vol. 85, no. 18 n f r i d ay , s e p t e m b e r 4 , 2 0 0 9 n 15 elul 5769 n jtnews.

net

JT
news
the voice of jewish washington
Leyna Krow
Jewish Federation president and CEO Richard Fruchter, second from right, and Federation Special Initiatives Fund Committee chair Jack Almo, right, present Jewish Family
Service board president Dianne Loeb and JFS executive director Ken Weinberg, left, with a check for the JFS Food Bank on Capitol Hill on Mon., Aug. 31. The money is part of
the Federation’s Challenging Times Economic Impact Grants, which were created to help local organizations cope with the recession. JFS is one of six Seattle-area agencies to
receive the grants, which total $65,000 in all.

Endowment to boost NCJW’s Shalom Bayit Push on Iran

Morris Malakoff
JTNews Correspondent
It takes fortitude and bravery for a woman to walk
away from a life of abuse. It’s a walk that means dealing
with deep issues of self-esteem, a failed relationship or a
loss of financial security.
It often also means leaving behind a lifetime of memo-
ries, familiar surroundings and friends and the material
goods that everyone needs to survive from day to day.
She may leave a comfortable home to escape a dan-
gerous home life. To get relief from emotional or physical
abuse may mean giving up a warm bed, a clean bath-
room, and a well-stocked kitchen for the back seat of her
car, a friend’s sofa bed or a women’s shelter.
When she comes out the other side, she may have
her children with her and her fragile self-esteem may
be rebuilding. She might even get transitional housing
and then an apartment of her own. But once she is there,
it may be nothing more than a roof over her head and a
place to hang her meager wardrobe or keep a few of the
kids’ toys. She likely landed on her feet without things
most of us take for granted — cooking and eating utensils,
chairs and a table, towels and a firm bed.
That is where Shalom Bayit: Furnishing Peaceful
Homes, a program of the Seattle Section of the National
Council of Jewish Women comes in.
The program, founded in 2000, works to solve that issue
by gathering new and gently used furniture and other
household items and distributing them to women in need.
This summer, that program received a huge boost
when Karyn F. King, a long-time supporter of Shalom
Bayit, donated $25,000 in seed money for an endowment
to take care of the underlying costs such as transporta-
tion and storage.
King freely admits that she comes from a home where
her father and brother were abusive. That has made her
quick to step up when Shalom Bayit needed something.
“I have limited disposable income, but I have always
put some aside for doing good,” she said.
But this gift has a special meaning to her.
“My father passed away last spring and the first dis-
tribution of his estate was made this summer,” she said.
“There is a nice symmetry to using that money to help
with a program that helps women in this situation.”
King says she left home when she was 18, back in the
mid-’60s. It was a different time.
“There was no ‘domestic violence,’ the cops didn’t
care,” she said. “Women had nowhere to go. Many really
were trapped.”
King’s gift is only a start. She is hopeful that others will
help build the endowment for one of the only “furniture
banks” in the country.
Wendy Thomas, president of NCJW’s Seattle section,
agrees.
“The endowment will be a great help,” she said. “But
there will still be a need for donations of both money and
furnishings,” she said.
Much of the cash goes to purchase items that are not
often suitable for secondhand use, such as mattresses,
bedding and kitchen items.
“We want these women to feel like they are getting a
fresh start, with a place and things they can take pride
in,” she said.
Women are referred to Shalom Bayit by agencies
throughout the region that assist women transitioning to
housing from domestic violence situations.
They then are taken to a warehouse and assisted with
getting the items they need.
“We charge donors a small fee to pick up items,”
Thomas said. “But everything for our clients is without
charge.”
More information about Shalom Bayit, and how to
donate is available at www.ncjwseattle.org or by calling
425-558-1894.
sanctions,
Mideast peace
talks expected
in September
Ron Kampeas
JTA World News Service
ANALYSIS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Timing, if not intent, inevi-
tably is weaving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
into the efforts to end Iran’s suspected nuclear weap-
ons program.
The major powers are meeting this week in Germany to
coordinate Iran policy ahead of the U.N. General Assem-
bly later this month. At the same time, Israeli officials are in
Washington planning a joint summit of the Israeli, Pales-
tinian and American leaders during the General Assembly.
President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Ben-
jamin Netanyahu have steadfastly denied linkage
between the two issues. Obama says he is determined to
contain Iran whether or not Israel plays ball on the Pal-
estinian issue, and Netanyahu insists he is doing all he
can to advance the peace process however Iran sanc-
tions play out.
Nonetheless, recent events have driven both processes
into a synchronicity, including meetings Netanyahu held
with European leaders last week that focused both on Iran
and international calls for a Jewish settlement freeze in
the West Bank.
When the International Atomic Energy Agency issued
an unusually blunt report on Aug. 28 saying that Iran
u Page 28A
inside

M.O.T.: Member of the Tribe 9A

A View from the U 10A
Fall Books 14A
Community Calendar 18A
National & International News 25A
www.jtnews.net
new at

The Shouk Classifieds 34A

Page 14A Section B

a j e w i s h t r a n s c r i p t p u b l i c a t i o n n $ 1 . 5 0
September 19 – OctOber 18, 2009

It’S tIme tO
bag Hunger In
Our cOmmunIty
FOOd FOr tHOugHt:
Our community-wide Food Drive is here. Help us help others. In these challenging times, the need
has surpassed all expectations. Last year alone, JFS distributed over 240,000 pounds (120 tons)
of food here at home.

a 40 tOn SHOrtFall:
Even though the response to last year’s community Food Drive was overwhelming, the annual
demand still exceeded donations by over 80,000 pounds — which JFS had to purchase
outright to make up the shortfall. If you believe the headlines, there is no end in sight.

cHew On tHIS:
The JFS Food Bank serves over 1,000 households month-in and month-out. This is an increase
of 40% compared to the number of local families the JFS Food Bank served just three years ago.

yOu’ll Feel better InSIde:

Starting on Rosh Hashanah, most major local FOOd drIVe
congregations will be collection sites for your tax- SHOppIng lISt
deductible donations of non-perishable food. Please h Canned Tuna
use our nutrition-friendly shopping list. Donate a lot, h Canned Pears or Peaches
donate a little — but please, donate something…food h Canned Tomato Products
doesn’t need to be kosher. h Canned Vegetables
cOme One, cOme all: h Canned Soups
The Food Drive Food Sort is Sunday, October 18th, h Peanut Butter (not in glass)
from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Acme Food Sales h Cooking Oil (plastic bottles)
Warehouse. This is an ideal opportunity to drop-off h Pasta & Rice
your organization’s delivery of collected food — h Soap & Toothpaste
and please, bring volunteers with you to unload the h Toiletries
donation. Advance registration is required. Contact h Laundry Detergent
Jane Deer-Hileman, Director of JFS Volunteer Services,
h Cleaning Supplies
at (206) 861-3155 or volunteer@jfsseattle.org.
h Grocery Store Gift Cards
h Reusable Grocery Bags

JEW-ISH .COM

For more information, please call (206) 461-3240 or visit www.jfsseattle.org

rabbi’s turn
The litmus test of belief
Reading between the lines of the High Holiday machzor can help build our relationships with God
Rabbi Rachel
Nussbaum
Kavana
Cooperative
Although the month of Elul is my busy
season as a rabbi, I really love this time
of year. For me, Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur are accompanied by meaning-
ful customs, beautiful melodies, and a
sense of new possibility. For a number
of my community members, though,
I know that the High Holidays pose a
real challenge and have the potential to
feel alienating. For many, the key chal-
lenge is that the observance of these holi-
days (more than many others) is focused
around prayer. Moreover, the High Hol-
iday liturgy is filled with images of God
that seem anthropomorphic and some-
times even conflict with the belief system
of contemporary Jews. This time of year, I
am often asked: Why should I say words
that I don’t believe to be true?
I think the problem is that many of us
learned to approach the liturgy far too
literally. Perhaps if we reframe how we
approach the liturgy, we can remove the
The JTNews is the Voice of Jewish
Washington. Our mission is to meet
the interests of our Jewish community
through fair and accurate coverage of local,
national and international news, opinion
and information. We seek to expose our
readers to diverse viewpoints and vibrant
debate on many fronts, including the news
and events in Israel. We strive to contribute to
the continued growth of our local Jewish
community as we carry out our mission.
2041 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121
phone 206-441-4553 fax 206-441-2736
E-mail: editor@jtnews.net
www.jtnews.net
JTNews (ISSN0021-678X) is published biweekly by
The Seattle Jewish Transcript, a nonprofit corporation
owned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle,
2041 3rd Ave., Seattle, WA 98121. Subscriptions are
$39.50 for one year, $57.50 for two years. Periodi-
cals postage paid at Seattle, WA. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to JTNews, 2041 Third Ave.,
Seattle, WA 98121.
Staff
Reach us directly at 206-441-4553 + ext.
Publisher *Karen Chachkes 267
Editor *Joel Magalnick 233
Assistant Editor Leyna Krow 240
Account Executive Lynn Feldhammer 264
Account Executive David Stahl 235
Account Executive Stacy Schill 292
Classifieds Manager Rebecca Minsky 238
Art Director Susan Beardsley 239
Accountant Louise Kornreich 234
Production Artist Elisa Haradon
Intern Malka Cramer
Board of Directors
Scott Michelson, Chair*; Jeffrey Berkman; Robin
Boehler; Don Edmond; Lisa Eggers; Nancy
Geiger; Cynthia Flash Hemphill*; Allen Israel*;
Stan Mark; Daniel Mayer; Cantor David Serkin-
Poole*; Sandy Sidell
Richard Fruchter, CEO and President,
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Ron Leibsohn, Federation Board Chair
*Member, JTNews Editorial Board
The opinions of our columnists and advertisers do
not necessarily reflect the views of JTNews.
We would love to hear from you! Our guide to writing a letter to the editor can be found on our Web site: www.jtnews.net/index.php?/static/item/611/
friday, september 4, 2009
stumbling block posed by this litmus test
of belief.
The words of the prayer Unetaneh Tokef
serve as a great case-in-point. This medi-
eval piyyut (liturgical poem) has come to
play an integral role in the Rosh Hashanah
Musaf service, and it contains some of the
most classic (and potentially alienating)
images of God. The prayer opens with the
image of each individual standing before
God in a courtroom, while God (the judge)
makes decisions about who will live and
who will die in the coming year. The God
portrayed here knows all and has the power
to “remember everything that has been for-
gotten” — much like Santa Claus in the
song, who “knows when you’ve been bad or
good, so be good for goodness sake.”
If taken literally, this image induces
in me a feeling of panic. Because we are
all human and therefore imperfect, no
one can be assured that the judge will
rule favorably. I can understand why — if
presented only with the false dichotomy
between reading this prayer literally or not
showing up — many Jews would prefer not
to engage with this liturgy at all.
If we can learn to read the liturgy less lit-
erally, though, then the words of the mach-
zor (the High Holiday prayerbook) become
poignant in a much more positive and
potentially transformative way. In order
to do this, however, we first have to accept
that the machzor presents not one image
of God, or of the relationship between God
and human beings, but rather a compos-
ite sketch, a collage of many images. These
images are far too diverse to be under-
stood literally. Instead, I believe, the mach-
zor invites us to temporarily inhabit each
metaphor, and to think about what truths
each image can teach us about God, our-
selves, and the world. In doing so, the lan-
guage of the liturgy provides us with a
The hitch
It isn’t easy to be a Jewish liberal these
days. You agree with all your non-Jew-
ish liberal friends on everything: Govern-
ment control of health care, turning the
world green, the mainstreaming of homo-
sexuality, silencing Rush Limbaugh and Bill
O’Reilly, banishing religion from the public
square, obliterating gender roles, and most
importantly eating only organic food.
But one pesky little issue separates
you from them and invites their scorn and
ostracism: Israel. They hate Israel. They
see Israel as the new South Africa, an
oppressive little island of Western greed
and exploitation in a vast peaceful sea of
Third World authenticity and virtue. To
liberals Israel is “an historical error” as
Bertrand Russell used to say. It deserves
no support.
But you cannot bring yourself to hate
Israel. For one thing, making negative com-
ments about Israel annoys your parents
who remember 1967 and 1973 and maybe
even 1948 when Israel’s life hung by a
thread. And thinking about Israel awakens
deep down in your soul a feeling of Jewish
pride. Plucky little Israel, surrounded on all
sides by rich, resourceful, implacable Arab
enemies 50 times her size, knowing noth-
ing but siege, terror, and war for 60 years,
but by some miracle still there, still stand-
ing, still existing as a Jewish state, still gath-
ering in all the Jews of the world who want
to come, still showing the world that mur-
dering another 6 million of us will not be as
easy as the first time.
future deadlines may be found online
n jtnews
roadmap for how we might engage in the
very human processes of self-reflection,
teshuva, and self-improvement.
Read in this way, Unetaneh Tokef ’s
fearful image of God as a judge takes on
a different valence. If we understand it
as a metaphor, we can ask what effect it
will have on us — emotionally, psycho-
logically, and behaviorally. If even the
angels are gripped with fear and trem-
bling on this day, as the text of the prayer
says, then it makes sense that we too are
supposed to experience a sense of fear or
awe on Rosh Hashanah. The courtroom
setting also emphasizes that we bear full
responsibility for all of our actions. Hope-
fully, this realization will motivate us to
scrutinize our deeds in a deeper way.
From there, Unetaneh Tokef quickly
moves on to a second image: That of God as
a shepherd. In contrast to the judge-defen-
dant relationship, the shepherd-flock met-
aphor is softer, as it implies a level of caring.
Whereas a good judge is supposed to be
impartial and detached, a shepherd has a
vested interest in ensuring the well-being
of his sheep. This shepherd, in particu-
lar, cares about each creature individu-
ally, “causing each one to pass beneath his
staff.” If we can inhabit this image fully, we
might feel cared for, protected and nur-
tured. It is human nature that when we
feel safe in this way, we can challenge our-
selves more deeply, and we therefore have
the power to change more profoundly.
Finally, the prayer ends with a set of
increasingly fleeting images. It says: “We
are fragile as pottery, so easily shattered,
like the grass that withers, like the flower
that fades, like the fleeting shadow, like the
vanishing cloud, like the wind that rushes
by, like the scattered dust, like the dream
that flies away.” As the text transitions
through all of these stages — from pottery
No, my liberal Jewish friend, you
cannot bring yourself to hate Israel. But
how do you get back in good standing
with your non-Jewish liberal comrades?
Have no fear, J Street is here. Yes, J Street
(“First Stop: Seattle,” Aug. 21), the new lib-
eral-oriented “pro-peace” Jewish lobbying
organization that will lobby the Ameri-
can government to stop supporting Israel
unless the Israeli government makes more
concessions to the Arabs and pursues
“peace” more aggressively. So there you
are. At the next meeting of your liberal
friends just show them your J Street mem-
bership card. You’ll be in like Flynn.
Jeffrey Weiser
Redmond
Being aware
In your article “First Stop: Seattle” (Aug.
21) you neglected to mention that Fed-
eral Election Commission filings show that
J Street has Muslims and Arabs as donors,
as well as people connected to Palestin-
ian and Iranian advocacy. Jeremy Ben Ami
admits that at least 3 percent of their money
comes from Muslims and Arabs. Now, it’s
very understandable why the Arabs donate
to J Street, but tell me why a “pro-Israel”
group would accept such money unless
they are not pro-Israel, which is what many
observers feel. People should be aware of
what they’re getting involved with if they
think joining J Street is joining a pro-Israel
or “pro-peace” organization.
Susan Benyowitz
Los Angeles, Calif.
page
viewpoints
3
to grass to shadow and ultimately to dream
— each step of the succession becomes less
concrete, and more ethereal and abstract.
Emotionally, this reinforces the idea
that we are all small and insignificant in
the greater scheme of things. Although it
wouldn’t be healthy to think this way all the
time, when coupled with the courtroom
image in which what we do matters deeply,
this last set of images provides a beauti-
ful counterpoint. The end of the prayer
gradually transitions us into being able to
contemplate the world without us in it; in
other words, it provides a gentle entry point
to one of the most difficult things we are
called upon to do during the High Holidays:
To confront the fact of our own mortality.
I believe the structure and diverse
images of the High Holiday liturgy were
crafted to challenge, support, and push
us, and ultimately to allow us to reorient
our lives in a transformative way in a short
period of time. The concrete images of the
machzor evoke such different emotional
responses in us, and in this way, experienc-
ing the liturgy leads us on a journey. For me,
the key question is not whether we “believe
in” the words we are saying (at least, not in
a literal sense). Instead, if we can learn to
read prayer in the language of metaphor
and poetry, we can open ourselves up to the
very human experiences of reflecting on
our lives, confronting our limitations, and
changing and growing each year.
With the time that remains in the
month of Elul, I wish all of us great suc-
cess in preparing ourselves for this emo-
tional journey.
Rachel Nussbaum is the rabbi of The
Kavana Cooperative (www.kavana.org).
She was recently awarded an AVI CHAI
Fellowship for her innovative approach to
building Jewish community.
Letters
Welcome everyone
I would like to remind Edith Isaacs Ervin
that the recent murders of gays in Tel Aviv
were tragic losses to our entire community
(letters, Aug. 21). That they were targeted
due to being gay should be shocking and
very concerning to every Jew, because it
demonstrates the rising level of violence in
present-day Israel and it illustrates the ter-
rible results of intolerance and ignorance.
I hope that Edith will educate herself about
homosexuality and understand that it is an
orientation and not a choice. I would hope
that she would be broad minded enough
to realize that there are many gay parents
who set as fine examples of loving par-
enting as any “straight” couple. I would
hope that it is our “broad goal” to wel-
come and fully include all Jews regardless
of color, nationality, religious affiliation,
gender, or sexual orientation. That would
be a more positive and practical way to
assure the growth and continuity of the
Jewish people.
Jack Fackerell
Redmond
Replacements and
responsibilities
All of the evidence that I know of
strongly supports the notion that sexual
orientation is not a choice, but inborn.
So, gays and lesbians who marry
would still be gay and lesbian, but simply
attempting to repress their true selves.
u Page 27A
a 4 jtnews
viewpoints
n friday, september 4, 2009

