Need a slab of kosher bison on your doorstep by Friday morning? How about some nice kosher veal chops delivered in time to prepare for Shabbat dinner? Robert Bernton, 25, is endeavoring to fill exactly those needs with his burgeoning company, The Kosher Express. When Bernton stepped onto Emory University’s campus his freshman year, he was shocked to find that the kosher food…
This year’s Feast Portland will feature one of the nation’s most intriguing chefs: Israeli-born Michael Solomonov. The 2011 James Beard Award winner is famous for the modern Israeli cuisine he offers at Zahav, his critically acclaimed Philadelphia restaurant. The New York Times praises Solomonov’s “simple food with layers of flavor,” and his restaurant has also been recognized for excellence…
Growing up in Portland attending Congregation Beth Israel, Rachel Shimshak learned the value of Oregon’s environment and tikkun olam. After graduating from the University of Oregon, she spent 16 years in Colorado, Washington, DC, and Massachusetts gaining experience and skills that now benefit her home state. Since its inception in 1994, Rachel has been the executive…
In the decades since the Holocaust, the Jewish community has pledged, “Never Again.” Yet genocide, albeit on a smaller scale, has recurred numerous times in the intervening years. “Focus on the tangible,” says Mina Rush, outreach director of Jewish World Watch, an organization that fights genocide and mass atrocities through advocacy and high-impact projects that improve the lives of survivors. “Ending genocide in Africa isn’t going…
For world-renowned chef Giuliano Hazan, family and food are as inextricably linked as home and hearth. “For me, food is the fabric that holds family together.” Having been raised in a family of chefs, young Giuliano enjoyed homecooked meals almost exclusively during his childhood. As he explains in the introduction to his latest cookbook, Hazan Family Favorites: Beloved Italian Recipes, “I was very fortunate to eat…
Where do you get “Jewish” food in central Oregon? I was told of sources for pastrami, challah, bagels – boiled and otherwise – and even kosher meals available by pre-order by the Chabad rebbetzin. And on a recent visit I discovered a chocolate and wine café owned by a member of Temple Beth Tikvah that was heavenly. If you’re looking…
When Havurah Shalom wanted to pursue a tikkun olam project in Nicaragua, many who were unfamiliar with global poverty got involved. So they teamed up with Green Empowerment, a Portlandbased nonprofit that builds renewable energy and water systems throughout the developing world. The congregation raised $40,000 to jump-start a solarpowered water system in the tiny village of El Jocote with a population of 230, including 41…
More than 9,000 athletes from 72 countries are expected to participate in the 19th Maccabiah Games in Israel July 18-30, including nine athletes and an accommodations manager from Oregon. The Maccabiah Games began in 1932 in what was then British-ruled Palestine. Held every four years in Israel, the Maccabiah Games now are the third-largest international sporting event after the Olympics and the World University Games. The Maccabiah Games…
PRODUCED BY THE NORTHWEST FILM CENTER AND THE INSTITUTE FOR JUDAIC STUDIES: Portland Jewish Film Festival: June 16-30, 2013 SUNDAY, JUNE 16 AT 7 PM “FILL THE VOID” ISRAEL 2012 DIRECTOR: RAMA BURSHTEIN The winner of Israeli Academy Awards for Best Film and Best Actress, FILL THE VOID is a nuanced portrait of an Orthodox…
Albanian Muslims Keep Holocaust-era “Promise” in Terrific Documentary: An important challenge for 21st-century documentary filmmakers is connecting the distant history of the Holocaust to today, and making it relevant for younger audiences. More often than not, it’s the children and grandchildren of survivors, rescuers and perpetrators who supply the necessary link between the past and…
