When Rabbi Debra Kolodny wanted to serve Portland’s Jewish community, she started by considering why people come here. Connecting the dots between the city’s low percentage of affiliated Jews on the one hand and political, artistic and environmental activism on the other, she hit on the concept of the UnShul, a way of providing teaching…
What can we learn from a figure in Jewish textual tradition? Compared favorably to Moses in the Talmud, raised in a family of converts, unlettered in Jewish scholarship until he was 40, my favorite Talmudic player by far is Rabbi Akiva. Having been raised by secular Jews, proud of their heritage but absolute in their…
Each month Oregon Jewish Life will ask a group of rabbis, cantors or individuals to respond to a question. Since this issue has a section on weddings and the state of Washington just legalized gay marriage, we asked a group of rabbis what Judaism says about the sanctity of marriage and if they believe that…
