By Shannon Levitt Rabbi Cahana unpacks supplies from Portland, Oregon, to be donated More than three million refugees have made their way to Poland since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. With that many people on the move, things could quickly unravel into chaos. Instead, Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana, who was at Poland’s…
The life of Victoria Leshiner, a Jewish woman living in Donetsk, Ukraine, was completely normal until about a month ago. When the war began, she started looking for a way out with her two children, a 20-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son. Having lived in Israel some 20 years ago, she decided to immigrate to Israel as…
Photo courtesy Refugee Care Collective Over the last two months, we have seen 168 Afghan evacuees arrive in Portland. The Portland Jewish Academy community recently provided 11 restart kits containing a total of close to 100 items and $300 in gift cards to the Refugee Care Collective. Thirty-six PJA families from both Early Childhood…
PHOTO: (from left) HIAS Rabbi-in-Residence Rachel Grant Meyer; HIAS Border Fellow Nicolas Palazzo; Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, Executive Director RRA; Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld, Congregation Albert, Albuquerque, NM; Rabbi Devorah Marcus, Temple Emanu-El, San Diego, CA; Meggie Weiler; Smita Dazzo and Rebecca Kirzner. HIAS convenes faith leaders and attorneys in Washington, DC, to deliver petition to…
Portland playwright Linda Alper’s new play about an adolescent who flees Nazi Europe and can find refuge only in Shanghai kicks off the fifth annual Proscenium Live Festival of New Work. Portland Shakespeare Project and Proscenium Journal present two days of fresh plays Aug. 3 and 4 (see schedule below). This year’s festival takes place…
PHOTOS: An estimated 5,000 people marched in last summer’s Walk with Refugees & Immigrants. Photos from 2018 walk courtesy of Portland Parks & Recreation. Top photo by Melisa Crosby, below by Mick Hangland and Ben Brink, right. The third annual Walk with Refugees & Immigrants will be in Northeast Portland July 21 (see details below)….
PHOTO: Speaker Amy Herzfeld-Copple, left, and OJMCHE Director Judy Margles joined Richard Miller, Portland field office director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, as he presented citizenship certificates after he administered the citizenship oaths. Photos courtesy of OJMCHE To celebrate World Refugee Day, Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Eduction hosted a naturalization ceremony…
Two Oregon congregations are participating in the Oct. 19-20 HIAS National Refugee Shabbat. Havurah Shalom in Portland and Temple Beth Israel in Eugene both plan special Shabbat programs focused on the plight of refugees. HIAS, the global Jewish movement that protects refugees, is sponsoring the National Refugee Shabbat, a series of weekend-long events taking place…
Have you ever walked, run or petitioned for a good cause? This time, you’re in for a treat. The second annual Pamper for a Purpose lets you help Darfur and Congolese refugees by basking in the ultimate spa. Join hair stylists, hypnotists, massage therapists and more at Lake Oswego’s Millennium Park Plaza on July 1…
