-el.org Temple Beth Shalom (Conservative) 1322 E 30th Ave. 509/747-3304 TACOMA Chabad-Lubavitch of Pierce County 2146 N Mildred St.. 253/565-8770 Temple Beth El (Reform) 253/564-7101 5975 S 12th St. TRI CITIES Congregation Beth Sholom (Conservative) 312 Thayer Dr., Richland 509/375-4 740 VANCOUVER Chabad-Lubavitch of Clark County 9604 NE 126th Ave., Suite 2320 360/993-5222 [email protected] www.chabadclarkcounty.com Congregation Kol Ami 360/574-5169 www.jewishvancouverusa.org VASHON ISLAND Havurat Ee Shalom 206/567-1608 15401 Westside Highway P O Box 89, Vashon Island, WA 98070 WALLA WALLA Congregation Beth Israel 509/522-2511 WENATCHEE Greater Wenatchee Jewish Community 509/662-3333 or 206/782-1044 WHIDBEY ISLAND Jewish Community of Whidbey Island 360/331-2190 YAKIMA Temple Shalom (Reform) 509/453-8988 1517 Browne Ave. [email protected]

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the life & times of t s e w h t r o N s n e e t h s i Jew

The Top Five tips for getting in and staying sane: Insight into the college admission process
By Mathias Cohanim and Justin Coskey
As a senior knee-deep in college applications and a junior who just took the PSAT, we went to the Northwest Yeshiva High School college night on Oct. 22 hoping for a little extra guidance and some secret insight into the admissions process. We weren’t disappointed. Peter Brodkin, the NYHS college counselor, and David Blum, co-chair of the Penn Alumni Interview Program, discussed college admissions and fielded questions from anxious students and parents for more than two hours. Students, parents and younger siblings listened intently on how to survive the most grueling process of an adolescent’s life. Here are five tips for getting it done right:

3. Intellectual achievement outside of school.
Colleges like to see a student who is dedicated to knowledge even when he or she is not at school. These intellectual activities include reading heaps of literature (not for school), participating in academic competitions (a science fair, for example) or contests. These activities show the student is ambitious and passionate about learning and would thrive at a particular college or university. The most frequently asked interview question is “What have you read lately?” If your answer is a required reading book like “The Once and Future King,” you lose points! Read for pleasure and you will go far.

1. Plan early.
Planning for college doesn’t begin as a senior, or even as a junior. It is never too early to prepare for college. You can do this by taking the PSAT for practice in 9th and 10th grades, maintaining good grades, being intentional about your extracurricular activities, and researching colleges early. In 9th grade, start planning for life after high school graduation. You won’t be sorry. Although it may seem intuitive, you need strong academics to get into many colleges. This means that you need a strong GPA, and should take as many honors classes as you can (within reason). Colleges like to see that you challenged yourself. They know far more about your school than you do, so they can fairly compare your grades with other schools and students. Blum additionally mentioned that parity between grades and test scores is crucial. If a college sees a student has very high grades, but poor test scores (or vice versa), the performance looks much worse than the performance of a student who had decent grades, and respectable standardized test scores.

4. Colleges are not looking for a “well-rounded” student but a well-rounded freshman class.

5. The world is flat.

So when choosing extra-curricular activities, go for your passion. Don’t choose extra-curricular activities based on what you think will look good on your application. Find what you love to do and do it! This is the title of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s best-selling book that Blum recommended we read. Simply put, in today’s global culture, we have a lot more competition than our parents or grandparents did when it comes to college admissions. We are not just competing with those in our state or country, but with students from all over the world. Obviously, these are only a few important pointers you need to know when applying for college. Good luck to all and start early. Seniors…we feel your pain!

2. Academic Performance.

Mathias Cohanim, a senior, and Justin Coskey, a junior, are students at NYHS.

THE tEEN CALENDAR
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1 4 p.m. n NCSY Seattle Shabbaton
Ari Hoffman at [email protected] or 206-295-5888 or seattlencsy.com
An anticipated 200 attendees from across the U.S. and Canada will gather in Seward Park with a speaker and activities. Shabbaton runs through Sunday, November 3. At Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath, 5145 S Morgan St., Seattle.

