Photo: From left Emanuel Rose, Yonah Geller and Joshua Stampfer. Courtesy Oregon Public Broadcasting Beginning in the 1950s, when Portland had far fewer coffee shops and most people had never touched a computer, three men arrived, all with the same vocation, to begin work that would impact the lives of thousands of Oregonians. All three…
Rabbi Stampfer has left us. For more than six and a half decades he has been our rabbi, our confidant, our friend and our teacher. He has built community and institutions. He has been ourdugma, our role model for how to live an engaged and purposeful life. And now he has left us for what…
PHOTO: Eddy Shuldman and her parents at her bat mitzvah (1966). OJM 07171 The tradition of girls having bat mitzvah ceremonies in the United States is relatively new. Bat mitzvahs weren’t customary until the 1960s, and it took until the 1980s for it to be commonplace for girls to read from the Torah. The…
Rabbi Stampfer to Receive Ageless Award April 27 Jessie F. Richardson Foundation will present Rabbi Joshua Stampfer with its Ageless Award April 27. Since 2013, JFRF has given the Ageless Award to individuals who are 75 years or older, and demonstrate the importance of living a purposeful life and continue to make significant contributions to…
RABBI JOSHUA STAMPFER On Nov. 29, 1947, Joshua Stampfer, then a young rabbinic student in Jerusalem, awoke to the news that the United Nations, the night before, had approved the creation of a Jewish state. Soon after the UN announcement, he joined the Haganah, the underground Jewish defense army that, after statehood, became the Israel…
The long-anticipated sequel to The Jews of Oregon: 1850-1950 received a rave review by the man who was the driving force in its creation. Rabbi Joshua Stampfer was speaking to a crowd that had begun arriving nearly an hour before the launch party for The Jewish Oregon Story 1950-2010 was slated to begin. “We are…
The only constant at this year’s Portland Jewish Film Fest is that the films have broad appeal and Jewish content. The 24th annual film fest presents films during 15 time slots from June 15 to 29 (see schedule pages 32-33). (In consideration of Shabbat, no films screen on Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons.) The films…
CBI hires Josh Kashinsky as new executive director Congregation Beth Israel has hired Josh Kashinsky as the Reform congregation’s new executive director. Josh assumes his new post May 1. Prior to joining the CBI family, Josh served as the Assistant Executive Director at the Siegel JCC in Wilmington, DE, during which time he helped complete…
Films ranging from touching comedies to thought-provoking documentaries will entertain and enlighten thousands during the 23rd Portland Jewish Film Festival June 14-28. The festival is produced by the Northwest Film Center and co-presented by the Institute for Judaic Studies, with an opening night reception presented by Oregon Jewish Life magazine (https://orjewishlife.com/oregon-jewish-life-presents-film-festival-opening-reception/). Rabbi Joshua Stampfer and…
“A haimisher mensch means someone with whom you can take your shoes off, or let your hair down.” ~ Leo Rosten, The Joys of Yiddish If Rabbi Daniel Isaak had to pick one word to describe his tenure at Congregation Neveh Shalom, it would be “haimish.” The Yiddish word means informal, cozy, warm. Having the…