In favor of rational discussion

Cut the clamor for desperately needed health care reforms

Rachel Goldberg
JTA World News Service
WASHINGTON (JTA) — There’s a lot
of noise about health care — wildly false
claims, meetings being disrupted, shrill
voices shouting down legislators. Amid
the din, real ideas and concerns are get-
ting lost.
It’s easy and lazy to criticize some-
thing. What’s difficult and bold is to rec-
ognize that a critically important part of
our country’s infrastructure is severely
broken and come up with a plan to fix it.
The premise of many health reform
naysayers is that the system isn’t bad now,
but it will be if we “reform” it. The next
part of that theory is that what Canada
and England have creates problems that
do not exist in the health care utopia we
currently occupy. (Incidentally, none of
the congressional proposals would adopt
their systems.)
Even assuming the initial premise is
true — and it’s not unless you are wealthy
and lucky — we still know the next parts
are demonstrably untrue.
If we do nothing, employer-based cov-
erage will continue to erode, even as our
unstable job market means more people
are losing access to employer plans. And
when people lose or switch jobs, often
they are unable to acquire coverage in the
private market.
That can mean long periods with-
out coverage, or with costly catastrophic
coverage, and dangerous Catch-22 pro- of bankruptcy in the United States). that people can keep the coverage they
visions down the line: You can’t get cov- The numbers of people who don’t like and acquire coverage they can
erage if you didn’t have coverage in the visit doctors or fill prescriptions because afford. Realistic health care reform
past — that pesky pre-existing condition they are underinsured is rising. Mean- must address long-term services and
exclusion. while, t he t raveling clinics created be both politically feasible and finan-
Particularly offensive are attempts to serve disease-ravaged parts of the cially fair.
by opponents to convince older people developing world now also visit under- A reform plan should include provi-
that reform proposals would steal their served communities in poor and rural sions for the high costs of prescription
benefits or destroy Medicare. Many parts of the United States. People travel drugs and long-term care issues. Our
of the Medicare “cuts” are deliver y many miles and wait countless hours population is aging and the latter’s costs
system reforms that aging advocates for those services. have the potential to further erode our
have been urging. We actually could see In the face of this crisis, some have current system.
improvements to the chosen venom, dem- Americans, regardless of their opin-
Medicare program If we do nothing, employer-based agoguery and misin- ion or knowledge base, obviously are
if reform occurs — coverage will continue to erode, formation over real passionate about health care: Just watch
changes that won’t even as our unstable job market dialogue — jeopar- any town hall meeting with members of
happen otherwise. means more people are losing dizing t he chance Congress or listen to callers on talk radio.
Sen iors a re a n access to employer plans. And to make life better Health issues can serve as the great lev-
important constitu- when people lose or switch jobs, for millions. A better eler of our society. Everyone gets sick and
ency because they often they are unable to acquire health care system, needs medical attention. It’s time for a
k now t he i mpor- coverage in the private market. we should not forget, better system.
tance of health care would provide real There are real proposals on the table
and care about their children and grand- security for everyone — even those who that could expand coverage. Will every-
children. Using fear to turn them against like whatever arrangement they have one like every element of the propos-
reform is reprehensible. now. als? Of course not. But if we can quiet the
Also outrageous: Raising the specter As a human rights organizat ion, shouting and stay in touch with the real-
of Nazis to promote the absurdist scare B’nai B’rith is dedicated to health care ity that demands we do something, we
tactics about fictional death panels, too. for all. We have not yet endorsed any have an opportunity to work together to
The U.S. health care system is broken. piece of legislation — we see problems, reach an effective compromise.
In the richest nation in the world, about as well as real promise, in each of them. That compromise could improve, and
47 million Americans have no health Legislators are working hard to do more even save, millions of lives and deliver
insurance. Millions of Americans are than stake out ideological and political the human right of health security to a
underinsured, unable to afford co-pays territory. country in desperate need.
or prescriptions, or even are forced into At the most basic level, health care
bank ruptcy by uncovered expenses coverage needs to be comprehensive, Rachel Goldberg is the director of aging
(medical costs are the biggest single cause affordable and secure. It must ensure policy for B’nai B’rith International.

QFC Proudly Supports Seattle Children’s Hospital

By Kristin Maas, QFC Public Affairs Director

I am the mother of a 9-year old boy

and I am thankful that I have never needed
the services of Seattle Children’s Hospital.
However, I rest easier knowing if my son
should ever need it, there is a hospital right
here in Seattle that is dedicated entirely to
the care of children.
The history of this hospital is both
heartwarming and inspiring. It’s the story
of a Seattle woman named Anna Clise who
watched her six-year-old son, Willis, die of
inflammatory rheumatism.
Anna turned her grief into hope,
leading the effort to create a hospital
dedicated to the care of children, which
was founded in 1907. In 2001, Seattle Children’s provided
Today, Seattle Children’s is one of nearly $25 million in uncompensated care.
the nation’s leading pediatric hospitals, In 2008, that figure reached more than
combining unsurpassed medical skill, $86 million and projections show that $5, or $10 scan cards; dropping their coins
groundbreaking research, and profound uncompensated care may top more than in the coin boxes at the checkstands; or
human compassion in the effort to cure $100 million in 2009. designating their 3 cent bag reuse credit
and prevent childhood disease. So, what can you and I do to help this as a donation to Seattle Children’s. In
It’s a special place designed around, incredible organization in their mission to addition, QFC will make a donation of
and for, children and their families. They help children in need? During the month $10,000 to Seattle Children’s.
are committed to helping all children, of September, QFC will feature Seattle As a parent, you hope you will never
regardless of the family’s ability to pay. I Children’s as our checkstand charity of the need Seattle Children’s. But aren’t you glad
believe Anna Clise would be pleased with month. Customers can donate to Seattle they’re here, just in case?
her legacy. Children’s at any checkstand using the $1,

Kristin Maas is the Director of Public Affairs for QFC. She can be reached at kristin.maas@qfci.com or 425-990-6182.

Health care reform, yes. Big government, no.
Let the market decide how health care happens in this country
Larry Greenfield
JTA World News Service
LOS  ANGELES (JTA) — Government
insurance for health care — the public
option — is an inappropriate cure that the
American body politic is rejecting.
Canadians spend 10 percent of their
annual GDP on health care, while Amer-
icans spend 16 percent. However, Cana-
dians experience long waiting lists for
diagnosis and treatment, rationed care,
and limited access to doctors and new
medical devices.
You can get private medical care in
Canada — if you are a pet and your doctor is
a vet. Otherwise, tens of thousands of Cana-
dians flock to the United States each year
for private care to reduce pain or to save
their lives. Famously, Liberal MP Belinda
Stronach advocated for government health
care but then traveled to California herself
for private breast cancer surgery.
Even Canada’s top court struck down a
Quebec ban on private health care as vio-
lating a patient’s right to life, liberty and
security of person.
Nationalized health care systems
abroad depend upon cost and medical
effectiveness panels that frequently deny
drugs and surgeries to the elderly.
That is not the American way. Neither
is socialized medicine’s obvious disin-
centive to scientists and entrepreneurs to
research and develop innovative biolog-
ics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
Americans, by contrast, produce and con-
sume the best health care in the world and
export life-saving drugs across the planet.
A mer ic a n s a re over w hel m i ng l y
impressed with the high-quality health-
care testing, technology and treatment
they receive.
Note that there are 12 patients in
Europe for every nurse, compared to just
six in the United States.
Approximately 260 million Americans
have private health insurance. The 40
million people who do not include many
young and healthy who choose to become
insured when they grow older and build
families. It also includes 10-15 million
illegal immigrants, a number that would
rise with single-payer health care. It fur-
ther includes the successful who choose
not to purchase insurance and the poor
who choose not to enroll in already exist-
ing public plans.
There are actually only about 8 mil-
lion chronically ill patients who require
insurance and do not have it. We can and
should cover them with vouchers, tax
credits, and savings from the waste, fraud
and abuse in the system.
How to reduce costs for all Ameri-
cans?
How about medical liability reform,
to reduce defensive medicine (unneces-
sary, expensive tests) and defensive doc-
umentation (hours a day on paperwork)
and the $200+ billion a year in trial court
judgments? As they say, ask your doctor.
friday, september 4, 2009
Health insurance coverage for most
people can be for catastrophic, not com-
prehensive, care.
One size fits all is bad health care
policy.
Government mandates and rules pre-
vent interstate competition among the
1,300 private insurance companies, keep-
ing Americans from choosing good plans,
thereby driving down costs and increas-
ing health care accessibility, affordabil-
ity, portability and price transparency.
There are many sincere reforms (such
as allowing well-qualified nurse practi-
tioners to care for your cold at the local
store) to increase consumer choice and
health care supply, promote healthy
living and keep medical professionals
from leaving the field.
Big government is clearly not the
answer. The free market is already being
crowded out in the United States. Medi-
care, Medicaid and S-CHIP account for
47 percent of health care costs. But they
are going broke, as they cost billions more
per year than promised when these pro-
grams were created.
In 1965, Medicare began with predic-
tions that it would cost taxpayers $12 bil-
lion by 1990. The bill came in 10 times
higher. The nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office now predicts new, massive
expenditures as utilization rates would
soar under government health care. Mr.
Obama’s senior economic officials have
telegraphed the possibility of huge tax
n jtnews
viewpoints
a 5
increases to come. We hear the common
refrain: If you think health care is expen-
sive now, wait until it’s free.
A mer ica ns have become deeply
concerned about the rapidly growing
government role in our economy (nation-
alization of banks, insurance companies
and the auto industry), bizarre central-
ized economic planning schemes (direc-
tives not to hold government conferences
in the convention destinations of Orlando
or Las Vegas), and the Democratic Con-
gress’ record-setting deficit spending.
Poll numbers have shifted dramat-
ically against t he extremely liberal
president and Congress because their
fearmongering about a looming Depres-
sion produced rushed, unread and inef-
fective stimulus legislation.
The president again has overreached,
cynically trying hard to pass Obamac-
are prior to wide public discussion. In the
light of hot summer debate, even Obama
now reveals ambiguity as he touts Fed Ex
and UPS compared to the U.S. Post Office.
Exactly. The left’s repeated prescriptions
for bigger government are not what citi-
zens desire or deserve.
Larry Greenfield is an American Studies
fellow at the The Claremont Institute for
the Study of Statesmanship & Political
Philosophy. Statistics come from the
Pacific Research Institute, which opposes
universal health care and works to
advance “free-market policy solutions.”
a 6 jtnews
community news
n friday, september 4, 2009
New energy at Beth El
Tacoma congregation brings in new rabbi for cantorial and educational duties
Malkie Cramer
JTNews Intern
On August 17, Tacoma’s Temple Beth
El opened its doors to Rabbi Elizabeth
Wood as its new director of education and
cantorial soloist with an inauguration
that included her leading the congrega-
tion for Shabbat services.
“Her musical abilities are outstand-
ing and she has a passion for Jewish edu-
cation,” said Beth El’s senior rabbi, Bruce
Kadden.
Originally from West Lafayette, Ind.,
Rabbi Wood long knew she was destined
to become a spiritual leader. At the age of
15, on a confirmation trip to the college
where she would later be ordained, Wood
was drawn to the prospect of becoming a
rabbi, particularly by the rabbinical stu-
dents she met.
“They were fun, young, and inspired
people,” Rabbi Wood said, “They were
people who loved Judaism. It was inspir-
ing.”
Wood grew up in a strong Reform
home, celebrating all the major holidays
and keeping Shabbat. Both parents have
been very active in their Jewish com-
munity most of her life. Her mother first
served as president of their congregation
in Indiana 15 years ago and her father fol-
lowed — he is the synagogue’s current
president.
“My family really helped infuse my
Jewish identity,” Wood said.
Come Taste the Sweetness of Judaism
with our Temple Family
Tikkun Olam
Involvement
Justice
Equality
Community
Inclusive
Welcoming
Respectful
For information about Membership, High Holy Days,
Religious School and Lifelong Learning,
please call the Temple at 206-525-0915
TEMPLE BETH AM
2632 NE 80th Street, Seattle, WA
206-525-0915 • www.templebetham.org
The Reform Synagogue in Seattle’s Jewishly Happening North End
Rabbi Elizabeth Wood, who started in August at Temple Beth El in Tacoma.
In 2004, she obtained her Bache-
lor’s degree in Jewish studies and polit-
ical Science from Indiana University
in Bloomington and received the Indi-
ana University Piser Prize in Jewish
Studies for most outstanding graduat-
ing senior.
Wood was ordained in June at Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of Reli-
gion in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a rabbinic
student she served congregations in
Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan. She also
worked at the Union for Reform Judaism’s
Goldman Union Camp Institute in Zions-
Spiritually Engaging
Dynamic
Participatory
Vibrant
Learning
Torah
History
Culture
“Jewish music really transcends who
we are as a community.” Wood said. “It’s
sacred. It’s not only important to who we
are, and our heritage, but to our spiritual-
ity as well.”
Through the placement office of the
Central Conference of American Rabbis,
Wood came across Temple Beth El. The
synagogue, located in Tacoma, seemed to
be a place where she could exercise both
her musical background and her enthusi-
asm for education.
“Both the cantorial soloist aspect and
the educational aspect was very appeal-
ing to me. Coming out of rabbinical
school I really wanted the perfect fit and
Beth El was it.” she said.
Lisa Sobel, Temple Beth El’s president,
wrote in an e-mail that she was thrilled to
have Wood join the congregation.
“Rabbi Wood is a wonderful addition to
our congregation this year,” Sobel wrote.
“We have hired her as our religious [edu-
cation] director/cantorial soloist to bring
Peter Haley/The News Tribune a continuity between the two positions.
Her love of music and commitment to
Jewish education will definitely enhance
ville, Ind. where she was on staff for six our community as she integrates her ideas
years, first as a counselor for youth and with our congregational vision and goals.”
then later as unit head. Sobel added that Wood’s position as a
“I realized I could be who I was, be rabbi means she can take over any duties
fun and young, and still be a rabbi,” in Rabbi Kadden’s absence or be available
Wood said. “It was a combination of how for any other sort of rabbinical function.
I grew up and who I was exposed to. It As the religious education director at
was a calling.” Beth El, Wood is in charge of family educa-
One aspect of that calling is Wood’s tion, Sunday school, and Hebrew school. In
love of music. Her musical experience addition, as a soloist, Wood is in charge of
includes serving as a rabbinic intern for the music of the synagogue.
the URJ’s Mifgash Musicale Conference “I really liked that [Beth El] had a holis-
in Cincinnati and as vocalist for “Friday tic way of showing what a rabbi could be,”
Night Live” Shabbat services. Wood said.
‫בס’’ד‬
Dedication of our new Chabad House
Cordially invites you to attend the
Dedicated in loving memory of
Rabbi Gabi & Rivky Holzberg ‫הי’’ד‬
Shluchim of the Rebbe to Mumbai, India
Completion Ceremony of a new Torah Scroll
and the
Donated by Mr. Mendy & Chanie Fischer ‫שליט’’א‬
and family of Brooklyn, N.Y.
�
Sunday, September 13th beginning at 3:00pm
Writing of last letters in the Torah
Cocktails, Musical Presentation and Torah Completion Ceremony
at the Lakeside Montessori School in the Issaquah Highlands
2001 15th Ave. NE Issaquah, WA 98029
�
Parade with new Torah scroll down Black Nugget Road
towards the new Chabad House at 24121 SE Black Nugget Road
with live music and dancing
�
Followed by the Dedication of New Synagogue
Unveiling of the Tree of Life • Dedication of new Ark (Aron Kodesh)
Lighting of the “Ner Tamid” (Eternal Flame) and Preschool Dedication
�
RSVP 425-985-7639 or rabbi@chabadissaquah.com
Festive attire suggested