NYHS STUDENTS RECOGNIZED AT ART FAIR
Several students from Northwest Yeshiva High School were recognized at the 39th annual juried junior art show sponsored by the Mercer Island Visual Arts League this past summer.  The awards honored works submitted by artists in kindergarten through the 12th grade.  Among the winners from NYHS were Sarah Boldor, who graduated in 2013, with “Flowers,” above. She received the Pia Messina Award and the Cascade Frames Award. Sophomore Maya Pogrebinsky’s “Twilight,” left, received second place.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 4:15–8:30 p.m. n Northwest Yeshiva High School Family Shabbat Dinner
Rabbi Benjy Owen at [email protected] or 206-232-5272, ext. 521 or nyhs.net
NYHS family Shabbat dinner for the NYHS community. $22/adults, $18/children. At Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, 5217 S Brandon St., Seattle.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10 12–3 p.m. n NYHS Skymania
Rabbi Yona Margolese at [email protected] or 206-232-5272 or www.nyhs.net
Eighth and 9th graders are invited to spend the afternoon at Skymania. Free. At Skymania, 11801 NE 116th St., Kirkland.

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musical composition. Lavry, the former conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, wanted to compose a uniquely Israeli music that would draw upon the sounds of his new land: Sephardic music, Arabic music, the inflections of the Hebrew language, the sounds of the desert, shepherd’s tunes. Inspired by the musical modes, rhythms, and melodies of his new country, Lavry is perhaps best known for “Shir Ha’Emek” (song of the valley), which he wrote almost immediately after his arrival. The three movements of Lavry’s “Suite Concertante” are based on songs composed by Lavry: Shir Ro’im (a shepherd song), Prayer, and Machol (Dance). The second movement alternates between the past (minor modes that suggest Ashkenazic prayer) and present (major modes that express Lavry’s optimism at living in Israel). If poetry is indeed “the force of few words,” Israeli composer Eugene Levitas seeks to distill it even further. His song cycle “Until When?” — which lends its name to the concert as a whole — incorpo-

rates five short poems by Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor Yaakov Barzilai, none of them longer than five lines. Barzilai composed more than 130 poems about his experience in Auschwitz. MOR previously presented two song cycles based upon Barzilai’s poetry, which has been set to music by numerous composers. For this program, ACT artistic director Kurt Beattie will introduce each song with a dramatic reading of the corresponding poem in English, enabling the audience to grasp the emotional essence of the performance even without knowing Hebrew, the language in which Barzilai wrote after emigrating from Hungary. The song cycle will be performed by soprano Karen Early Evans with cellist Walter Grey and Mina Miller on the piano. The composition takes its title from the final poem in the song cycle: Until when will we be obsessed With their memory? Until the very last of them Is revived. Each year, MOR chooses a recipient of the David Tonkonogui award, which offers young artists the opportunity to

work with professional musicians. The award honors cellist David Tonkonogui, who “believed deeply in human rights and social justice,” according to Miller. In evaluating applicants, MOR looks for not only outstanding musicianship but also a commitment to humanitarian causes, LEO V. SanTIagO PHOTOgRaPHy including a desire A performance of Betty Olivero’s suite, “Zeks Yiddishe Lider un Tantz.” to learn about the from the score to “The Golem.” musical legacy of the Jewish Museum. Holocaust. Also on the program is Erwin SchulThis year’s recipient is 12-year-old viohoff’s “Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano,” linist Takumi Taguchi. At the MOR conwhich will be performed by Seattle Symcert, Takumi will perform Ernest Bloch’s phony violinist Mikhail Shmidt with Mark “Nigun.” As he learned the music, Takumi Salman on piano. Schulhoff, an audacious became inspired to look deeper into the Czech-Jewish composer whose avantpiece and its history and to understand the garde work was banned by the Nazis as challenges facing Jewish musicians during “degenerate,” drew upon his familiarity the Nazi era. This led him to travel with with jazz and folkloric themes. his parents last summer to visit the Berlin

