Only humans imagine the future. Parents make decisions with the present and future in mind. Oregon Jewish Community Foundation does the same. The Life & Legacy program, a partnership of OJCF and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, helps local organizations promote bequests and estate gifts to the Jewish community to ensure a Jewish future for generations…
Jewish-themed papercuts generally don’t conjure up visions of Star Trek. References to Jews beautifying commandments with this colorful, baroque folk art date to 1345. Symbols and inscriptions include biblical passages, Stars of David and the Zodiac – complete with fantastic animals. Captain Kirk and his Starship Enterprise are unlikely candidates. Unless, of course, you’re Isaac…
The Mariner’s Building at NW Third Avenue and Davis Street originally provided a rooming house for seamen and respite from the booze, gambling and other vices in Portland’s notorious downtown district. Built in 1881, by 1938 messages written on the walls included “The Frisco Kid stopped here … headed South.” During the 1960s and ’70s,…
The Devil in Jerusalem by Naomi Ragen St. Martin’s Press, 2015, Hardcover, 310 pages, $29.99. When two children are brought into Hadassah Hospital with shocking injuries, Detective Bina Tzedek is contacted. The children’s mother, an ultra-orthodox American émigré refuses to answer questions. As Tzedek investigates, the disturbing story of how a charismatic and psychopathic cult…
When Mittleman Jewish Community Center Cultural Arts Manager Laurie Fendel and Congregation Neveh Shalom’s Program Director Jennifer Greenberg saw a need, they got together and took action. Again and again, senior members asked for activities tailored to them. Driving at night and heavy athletics were barriers to participation. Art, lectures and interesting discussions during the…
When Lenny Hoffman moved to the Westmoreland neighborhood, Southeast Portland Chabad (jewishreed.com) near Reed College was a natural. Raised in an Orthodox home, he quickly became the shul’s shammos. He wanted to donate something special that blended simplicity, family and Judaism. A talented artist and cabinet maker, he decided to build and donate a Torah…
After Ethan Adelman-Sil, a sophomore at Haverford College, spent 20 years as a student, he was ready for a change. He decided a year’s break to see the world was the perfect fit. The avid backpacker began his adventure on the Chilean side of Patagonia last January and spent the next six months exploring. Through…
While becoming a bar mitzvah is as ancient as the Jews themselves, bar mitzvah projects are relatively new. Today many synagogues include tzedakah projects in their bar and bat mitzvah preparations. To them, mitzvot include both commandments and social action. In Portland, the projects are as varied as the multitude of synagogues and interesting people…
PHOTO: Alon Pinkus By Polina Olsen Former Israeli Consul Alon Pinkus thinks the Iran Nuclear Arms Agreement is neither good nor bad. “It’s a deal,” he said during a July 27 interview with Oregon Jewish Life at his eastside Portland hotel. Touring the United States under the auspices of J Street, (jstreet.org), a…
ABOVE: The sound of Joanna Booser’s shofar echo across central Oregon. The haunting sounds of the shofar have awakened people from their spiritual slumber every year since ancient times. Made from any kosher animal, but usually from ram or antelope horns, the shofar is sounded on Rosh Hashanah, and in some communities, during the month…