Learning incentive
Torah High offers high school credits for Jewish studies
Leyna Krow
Assistant Editor, JTNews
For Torah High dean Ari Hoffman,
the biggest challenge in providing after-
school Jewish educational opportuni-
ties for teens isn’t getting kids to show up.
It’s convincing them to keep showing up
week after week.
“Our biggest problem last year was
regular attendance,” he said. “There was
nothing keeping them.”
So for its second year, Torah High is
offering a new incentive for students —
actual high school credits.
Starting this fall, Torah High, a Jewish
studies program run by the National Con-
ference of Synagogue Youth and based at
the Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath and
Sephardic Bikur Holim synagogues in
Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood, will
allow students to take classes that will
count toward graduation from their reg-
ular high schools.
Torah High is accredited through the
Northwest Association of Accredited
Schools as a supplemental institution. So,
as Hoffman explained, any course com-
pleted through Torah High can earn stu-
dents credits at other schools, just as it
would if they were to take courses from a
local junior college or a foreign exchange
program.
The Torah High program in Seat-
tle is modeled after a similar program
in Canada that has proved successful
at attracting and retaining students in
several Canadian cities over the last
five years.
Rabbi Stephen Berger, director of edu-
cation for Torah High Vancouver, said
that between school, sports and other
extracurricular clubs and activities,
religious education for teens often gets
pushed to the side. Programs that offer
real academic incentives are a good way
to draw in kids who might not otherwise
be able to find the time.
“Kids are so over-programmed, you
have to have something special to offer to
get them to take a look at their heritage,”
he said. “This gives them a grade and one
less class they have to take in school.”
And it’s working. He noted that the
Torah High in Ottowa, where the pro-
gram first got started, reenrolled 500 stu-
dents last year.
Hoffman isn’t quite so ambitious as to
expect those kinds of numbers in Seattle,
however. Last year, 30 kids participated
in Torah High. Hoffman said he hopes
to see that number double now that stu-
dents can take Torah High classes for
credit.
“Honestly, I’d like to see as many
kids as possible sign up,” Hoffman said.
“If 1,000 enrolled tomorrow, I’d find a
way to accommodate them. We’re even
offering free transportation from other
neighborhoods, because Seward Park
isn’t the easiest place for everyone to
get to.”
friday, september 4, 2009
Courtesy Ari Hoffman
Instructor Larry Russak demonstrates
Commando Krav Maga techniques on
Torah High dean Ari Hoffman.
As an added bonus, any students who
enroll for the fall will be entered into a
raffle to win an iPod or a 42” HDTV. Kids
who convince their friends to sign up get
extra raffle tickets.
Of course, prizes and free rides mean
little if the classes themselves aren’t
engaging. Hoffman k nows t his and
worked to put together course offerings
on a variety of topics including “Jewish
Philosophy,” “Culinary Arts” and “Rock
Band Jew.0.” Last year, Hoffman said,
n jtnews
community news
a 7
Torah High’s most popular class (and
one that will be offered again this time
around) was a course on Krav Maga, the
style of martial arts used by the Israeli
army.
“So this isn’t just sitting in a classroom
hearing about Jewish history,” he said.
Hoffman has also made efforts to
enlist popular teachers in hopes of draw-
ing kids in with familiar names.
“I asked kids, ‘if you had your pick of
teachers, who would you want?’” he said.
“We’ve got people from SHA, TDHS, all
over. It’s like the cream of the crop from
the Jewish schools.”
Torah High is supported financially
by NCSY and the Jewish Student Union,
as well as a grant from the Samis Foun-
dation, which, according to grants direc-
tor Rob Toren, has been a longtime
supporter of NCSY programming in Seat-
tle. The cost to attend is $350 per student
per semester.
Students must be Jewish to partici-
pate in Torah High, but Hoffman stressed
that kids from all denominations are wel-
come and that there is no required level
of observance.
“Last year we had a good mix,” he said.
“We had kids who had been going to day
schools their whole lives, and some who
had never set foot inside a synagogue
before. So it really is for everyone.”
For more information, visit w w w.
torahhigh.org or contact Ari Hoffman at
206-295-5888. Classes begin Sept. 14.
CONNECTOR 2 0 3 1 T h i r d Av e n u e | S e a t t l e , WA | 9 8 1 2 1 - 2 4 1 2 | p : 2 0 6 4 4 3 - 5 4 0 0 | I n f o @ J e w i s h I n S e a t t l e . o r g | w w w. J e w i s h I n S e a t t l e . o r g

Coordinating Efforts Across the Community

Community-wide initiatives support nonprofits, fight poverty and connect people to the Jewish community.

Laugh Your Way to Giving: Drawing A Diverse Crowd

They just keep rolling in: Single seats, whole rows and pre-reception registrations. And Seattleites are
notorious for late RSVPs.

What makes Laugh Your Way to Giving on September 16 such a draw? Maybe we as Jews don’t laugh
together often enough. Maybe the affordable ticket price of $36 is a key feature. Maybe it is the promise of
seeing the full diversity of the Jewish community at the dessert schmooze-fest afterward. All three certainly
add up to the celebration we have in mind.

The broad participation adds up too. The community’s diverse needs are best met by participation in
the Community Campaign by the full breadth of people in our Jewish community. Helping Jewish
immigrants resettle in Israel can’t be done alone. Feeding the growing numbers at Jewish Family
Service’s food bank can’t be done alone. Making Jewish families new to Seattle feel welcome can’t be
done alone. Convincing elected officials to keep those in need at the forefront of their minds at budget

/ $36
/

cutting time can’t be done with a single voice.

TICKETS: $54
It is community that Laugh Your Way to Giving
Due to popular demand,
is all about. Feeling it. Being it. Helping it. tickets will remain at $36!

Bringing More Home for the (High) Holidays

For many Jews, the High Holidays of
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are like The Jewish Federation
Easter for Christians: the one time of year of Greater Seattle
people go to religious services. However, just Wishes You a Happy &
The economic recession is testing our community and families. Applications for dropping into the largest cathedral in town Healthy New Year
food stamps are on the rise, food bank lines are growing and unemployment is up. does not quite translate to Judaism.
www.HolidaysInSeattle.org
The need for our Jewish community to come together to address poverty in our com-
munity has never been greater. For the second year in a row, the Jewish Federation Our High Holidays Outreach Initiative – in
is spearheading “Focus and Fight: A Call to End Poverty.” During Sukkot, partnership with JTNews and Jew-ish.com news

October 2-9, the Jewish community will be working collectively to alleviate poverty – provides information, in the form of a
www.jtnews.net

jew-ish.com
through a series of focused events and activities. website and a newspaper guide, to people s e at t l e

who are looking for last-minute, low-cost or

In synagogues, rabbis will address the topic of poverty from family-friendly services in the greater Puget
the bimah. Speakers from “Real Change” homeless paper will Sound area.
be made available to share their own personal stories
with congregants. Get plugged By reaching out broadly
in to through advertisements in Looking for High Holiday services?
Explore the options at www.HolidaysInSeattle.org
Individuals can act too. Congregations and organizations are pairing local neighborhood news-
up with human service agencies – in a Mitzvah Match – to collect
ISRAEL papers and signage at
targeted goods and services the human service agency needs. UNPLUGGED bagel stores, bookstores and grocery stores, we hope to spread the
Everyone is invited to participate. Seattle’s community word about www.HolidaysInSeattle.org to reach people not yet
trip to Israel connected with the Jewish community.
As the Seattle Jewish community celebrates Sukkot – a holiday May 23-June 1
recalling our wandering in the desert – we are reminded that there 2010. Whether you’re unaffiliated with a synagogue or just looking to get a
are many people in our Seattle community who are homeless and sense of the breadth of options available, www.HolidaysInSeattle.org
hungry and lack other basic necessities of life. We hope you will Email: is the place to look.
join with the Jewish Federation and other Jewish organizations in AnnaF@
our community as we collectively focus on, and fight, poverty. Visit JewishInSeattle.org Have a sweet and healthy new year.
www.JewishInSeattle.org for more details.

Sponsors: Anti-Defamation League, Cardozo Society of Washington State, Caroline Kline

Galland Center, Congregation Beth Shalom, Evergreen Region BBYO, Herzl-Ner Tamid
Conservative Congregation, Hillel at the University of Washington, Jewish Family Service,
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, JTNews, Kadima, Kol HaNeshamah, Maimonides
Society, National Council of Jewish Women, Rodef Tzedek, Stroum Jewish Community
Center,Temple Beth Am, Temple B’nai Torah, Temple Beth Or, Temple De Hirsch Sinai,
Washington State Jewish Historical Society and Young Leadership (As of 8/21/09)

Who is your Jewish Community Hero? www.JewishCommunityHeroes.com/Seattle

What do the founder of an urban kibbutz, a one-woman show who helps Jews coming to Seattle for specialized medical treatment find housing, food and support,
and the man behind the Greater Seattle Jewish Business Network have in common? They are Seattle Jews who have been nominated by local community members to
become the Jewish Community Hero of the Year.

Join the Jewish Federation and United Jewish Communities for the inaugural Jewish Community Heroes campaign, celebrating the selflessness and courage of individuals who
are bettering their communities through service and outreach. Somewhat like American Idol, the top vote-getters will be honored as Jewish Community Heroes with one receiving
$25,000 to put toward his or her work.

Let’s get behind our Seattle Jewish community heroes. Vote online for your favorite(s) as many times as you like through October 8. Don’t see your hero yet? Nominate them!
Don’t miss the opportunity to recognize our local heroes on a national stage!
 friday, september 4, 2009 n jtnews
m.o.t.: member of the tribe
a 9

Eternal light shines bright in Africa

Also: Running for life
Diana
Brement
JTNews
Columnist
Sculptor and glass artist Gabriel Bass,
a Mercer Island native now living in Jeru-
salem, recently completed and installed
a ner tamid (eternal light) and menorah
commission for the Abayudaya Jewish
community in Uganda.
The commission came from a Califor-
nia couple who are deeply involved with
the Abayudaya. They “felt the synagogue
needed an eternal light and turned to me
for that,” Gabe says. (The menorah was
added later.)
Gabe admits he’d never heard of the
African Jews, but as soon as he started
talking about the project, all sorts of con-
nections revealed themselves.
“Doors just started opening left and
right,” he says. Friends, neighbors, even
clients had heard of, donated to, visited,
and even worked with the Abayudaya.
“Support just started coming in,” and
it didn’t take long for him to decide to per-
form the installation himself.
It was a long but uneventful 24-hour
journey from Jerusalem to Kampala,
with two layovers and a four-hour drive
from the airport to the village. Gabe car-
ried the works, “just to make sure” they
arrived safely.
He stayed two weeks, visiting most of
the local Jewish communities.
“They say there’s eight,” Gabe says, “but
there’s different things happening, dif-
ferent communities cropping up, [other]
people that are becoming Jewish.”
Both pieces are made of glass and
wood from a single Israeli cypress tree.
The ner tamid is red, black and yellow, the
colors of the Ugandan flag. It runs on a
battery attached to a solar collector, keep-
ing it lit during the many blackouts and
power shortages. “The synagogue is the
only building with electricity,” in the vil-
lages, says Gabe. The menorah has glass
fittings and oil lamps on tops.
Courtesy Gabriel Bass
Gabriel Bass works with members of the
Ugandan Abuyudaya synagogue in
finishing the menorah he designed for
the congregation.
Many villagers came to help install the
project. The community has established a
religious school, and “a lot of the yeshiva
kids helped me,” Gabe says. “Everyone
wanted to give a hand.” Then, that Shab-
bat “we had a really nice festive meal.”
Gabriel grew up on Mercer Island and
his family attended Herzl-Ner Tamid
Conservative Congregation (appropri-
ately), although they moved away while
he was in high school. He and his wife,
Gabriela (Hammer), who also grew up at
Herzl, re-met and married after college.
They now live in Jerusalem with their
two children. Gabe, who did some of his
training with the Musqueam tribe of Brit-
ish Columbia, creates a lot of synagogue
furniture and Judaica.
“About half my work is shipped back to
the United States,” he says. Chabad of the
Central Cascades recently purchased an
aron kodesh (ark) from him.
See more of Gabe’s work at his Web
site, www.customcarving.org, where you
can learn how to visit his studio when
you’re in Jerusalem. He’ll be in North
America in November, speaking at the
URJ biennial in Toronto, making other
presentations and visiting clients in the
Northeast.
•••
Last summer we received an e-mail
from Esther Lott reporting that she and
some of her family had run in the Swed-
ish SummeRun 5K race, and that she had
done quite well.
I was a little slow on the uptake, so by
the time I called, Esther and her husband,
Al, were away for the winter and we didn’t
connect. This year I called early in the
summer to see if she was running again.
Indeed she was, and did on July 26.
“It was great,” she says, “I got first
place in my category.”
However, at age 77, “I was the only one
running!”
Bob Solomon
Three generations of runners in this year’s
Swedish SummeRun: Celina Solomon, left,
who took second place in her division,
her mother Susan Solomon, center, and
Susan’s mother Esther Lott, who took first
place in the 60-and-over division.
It’s not much to beat yourself, but
Esther was gratified to learn that she had
also bettered runners in the 60-and-up
category with her time of 31 minutes.
“I got my gold medal in the mail,” she
says. “That made me feel good.”
Esther ran with her daughter, Susan
Solomon, and her granddaughter, Celina.
u Page 35A

Wishing You a Happy

and Healthy New Year.

