You may know Phyllis Lang as the wise Queen Guinevere in Sleeping Beauty, or the artist who creates amazing Narnia masks. Her work with the Northwest Children’s Theater has ranged from handling props to playing Lady Montague. But along with a lifelong interest in theater, Phyllis has a mission based on her experience overcoming a…
Breast cancer. Those two little words can strike fear in the heart of even the strongest women among us. In fact, statistics show that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at one point in their lifetime. Most women know of at least one other woman who has been diagnosed with breast…
Younger donors first support causes they are passionate about – rather than institutions. It is up to organizations to inspire them and show them that their support can make a tangible difference on the wider issues. For years, many in Jewish communal service have raised the issue about the future of Jewish philanthropy. They ask,…
Mittleman Jewish Community Center Fitness Manager Jennifer Harrington understands the importance of exercise for good health. “Our wide range of classes offer cardiovascular fitness along with flexibility and balance,” she says. From cycling, Zumba and water aerobics to bodypump and Pilates coupled with personal training, we provide the variety to meet individual needs.” While individual…
To mark the 90th anniversary of the very first bat mitzvah, the Oregon Jewish Museum is hosting a traveling exhibition, “Bat Mitzvah Comes of Age,” featuring the remarkable story of how, in less than a century, individual girls, their parents and their rabbis challenged and changed communal values and practice to institute this now widely…
In February, Oregon Jewish Life posted a survey for singles on our website as part of our effort to get to know our readers. Now we want to share the results of that survey: Single status: Never Married – 36.54%, Divorced – 46.15%, Widowed – 17.31% Age: 20-30 – 21.15%, 40-5 – 19.23%, 50-60 – 13.46%,…
In words that form images of light and darkness, waters receding from the firmament and stars separating day and night, the hebrew Bible (torah) describes the separation of the seventh day from all the others. this is the Sabbath – the day G-d desisted from the work of creation. the hebrew word Shabbat comes from…
Nationally and locally, the organized Jewish community has striven to embrace and engage an increasingly diverse and diffuse population. The so-called big Tent approach has been spurred in part by Jewish population studies, such as the 1990 national study that revealed a 52% intermarriage rate and the 2008-09 Portland study that found an astonishing 47,500…
Rabbi Daniel Aronson has joined Temple Beth Sholom of Salem as a part-time rabbi. In addition to leading High Holy Day services in September, Rabbi Aronson will visit TBS once a month from October through May. Paula Boga, president of the TBS Board of Trustees, is confident that Rabbi Aronson will provide the congregation with…
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…