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also has the role of providing guidance for the temple’s rabbinical search committee. “There’s an additional layer of the awareness of helping the congregation through this huge change, and it varies from congregation to congregation as to what it may or may not need for that intentional interim period,” Prinz said. Because she is by design not allowed to be in the running for the permanent posi-

tion, Bogosian knows she will hand her reins to a new rabbi at the end of the oneyear process, and will also help the new rabbi transition onto his or her pulpit. “The most challenging part of my year is the part when I have to say goodbye,” she said, “because part of the integrity of my work is I have to disappear, for the most part, at the end of the year so that people can bond with their new rabbi.” Having a home base, a husband and strong support network, and the kids out

of the house makes her transitions much easier, she said. Elizabeth Asher, Beth Am’s board president, said the decision to go with an interim rabbi and assistant rabbi was the right one. “We’re both learning from each other,” she said. “Out of that learning we’re both growing and I think the temple is on a steady course.” One thing both Levine and Bogosian have found is that their new synagogue is an active, busy place. “There’s so much

energy here. People are so engaged and committed,” Bogosian said. “There’s a higher proportion than in many places of people with core levels of involvement in this community, and I enjoy seeing that.” Levine agreed. “To find a place like Beth Am is a rare thing indeed, where there are so many things happening at once, and people are so open to each other,” Levine said. “I could not think of a place I’d rather be to start my rabbinical career.”

11-01 2013
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.

Dentists
Dr. Larry Adatto, DDS 206-526-9040 (office) ✉☎ [email protected] www.adattodds.com  7347 35th Ave. NE, Seattle, Wa 98115 Mon. and Thurs. 9–5, Tues. and Wed. 9–6. Accepting new patients Located in NE Seattle, Dr. Adatto has been practicing since 1983. Services provided are: • Cerec crowns—beautiful all porcelain crowns completed in one visit • Invisalign orthodontics—moving teeth with clear plastic trays, not metal braces • Implnts placed and restored • Lumineer (no, or minimally-prepped) veneers • Neuro-muscular dentistry for TMJ and full mouth treatment • Traditional crown-and-bridge, dentures, root canals

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

Hospice Services
Kline Galland Hospice 206-805-1930 ✉☎ [email protected] www.klinegallandhospice.org  Kline Galland Hospice provides individualized care to meet the physical, emotional, spiritual and practical needs of those in the last phases of life. Founded in Jewish values and traditions, hospice reflects a spirit and philosophy of caring that emphasizes comfort and dignity for the dying.

Photographers
Barrie Anne Photography 610-888-5215 ✉☎ [email protected] www.BarrieAnnePhotography.com  Specializing in portraits,mitzvahs, weddings and fashion. My philosophy is to create beautiful, unique and timeless images that go beyond the memories of these special times in life, allowing you to relive them all over again, and become as priceless as life itself.

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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.

College Planning
Albert Israel, CFP College Financial Aid Consultant 206-250-1148 ✉☎ [email protected] Learn strategies that can deliver more aid.

B. Robert Cohanim, DDS, MS Orthodontics for Adults and Children 206-322-7223 www.smile-works.com  Invisalign Premier Provider. On First Hill across from Swedish Hospital.

Funeral/Burial Services
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 preneed and at-need services. Affordable rates • Planning assistance. Queen Anne, Seattle

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Jewish Family Service Individual, couple, child and family therapy 206-861-3152 ✉☎ [email protected] www.jfsseattle.org  Expertise with life transitions, addiction and recovery, relationships and personal challenges —all in a cultural context. Licensed therapists; flexible day or evening appointments; sliding fee scale; most insurance plans.

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Funeral/Burial (continued)
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the Federation continues to seek comprehensive solutions to gun reform. “Fifteen Jewish organizations have endorsed the need to have universal background checks,” Carstensen said. “We’re going to keep growing that list, follow every lead and every possibility until we make a change in the state.” Another key player in this effort, Rabbi Daniel Weiner of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, has been working with his congregation, Seattle’s Jewish community, and the faith community at large toward gun responsibility education and reform. “This has been a long-standing con-

cern, especially with the Reform Judaism movement,” Weiner said. “The real catalyst was the Connecticut shooting.” In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, Weiner and other Seattle clergy banded together and made a pledge to work toward making a difference with gun reform. “Washington is at the forefront,” Weiner said. “Our state has the opportunity to again lead the way in sensible social policy.” On the other side of the coin is the Second Amendment Foundation, whose headquarters in Bellevue are working toward an initiative of their own, Initiative 591. I-591 was written this past spring by Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and our own character while we guide our children in improving theirs.” Other courses will bring in out-oftown guests such as Alan Elsner, J Street’s vice president of communications, and

