Dear Editor: I’m Jason Levin and I’m the Green Party candidate for Governor. We’re a diverse group, united by a worldview that is both optimistic and pragmatic. We’ve never been “mainstream.” Our outsider vantage point often helps us to recognize problems (and solutions) that oth- ers miss. I’m not talking about the Green Party, I’m…
When I enrolled my sons in Portland Jewish Academy, I had no idea of the myriad benefits I would reap from that involvement. As both a woman and a journalist working in the Jewish press, the connections and experi- ences proved invaluable. Two of those benefits relate directly to the special sections in this edition…
April Slabosheski Joins OJMCHE as Educator The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education has hired April Slabosheski for the new position of Holocaust educator. April grew up in rural Wisconsin and earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her master’s degree at the University of Michigan. Her graduate thesis in…
Eagle Scout Philip Weiss, 17, and Gan Preschool student Elai Yinhar, 3, make music at the drum station Weiss designed and built as his Eagle Scout Project on the campus of Maimonides Jewish Day School and The Gan-Portland Jewish Preschool. Located on the school’s natural playground, the music station includes the drum station, a larger…
You’ve spent years learning the alef bet, months studying your Torah portion and countless hours completing your mitzvah project … now you get to celebrate! For many freshly minted Jewish “adults,” that means a glamorous party full of glitz and glitter. Others want another shot at a favorite activity of their youth (which in reality…
At Temple Beth Sholom in Salem, two students who became b’nai mitzvah in August followed their passions to meaningful mitzvah projects. For his bar mitzvah project, Parker Mills worked to raise awareness about and money for Yismehu, a Salem-based nonprofit organization founded by TBS member Joan Myles that provides free Jewish learning to blind and…
Many students are required to complete a mitzvah project, but the challenge is in finding a project that will be meaningful and truly connect the students to a great cause in Israel. We spoke with Michael Leventhal, executive director of the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind. He says, “Many students are drawn to…
Let’s face it, there are few things women have in common as I must admit, although I’m not a very active universal as food, figure and finance. Or, put a bit differently: person (my most common activity is fingers melt, svelte and gelt. Obviously there are more important flying across the keyboard), when I do…
If you check out the winning designs of this year’s SukkahPDX competition at the Oregon Jewish Museum on Northwest Kearney (see box), you might see another new sukkah two blocks away at Havurah Shalom. The Reconstructionist congregation Havurah Shalom has grown from a handful of families who first met informally at each other’s homes 36…
Bite into a bagel from Bowery Bagels and it’s like being transported to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The bagel is dense and chewy with a crisp exterior; it in no way resembles the overly sweet, puffy version so often found in Portland. The recipe, which was perfected by Bowery Bagels founder Michael Madigan,…