Looking to connect
for the High Holidays?
Find ticket information at
www.HolidaysInSeattle.org
 The Jerusalem Post
a 10 jtnews
a view from the u
n friday, september 4, 2009

Crossword Puzzle “For the sin we have committed

through mis-spelling”
Actresses of Note How an academic lifer manages the dual New Year
By Matt Gaffney Stranger still is the odd way the emo-
tional world of the Season of Atonement
colors as well my approach to the new
students I first meet in my classes in the
fall. I view each of them as the embodi-
ment of those whom the Talmud calls
Martin Jaffee “all the world-dwellers who pass in judg-
JTNews ment before You like wayward flocks.”
Columnist Like the Master of the World, I review
my “f lock’s” sins, committed in the
Sometimes I can’t believe that I’ve course of their written work, and pass
been “in college” (with a year or two off compassionate judgment upon appropri-
here and there) for over 40 years — to be ate evidence of atonement.
precise, since autumn 1966, when I first Among the relatively minor academic
set foot on the campus of Syracuse Uni- sins, soon to pass from the scene in this
versity. era of spell check, are the howlers of mis-
I’ll never forget the crisp late-Septem- spelling that keep me awake as I ponder
ber air of upstate New York during Orien- the fate of student work. Here I’ll report
tation Week; the excitement of live “soul on one of my favorites.
music” (Sam & Dave, the Four Tops, and Would you believe that, in any given
the local favorite, Otis and the All-Night year, perhaps a dozen students, while
Workers, among others) blaring from the writing about Jewish history in ancient
front porches of the stately Greek-letter times, will inform me of the “ancient
mansions on Crouse Avenue’s fraternity Jewish homeland of Palestein?”
row; the delight at discovering that my For years I’d scribble in the margin of
dormitory roommate, one Pete Zucker, such papers sardonic notes like: “As in
could hold a lit Kent in the corner of his Rubenstein, Goldstein, and Bernstein?”
mouth while playing Frisbee with one But then it dawned on me that this sort
eye closed against the smoke; the thrill of common mistake is in fact a cultural
of sauntering into the local campus bar, phenomenon that carries with it its own
Across Down “The Orange,” and ordering up my first “teachable moment” (thank you, Prof.
1 Jazzman Getz 1 Rosebud, for instance legal “7 & 7”! Gates, for restoring this conceit of ’60s
5 House, to Sephardim 2 I.L. Peretz work, often And so on. activism to our working vocabulary!).
9 Manischewitz product 3 Israeli rocker Geffen There was, of course, a Hillel House So, I began, at the first opportunity,
14 Volcano outpouring 4 “Soup ___” (“Seinfeld” character) at Syracuse that, as the advertisement to turn the topic of “Palestein” into a
went, “served the needs of Jewish stu- 20-minute rehearsal of the various names
15 Is in the red 5 Corn place
dents” by offering High Holiday ser- by which successive conquistadors
16 Dan, for one 6 “Anchors ___”
vices. Maybe it did, but my “needs” (as (pagan, Christian, Muslim, and Impe-
17 Best Actress of 1960 & 1966 7 Adam’s third
I imperfectly grasped them in those rial) have identified what Jews call “the
20 “The Advocate’s ___”(Dershowitz 8 Wimbledon winner of 1975 days) didn’t propel me through the Land of Israel.”
novel) 9 Jewish ones have six points Hillel House door even once during the In order to vary the shtick, I have in
21 Yente’s opening 10 Bawl entire seven years it took me to get my recent years tended to take a more aggres-
22 Easy tennis play 11 Countryside feature degree (this was, after all, the late ’60s, sive route to correction. Abandoning my
23 ___ Bundy (Katie Sagal role) 12 “Peek-___!” and much needed doing). ponderous, rigorously technical disqui-
25 Ending for Freudian 13 “Kvetch” or “schmooze” Like so many Jews of my grand- sition on the aliases of biblical Canaan, I
27 Best Supporting Actress of 1969 18 Swiss parents’ generation who f led Euro- now make my point with music.
33 Saudi name part akin to Jewish 19 Mar pean persecutions for the freedom of Fighting force with farce, and exploit-
“ben-” 24 Wide shoe size di goldene medina, and like virtually ing my painlessly acquired native-com-
all of their grandchildren who were my petence in American-Jewish pop culture,
36 Comic Boosler 26 “The ___ Has Two Faces”
peers at Syracuse, the last thing that I bring to class a laptop and a couple of
37 “It’s ___ what you think!” 27 Winger’s “An Officer and a
entered my mind upon tasting the free- CDs and call out, “Party Time!”
38 Cheer Gentleman” co-star
dom of college was confining myself Believe me, no student who beholds
40 Between lather and repeat 28 Middle Eastern staple in a dark Jewish suit to klop Al Khet on Prof. Jaffee expounding Eddie Cantor’s
41 Freud’s “self” 29 Bowling places Yom Kippur or even take advantage of a 1930s recording of “Leena, the Queen
42 Righteous indignation 30 “High School Musical” channel “delicious Rosh Hashanah meal with a of Palesteena” will ever again spell the
43 Like 1492 31 Woody Allen quality local family.” Roman name for the Jewish homeland is
44 ___ in “apple” 32 Court Besides, as a budding fan of the Moth- if it were a Rheinland dukedom!
45 “___ With No Name” 34 Room’s go-with ers of Invention, I was not going to place Similar instruction benefits anyone
46 Ending for Japan 35 “That’s false!” myself willingly within speaking range who contemplates Alan Sherman’s terrific
47 Best Supporting Actress of 1968 39 Stoyteller’s segue of anyone who, like the figure presiding riff on Ashkenazic names, “Shake Hands
49 “___ said it!” 41 Seine contents over the Syracuse Hillel, was known to the With Your Uncle Max, My Boy.” As My Son
faithful as “the beloved Rabbi Elefant!” the Folksinger says: “Here’s Brumberger,
51 Rare tic-tac-toe victory 42 Goldberg who won an Oscar in
Well, obviously, I eventually outgrew Shumberger, Minkes and Pincus, Stein
52 “Caught you!” 1990
my antipathy to Judaism, but I won’t shlep with an e-i and Styne with a y!”
55 “Fuzzy wuzzy was ___...” 44 Caribbean resort
you through the tale. Suffice it to say that So far, this approach has worked well.
58 Salk conquered it 45 In time past one thing I learned from my “college By the end of autumn quarter, I have
63 Best Actress of 1968 48 King genre experience” is that you simply can’t pre- extended kapparah to virtually all sin-
66 Funnyman Kovacs 50 Powered one’s rowboat dict how a Jew will rediscover the flame ners — except for the inevitable essayist
67 Give a nudge 52 Fortas and Lincoln of the pintele yid that somehow burns on “the Jewish dietary laws” whose stud-
68 Dieter’s word 53 TV personality Kitty Carlisle ___ despite years of oxygen deprivation. ies unearth the news that “the Bible pro-
69 Lost a lap? 54 Florence’s river Maybe because I’ve been “in college” hibits Jews from boiling children in their
70 No 56 Jason and Randy Sklar network virtually every autumn since 1966, the mothers’ milk.” For such a one I reserve a
71 Nose stimulus 57 Razor name beginnings of this dual New Year — the special seat next to Amalek in the boiling
59 Where Wiesel picked up his academic year and the Jewish season wastes of the back row of Gehinom Hall.
of spiritual renewal — always coin- But that’s a story for another occasion
Nobel
cide in my mind. The excitement of one — maybe Purim!
60 Put (down)
feeds the other. Somehow the thrill of
61 Having as a hobby
an early autumn “Battle of the Bands” Martin S. Jaffee currently holds the
62 German-Polish river on that long-ago and far-away Syra- Samuel & Althea Stroum Chair in Jewish
64 Celebrity story cuse campus shapes my anticipation Studies at the University of Washington.
65 Breyer rival of the first notes of the hazzan’s High His award-winning columns for JTNews
Holiday ma’ariv nusach on erev Rosh have recently been published in book
Hashanah. form as The End of Jewish Radar:
Answers on page 27 Sounds preposterous, I know — but Snapshots of a Post-Ethnic American
there you have it. A fact! Judaism by iUniverse press.
 &2%%
()'((/,)$!93%26)#%3!.$#,!33%3
#/.3%26!4)6%
/24(/$/8
2%&/2-
,!"%,3!2%&/2#,/4(%3./4&/2*%73

% SPECIALLYNOWWITHOURHEARTSHEAVYOVER)SRAELARENTYOU

TIREDOFBEINGLABELED!REALLTHEDISAGREEMENTSAMONGTHE
MOVEMENTSIN*UDAISMRELEVANTTOTHEISSUESTHATIMPACTYOU
*OINTHE&LAME!LTERNATIVE3ERVICE7EARESTRONGLY*EWISHAND
WESTRONGLYBELIEVEINFOCUSINGONWHATBRINGS*EWSTOGETHEROUR
LIVESOURFAMILIESOURTRADITIONAND)SRAEL NOTINIDEOLOGYTHAT
SEPARATESUS/UR&2%%()'((/,)$!93%26)#%3ATTHE9OUNG
)SRAELOF.EW2OCHELLEIN1UEENSANDIN3EATTLE7ASHINGTON
ANDOURFREECLASSESNATIONWIDEWHICHENCOURAGEQUESTIONSAND
DISCUSSIONHAVEBEENFEATUREDON#"3 46THE.EW9ORK4IMES
'ANNETT4HE*EWISH0RESSAND4HE*EWISH7EEK7EOFFERTHE
BESTOFTRADITIONWITHSOMEDASHESOFMODERNITY0ROGRAMSFOR
CHILDRENANDBABYSITTINGDURINGSERVICES

&ORRESERVATIONSCALL
2ABBI-(OFFMANAT 

"OB 

!RI 

3EATSARELIMITED
7EALSOOFFERLIVEINTERNETCLASSESFREEINDIVIDUALPHONEAND
"AR"AT-ITZVAHLESSONSANDCEREMONIESFOR#HILDRENAND!DULTS
4HE&LAMEAT9).2AND.ATIONWIDE3ERVICESWITH3MILES
WWWJEWISHFLAMEORG
 a 12 jtnews
community news
n friday, september 4, 2009
Join us in welcoming the New Year Who’s discriminating
with High Holy Day Services against whom?
Israelis speak about race and racism in their country
Led by our inspirational clergy team
Photograph by Gail Frank
AssociateȱRabbiȱYohannaȱKinberg,ȱSeniorȱRabbiȱJamesȱMirel,ȱȱ
CantorȱDavidȱSerkinȬPooleȱ
Selichot - Saturday, September 12
JointlyȱConductedȱatȱTempleȱDeȱHirschȱSinai,ȱBellevueȱȱ
8:00ȱpmȱ Serviceȱ
This 1939 informational brochure from the now-defunct Palestine Cigarette Company
Erev Rosh Hashana - Friday, September 18 attempts to describe the different types of ethnic groups in what is now the state of Israel.
5:00ȱpmȱȱ ContemporaryȱServiceȱȱ
8:00ȱpmȱȱ TraditionalȱServiceȱȱ Erez Ben-Ari
JTNews Correspondent
Rosh Hashana - Saturday, September 19
There’s no denying the Jewish people
9:00ȱamȱȱ TraditionalȱServiceȱȱ have been victimized by racism more
9:00ȱamȱȱ TeenȱServiceȱȱ than most any other minority group
12:30ȱpmȱȱ ContemporaryȱServiceȱȱ throughout history. Every boy and girl
3:00ȱpmȱȱ Children’sȱ&ȱFamilyȱServiceȱȱ in Israel studies the history of anti-Sem-
itism and the Holocaust from an early
4:00ȱpmȱ TashlichȱatȱPhantomȱLakeȱȱ
age, and the topic is discussed nation-
Kol Nidre - Sunday, September 27 wide on the annual Holocaust Remem-
brance Day. This being such a major part
5:00ȱpmȱȱ ContemporaryȱServiceȱȱ of Israeli or Jewish culture, one would
8:00ȱpmȱ TraditionalȱServiceȱȱ expect the modern Jew to be as open-
minded and opposed to racism as possi-
Yom Kippur - Monday, September 28 ble. Yet this, according to some, is not the
case. Have we learned something from
9:00ȱamȱ TraditionalȱServiceȱȱ our enemies?
9:00ȱamȱ TeenȱServiceȱȱ Racism is defined as a belief that
12:30ȱpmȱȱ ContemporaryȱServiceȱȱ inherent differences among various
human races determine cultural or indi-
12:30ȱpmȱȱ SocialȱActionȱWorkshopsȱȱ
vidual achievement, usually involving
3:00ȱpmȱȱ Children’sȱ&ȱFamilyȱServiceȱȱ the idea that one’s own race is superior
4:00ȱpmȱȱ MinchaȱServiceȱȱ and has the right to rule others. Racism
5:00ȱpmȱȱ Yizkorȱȱ often manifests itself as hatred, intoler-
6:00ȱpmȱȱ Ni’ilahȱConcludingȱServiceȱȱ ance or discrimination against another
group of people.
7:00ȱpmȱȱ CongregationalȱBreakȬtheȬfastȱ In reality, things are more compli-
cated. Is an Israeli that crosses the street
when he sees a group of Arab-looking
young adults doing so out of racism, or is
it just common sense, given the history
of violence that afflicts Israel? Yossi Gur-
vitz, a journalist from Petach Tikva, feels
that despite having been persecuted,
the Jewish people are still plagued with
racism.
“The law in the state of Israel is not
racist, but you will frequently find legis-
lation that is,” he says. “For example, the
Jewish National Fund holds a significant
part of the land in Israel and by defini-
tion does not sell it to non-Jews. Another
example is the fact that marriage in Israel
can happen only between two Jews,
and that forces many to travel abroad to
marry, because they are not, or because
their religion is called into question,”
WeȱwelcomeȱyouȱtoȱjoinȱusȱforȱHighȱHolyȱDaysȱWorship.ȱ Gurvitz says.
Shmulik Brantz, of Jerusalem, feels
CallȱtheȱTempleȱofficeȱforȱticketȱinformation.ȱ quite the opposite.
425.603.9677ȱ “This is a complicated topic, because
there are so many groups in this coun-
www.templebnaitorah.orgȱ try, and each has its own interests,” he
15727ȱNEȱ4thȱStreet,ȱBellevue,ȱWAȱ98008ȱ says. “It’s not easy to draw the line where
things are truly racial, or just action that
has no significance to that end.”
Erez Ben Ari
Brantz admits to having heard of cases
where a certain individual has been
badly treated, but feels it is rare and on a
personal level.
“A government official would never
mistreat a citizen on a racial basis,” he
reiterates.
Gil Halamish, a resident of Modi’in,
concurs that the government is not racist,
but, rather, mistreats everyone equally.
“It’s easy to look at the government,
because it has a high profile,” he says,
“but you can find racism lurking away in
private organizations.”
For example, Halamish has seen
high-tech companies that will hire only
Russian-born Jews, and quite a few
employers won’t hire religious women,
he says.
“They don’t think of themselves as
racist, but rather excuse their behav-
ior as pragmatic, claiming that a reli-
gious woman would be away for several
weeks every year with childbirth leave
and that’s a problem for the business,”
he says.
Boaz Bismut, a journalist from Tel
Aviv, believes racism issues go back a long
way — to Israel’s origins as a country of
immigrants.
“There’s a process of sorts, where
there’s a new immigration every genera-
tion, and the latest wave always takes the
worst beating,” says Bismut, who wrote
about the latest two immigration waves.
“The state of Israel has invested so
much in bringing the Ethiopian Jewish
community here,” he says, “but now we
hear stories about horrifying discrimi-
nation and racial cruelty popping up. At
least we can see the enormous response
by the local press, and that reflects our
desire to eject this sort of thing from our
midst.”
In the past 20 years, Israel has absorbed
a huge number of immigrants. The early
’90s saw a huge Russian migration, and
shortly after, a considerable influx of
Ethiopians. Has there been any change
in the way the local population sees these
newcomers? This is an interesting ques-
tion, especially considering that many of
the current population were themselves
new immigrants just a handful of years
before that.
u Page 35A

Family food festivals
An electronic welcome to the New Year
Masada Siegel and
Stefanie Zweig
JTNews Columnists
Generations is an across-the-world e-mail
conversation between 30-something
writer Masada Siegel and 70-something
author Stefanie Zweig.
From: Masada Siegel
Wed., Sept. 24, 2008 at 11:22 a.m.
To: Stefanie Zweig
Subject: Partying too much?
Hi Stefanie!
Have you been having too much fun
celebrating your birthday?
Have you been really annoyed with
the construction workers?
Have you run off and joined the
circus?
Have you been swamped with too
much work?
Just wanted to check in…
Big Hugs!
Masada
Stefanie Zweig
Wed, Sept. 24, 2008 at 11:37 p.m.
To: Masada Siegel
Subject: No party
Dear Masada,
Thank you for being worried about me.
No, I was not partying — we had a quiet
dinner on my birthday, all five of us — the
fifth having never been to a restaurant in
his 13-month life. He was very good and
was stuffed by his mother with biscuits. I
am a gladly seen person in that restaurant
(Vietnamese) because I wrote an article
about them in a paper that recommends
eating places. And my article is in every
menu. The construction workers are
wearing me out. I haven’t had a shower for
weeks. No, I have not run off to the circus.
I don’t like circuses and I loathe lions
jumping through hoops and people flying
through the air. I have very much work,
but not so much as to not wish you and
8F
XBOUFE
UP
SVO
B
MBSHFS


