A child is born. It is perfection, a miracle. Often long before the birth, we have begun creating a vision for our child’s future. She will grow up to have a full and satisfying life, independent and whole. Then comes the shock. Something is wrong with my child! As the realization that something is wrong…
Serge D’Rovencourt’s yellow Nazi star has the word “Juif ” written in black. Forced to wear this as a child in France, he’s kept it along with meticulous records of how his life evolved. We met him at his “office away from home,” the Starbucks in the Pearl at NW 11th Avenue and Lovejoy. He’d…
OK, it’s 2014, you’ve just moved to the Portland metropolitan area and you’re looking for Jewish community. A congregation? Hebrew school? Community service? Heck, even a book club? You have your choice of 18 congregations and cultural affiliations, according to the 2013-14 Oregon Jewish Life Resource Guide. That is for a metro Jewish population estimated…
Growing up in Seattle Naomi Malka attended Hebrew School and Hebrew High, but she doesn’t recall anyone mentioning the mikvah. “I knew Judaism said something about marital sex and how the mikvah connected with that – I thought it sounded like a cool secret ritual,” says Naomi of her reaction to hearing about the mikvah…
During Passover Jews gather to tell the story of the Exodus. “Remember this day on which you went free from Egypt, the house of bondage, how God freed you from it with a mighty hand.” Exodus 13:3 Some people wonder if it is OK to invite strangers or non- Jews to their seder table. While…
The first program funded by the Emily Georges Gottfried Fund is a black/Jewish dialogue, which began on Feb. 6 with the first in a series of four planned sessions. The dialogue was a fitting first recipient to be selected by the fund named in memory of Emily Gottfried, z”l, who created and led numerous programs…
Among Polish Jews looking forward to Passover, Karina Sokolowska stands out. As manager of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Poland, she knows holidays offer the perfect opportunity to reach out to her often hidden community and invite them back to their religion and roots. This year JDC caravans will spread out to small…
Artist Sheila Lynn Lawton spent three weeks interacting with, and creating art personifying the hopes and interests of, residents of Kehillah Housing, a new Portland affordable housing project for adults with special needs. Kehillah, which means community, welcomed 14 residents with developmental disabilities last September to the new apartment building on the southwest Portland campus…
Sometimes growing up Jewish in a small town can be an isolating experience, but not for Gabe Young. The 18-year-old senior from Ashland, who begins his second year as a member of the prestigious National Youth Orchestra this summer, credits his small, vibrant Jewish community for giving him a strong, self- confident Jewish identity. “I…
A lifetime of skills and interests converged with circumstances last year to launch Sony Felberg’s ChickiBoom Cigar Box Guitar business. Sony sold his first cigar box guitar last summer. By year-end he had sold 100 of his handcrafted creations. Three models of his solid, arty, easy to play guitars now are available in five retail…
