Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl will deliver the 14th annual Gus and Libby Solomon Memorial Lecture Jan. 24. Rabbi Buchdahl serves as senior rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City, the first woman to lead the large Reform congregation in its 180-year history. She also holds the position of senior cantor. In her presentation, “Being…
Jewish philosopher Rabbi Manis Friedman will speak in Portland at 7 pm, Jan. 15, at Chabad Northeast. Statistically religion is known to cause more wars and casualties than it has solved. Could it be that the promise of the afterlife is so much more alluring than what we have here, now? Could it be said…
By Jonathan Weiss Writer, educator, humorist and Portland native Rabbi Kalman Packouz recently announced the Hebrew and Spanish expansion of his world-renowned Shabbat Shalom Weekly email (ShabbatShalom.org). Kalman, known as Ken to his Portland friends and relatives, is the son of Ray and Dorothy Packouz. Ray, 97, and Dorothy, 98, are veterans of World War…
PBS will broadcast nationally WQED’s locally-produced “Tree of Life: A Concert for Peace and Unity,” a free community event, presented and hosted by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to honor the Tree of Life Synagogue victims and first responders. The performance, featuring Itzhak Perlman at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall, was taped on Nov. 27, one month after the…
Today, the first of dozens of Jewish Community Center and JCC camp professionals from across the United States and Canada are arriving at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh (JCCPGH) to help meet the community’s needs as it heals from the Tree of Life massacre. Among those responding will be rabbis from JWB Jewish Chaplains Council who…
Earlier this week the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland unanimously approved initial funding to hire a Director of Community Security. There are 22 other Jewish communities who currently have someone in this role, including Pittsburgh, which they acknowledge helped to save lives due to trainings and community communications. Each city has expressed the tremendous benefit…
ADL: 60% more anti-Semitic incidents in 2017 than in 2016 By Rabbi Barry Cohen Have we ever found ourselves in a place we never imagined … in a dangerous place we never expected to be? This week’s Torah portion, Vayeitzei, describes how our patriarch Jacob in his youth found himself in such a place, after…
“How inadequate it feels to know these men’s and women’s names only as targets of senseless attack!” ~ David Feder Many of us are still reeling from the Tree of Life shooting. This Shabbat, communities and organizations are joining together in a Shabbat of Solidarity. We encourage you to join OneTable, the ADL, HIAS, and many…
“Mom, there’s that Nazi I told you about.” “What?” I responded in disbelief. My daughter and I were grocery shopping in Scottsdale, not exactly a hub of neo-Nazi activity. Then I remembered the week before she had mentioned a neo-Nazi walked into the restaurant where she was eating. He was in his early 30s and…
Nov. 3 has been named a Solidarity Shabbat to stand together to support and comfort each other and the people of Pittsburgh. Whether you gather in a synagogue, share a Shabbat meal or join in with the community in some other way, we hope we can all come together this Shabbat. Many Oregon congregations plan…
