Dear Helen: I have a dead father, a sick mother and a crazy sister. I promised my father on his deathbed to take care of my mother, who drinks and smokes too much and is now lying to her doctors after a severe medical event that landed her in ICU. My sister lives two hours…
The Oregon Jewish Museum is looking for a few more “History Detectives” – people who can unlock the stories behind OJM’s “mystery photos.” An earlier story on some of the museum’s unidentified images (“Mysterious Images,” Oregon Jewish Life, November 2013) helped Anne LeVant Prahl, OJM’s curator of collections, identify some of the mystery photos. And…
I lift weights a few days a week at a local gym. Mostly, I listen to NPR on my headphones and mind my own business, so I don’t have a lot of gym friends. But I watch other people all the time. What have I learned? There are lots of great exercises for abs, and…
You’ve heard of Birthright Israel, the trans- formative program that believes a free trip to Israel should be part of every young Jew’s life. Well, how about Birthright Moms? The Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project’s Transform and Grow promises Jewish moms the trip they deserve. Based in Maryland and operating since 2008, the JWRP has sent…
The recent death of Ariel “Arik” Sharon after eight mostly comatose years took from us arguably the most colorful, courageous and controversial personality in Israeli history. A month earlier, Arieh “Arik” Einstein, the most revered and iconic singer/ songwriter in Israel’s history, died suddenly. These two larger than life characters had been almost a daily…
Bruce Morris designed a keyboard and supplemental software so he could touch-type his Hebrew homework for cantorial school. Then, when he and his wife were studying at an ulpan in Israel, he loaned the keyboard to her to type one of her poems in Hebrew. She refused to give it back. Noting his wife, Cassandra…
Dear Editor: On April 28, 2014, for Holocaust Remembrance Day we commemorate those innocent men, women and children who were murdered in the six killing centers of Auschwitz, Belzec, Chełmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka. We mourn those who were slaughtered by the Nazis in the numerous slave labor and concentration camps, in the ravines of…
Jeanne Newmark, 83, and her daughter Phyllis Newmark, 59, won the gold medal in the duet competition at the U.S. Masters Synchronized Swimming National Championships held Oct. 18-20 in Albuquerque, NM. Teams compete by age group categories determined by the average age of all members of the team. The Newmarks and their Multnomah Athletic Team…
This year, commit to changing one trait that impacts your life. Dear Helen: How can I make this year better than the last one? Mostly, I hate my job. But in general I feel: Stuck Dear Stuck: After the echoes of “Auld Lang Syne” have faded, any resolutions you may have made will sound a…
