My friend Maury made aliyah a few years ago. Maury is a geriatric physician, father of three and a widower. Shortly after Maury arrived here, he met Carolyn, a widow, whose spouse had also died of cancer, and who was the mother of two boys. Maury and Carolyn’s romance blossomed and they decided to get…
To say Margot Feves and her intimate event space Opal 28 had a successful first year would be an understatement. Opal 28 was named Oregon Bride Magazine’s Best New Venue 2014 and won the Portland Business Journal honor as a Better Bricks Commercial Real Estate Retail Project 2014. Margot Talia Feves was named Margot after…
I watched him care for his wife until she passed away. He was very quiet, not prone to conversation, but always had a shy smile and a comfortable way about him. I didn’t see him much after she died, except when he would head out of his driveway on his 10-speed bike for one of…
Most brides wouldn’t think to take duct tape to their wedding, but just like MacGyver, good event planners come prepared for every possible hiccup. So when BLC Events founder Barbara Cohen and Elyse Stoner coordinate an event, they always take a suitcase full of extension cords, duct tape, spare lingerie and a host of other…
Britons and Americans sometimes joke that they speak the same language but do not understand each other’s words. Indeed, while people from around the world might experience the same event, perceptions can differ so greatly that they scarcely believe they breathe the same air. Clearly, nonstop media messaging, culture, religion and the environment create the…
Their wedding day is behind them, and the big white dress has been carefully cleaned and stored. The thank you notes have been written, and the groom has carried the bride safely across the threshold to their new life as husband and wife. The honeymoon, as they say, is over, but the next chapter of…
When I brought homemade bagels to work many years ago, the response was enthusiastic. Still one young woman said, “But Polina, these aren’t real bagels are they? They’re not like the ones in the store.” Ah, what has the world come to when Wonder Bread varieties replace the real thing. No worries. Help is on…
Students of the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Bilingual School in Jerusalem, where Jewish and Arab-Israeli children study together, participated in the first of two Hanukkah receptions at the White House Dec. 17. “The invitation to the White House came after the arson attack on the Hand in Hand school on Nov. 29 and (was)…
I lost count of the lavishly lit Christmas trees and the abundant decorations in green, red and gold. But for those of us honored to be invited to a Wednesday evening, Dec. 17, holiday reception at the White House, it was Hanukkah heaven. I was in great company. Some 500 of us, Jewish religious and…
Rabbi Andrew Hahn, known as “the Kirtan Rabbi,” will be in Portland for a weekend of learning, chanting and ecstatic Jewish prayer Jan. 30 – Feb. 1. Congregation Shaarie Torah, in partnership with Congregations Neveh Shalom, Beth Israel and P’nai Or of Portland, will sponsor this weekend as a special opportunity for the whole Portland…