BE
XJTIJOH
ZPV
B
NPTU

IBQQZ

IFBMUIZ
/FX
:FBS
:FU

XJUI
VODFSUBJOUZ
BMM


BSPVOE
VT

PVS
SFTPVSDFT

CPUI


IVNBO

àOBODJBM

BSF
GPDVTFE


PO
NFFUJOH
UIF
VOQSFDFEFOUFE


OFFET
PG
PVS
DPNNVOJUZ
*UT
CFFO
UIBU
XBZ
TJODF




BOE
XF
EPOU
QMBO
PO
DIBOHJOH
OPX
14
8F
EP
XJTI
ZPV
B
IBQQZ

IFBMUIZ
/FX
:FBS
your parents a good year with health and
sweet thoughts, and you a partner suiting
your happy nature. And don’t forget: You
are too old to only play, too young to have
no wishes… It is my life motto, originally
by Goethe. A special Rosh Hashanah hug
from Stefanie.
P.S. I keep on forgetting to tell you
that we pinned your lovely postcard to
our board in the corridor and delight in
it every day.
From: Masada Siegel
Date: Oct. 1, 2008 at 8:56 a.m.
To: Stefanie Zweig
Subject: Rosh Hashanah Family &
Food Festival
Hi Stefanie,
Hope your Rosh Hashanah has been
wonderful. Mine has been delightful.
My mom is giving me cooking lessons
— she’s amazing and I need practice! I
learned the art of making a turkey the
other day, and just helped set the table,
cut flowers from the garden.... What is
interesting is that when my grandparents
moved from Germany to Africa, they took
their Rosenthal dishes with them, and we
use the same beautiful plates. It’s special
to use the same plates, and celebrate the
holidays with them; it’s just a connection,
ever slight, but a nice one.
Yesterday at lunch, we went to the
Menashes, as we have done ever since I
can remember. When we first moved to
Arizona, my Dad met them — they are
from Rhodesia and we have become great
family friends. One day, my dad and Sol
were looking at Sol’s photo album and
they found photos of my dad! Can you
imagine, they traveled in the same circles
as kids back in Africa and re-met up years
later in Arizona?
They are marvelous cooks! The menu
was salmon, leek patties, crêpes with
mushrooms and asparagus, coucous
salad, potato and tiny spinach bourekas.
I took photos. How silly am I?
www.jfsseattle.org
(206) 461-3240
friday, september 4, 2009
Homemade delicacies from Masada’s family Rosh Hashanah meal.
Dessert was wonderful and now I am
heading to the pool, hoping to work off
the napoleon, chocolate ice cream, mar-
zipan, chocolate, apple cake and count-
less cookies I ate! Truly a wonderful
way to start a New Year with my family,
friends and amazing food!
Hoping yours was sweet, too.
Masada
From: Stefanie Zweig
Wed., Oct 1, 2008 at 11:44 a.m.
To: Masada Siegel
Subject: Rosh Hashanah Family No
Food Festival
Dear Masada,
Delighted that yours was the first
letter in 5769… We had our small family
together, and the little 13-month-old
Mam (my great nephew) sat at the table
with us and enjoyed his willing audience
who clapped every time he clapped. I did
not cook, but bought the cold fish delica-
cies, which we all (accept sausage-eating
Wolfgang) like. I am not good at cooking
and going to the synagogue at the same
EVERGREEN SPEECH & HEARING CLINIC, INC.
Managing your hearing, speech, and balance needs since 1979
Come out of your
shell and leave the
isolation of hearing
loss behind you...
Better Hearing...Better Life!
Call for a hearing
consultation with one of our
Doctors of Audiology today!
Visit us online at www.everhear.com
Photos courtesy of Oticon.
n jtnews 13
Generations
a
Masada Siegel
time. My nephew goes by himself, and on
the other days we all go and have lunch
somewhere in town.
On the second day we do Tashlich and
throw our sins (bread) into the Main river
(Main is the name of the river). It is sup-
posed to be done on the first day, but my
father always did it on the second, and we
are not going to change traditions. I have
sat on my seat in synagogue for 60 years.
You would, I suppose, be very surprised if
you attended the services, everybody talk-
ing and the children making a hell of a
noise. But what most people don’t know:
Synagogue does not mean a place of wor-
ship. The word is of Greek origin and means
a place to assemble and meet your friends.
I was delighted with your beautiful
postcard and I was a slight bit proud of the
thought that a book club is going to read
my book. Now it is back to work today.
It’s pouring outside, and I have promised
myself a visit at the market after doing my
work, but I don’t know if that is possible.
Lots of hugs,
Stefanie
Three convenient
Eastside locations
Bellevue
425.454.1883
Kirkland
425.899.5050
Redmond
425.882.4347
a14 jtnews
fall books
n friday, september 4, 2009

The women speak

New fiction and memoir by female authors

Diana Brement Scientists study resilience, trying to

JTNews Columnist
We are lucky to live in a time and in
a society that expects each of us to fill at
least some of the limitless promise with
which we are born, whether we are male or
female. We also know that many people fail
to fulfill this promise. How do we fall from
grace? How do we derail from this train
of promise? Here are four stories, told by
women, about women, that examine what
we do with the lives we are given and the
role environment plays in the outcome.
In Irina Reyn’s debut novel, the well-
written What Happened to Anna K.
(Simon and Schuster, paper, $14), a famil-
iar young Russian literary character is
recast as a modern-day New Yorker. (Pub-
lished last year in hard cover.)
Here, Anna K. is a Jewish émigré from
the Soviet Union, brought to New York —
Rego Park, Queens, specifically — by her
parents as a teen. Out of place in Russia as a
Jew, out of place in the U.S. as a Russian, she
is smart, gorgeous and moody, and, even as
a grown woman, never quite at ease.
While her main character becomes
more and more out of control, Reyn fills
her fascinating book with rich and deli-
cious (there is a lot of food in this book!)
details about Russian Jewish immigrant
life in New York’s outer boroughs, with
its pressures to conform and its old-Euro-
pean social order.
Dahlia Finger, the protagonist of The
Book of Dahlia by Elisa Albert (Simon
and Schuster, paper, $14), doesn’t fall
from grace because she never had much
to begin with. (Also published last year in
hard cover.)
Dahlia comes from a home that is not
just broken, but shattered — shattered
when her mother returns permanently
and inexplicably to her native Israel,
when her once-beloved brother turns on
her and her father removes himself emo-
tionally from the family.
determine if it is an inborn or learned
trait. In Dahlia’s case, it doesn’t really
matter, because she has none. Her life is
a mess and she doesn’t care, that is, until
she is diagnosed with a brain tumor.
While suffering through the horrors
of treatment and the knowledge that
this thing is growing in her head, Dahlia
begins to examine a life she has, until
now, left unexamined. She pulls vivid
pieces out of her memory with painful
honesty that is funny, dreadful and poi-
gnant. As the reader sticks with her —
and you should, just as you would stick
with a crabby friend who had cancer
— the reader will be forced to ask and
answer questions about how we judge a
“good” or “bad” life. (Please don’t read the
reading group guide and author “Q & A”
until you’ve finished the book!)
A voice from long ago comes to us in
The Dance of the Demons by Esther Singer
Kreitman (Feminist Press, paper, $15.95).
There are two stories here, the novel
itself and the life of the author. Kreitman
was the sister of the much more famous
Yiddish language writers, I.B. and I.S.
Singer, in whose shadows she grew. That
her brothers achieved such fame, praise
and encouragement was a source of great
angst to Kreitman and her novel addresses,
in fictional form, some of the inequities she These three novels are clearly not wreak havoc in your life. Simon’s experi-
suffered being a young Jewish woman in lighthearted, so for a more uplifting con- ences are no different, but each phase of
early 20th-century Poland. Life for Debo- clusion, turn to Rachel Simon’s memoir, construction reminds her of other times
rah, her protagonist, is quite grim as she Building a Home With My Husband in which she struggled with family and
struggles — and fails — to go along with (Dutton, cloth, $24.95). with personal and emotional challenges.
the conventions and demands of her family Readers may recognize Simon as the Simon’s gift is the clarity with which
and society. Born into a world that does not author of Riding the Bus With My Sister, she describes her own emotional tur-
expect much of her, she is rendered unable her previous memoir about spending a moil, both current problems and the past
to expect much of herself. year with her developmentally disabled family issues they arouse. Simon consid-
In this case, some knowledge about sister, trying to become closer to her by ers past moves forced by her father’s new
the author enriches our appreciation of participating in her favorite activity. job, by her parents’ divorce, and by her
the materials and the publisher provides Now she relates the story of her and mother’s clinical depression. We move
three additional essays, an analysis by her architect-husband’s decision to with Simon through the chapters of the
Ilan Stavans, a biographical note from the remodel their 100-year-old Delaware row book and the chapters of renovating her
translator (Kreitman’s son) and a short house. As most of us know, even the best- home, her marriage and her family life —
memoir from her granddaughter. planned project is almost guaranteed to to its completion.

A Dynamic Home
for Judaism 4FQUFNCFS

m
0DUPCFS



IT’S TIME TO
Congregation
Beth Shalom
BAG HUNGER
-PDBM
TZOBHPHVFT
PSHBOJ[BUJPOT
BOE
TDIPPMT
BSF
DPMMFDUJOH

UBYEFEVDUJCMF
EPOBUJPOT
PG
OPOQFSJTIBCMF
GPPE
BOE
HSPDFSZ

For New & Prospective Members DBSET
GPS
PVS
+'4
'PPE
#BOL
%POBUF
B
MPU
EPOBUF
B
MJUUMF

Tuesday, September 15 • 6:30pm &JUIFS
XBZ
ZPVMM
GFFM
HPPE
JOTJEF
Join us before classes this evening for
an opportunity to schmooze and nosh
with Rabbi Borodin and other members
of the CBS community.
JEW-ISH .COM
Classes available at no charge.

Congregation Beth Shalom For more information, please call (206) 461-3240
An egalitarian, participatory community! or visit www.jfsseattle.org
6800 35th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115
206-524-0075
info@bethshalomseattle.org
www. bethshalomseattle.org

Books in brief
A little local, a little historical and a few laughs in between
Diana Brement
JTNews Columnist
History
An American E xperience: Ade-
line Moses Loeb and Her Early Amer-
ican Jewish Ancestors, John J. Loeb,
et al., (cloth, Sons of the Revolution in
the State of New York, $49.95). It’s envi-
able to have the resources to compile a
300-plus page memoir of your family, as
Ambassador Loeb has done, complete
with detailed genealogies and color
reproductions of your ancestors’ por-
traits. Most of us can’t touch this, but we
can enjoy the fruits of the Loeb family’s
labor. Although it’s a family story, it will
still appeal to readers interested in early
American Jewish history (in the North
and South), in Jewish genealogy, even in
American portrait art.
Travel/History
The Marco Polo Odyssey: In the Foot-
steps of a Merchant Who Changed the
World, by Harry Rutstein (Marco Polo
Foundation, cloth, $27.95). A fascinat-
ing account of the author’s three expe-
ditions that accurately traced the route
that Marco Polo took from Venice to Bei-
jing, complete with photos and excerpts
from Polo’s own 14th-century book. The
expeditions took place in 1971, 1981
and 1985 (see JTNews, Aug. 21, 2009),
but Rutstein’s recent completion of the
book allows it to be politically up to
date. It’s a chance to follow along on a
journey that few of us would actually
take. The volume, which can be ordered
online (www.marcopolofound.org), also
includes a DVD.
Humor
Yinglish, by Sasha Klotz (Kensington,
paper, $12.95). This book is for those who
find the mere sound of Yiddish amusing,
as well as those who appreciate the art
of the multi-lingual pun. The author has
taken Yiddish-English blended words,
originally mistakes made by immi-
grants learning a new language, and cre-
ates deliberate and updated versions for
contemporary use. How about “brith
control…What the mohel better have.”
Or “Koshare…Eating traif from some-
one else’s plate.” So, nu, if you find those
funny, there’s more over-the-top mishe-
gas here for the likes of you!
Local/Interfaith
“It would be nice if our traditions con-
sistently taught the messages of compas-
sion and love that are reflected through
every page of our holy books. But that
is simply not the case.” — Getting to the
Heart of Interfaith
I have to admit to a bit of discom-
fort reading the bios of the co-authors
of Out of Darkness Into Light: Spiritual
Guidance in the Quran with Reflections
from Christian and Jewish Sources, by
Jamal Rahman, Kathleen Schmitt Elias
and Ann Holmes Redding. (Morehouse,
paper, $30). Rahman, a Muslim Sufi
minister at a Seattle interfaith church
friday, september 4, 2009
seems the most conventional. Elias is “a
former nun and now a Sufi Jew” and Red-
ding is “both a Muslim and a Christian”
(Redding, a former priest, was defrocked
by the Anglican Church earlier this year
for her declaration of adhering to both
religions). Although these cross-reli-
gious labels made me squirm, that is
what this volume is all about, showing
us that all three “Abrahamic” religions
have common foundations, here focus-
ing on positive parts of the text. This is
also an easy and accessible introduction
to Islam.
We hear more from Rahman in Get-
ting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Eye-
Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a
Pastor, a Rabbi and a Sheikh, by Pastor
Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon and
Sheikh Jamal Rahman (Skylight, paper,
$16.99). No, it’s not the beginning of
a joke. If you believe that we must all
learn to get along, books like this do
give hope for that. These three clergy-
men and their congregations have been
hanging out together for quite a while,
so all have good things to say about
reaching out to those of other religions.
I was especially interested in their tri-
alogue about their joint trip to Israel.
Standing at dusk at the Dome of the
n jtnews 15
fall books
a
Rock, Rahman is moved by the com-
bined sounds of the prayers of worship-
pers at the Western Wall, the Muslim
call to prayer and church bells tolling.
Mackenzie, Falcon (outgoing rabbi
of Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue) and
Rahman admit it’s not always easy getting
along, but they make it seem as though it
could be. (The “three interfaith amigos”
read at University Village Barnes & Noble
on Sept. 11.)
Interfaith
Interfaith Dialogue at the Grass
Roots, Rebecca K rat z Mays, editor
(Temple University, paper, $15). Pub-
lished by the Dialogue Institute at Temple
University, this collection of essays by
clerg y and lay people from Judaism,
Christianity and Islam who have partic-
ipated in the Temple U. program, offers
practical advice from “Understanding
Dialogue” to “The Art of Heeding” and
“The Power of Hope.”
Memoir
Rage Against the Meshuggenah, by
Danny Evans (NAL, paper, $15). Don’t be
put off by Evans’ use of sexual imagery
and scatalogical humor, or his ragging
on Jewish life in this tale of his descent
into madness and ongoing recovery. He
is just giving us a brutally honest look
into the workings of his brain (and, per-
haps, for those of us from the female half
of the population, an education about
how guys really think…really???). Often
funny, often poignant, and altogether
moving, the author of the Dad Gone
Mad blog (DadGoneMad.com) delivers
a rough-hewn, but altogether moving
self-portrait complete with a redemp-
tive ending.
American Girl
Meet Rebecca: 1914, by Jacque-
line Dembar Greene, (American Girl,
paper, $6.95). You can count on Amer-
ican Girl for a high quality, well-writ-
ten book about a piece of history told
through the perspective of a school-
age girl. In this case it’s Rebecca Rubin,
living in the Lower East Side of Manhat-
tan in 1914 where she learns to make
do with her family’s limited resources
and the importance of doing mitzvahs,
as she adapts to her new American life.
And she’s a doll, too! Part of a series of
six books.