Bear Arms and the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. The two key points I-591 address are the confiscation of guns or other firearms from citizens without due process by government agents and that government agencies requiring background checks on the recipient of a firearm should be illegal unless those checks meet a uniform national standard. Dave Workman, communications director for Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said I-591 is a much simpler initiative than 594. “If I wanted to buy a firearm in Bellevue or Spokane or Walla Walla, it should be no different than any background check in Dr. Alon Tal, founder of Israel’s Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. Torahthon 7 is being co-hosted by Temple De Hirsch Sinai and supported by grants from the Jewish Federation of

another city in the United States,” Workman told JTNews. “There’s no reason to add a bunch of hoops for people to jump through.” Currently, no uniform national standard for background checks exists, but Workman believes there should be. “Why do you want to make it more difficult to exercise a fundamental civil right?” he asked. Both initiatives will ramp up their efforts to meet the January 3, 2014 deadline for gathering the 246,372 required valid signatures for the initiative to appear on next fall’s ballot. Stumbo said WAAGR’s goal is to have all of its signatures by December 14, the anniversary date of the Sandy Hook massacre. Greater Seattle, the Alfred & Tillie Shemanski Foundation, and several other local co-sponsors including synagogues, Jewish schools and university programs.

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“They can sprout on their own, but our job is to guide the direction of the growth. We can do that most effectively if we improve

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The struggles of a holier-than-thou husband
By Leonard Felson HARTFORD, Conn. (JTA) — My wife stared at me as if I were from another planet. “What do you mean you don’t know if you can come to my cousin’s wedding?” she demanded. She had been looking forward to a weekend getaway with her husband of 28 years. “It’s on a Saturday afternoon, before Shabbat is over. It’s during the three weeks of mourning before Tisha b’Av, not to mention during my year of saying Kaddish,” I replied, knowing none of these reasons would resonate with her. Julia and I had met in our mid20s — unaffiliated, Jewish Catalog-kind of Jews loosely tied to our religion and tradition. We forged our own way of doing things religiously. For our first child, a daughter, we crafted our own naming ceremony. We found a mohel and had a brit for our two sons. We joined a Reform temple because it was where most of our friends were joining. About 20 years ago, however, I began taking classes from a rabbi who saw the Torah as a spiritual road map. His teachings spoke to me. “Give me a modern-day example of Mitzrayim,” he asked, referring to enslavement in Egypt. I saw how enslaved I felt in my job. I resonated with his definition of Shabbat as a daylong meditation focused on being instead of doing. Soon I was going to Shabbat morning services almost weekly as I juggled our kids’ soccer schedules. As I became more observant over the span of several years — keeping kosher and eventually joining an Orthodox shul — I longed for a circle that could enthusiastically participate in weekly Shabbat meals, Passover seders, and my religious journey. Instead, Shabbat and Jewish holidays became points of friction when service schedules clashed with social invitations or Julia’s desire just to take in a movie on a Saturday night, even if Shabbat’s end had yet to arrive.

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“Why don’t you just find an Orthodox wife to marry?” Julia suggested in her most exasperated moments. Then one day, I saw our struggle from a new perspective. Ironically, it came from a real Hassid, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, who said you are never given an obstacle you cannot overcome. That meant committing to finding a way to bring some kind of wholeness to my marriage. I still did not know what to do about the wedding of my wife’s cousin. I did not think I should attend, but I knew this was my obstacle to overcome. I consulted a rabbi who’d written about what he called the sacred messiness of life. “The only issue is whether you want Judaism to be associated with judgmental holier-than-thou energy. Obviously, you don’t,” the rabbi said, “or you wouldn’t be asking me what to do.” I came to realize that for at least the past 15 years I had been acting holier than thou — to Julia, our kids, and to our friends. I went to the wedding. In preparation, I envisioned how a more flexi-

ble and loving husband would behave. For that weekend, I also challenged myself to suspend my judgments and be the partner my wife had fallen in love with years ago. That Saturday afternoon, we sat on folding chairs in the hot Florida summer sun. A minister and rabbi officiated. I held Julia’s hand. I sipped champagne and toasted the new couple. In short, I allowed myself to have a ball. “I like the new flexible you,” Julia said over the band’s music, a smile on her face. That weekend marked a turning point. I had taken a vow to honor my wife no matter how we changed. Despite what often seemed like my affair with God, I realized that I owed Julia a commitment and to be there for her no matter what life’s challenges. I also realized that to hold her in my arms as we feel the joys and sorrows of life is a spiritual practice, too. It’s not always easy. But when I feel my inflexibility and holier-than-thou voice creeping back, I try to remember that having a sensitive heart is also one of God’s commandments.

