If you asked 100 Jewish Portlanders what it means to be a Jewish Portlander, how many different answers would you get? The optimist might say 100, the cynic, 150. Videographer Ken Klein made no assumptions when he started his quest. Motivated at first by anger, then by curiosity, he roamed the community speaking to Jews…
A 60th wedding anniversary deserves a party, and Arnold and Elaine Cogan threw a bash. Held at the Oregon Jewish Museum on Dec. 22, the celebration brought together family and old friends. Each guest received a handmade commemorative cookbook with the couple’s favorites, including German Pancakes and Crazy Chocolate Cake. All 70 guests squeezed into…
When Myra Beetle bought her 1892 Victorian, the two-story home barely hinted at its glorious past. Decades of remodels covered the home’s original gingerbread, bay windows and trim. Built in the Portsmouth neighborhood of North Portland as a wedding gift to Mary Jardine, the house once served as a gambling den, according to neighborhood lore….
Cindy Kaplan and Mishelle Rudzinski met at an important time. Both were adopting children from Kazakhstan, although circumstances weren’t the same. Rudzinski, a speech therapist who specializes in cerebral palsy, had fallen in love with what looked like a severely handicapped 5-year-old girl. Kaplan and her husband expected to adopt a healthy 6-month-old boy. “When…
As education director of Havurah Shalom, Deborah Eisenbach-Budner knows about developing strong Jewish identity. When it comes to internationally adopted children, she also knows “what’s in a name.” Parents’ hopes for their child’s faith and sense of belonging, she says, are often revealed by the names they choose. RozaBess Aizhan, 4, the daughter she adopted…
When the Oregon Historical Society honored Harry Glickman for career accomplishments in September, they added a prize to his long list of illustrious and well-deserved awards. Inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1986, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the inaugural class of the Oregon Jewish Sports Hall…
Becoming bar or bat mitzvah takes study, commitment and a lot of hard work. When the big day comes, many say it’s time for a party. And, like any celebration, decorations make the event stand out and shine. From simple to sky’s-the-limit, design decisions affect ambiance and mood. DECORATIONS “What’s fun about a bar and…
Everyone clapped when Luda Isakharov, 10, finished her presentation. Proud parents and children filled the bright, cozy room. It was the end-of-the year Hebrew school celebration, and each child talked about what he or she had learned during the year. Outside, a sunlit courtyard filled with children’s toys had the remains of the day’s festive…
When the Jewish hero Natan Sharansky spoke in Portland for the first time on June 5, a crowd of 500 filled the hall at Congregation Neveh Shalom for the historic 92nd annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. Sharansky, a leader in the struggle for Soviet Jewish emigration, spoke about his life as…
Dr. Brian Druker graduated medical school determined to find a better way. Despite debilitating chemotherapy and dangerous bone marrow transplants, life expectancy for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia patients remained three to five years. Everything changed when Druker pioneered the first targeted cancer treatment, a medicine called Gleevec. Now, a pill with minimal side effects gives most…
