It’s hot. And it’s going to become more so. Summertime has arrived in Israel, and it means only one thing – Get Away from the Stove! These are not days for heavy-duty cooking, and I for one have no intention of spending hours in the kitchen. I say, “Bring on the veggies and let the salad reign!” Don’t get…
Two important stories recently emerged simultaneously. There was no connection between them other than timing. This illustrates the unique, even bizarre and somewhat disconcerting reality we live with here: fighting for survival against our external enemies while fighting internal battles against ourselves. The top news item was the controversial budget passed by the government and Knesset and the resulting populist…
Dear Helen: I just volunteered to edit my neighborhood association’s quarterly newsletter. I’ve recently retired and have more time, so thought this might be fun. Wrong! Chasing after people to give information or to write the articles they promised to do is worse than getting paid employees to do their jobs. Everyone gives me their articles late, incomplete, misspelled, with…
Renate Dollinger was a landscape painter with a small gallery in Palo Alto, CA, a husband, four children and lots of dogs when, in 1968, at the age of 44, she suddenly turned to painting life in a shtetl. “Cute,” her husband said when he saw the first painting. “Where did that come from?” “I don’t know,” she replied. Here’s what…
Modern Orthodox young professionals ages 26-42 are invited to Oregon June 26-July 1 for Portland’s third MoDox Outdoor Adventure Shabbaton. The first Shabbaton in 2011 drew 56 participants, with 74 young adults turning out in 2012. Portland’s third MoDox Outdoor Adventure Shabbaton already has attracted registrants from Israel, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, New…
Ellen Eisenberg, whose interests span everything from Jewish gauchos to Japanese internment, is excited about her newest project: writing about Oregon’s Jewish community from the 1950s on. Eisenberg, the Dwight and Margaret Lear professor of American history at Willamette University, has just been selected to write what could be called “the sequel” or a companion…
When my sweetie popped the question back in 1975, I was the first of my friends to get engaged, so I had no engagement playbook. Here’s what I did know: you tell your family and friends, you get a ring, you pick a time and place, and then … I had no idea. Telling people…
In today’s medical world, specializations dominate. Doctors aren’t just doctors; they’re endocrinologists, adolescent medicine specialists, neurologists, pulmonologists or even otolaryngologists (the fancy name for good ole’ ear-nose-n-throat docs). But when was the last time you met a garden variety GP? At Pacific Medical Group in Beaverton, family practitioners (formerly known as general practitioners or GPs)…
Rabbi Yossi Chaiton and Rabbi Alan Berg help answer the question, “What does Jewish tradition say about our responsibility to take care of our body?” Rabbi Yossi Chaiton Chabad of Oregon, shaliach, associate rabbi Portland Jewish Academy, Hebrew and Jewish studies director “Maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of G-d,” but…
Where is Prusice (formerly Prausnitz), Poland? When did the British withdraw from Palestine? Looking for a children’s book about Passover? Need help finding a long-lost ancestor? The answer to all these questions and many more can be found in the Neveh Shalom Feldstein Library, one of the best-kept secrets in Jewish Portland. Most of the…
