Four days a week, Sterling is line services supervisor and new employee trainer at Global Aviation, a fixed-base operator that maintains and provides hangar space for corporate and private jets in Hillsboro. The other three days, he is an aviation illustrator who has attracted international attention from others in the field, been commissioned to draw…
As Israel celebrates its 66th birthday, we at Oregon Jewish Life thought it would be a good time to pay tribute to the gifts Israel has given the world. For a small nation with a tiny fraction of the world’s population, Israel boasts a surprisingly large number of Nobel Prizes in various sciences and so…
Friendly House’s mission is “to create a thriving community for people of all ages and backgrounds through quality educational, recreational and other life-sustaining services.” A Portland institution since 1930, Friendly House in Northwest Portland has three core service areas: children’s programs, community recreation and education, and community services. According to Mya Chamberlin, director of community…
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…
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…