Full service real estate

o w f o r t h e
Order N
Mary Frimer
Residential Specialist
206-391-6161
H o ly D a y s!
High
maryfrimer@johnlscott.com
11040 Main Street, #200
Bellevue, WA 98004

Fluent in Spanish leah’s baked goods

First class service — First class results Challah • Honey Cakes
Apple Crown Cake • Rugelach
Leah’s Catering
Celebrating 12 fabulous years
The Northwest’s
Judaica Shop
Mandelbrot • Kugels • Babka
Limited inventory—so order early!
Pacific Northwest’s Premier 2201 NE 65th, Seattle
Kosher Caterer
206.527.1130
A Happy, Healthy & Sun–Tues 10–5
l Av & E TRog
Wed–Thurs 10–7 lu r 22nd
Sweet New Year! eptembe
Fri 10–3, order by S
Limited quantities of
Leah’s Famous Baked Goods for
et
Rosh Hashana will be available through Don’t forg d Call 206-527-1130
an
Tree of Life Judaica & Books the candles e! or see our Web site
206.985.2647 206.527.1130 kosher win www.treeoflifejudaica.com
leah@leahscatering.com
www.leahscatering.com Supervised by the Va’ad HaRabanim to place your order
a16 jtnews
fall books
n friday, september 4, 2009
Coming of age in the ’70s
A powerful novel on the balance between Chassidic and secular societies
Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The Binghamton Reporter
Coming-of-age novels have become
so common that writers of almost every
ethnic group and nationality have used
the genre to tell their tale. While it’s
tempting to dismiss yet another work
detailing a young man’s journey into
adulthood, readers would do well to pick
up a copy of Joshua Halberstam’s won-
derful A Seat at the Table: A Novel of For-
bidden Choices (Sourcebooks Landmark).
What makes Halberstam’s novel stand
out is its narrator, Elisha, a Chassidic Jew,
who, in New York City during the 1970s,
is looking to balance his love of family
and Judaism with his attraction to secu-
lar culture.
Elisha’s life is complicated by the fact
that he is the son and grandson of the
rabbis who lead his unnamed branch of
Chassidism. The family not only expects
him to become a rabbi, but to one day
take the reigns at their synagogue. To
make matters even worse, the major-
ity of his relatives are Holocaust survi-
vors who have managed to keep their
faith even through the most difficult
times. But, as much as Elisha loves his
family and enjoys learning Talmud with
his father, the secular world — particu-
larly its books, movies and music — fas-
cinates him. He is also intrigued by his
Uncle Shaya, who, although he manages
to keep a foot in the secular and religious
worlds, has no answers to Elisha’s ques-
tions about how to reconcile his conflict-
ing desires.
Although Elisha had promised his
father that taking courses at a secu-
lar college wouldn’t affect his religious
life, Elisha finds that “the submerged
doubts of his high school years were
now unrelenting. These past months
he peppered his father with questions
about religious belief and the author-
ity of Jewish traditions and, as always,
? @ > ?  ? F C @ ;8PJ  8K  ? @ C C < C )' ' 0 & ,..'
œˆ˜Ê̅iʈiÊ17ÊVœ““Õ˜ˆÌÞÊvœÀʈ}…Êœˆ`>ÞÊÃiÀۈViÃʏi`ÊLÞÊÊ
Àii˜ÃÌiˆ˜Ê>“ˆÞÊ
his father gave him a wide berth for his
interrogations, a freedom of inquir y
his teachers [at the yeshiva] would not
have allowed. But even his father had
his limits, and Elisha was careful to
couch his challenges within those bor-
ders.” Unfortunately, Elisha finds him-
self stepping over that border when
he becomes friends with a non-Jewish
woman, Katrina, who is as fascinated
by his religious life as he is by the sec-
ular world.
What makes A Seat at the Table work
is that both sides of the issue are pre-
sented with great care and understand-
ing. When estranged from his family,
Elisha deeply misses his study time
with his father and the camaraderie he
experienced with the older men at shul.
He doesn’t consider the hours he spent
studying Talmud a waste; it’s just that
he no longer wants to dedicate his entire
life to that study. Halberstam also makes
real the despair Elisha’s father feels
over the separation from his son. Even
when other family members disparage
Elisha’s life choices, his father makes it
clear that his son will always have a seat
at his table.
What the two men do have in common
is a love of tales, especially Chassidic
tales, which Elisha’s father uses to impart
emotional truths he can’t otherwise
share. When young, Elisha loved these
stories: “His fondest memories were of
climbing into his father’s bed on fitful
nights to hear magical tales of Chas-
sidic rebbes, relishing a special thrill
when they were about his own wondrous
ancestors. He’d journey on a carpet of his
father’s words to the enchanted place of
his forefathers where a flicker of human
decency and wisdom would upend the
danger at the door or soothe the storm in
a man’s heart.”
Yet, it’s stories that first attracted Death and Despondence
Elisha to the secular world: Those forbid-
den books that illuminated an unfamiliar A ut hor Jon at h a n Tr opp er ’s
universe. When babysitting his cousins, fifth novel tells the story of Judd
he stumbles on Tropic of Cancer, a novel Foxman, an unemployed 30-some-
his Uncle Shaya has hidden behind the t hing New Yorker who, shor t ly
journals on his book shelf. The book fas- after separating from his wife of
cinates him: “It was all so unfathom- almost a decade (whom he caught
able, all so wonderfully impermissible. sleeping with his boss), returns
Elisha stretched out on the carpet; his home to join his broken, emotion-
imagination fired beyond imagination. ally distant siblings to sit shiva for
Who knew one could also read with one’s their father. In spite of its abso-
skin.” When his uncle discovers him with lutely miserable premise — or per-
the book, he is not distressed; instead, haps because of it — This is Where
Shaya encourages him to read everything I Leave You is an absolute joy to
and anything, telling him, “How else can read. The book alternates between
a person live more than one life?” Yet, scenes of heartbreak and scenes
Elisha also discovers that the tales of his of laugh-out-loud absurdit y. An
father, when revised with his own voice, entire chapter is dedicated to the
can also impart important truths. moment Judd walks into his own
Readers will find themselves rooting bedroom to discover his wife and
for Elisha, even if they are unsure which employer having sex. It’s agoniz-
direction he should follow. That is the ing, it’s brutal, it’s explicit and it’s
beauty of A Seat at the Table. This mar- hilarious. And it only gets better
velous, moving tale shines a great light from there.
on the difficult pathways of the human — Leyna Krow
heart.
Emanuel EmanuEl
CongrEgation
hbve hnwl 2009-5770
the only modern orthodox Shul in Seattle’s northend
Jay Wang, President Boaz Pnini, Cantor
HigH Holy Day SErviCES
Selichot Services 9/12 10:30 pm Reception prior
ÝiVṎÛiÊˆÀiV̜À]Ê,>LLˆÊ7ˆÊ iÀŽœÛˆÌâÊ>˜`ÊÊ Erev rosh Hashanah 9/18 7:00 pm
Vœ˜˜iVÌÊ-i>Ì̏iÊˆÀiV̜À]Ê,>LLˆÊ>VœLʈ˜i]Ê܈̅Ê}ÕiÃÌÃÊÊ rosh Hashanah 1st Day 9/19 9:30 am
,>LLˆÊ-VœÌÌÊ*iÀœÊ>˜`ÊÃÌÕ`i˜Ìʏi>`iÀ]Êii˜Ê i˜˜iÌÌ° 2nd Day 9/20 9:30 am
yom Kippur Kol Nidre 9/27 6:15 pm
Ifj_?Xj_XeX_ PfdB`ggli 9/28 9:30 am Yizkor Service
Àˆ`>Þ]Ê-i«Ìi“LiÀÊ£n̅ÊÊ -՘`>Þ]Ê-i«Ìi“LiÀÊÓÇ̅ Erev Sukkot 10/2 7:00 pm

ÀiÛÊ,œÃ…Ê>Å>˜>… Ç\ääÊ«“ œÊ ˆ`ÀiÊ È\ÎäÊ«“
Sukkot 1st Day 10/3 9:30 am
->ÌÕÀ`>Þ]Ê-i«Ìi“LiÀÊ£™Ì… œ˜`>Þ]Ê-i«Ìi“LiÀÊÓn̅ 2nd Day 10/4 9:30 am
/À>`ˆÌˆœ˜>Ê
}>ˆÌ>Àˆ>˜Ê-iÀۈViÊÊ /À>`ˆÌˆœ˜>Ê
}>ˆÌ>Àˆ>˜Ê-iÀۈViÊÊ
™\ÎäÊ>“Ê £ä\ääÊ>“Ê Chol Hamoed 10/9 6:00 pm
ˆLiÀ>Ê-iÀۈViÊÊÊ Ê £ä\ääÊ>“ ˆLiÀ>Ê-iÀۈViÊÊ Ê £ä\ÎäÊ>“ Shemini atzeret 10/10 9:30 am Yizkor Service
9ˆâŽœÀÊ­“i“œÀˆ>ÊÃiÀۈVi®Ê {\ääÊ«“
ˆ˜V…>…Ê­>vÌiÀ˜œœ˜ÊÃiÀۈVi®Ê {\ÎäÊ«“ Erev Simchat torah 10/10 7:00 pm
iˆ>…Ê­Vœ˜VÕ`ˆ˜}ÊÃiÀۈVi®Ê È\ÎäÊ«“ Simchat torah 10/11 9:30 am
Ài>Ž‡Ì…i‡>ÃÌÊi>Ê Ç\{xÊ«“
/ˆVŽiÌÃÊ>ÀiÊÀiµÕˆÀi`ÊvœÀÊi˜ÌÀÞÊ>˜`ʓÕÃÌÊLiʜLÌ>ˆ˜i`ʈ˜Ê>`Û>˜Vi°ÊÊÊ mixED SEating anD/or mECHitzot  tiCKEtS not rEquirED
i˜iÀœÕÃÊ̈VŽiÌÊ`œ˜>̈œ˜ÃÊ>œÜʈiÊ̜ʫÀœÛˆ`iʈ}…Êœˆ`>ÞÊÃiÀۈViÃÊÊ 3412 nE 65tH StrEEt  206-525-1055
>˜`ʅˆ}…ʵÕ>ˆÌÞ]Ê`ˆÛiÀÃiÊ«Àœ}À>““ˆ˜}Ê̅ÀœÕ}…œÕÌÊ̅iÊÞi>À°ÊÊ"À`iÀÊ̈VŽiÌÃÊÊ www.EmanuElCongrEgation.org
œ˜ˆ˜iÊ>ÌÊÜÜÜ°…ˆiÕÜ°œÀ}Ʌˆ}……œˆ`>ÞÃʜÀÊLÞÊ«…œ˜iÊ>ÌÊÓäȇxÓLJ£™™Ç°
 Wishing you a happy and healthy Rosh Hashanah!
Prices effective through Sept. 29, 2009

5 99
3 99
Kedem Yehuda
Concord Grape Juice Gefilte Fish
64 oz., 24 oz.,
Select Varieties Select Varieties

2$
5 1 29 2$
4 1 29
Albertsons Streit’s Albertsons Albertsons
Honey Matzo Ball & Soup Mix Apple Juice Egg Noodles
12 oz. 4.5 oz., 64 oz., 16 oz.,
for Select Varieties Select Varieties for Select Varieties

With five straight years of drought, Israel is running dry. You can help make a difference. Applies to purchases made between
Help Water Purchase any Osem item this High Holiday Season and a portion of the purchase will be
September 1-October 11, 2009. Some
exclusions and limitations may apply.

Israel this 5770 donated to the Jewish National Fund in its ongoing efforts to increase Israel’s water supply. Celebrating over 100 years
as caretaker of the land of Israel
www.jnf.org

99 ¢
lb. 1 49
lb.
2$
for 5 2 49
lb.

Granny Smith Sweet Potatoes Pomegranate Whole Kosher

Apples Vitamin Rich! Fresh, Large Size Turkey
Crisp! 12-18 lbs., Frozen

399 3$
for 5 2$
for 4 2$
for 1 119 79¢
Kedem Lipton Manischewitz Kedem Albertsons Yahrzeit
Sparkling Grape Recipe Secrets Egg Noodles Tea Biscuits Cranberry Sauce Candle
Juice Soup Mix 7-12 oz., 4.5 oz., 16 oz. 1-ct.
25.4 oz., 1.8-2.2 oz.,
Select Varieties Select Varieties
Select Varieties Select Varieties

4$
5 399 499 1099 499
Haolom and
Miller’s Cheese
Shop our Kosher for
Cheese selection Silver Springs Vita Herring Wild Nova Lox Baron Herzog Wine Manischewitz or
Horseradish 8 oz. 4 oz. 750 ml., Mogen David Wine
5 oz., Select Varieties 750 ml., Select Varieties
Select Varieties

5
4 99
2$
299 279 599 for
Kineret Round Golden ungar’s Tabatchnik
Challah Dough Blintzes Gefilte Fish Soup
15 oz., 13 oz., 22 oz., 32 oz., Cohen’s Beef Kreplach
Select Varieties Select Varieties Select Varieties Select Varieties 10 oz.,
Select Varieties

Celebrate with Fine Foods From Israel Organify your New Year!

2 Osem
29 2$
for
Osem
5 3wild harvest
49
2 wild harvest
69
Cake Mini Croutons Organic Apple Organic Honey Bear
8.8 oz., 14.1 oz. Juice 12 oz.
Select Varieties 64 oz.,
Select Varieties

99 Osem
Bissli
¢
3 Osem
Economy Size
99
1 69
wild harvest
2 wild harvest
Cage-Free or
99
Baby-Cut Peeled
2.5 oz., Soup Mixes Carrots Omega-3 Eggs
Select Varieties 14.1 oz. 1 lb. 1 dozen

Prices effective thru Sept. 29, 2009. FREE CARD

STORE COUPON

new year’s
FREE card
Some items not available in all stores. While supplies last. No rain checks. For the best selection, please visit:
^P[OW\YJOHZLVMHU`JHYKZ
2755 - 77th Avenue Southeast, Mercer Island, WA -9,,*(9+T\Z[ILLX\HS
RAIN CHECK: We strive to have on hand sufficient stock of advertised merchandise. If for any reason we are out of stock, a Rain Check will be issued enabling you to buy the item at the advertised price as soon as it becomes available. [VVYSLZZLYPU]HS\L[OHU

Savings may vary. Check price tag for details. We reserve the right to limit quantities. Please, No Sales to Dealers. AVAILABILITY: Each of these advertised items is readily available for sale at or below the advertised price in most with any 2 card purchase W\YJOHZLKJHYKZ

Albertsons stores while supplies last. Some items may not be available at all stores. Prices for limited hour or limited day sales are effective in-store only and are not available for online shopping ©2009 SUPERVALU INC. Albertsons, (Free Card must be equal to or lesser in value than purchased cards.) 6MMLY]HSPK 
[OYV\NO   
the Albertsons logo, Good things are just around the corner, the Sav-on Pharmacy logo, the Osco Pharmacy logo, the 10 for $10 logo, Culinary Circle, the Blue Ribbon Beef logo, the Steakhouse Choice logo, Wild Harvest, equaline, ©AGC, Inc.

HomeLife, essensia, Albertsons Community Partners. Giving back for youth. One Cart at a Time., Java Delight, Pick of the Pros, Pick’d Ripe and Freshness First are trademarks of SUPERVALU INC. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. 9VZO/HZOHUHOPZ:H[\YKH`:LW[ :\UKH`:LW[
a
18 jtnews n
community calendar
friday, september 4, 2009

september 4 –16, 2009

The JTNews calendar presents a selection of ongoing events in
the Jewish community. For a complete listing of events, or to
add your event to the JTNews calendar, visit www.jtnews.net.
Calendar events must be submitted no later than 10 days
before publication.
Ongoing
Friday
■■9:30-10:30 a.m. – SJCC Tot Shabbat
Dana Weiner at 206-232-7115, ext. 237
Parents with children ages infant-3 celebrate Shabbat with
challah, live music, singing, and dancing in the JCC’s foyer.
Free. At the Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 E Mercer
Way, Mercer Island.
■■11 a.m.-12 p.m. – Tots Welcoming Shabbat
425-603-9677 or www.templebnaitorah.org
This Temple B’nai Torah program for kids ages infant-5 includes
songs, stories, candle lighting, challah, and open play. Free.
At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue.
■■12:30-3:30 p.m. – Drop-in Mah Jongg
Roni Antebi at 206-232-7115, ext. 269
A friendly game of Mah Jongg. Free for members, $2 for guests.
At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
■■12:30-3:30 p.m. – Bridge Group
Roni Antebi at 206-232-7115, ext. 269
Prior bridge playing experience necessary. Coffee and tea
provided. Bring a brown bag lunch. Free for members, $2
for non-members. At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way,
Mercer Island.
Saturday
■■9-10:30 a.m. – Temple B’nai Torah Adult Torah Study
425-603-9677
Discussion of each week’s parshah. No experience needed.
Temple B’nai Torah youth room, 15727 NE 4th St.,
Bellevue.
■■9:45 a.m. – BCMH Youth Services
Julie Greene at 206-721-0970 or julie@bcmhseattle.org
Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath Congregation has something
for all ages: Teen minyan, Yavneh program, Junior minyan,
Torah Tots, Mommy and Me, and Navi class. Starting times
vary. At Congregation Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath, 5145
S Morgan St., Seattle.
■■10 a.m. – Morning Youth Program
206-722-5500 or www.ezrabessaroth.net
Congregation Ezra Bessaroth’s full-service Shabbat morning
youth program focuses on tefillah, the weekly parshah and
the congregation’s unique customs in a creative and fun
environment. For infant to 5th grade. At Congregation Ezra
Bessaroth, 5217 S Brandon St., Seattle.
■■10:45 a.m.-12 p.m. – Herzl Mishpacha Minyan
206-232-8555 or www.herzl-ner-tamid.org
A Shabbat morning service at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative
Congregation that meets twice a month and features songs,
stories and treats for 2- to 5-year-olds and their families. Meets
first and third Shabbat of the month. At Herzl-Ner Tamid
Conservative Congregation, 3700 E Mercer Way, Mercer
Island.
■■5 p.m. – The Ramchal’s Derech Hashem, Portal from the
Ari to Modernity
Rabbi Harry Zeitlin at 206-524-9740 or
hlzeitlin@comcast.net
This is the earliest systematic and reliable explanation of
Kabbalah, which is grounded in tradition and comprehen-
sible to contemporary, educated Jews. At Congregation Beth
Ha’Ari Beit Midrash, 5508 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.
Sunday
■■9 a.m. – Shabbat in Practice
Marilyn Leibert at 206-722-8289 or info@seattlekollel.org
An ongoing course taught by Rabbi Yehoshua Pinkus on the
Abridged Book of Jewish Law, known as the Kitzur Shulchan
Aruch. Free. At the Seattle Kollel, 5305 52nd Ave. S,
Seattle.
■■10 a.m. – Mitzvot: The Fabric of Jewish Living
206-722-8289 or info@seattlekollel.org
An ongoing course about the philosophical underpinnings
and practical implications of the 613 mitzvot. Free. Part
of the Seattle Kollel’s “Breakfast Club,” offering bagels, lox
and cream cheese, Starbucks coffee and Krispy Kreme
Donuts. At the Seattle Kollel, 5305 52nd Ave. S, Seattle.
■■10:15 a.m. – Sunday Torah Study
Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075
Weekly study group. At Congregation Beth Shalom, 6800
35th Ave. NE, Seattle.
u Page 20A

L’Shana Tova
from

Live the
Judaica Shop
3700 East Mercer Way
Mercer Island good life
Horizon House, a
Continuing Care Retirement
Unique ritual items,
jewelry, ketubot, kippot,
greeting cards, baby gifts,
every day
of the year
Community, located in the games and much more.
heart of the city, featuring: Special sales monthly!