SUNDAY, NOVEMbER 3
■■ 10:30 a.m.–2 p.m. — Hanukkah Boutique

Leta Medina at letam@summitatfirsthill.org or 206-456-9715 Free. At The Summit at First Hill, 1200 University St., Seattle. THURSDAY, NOVEMbER 7 ■■ 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m. — Ingredients for Longevity and a Healthy Life Ellen Hendin at [email protected] or 206-461-3240 Registered dietitian Katherine Figel will teach about the changes bodies experience as they age. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue. TUESDAY, NOVEMbER 12
■■ 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m. — Protecting the Vulnerable: “Tales from JFS”

Ellen Hendin at [email protected] or 206-461-3240 or jfsseattle.org Jane Relin, clinical director at Jewish Family Service, will teach about how to prevent financial exploitation of vulnerable seniors. At Temple De Hirsch Sinai, 1441 16th Ave., Seattle. THURSDAY, NOVEMbER 14
■■ 6:30–8:30 p.m. — Dollars and Sense: Financial Alternatives in

Retirement Leonid Orlov at [email protected] or 206-861-8784 Sandy Voit, a mental health counselor and financial analyst, will offer a variety of tools to help your dollar go further. $13 in advance, $18 at door. At Jewish Family Service, 1601 16th Ave., Seattle.

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LIFECYClES
John Werner Friedmann June 21, 1921–October 22, 2013
John Werner Friedmann, who survived the very worst of the 20th century in Europe, but contributed and left a lasting legacy in Seattle, died at age 92 on Tuesday, October 22 at the Kline Galland Home in Seattle.  Werner was born in Glogau, the Silesia region of Germany. His father Alfred was a lawyer and counselor for the City of Glogau, a profession Werner would likely have followed, but tragedy intervened. At age 11, his mother Ilse suddenly died, and as Hitler and the Nazi regime rose to power, it altered Werner’s life permanently. On Kristallnacht in November 1938 (the Night of Broken Glass), he and his younger brother Hellmuth watched as his father, even as a respected member of the community, was taken from their home and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Denied the ability to continue in school or train for professions, Werner and Hellmuth were sent to ORT schools to be taught skills still allowed for Jews. Werner obtained an affidavit and exited Germany, arriving in England in 1939. He would never see his father or his brother again; both were murdered in transport to Auschwitz.  Despite a life begun so tragically, and a family lineage almost terminated, Werner began an energetic, good-natured life of positive contributions, community leadership and family. Taken in by a Quaker family, he enrolled in drafting courses and worked at an engineering firm for the war effort. As German rockets rained upon London, Werner joined the corps of young men organized to rescue survivors from collapsing buildings. He would always be grateful to the English for saving his life, and proud to later become a British citizen.  In 1947, at age 26, Werner changed his name to John and moved to the New York area, where he quickly immersed himself in clubs of young refugees. In 1949 he met and married Ursula Rosenbusch, who had been visiting from Chile, where her family had found safe harbor during the war. The couple bought a car, packed their belongings, and headed west to Seattle. John immediately found work at Titan Chainsaw, designing saws for the booming timber industry. Later he would begin a 27-year career at Pacific Car and Foundry (predecessor of PACCAR) in Renton. In 1952, John and Ulla bought their first house on Mercer Island. As Mercer Island grew, John was very much involved. He and a handful of islanders advocated for a pathway along Island Crest Way, then in its planning stages, for bicycles and pedestrians. Even 50 years later, the path remains as tangible evidence of his commitment.  John served as Democratic precinct committeeman, hosting coffees for Senators Scoop Jackson and Warren Magnuson in his home. He was a delegate to the state Democratic convention and a delegate for Jackson for President. As the Jewish population of Mercer Island and Bellevue grew, John and a few other pioneers established Congregation Ner Tamid, which eventually became Herzl-Ner Tamid, and John served as a board member. John also chaired the committee for the Holocaust memorial, designed and created by Auschwitz survivor Giselle Berman, that stands prominently at the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island. John Friedmann’s bright eyes and cheerful smile were an important part of the Kline Galland community, where he received wonderful care during the last two years of his life. Desta’s tender care and companionship were vital to him. His son and daughter, Danny Friedmann of Seattle and Judy Benami of Mercer Island, were devoted to their father’s care. His son Peter Friedmann visited from Washington, DC frequently. Their spouses Debbie Friedmann, Julie Cwinar and David Benami, and his grandchildren Joey, Ben, Josh and Jessie Friedmann, and Tomer and Adi Benami were regular companions to John throughout these years. Contributions in John’s memory may be made to Camp Solomon Schechter, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound Foundation, and the Kline Galland Home.

