Daily Archives: July 1, 2013
0

Nicaraguan Development Leader Thanks Havurah Shalom for Keys to Success

When Havurah Shalom wanted to pursue a tikkun olam project in Nicaragua, many who were unfamiliar with global poverty got involved. So they teamed up with Green Empowerment, a Portlandbased nonprofit that builds renewable energy and water systems throughout the developing world. The congregation raised $40,000 to jump-start a solarpowered water system in the tiny village of El Jocote with a population of 230, including 41…
0

Life On the Other Side: Salad Days

It’s hot. And it’s going to become more so. Summertime has arrived in Israel, and it means only one thing – Get Away from the Stove! These are not days for heavy-duty cooking, and I for one have no intention of spending hours in the kitchen. I say, “Bring on the veggies and let the salad reign!” Don’t get…

Mainstream Media’s Turn on Lapid Unfair

Two important stories recently emerged simultaneously. There was no connection between them other than timing. This illustrates the unique, even bizarre and somewhat disconcerting reality we live with here: fighting for survival against our external enemies while fighting internal battles against ourselves. The top news item was the controversial budget passed by the government and Knesset and the resulting populist…

Ask Helen: Volunteering Has Its Rewards

Dear Helen: I just volunteered to edit my neighborhood association’s quarterly newsletter. I’ve recently retired and have more time, so thought this might be fun. Wrong! Chasing after people to give information or to write the articles they promised to do is worse than getting paid employees to do their jobs. Everyone gives me their articles late, incomplete, misspelled, with…

Northwest Portland Tour Includes Early Jewish Merchants’ Homes

They came west during the California Gold Rush and moved north opening general stores throughout Oregon. German Jews were among Portland’s leading early entrepreneurs. They first lived near their downtown places of business. Many structures like the Fleischner Mayer building, Blumauer & Hoch and the Simon Façade still stand. Soon the merchants moved to fashionable districts like Northwest Portland. Now local…

Ahavath Achim Rabbi Puts Computer Skills to Good Use

Two years ago Rabbi Michael and Mira Kaplan were looking for a place where they could make a difference. They found it in Portland. Rabbi Kaplan, then a rabbinic associate at the Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx, NY, accepted an invitation from Congregation Ahavath Achim to become its spiritual leader. “There is a tremendous potential for growth here,” he…

Sephardic Jews Celebrate Century of Life in Portland

For more than 100 years, Sephardic Jews have been an important part of the Portland Jewish community. Next year, beginning in June, they will celebrate their rich history and hopes for the future with “A Hundred Years of Sephardic Life in Portland.” This ambitious project will feature a gala kickoff dinner and a four-month historical exhibit, documentary DVD and catalog. “We’ve…

Rebirth of Jewish Life in Berlin

Once the infamous Berlin Wall came down in 1989, spectacular shopping complexes, elegant new hotels and office towers made over the face of what had been Communist-controlled East Berlin. At the same time, the horrendous fate of Berlin’s once thriving Jewish community of some 160,000, the largest in Europe, was observed with somber, often heart-wrenching memorials. Included are the moving Holocaust…

Jewish Olympics: 10 Oregonians Bound for 19th Maccabiah Games

More than 9,000 athletes from 72 countries are expected to participate in the 19th Maccabiah Games in Israel July 18-30, including nine athletes and an accommodations manager from Oregon. The Maccabiah Games began in 1932 in what was then British-ruled Palestine. Held every four years in Israel, the Maccabiah Games now are the third-largest international sporting event after the Olympics and the World University Games. The Maccabiah Games…

Senior Wisdom: Sayings of My Father

My father was known as Louis Glick in English and Laibl Glick in Yiddish. He was born around 1900 in Meziboz in the Russian Ukraine. When “Fiddler on the Roof ” came out, he remarked that his shtetl, where the Baal Shem Tov developed Hassidism, could well have been the model for the movie. During the first years of the Russian Revolution,…