Q Spacious One and Two Bedroom Open most Fridays

View Apartments
Q Entrance fees starting at $95,000
Q Monthly fees starting at $1,542
Q Wide spectrum of amenities and
services: Saltwater Pool/Jacuzzi,
24-hour Fitness Center, Woodwork
Shop, Art Room, Computer Lab,
Library, Full Service dining room
and deli, Medical and Dental Clinic
Q Full range of health care services
including assisted living and
nursing care services
from 11 am to 1 pm
and by appointment
206-232-8555 x.212 The SummiT aT FirST hill, a showcase of retirement living, currently has
beautiful one- and two-bedroom apartments as well as a limited number of
assisted-living units available for immediate occupancy at competitive market
rates. There are no entrance fees.
Wishing you a a full complement of services is provided in a traditional Jewish environment.
good & sweet amenities include beautiful common area gathering places, an outdoor terrace,
library and more. a stimulating recreational and educational activities program is
New Year! offered daily, plus scheduled transportation and home care services including an
in-home nurse clinic complete The Summit retirement living.
The Summit is a part of the Kline Galland Center’s continuum of services, along with
The Polack adult Day Center and the Caroline Kline Galland Nursing home.

Q Refundable and Non-Refundable For additional information and tour appointments, call
Entrance Fees Trudi Arshon-Rosenbaum at (206) 652-4444.

Horizon House,
the greatest value in
gracious retirement living. BAKING CO. & CAFE

7001 35th Avenue NE

A fAmily of residentiAl
Seattle 98115
And community services
206-525-3166
supporting Jewish seniors
of greAter seAttle

900 University Street, Seattle, WA 98101

206-382-3100 Remember to tell them …

Thank you for advertising in JTNews!
www.horizonhouse.org
a20 jtnews n
community calendar
friday, september 4, 2009
Calendar t Page 18A
■■1–4 p.m. – Shalom Bayit Warehouse
Volunteer Work Party
Rachel at 425-558-1894 or
shalombayit@ncjwseattle.org
Help organize donated items for survivors
of domestic violence and their children. This
event takes place every second or third
Sunday. Call for exact dates and location.
■■7:30-10:30 p.m. – He’Ari Israeli Dancing
Ellie at 206-232-3560 or
tiaellie1@yahoo.com israelidanceseattle.com
Seattle’s oldest Israeli dance session. Couples
and singles welcome. Call for schedule
changes. Cost is $6. At Danceland Ballroom,
327 NE 91st St., Seattle.
Monday
■■10 a.m.–2 p.m. – JCC Seniors Group
Roni 206-232-7115 ext. 269
The Stroum JCC’s Seniors Group meets on
Mondays and Thursdays for activities and
celebrations. At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer
Way, Mercer Island.
■■10 a.m. – Jewish Mommy and Me
Giti Fredman at 206-935-4035 or
info@seattlekollel.org
Giti Fredman leads a weekly playgroup for
Jewish moms and young children. Sponsored
by the Seattle Kollel. At the Hiawatha
Community Center, 2700 California Ave. SW,
Seattle.
■■4:30 – 6:30 p.m. – Modern Conversational
Hebrew
Sharron Lerner at 206-547-3914, ext. 3 or
slerner@kadima.org or www.kadima.org
Kadima Reconstructionist Community offers
conversational Hebrew classes for students
in the 3rd–7th grades. Open to non-members.
At Kadima, 12353 8th Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – CSA Monday Night Classes
info@shevetachim.com
Weekly class taught by Rabbi Yechezkel
Kornfeld on topics in practical halachah. At
Congregation Shevet Achim, 5017 90th Ave.
SE, Mercer Island.
■■7-8 p.m. – Ein Yaakov in English
Joseph N. Trachtman at 206-412-5985 or
tracht@accommotrac.com
Ein Yaakov has been studied since its publica-
tion in 1516 by those desiring an introduction
to the Talmud through its stories. Free. At
Congregation Shaarei Tefilah-Lubavitch, 6250
43rd Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■7:30 p.m. – Torah Scroll Class for Men
eastsidechabad@earthlink.net
Shemer Berkowitz, a professional Ba’al Koreh,
will teach students to become their own Torah
readers by learning the cantillation marks and
becoming familiar with the secret of Torah
reading. At the Eastside Torah Center, 1837
156th Ave. NE #303, Bellevue.
■■7:45-8:45 p.m. – For Women Only
206-527-1411
Rabbi Levitin offers classic commentaries on
the weekly parshah, Rashi, Rambam and Or
HaChaim. At Congregation Shaarei Tefilah,
6250 43rd Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■8-10 p.m. – Women’s Israeli Dance Class
Ruth Fast at 206-725-0930
Learn Israeli dance steps in an all-female
environment. At the Lakewood/Seward Park
Community Club, corner of 50th Ave. S and
Angeline St., Seattle.
■■8:30 p.m. – Iyun (in-depth) class in
Tehillim
info@seattlekollel.org
Class led by Rebbetzin Shirley Edelstone and
sponsored by the Seattle Kollel. For women
only. Free. Location provided upon RSVP.
■■8:30 p.m. – Talmud in Hebrew
Rabbi Farkash at rabbifarkash@earthlink.net
An in-depth Talmud class in Hebrew for men
taught by Rabbi Mordechai Farkash. At the
Eastside Torah Center, 1837 156th Ave. NE,
Suite 303, Bellevue.
■■8:30 p.m. – Talmud, Yeshiva-Style
eastsidechabad@earthlink.net
This class tackles sections of ritual, civil and
criminal law. Be prepared for lively discussion,
debate and analysis. Students must be able to
read Hebrew and should have had some
experience with in-text Torah study. At the
5770
Apples, honey,
and a subscription to JTNews,
the voice of Jewish Washington.
Subscribe online at www.jtnews.net
Or call 206-441-4553 and we’ll get you started.
Eastside Torah Center, 1837 156th Ave. NE
#303, Bellevue.
Tuesday
■■11 a.m.-12 p.m. – Mommy and Me
Program
Nechama Farkash at 425-427-1654
A chance for parents and kids to explore the
child’s world through story, song, cooking,
crafts and circle time. At a private address.
Call for location.
■■12 p.m. – Torah for Women
Rochie Farkash at 206-383-8441 or
eastsidechabad@earthlink.net
Rochie Farkash leads a group of Eastside
women in a discussion of the weekly Torah
portion. At Starbucks (backroom), Bellevue
Galleria, Bellevue.
■■7 p.m. – Crash Course in Hebrew Reading
Level 2
info@seattlekollel.org
Five-week course taught by Rabbi Dovid
Fredman. At the Seattle Kollel, 5305 52nd
Ave. S, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Teen Center
Ari Hoffman at thehoffather@aol.com
Video games, game tables, food, and fun for
high school students. Hosted by NCSY. At the
Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer
Island.
■■7:45 p.m. – Mystical Understanding of the
Hebrew Alphabet
Dovid Fredman at 206-251-4063 or
rabbifredman@seattlekollel.org
Discover the mystifying depth and beauty of
the Hebrew letters. Free. At Seattle Kollel,
5305 52nd Ave. S, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings
Eve M. Ruff at 206-461-3240 or
emruff@jfsseattle.org
Meeting for anyone who has stopped or would
like to stop drinking. At Jewish Family Service,
1601 16th Ave., Seattle.
■■7 - 8:30 p.m. – Intermediate Conversational
Hebrew
Janine Rosenbaum at 206-760 -7812
A course for students with some Hebrew back-
L’ Shana T
ova
!
ground interested in expanding their conversa-
tional skills and understanding the basic prin-
ciples of Hebrew grammar. $65 plus materials.
At Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation,
3700 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
■■7:30 p.m. – Weekly Round Table Kabbalah
Class
eastsidechabad@earthlink.net
Explore the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah.
At a private home.
Wednesday
■■11 a.m.–12 p.m. – Torah with a Twist
206-938-4852
Women learn Torah with Rabbi Ephraim
Schwartz of the Seattle Kollel at this weekly
class. At a Mercer Island location. Call for
directions.
■■11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. – Downtown Mai-
monides Class
Rabbi Yehoshua Pinkus at 206-722-8289
A weekly discussion based on the text of
Maimonides’s Thirteen Fundamental Princi-
ples of the Jewish Faith by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.
Sponsored by the Seattle Kollel. At Tully’s
Westlake Center, 400 Pine St., Seattle.
■■ 1:30 p.m. – Book Club at the Stroum JCC
Roni Antebi at 206-232-7115, ext. 269
Book discussions the first Wednesday of every
month. At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer
Way, Mercer Island.
■■3 p.m. – The Mother’s Circle
Marjorie Schnyder at 206-461-3240,
ext. 3146
A program for moms from other backgrounds
raising Jewish kids to get support, learn about
Jewish rituals, practices and values, and get
connected to the Jewish community.
Sponsored by Jewish Family Service. Every
other Wednesday. At Whole Foods Market,
1026 NE 64th St., Seattle.
■■7–9 p.m. – Teen Lounge for Middle
Schoolers
Ari at 206-295-5888
Foosball, ping-pong, pool, basketball, arcade
u Page 21A

Calendar t Page 20A
games and optional classes. Yavneh building
at Congregation Bikur Cholim-Machzikay
Hadath, 5145 S Morgan St., Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Beginning Israeli Dancing for
Adults with Rhona Feldman
Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075
Older teens and all experience levels are
welcome. $40 for a five-session punch card.
Discount for members. At Congregation Beth
Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Wisdom for Women 14+
Rabbi Bresler at 206-331-8767 or
info@seattlekollel.org
Jewish Women ages 14 and up are invited to
take part in an afternoon of thought provoking
learning, wisdom, and ideas from the Torah.
Seattle Kollel, 5305 52nd Ave. S, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Introduction to Judaism
425-603-9677
A 20-week class taught by Rabbi James Mirel
and guest scholars. Free and open to the
community. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727
NE 4th St., Bellevue.
■■7-10 p.m. – Parsha and Poker
info@h-nt.org
A look at the Torah portion of the week
followed by a friendly game of poker with
proceeds going to tzedakah. Led by Rabbi
Josh Hearshen. At Herzl-Ner Tamid, 3700 E
Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
■■7:15 p.m. – The Jewish Journey
206-722-8289 or info@seattlekollel.org
This two-year comprehensive program guides
students through the historical, philosophical
and mystical wonders of Judaism’s 3,500-year
heritage. Cost is $360, plus a $36 registration
fee. At the Seattle Kollel, 5305 52nd Ave. S,
Seattle.
■■7:30 p.m. – Parshas Hashavuah
eastsidechabad@earthlink.net
This class provides a general overview of the
Torah portion of the week accompanied by
Midrashic commentaries, philosophical insight,
and practical lessons. At the Eastside Torah
Center, 1837 156th Ave. NE #303, Bellevue.
Challahpalooza!
W hole Foods Roosevelt Square
hosts a tasting event for Rosh
Hashanah foods. Challahpalooza!
will feature different local artisan baker-
ies and their challahs as well as the Whole
Food’s bakery’s apple cake and honey
cake and a sampling of smoked salmon,
kosher beer and wine. This event is co-
sponsored by Jewish Family Service and
Jconnect. Free and open to the public.
Fri., Sept. 11 from 3–6 p.m. at Whole
Foods Roosevelt Square, 1026 NE 64th
St., Seattle.
NYHS sport court
dedication
Northwest Yeshiva High School
invites the entire community to the
school for the dedication of its new
sport court. Celebration will include food,
basketball and other games. For more
information, contact Melissa Rivkin at 206-
232-5272, ext. 515 or mrivkin@nyhs.net.
Thursday
■■9:30-10:30 a.m. – Women’s Talmud
Sasha Mail at 206-323-7933, ext. 301
The Talmud from women’s perspectives,
presented by Rivy Poupko Kletenik. Free. At
Seattle Hebrew Academy, 1617 Interlaken
Dr. E, Seattle.
■■12 p.m. – Ramban on Chumash for
Women
Marilyn Leibert at 206-722-8289
A discussion of foundational Jewish concepts
through the eyes of Nachmanides on Chumash
in the Book of Genesis, as well as an analysis
of key Rashis. Prerequisite: the ability to
recognize the Hebrew letters and a desire to
learn basic Hebrew grammar. For women
only. $25. Sponsored by the Seattle Kollel. At
a private home, Mercer Island.
friday, september 4, 2009
Sun., Sept. 13 at 10 a.m. at NYHS, 5017
90th Ave. SE, Seattle.
Chabad dedication
Chabad of the Central Cascades
will celebrate the completion of
its Torah and the dedication of its
new building on Sun., Sept. 13. The events
begin at 3 p.m. at the Lakeside Montessori
School at 2001 15th Ave. NE, Issaquah for
the writing of the last letter of the Torah.
Then there will be a parade with the new
Torah to the Chabad house at 24121 SE
Black Nugget Rd., Issaquah.
“Parenting and Teshuva:
Rupture, Repair and
Return”
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum of Kavana
and Marjorie Schnyder of Jewish
Family Service discuss teshuva, the
process of self-reflection, and how it relates
to healthy parenting. Cost is $20 per person
or $30 per couple. Scholarships avail-
■■6:50 p.m. – Introduction to Hebrew
Janine Rosenbaum at 206-760 -7812
Helps students build fluency and comprehen-
sion of the prayers of the Friday evening
service. $50. At Herzl-Ner Tamid, 3700 E
Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
■■7 p.m. – Junior Teen Center
Ari Hoffman at thehoffather@aol.com
Video games, game tables, food, and fun for
middle schoolers. Hosted by NCSY. At the
Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer
Island.
■■7 p.m. – Beginners Bridge Class
Roni Antebi at 206-232-7115 ext. 269, or
ronia@sjcc.org
An eight-week class to familiarize students
with the basic principles of bridge. $60/JCC
members, $70/non-members. At the Stroum
n jtnews 21
community news
a
able. To register, visit www.kavana.org
/family/parenting-and-teshuva. Tues-
days, September 15 and 22 from 7- 9 p.m.
Location provided upon RSVP.
Historic Vancouver
walking tours
The Jewish Museum & Archives
of British Columbia present his-
toric walking tours of Jewish Strath-
cona and Gastown. A tour guide from the
museum will provide insight into the land-
marks, architecture, events and evolution
of Vancouver˙s East End neighborhoods
while sharing anecdotes of Jewish com-
munity life in the area. The tour lasts two
hours and is two kilometers in distance.
Cost is $10 per person and includes a copy
of the book In the Footsteps of Jewish Van-
couver. Tickets can be purchased by call-
ing 604-257-5199. Tours will take place Fri.,
Sept. 4 at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., and Thurs.,
Sept. 17 at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., departing
from 700 E Pender St., Vancouver.
JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
■■7:30 p.m. – Judaism: The Ultimate
Journey
info@h-nt.org
Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum leads a course called
“From Slavery to Freedom: Political Activism
and Personal Ethics in the Bible and the Age
of Democracy.” At Herzl-Ner Tamid, 3700 E
Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
■■8–10 p.m. – Teen Lounge for High
Schoolers
Ari at 206-295-5888
Foosball, ping-pong, pool, basketball, arcade
games and snacks. At the Yavneh building at
Congregation Bikur Cholim-Machzikay
Hadath, 5145 S Morgan St., Seattle.
u Page 22A

&HOHEUDWHD7UDGLWLRQ7KLV
5RVK+DVKDQDK:LWK+HOS)URP4)&
SEPTEMBER 4TH - SEPTEMBER 11TH
MEAT DELI

Beef Chuck
Shoulder Roast
Boneless, Glatt Kosher Beef
$5.99lb.
With Advantage Card
Fresh Whole Fryers
Kosher Chicken $2.29lb.
With Advantage Card
Cucumber
Salad $4.49lb.
With Advantage Card
Whole Roasted
Chicken
BBQ or Lemon Pepper
$8.49ea.
With Advantage Card

Kedem
Sparkling Juice
Selected Varieties
Our QFC Kosher Store and
25.4 oz.