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A Yiddish tale of love, loss and the Holocaust
TOM TUGENd Jewish Journal of Los Angeles
When Canadian filmmaker Naomi Jaye, who had spent 10 years making short films, told friends she was embarking on her first feature, they cheered. When she added that the project would be the first Canadian movie in Yiddish, which neither she nor her lead actors knew, the friends questioned her sanity. Five years later, the result of her perseverance is “The Pin,” a story of love and loss during the Holocaust, of faithfulness to a promise and the question of whether a sense of humanity can survive in a world transformed into a slaughterhouse. The movie’s first scene shows Jacob, somewhere between adolescence and manhood, emerging from a hole in a forest, glancing around warily, and then running as if escaping an unseen enemy. In the second scene, set in a morgue, an elderly shomer, who guards the body and soul of the dead until burial, reads psalms from a prayer book while occasionally glancing at a body resting on a gurney, covered by a white sheet. In a long flashback, the shomer recalls his youth. The year is 1941, Nazi armies have overrun his hometown somewhere in Eastern Europe and have killed his family. He finds shelter in a barn that seems empty, but soon encounters a young Jewish girl, Leah, whose family has met the same fate and who has also gone into hiding. After initial suspicion and confrontation, the two orphans move toward each other, emotionally and physically, fall in love, and eventually conduct their own impromptu wedding ceremony. THE PIn When Leah hears Leah (Milda Geicate) comes up from the floor of her home after her family of an empty train that is taken away by the Nazis. travels “across the before placing her body in a coffin. border,” she and Jacob plan their escape This story, Jaye said, “always fascinated and a happy life together. But fate and a me, because it required an act of true love quarrel interfere, and the young lovers that was also an act of violence.” are separated, neither knowing what hapWhen Jacob, now the aged shomer, lifts pened to the other. the sheet and looks at the body beneath, he What about “the pin” of the title? realizes that lying before him is his youthJaye says the inspiration for the story ful love, Leah. He remembers her fear of and title came from her grandmother, who being buried alive, his promise to her, and had an obsessive fear of being buried alive. he starts to look for a pin. As she aged, she made her son, Jaye’s To Jaye, the tale represents the ultimate father, promise that when she died, he triumph of the human spirit.She explained would prick her hand with a pin, to make this assertion by noting that the chief proabsolutely certain she was actually dead

IF YOU GO
Naomi Jaye, director of “The Pin,” will speak following the Seattle premiere at Sundance Cinemas, 4500 9th Ave. NE, Seattle at 7 p.m. on Fri., Nov.1 and Sat., Nov. 2. Visit www.sundancecinemas.com for showtimes and tickets.

tagonists, “caught in a terrible situation, are able to find beauty and love.” Some viewers may find it difficult to accept this hopeful evaluation, or appreciate the extremely slow pace of the movie, marked by long, wordless pauses in semidark settings. But Jaye has a cogent explanation for using this technique: “The lives of people in hiding, as for soldiers in war, are marked by long periods of waiting,” between occasional bursts of extreme action. This was the mood she was trying to convey. Her main problem in casting the movie was the lack of any young actors in Canada who knew Yiddish. She solved the problem, quite effectively, by putting Grisha Pasternak, who plays Jacob, and Milda Gecaite, as Leah, through a six-month Yiddish course, and the results are quite satisfying. Both actors arrived in Canada as children, Pasternak from Ukraine and Gecaite from Lithuania. Neither is Jewish, and both show considerable talent.

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