Rabbi Tzvi Fischer, Portland Kollel “Why is kashrut relevant today?” To eat kosher is to eat more spiritual. The Torah repeatedly reminds us that its precepts are timeless and eternal. That makes kashrut as relevant as it ever was. The ideas of kashrut – referred to in the Torah as issues of Kedushah (holiness) and…
Aftermath, by Scott Nadelson, Hawthorne Books, $15.95 The characters in Aftermath are living in the wake of momentous events – the rupture of relationships, the loss of loved ones, the dissolution of dreams – and yet they find new ways of forging on with their lives, making accommodations that are sometimes delusional, sometimes destructive, sometimes…
After hitting the New York Times best seller list with all 16 of his novels, Portland author and attorney Phillip Margolin is eager to publish the historical novel he has worked on for 30 years. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever written,” says Margolin of the yet-to-be named novel due to be published by HarperCollins…
Since appearing on the cover of the inaugural issue of Oregon Jewish Life, Aithan Shapira, Ph.D., and Debra Rosenthal have been busy preparing for their July wedding and Aithan has kept busy with exhibits in the United States and Europe. During May, Aithan exhibited “Migration with Pomegranate”, as one of 40 artists whose work was…
Twenty-five years ago, founding Portland Art Dealers Association members initiated First Thursday, a monthly art reception in which galleries open new exhibitions of works by painters, print makers, sculptors, photographers and glass artists, with extended gallery hours and that month’s artists in attendance. It has since become the Rose City’s most vibrant and active visual arts event, now…
Sidonie Caron Sidonie Caron’s paintings adorn interiors from the Empire State Building to Oregon Health and Science University.When the new Kaiser Permanente Westwide Medical Center opens in Hillsboro in 2013, two of Caron’s paintings will grace the walls: the massive “Magic Mountain” and “Kibbutz Ga’ash.” “My older son, who has lived in Israel for many…
David Shifrin could say he owes everything to his mishpocha (extended family). The world-renowned clarinetist is also a professor at the Yale School of Music and artistic director of Chamber Music Northwest, Portland’s summer chamber music festival. His official bio is studded with more notable accomplishments than we have room to print, but suffice it…
Sheryl Sachter Rudolph has been comfortable on a horse since age 4. That’s when her father, Dave Sachter, started taking her to ride Shetland ponies each week after Sunday school at Congregation Shaarie Torah. Comfortable, that is, except for the clothes she wore: archaic full-seat breeches that featured inflexible leather panels. She finally decided to…
Remember to Savor Life A wave of nostalgia swept over me this past month as I met with people for various articles in this issue. It started when I walked into a stable in Canby to do a story about a woman who has revolutionized equestrian apparel. The smell of horses that mingled with the…
I’ve just opened a boutique bed and breakfast on the golf course in Caesarea, Israel. Me and golf so don’t go! My idea of a great sport is racing across town to make it to Bloomingdales just as they open the doors. Then, power-walking through each department to get to the sale items before every…