Meat Department are under

$4.99
With Advantage Card
the supervision of Va’ad
Osem Cakes Manischewitz
Kedem Concord
Grape Juice, 22 oz.
$2.99
Selected Varieties
8.8 oz. $2.49
With Advantage Card
Noodles
Selected Varieties
12 oz.
2/$4
With Advantage Card
Rokeach Memorial
Candles, 1 ct.
99¢ HaRabanim of Greater Seattle.
With Advantage Card

Manischewitz Gefilte Fish

Selected Varieties, 24 oz. $5.99 Osem Toasted Couscous
8.8 oz. $1.99 For Our Best Selection of
With Advantage Card With Advantage Card Kosher Products Visit Our
Manischewitz Matzo
Selected Varieties, 10 oz. $2.99 Streit's Matzo Ball
and Soup Mix $2.49 University Village QFC at:
With Advantage Card
12 oz. With Advantage Card
2746 NE 45th
PRODUCE Seattle WA 98105
Phone: 206-523-5160
Black
Mission Figs
$4.99lb
With Advantage Card
Mangoes
2/$3
With Advantage Card
Fresh Parsley
2/$1
With Advantage Card
Fax: 206-526-7675

Look To QFC For Quality Service, Products & Kosher Convenience.

a22 jtnews n
community calendar
friday, september 4, 2009

Calendar t Page 21A
Candle Lighting Times
9/4/09 7:27 p.m.
9/11/09 7:13 p.m.
9/18/09 6:59 p.m.
9/25/09 6:44 p.m.
September
Friday 4
■■8 a.m. - 12 p.m. — JEC Back-To-School
Special
Sasha Parsley at SashaP@jewishinseattle.org
Workshop led by Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld for
early childhood to kindergarten teachers in
day and supplementary schools. At the Stroum
JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
Sunday 6
■■9:30 a.m. – Mason Lake Hike
Laura at lgeggel@gmail.com
A five-mile hike around Mason Lake with
Jconnect. Meet at Hillel UW, 4745 17th Ave.
NE, Seattle.
Monday 7
■■ 9:45 a.m. - 12 p.m. – Labor Day Learning
info@seattlekollel.org.
A special day of classes at the Seattle Kollel,
5305 52nd Ave. S, Seattle.
Wednesday 9
■■6:30 p.m. – StandWithUs Community
Luncheon
seattle@standwithus.com
StandWithUs’ celebration of Israel and annual
fundraising event. At the Westin Hotel, 1900
5th Ave., Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Curriculum Night at NYHS for All
Parents
Michelle Haston at 206-232-5272 or
admin@nyhs.net
Open house for parents of all students
attending NYHS. At Northwest Yeshiva High
School, 5017 90th Ave. SE, Mercer Island.
■■7 - 8 p.m. – Slice of Chai
Ari Hoffman at thehoffather@aol.com
Free pizza for NCSY teens. At Island Crust,
7525 SE 24th St., Suite 100, Mercer Island.
■■7:30 p.m. – Seattle Jewish Chorale
Auditions
206-708-7518 or jewishchorale@live.com
Seattle Jewish Chorale is seeking new members
for the ’09-’10 season. Location provided
upon RSVP.
Thursday 10
■■1 p.m. – SJCC Annual Meeting
Marcie Wirth at 206-388-1998 or
mwirth@sjcc.org
Meeting in celebration of the Stroum JCC’s
60th anniversary and to honor staff members
and volunteers for their service. At the Stroum
JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
Friday 11
■■3 - 6 p.m. – Challahpalooza!
A tasting event for Rosh Hashanah foods. Free.
At Whole Foods, 1026 NE 64th St., Seattle.
■■7:15 p.m. – Sheva Brachot
Ari Hoffman at thehoffather@aol.com
Teens are invited to join Seattle NCSY in
celebrating the marriage of chapter alumni
Joshua and Rachel Russak. At Sephardic Bikur
Holim, 6500 52nd Ave. S, Seattle.
Saturday 12
■■8:30 p.m. – Do the Puyallup
Ari Hoffman at
thehoffather@aol.com
A trip to the Puyallup Fair with NCSY. $25.
Meet at Sephardic Bikur Holim, 6500 52nd
Ave. S, Seattle.
Sunday 13
■■10 a.m. – Bike & Brunch
Anna Frankfort at
annaf@jewishinseattle.org
Bike ride and brunch sponsored by Women’s
Philanthropy in conjunction with the Jewish
Federation of Greater Seattle. RSVP for starting
location.
■■10 a.m. – NYHS Sport Court Dedication
Northwest Yeshiva High School invites the
entire community to the school for the dedi-
cation of its new sport court. At Northwest
Yeshiva High School, 5017 90th Ave. SE,
Seattle.
■■2:30 - 5:30 p.m. – “Peter Pan” Auditions
Daniel at daniela@sjcc.org
Children ages 8 and older are invited to
audition for a musical production of “Peter
Pan.” At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way,
Mercer Island.
■■3 p.m. – Chabad Dedication
Chabad of the Central Cascades celebrates
the completion of its Torah and the dedication
of its new building. At Lakeside Montessori
School, 2001 15th Ave. NE, Issaquah.
■■5 p.m. – Annual Alki Beach BBQ
Ari Hoffman at thehoffather@aol.com
Beach sports and food with NCSY. $10. Meet
at Sephardic Bikur Holim, 6500 52nd Ave. S,
Seattle.
Monday 14
■■5:30 - 7:30 p.m. – “Peter Pan” Auditions
Daniel at daniela@sjcc.org
Children ages 8 and older are invited to
audition for a musical production of “Peter
Pan.” At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way,
Mercer Island.
■■7 p.m. – Genealogical Discoveries
www.jgsws.org
Sally Mizroch and Nancy Adelson present a
talk on “Genealogical Discoveries from Cem-
eteries in the Old Country and the New World.”
Sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society
of Washington State. At the Stroum JCC, 3801
E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.
■■7 p.m. – Women’s Night of Jewish
Learning
Anna Frankfort at 206-774-2226 or
annaf@jewishinseattle.org
Monthly interactive Jewish learning, dessert,
and schmoozing sponsored by Women’s
Philanthropy in conjunction with the Jewish
Federation of Greater Seattle. Location
provided upon RSVP.
Tuesday 15
■■6:30 p.m. – Prospective Member Open
House
Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or
carolbenedick@bethshalomseattle.org or
www.bethshalomseattle.org
A chance to learn more about Beth Shalom
membership and a free class in preparation
for the High Holidays. At Congregation Beth
Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■7 - 8:30 p.m. – Lashon Hara
Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or
carolbenedick@bethshalomseattle.org or
www.bethshalomseattle.org
An in-depth look at Jewish texts concerning
lashon hara (gossip) and its relevance to the
High Holidays. Free. RSVP. At Congregation
Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■7 - 8:30 p.m. – Holiday Challah Baking
Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or
carolbenedick@bethshalomseattle.org or
www.bethshalomseattle.org
Learn to make challah in time for the holidays.
RSVP requested. Free. At Congregation Beth
Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. –“Parenting and Teshuva: Rupture,
Repair and Return”
www.kavana.org/family/
parenting-and-teshuva
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum of Kavana and
Marjorie Schnyder of Jewish Family Service
discuss teshuva, the process of self-reflection,
and how it relates to parenting. Location
provided upon RSVP.
Wednesday 16
■■7 p.m. – Preparing for the High Holidays
Rabbi Fredman at rabbifredman@gmail.com
Get a fresh perspective on the High Holidays.
Seattle Kollel, 5305 52nd Ave. S, Seattle.
■■7 p.m. – Laugh Your Way to Giving
Rebecca Cohen at 206-774-2272 or
rebeccac@jewishinseattle.org
A night of comedy featuring “World of
Jewtopia” to benefit the Jewish Federation of
Greater Seattle. At Benaroya Hall, 200 Uni-
versity St., Seattle.

l Jewish media .
suppor ting loca
Thank you for

You need JTNews.

Because local Jewish journalism is important
to you, please don’t wait another minute to
subscribe or renew your subscription to JTNews.

We need you.
Whether you read JTNews in print or online,

Please
or you or your kids read jew-ish.com, please
remember that your subscription helps pay
for the news we deliver -- news about our
community that you won’t find anywhere else.

We have a gift for you.

renew
Subscribe by September 30 and we will send
you a copy of this year’s Guide to Jewish
Washington, published in August and a $10
value, as a gift. You’ll receive next year’s as part
of your subscription.

Subscribe online at

today.
www.jtnews.net
Call to subscribe & we’ll get
you started right away.
206-441-4553
 friday, september 4, 2009 n jtnews 23
arts & entertainment
a
Wednesday, September 9, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 15, 7 p.m.
Alison Gopnik A.J. Jacobs
Author reading Author reading
Author/psychologist (and mother) Alison Gopnik shares Author A.J. Jacobs reads from his new book, The Guinea Pig
insights from her latest book, The Philosophical Baby, about Diaries: My Life as an Experiment, a collection of humorous
new science around the psychological and philosophical essays about experiments Jacobs has undertaken for the sake
development of very young children, transforming parents’ of personal betterment. Jacobs is also the author of Know-It-All
understanding of how babies see the world. Tickets are $5 and A Year of Living Biblically. At University Bookstore, 4326
and are available at www.brownpapertickets.com or 800- University Way NE, Seattle.
838-3006. Town Hall members receive priority seating.
Babies are welcome to attend. Downstairs at Town Hall,
1119 8th Ave., Seattle.

Wednesday, September 16, 7-10 p.m.

“Laugh Your Way to Giving”
the arts sept 9 – 16 Benefit comedy show

The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle

launches it 2010 Community Campaign
with a night of comedy featuring “World
of Jewtopia” and a dessert reception. “World
of Jewtopia” is a one act play starring Bryan
Saturday, September 12, 8 p.m. Fogel and Sam Wolfson that combines
“The Stay Up Late Show” featuring Josh Feit scenes from their original show comedy
Theatre show “Jewtopia,” re-enactments from their
www.stayuplateshow.com
bestselling book, Jewtopia: The Chosen
Josh Feit, editor of the Seattle politics blog Publicola, gives a civics lesson on “The Stay Up Book for the Chosen People, interactive
Late Show.” Feit will be joined by Ade, hostess of Re-Bar’s Special Ladies, The 5 Spot’s audience participation (i.e. the Jewish
lunch lady and The Crypt. Hosted by Rebecca Mmmmm Davis. Cost is $10. At ACT Theatre, “Apollo”), stand-up comedy, and a multi-
700 Union St., Seattle. media presentation. Tickets are $36. At Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle.

Selichot September
Worship Experiences atTEMPLE
Saturday, September 12
Friday, September 4 Friday, September 11
Dessert 7:30 PM • Speaker 8 PM • Service 9 PM 6:00 PM • Bellevue 6:00 PM • Bellevue
Shabbat Unplugged Rock Shabbat
Join us in preparing to open our hearts and for renewal and tikkun. 6:00 PM • Seattle NO SEATTLE EVENING SERVICE
Classic Shabbat
SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER Saturday, September 5 Saturday, September 12
9:30 AM • Seattle
RUTH MESSINGER 9:30 AM • Seattle
Torah & T’Fillah Together Torah & T’Fillah Together
President, American Jewish World Service 10:30 AM • Seattle 10:30 AM • Seattle
10:30 AM • Bellevue 10:30 AM • Bellevue
Ms. Messinger is an internationally recognized Shacharit Service Shacharit Service
advocate for peace, human rights and social change. HIGH HOLY DAYS 5770
Y Y
S EL IC H O T SHABBAT SHUVAH
Global Teshuva: Saturday, September 12th Friday, September 25th
Changing Ourselves while Selichot Service - Bellevue 6:00 pm - Rock Shabbat Shuvah – Bellevue
8:00 pm - Joint service with Temple B’nai Torah…at 7:30 pm - 4th Shabbat Shuvah – Seattle
Changing the World our Bellevue Campus. Saturday, September 26th
An evening of nosh and celebration culminating in a 10:30 am - Shacharit Services - Seattle
Free and Open to the Community 10:00 pm service of reflection, music and prayer—the NO BELLEVUE AM SERVICE
ultimate preparation for the High Holy Days.

Join our Temple community in meditation, prayer and EREV ROSH HASHANA KOL NIDRE
Friday, September 18th Sunday, September 27th
hearing the shofar’s call to redemption. Evening Service* Evening Service*
7:30 pm - Seattle and Bellevue 7:30 pm - Seattle and Bellevue

Rosh Hashanah ROSH HASHANA

Saturday, September 19th
YO M KIPPU R
Monday, September 28th
Friday, September 18 • 6:15 or 8:15 PM Morning Service* Morning Service*
10:00 am - Seattle and Bellevue 10:00 am - Seattle and Bellevue
Saturday, September 19 • 8:30 or 11:45 AM - OR - - OR -
Children’s Service 2:45 PM • Tashlich 4 PM Kids’ Kehillah* (Ages 6-9) Kids’ Kehillah* (Ages 6-9)
10:00 am - Bellevue only 10:00 am - Bellevue only
Kulanu* Kulanu* (Ages 5-11 with parents)
Yom Kippur (Ages 5-11 with parents)
10:00 am - Seattle only
10:00 am - Seattle only
Family Services (Open to the public)
Sunday, September 27 - Kol Nidre • 6:15 or 8:15 PM Family Services (Open to the public) (No ticket needed)
(No ticket needed) 1:30 pm - Seattle and Bellevue
Monday, September 28 • 8:30 or 11:45 AM 1:30 pm - Seattle and Bellevue Afternoon, Yizkor &
Tashlich casting off our sins Neilah (Closing) Services
Healing Service 11:30 AM 3:00 pm - Luther Burbank Park, : pm - followed by
Teen Service 11:45 AM • Children’s Service 2:45 PM Mercer Island Break-The-Fast Receptions
Seattle and Bellevue
Afternoon Service 3:45 - 7 PM includes Yizkor, Neilah and Havdallah
Please Note:
* Ticket Required For Admission. All Non Ticketed Services/Events Are Open To The Public.
For information about High Holy Days tickets, For more information call (206) 323-8486 or log onto www.tdhs-nw.org

TEMPLE
please call 206-525-0915 Seattle Sanctuary Bellevue Sanctuary
1441 - 16th Avenue
(206) 323-8486 De Hirsch Sinai 3850 - 156th SE
(425) 454-5085
click on TGIS @ TDHS at www.tdhs-nw.org

TEMPLE BETH AM
2632 NE 80th Street, Seattle, WA Remember to tell them …
206-525-0915 • www.templebetham.org
The Reform Synagogue in Seattle’s Jewishly Happening North End Thank you for advertising in JTNews!

Become a fan > jtnews

Tweet with us > jew_ish
a24 jtnews n
arts & entertainment
friday, september 4, 2009

Sunny days
New ‘Shalom Sesame’ using Grover to bridge Israel-Diaspora gap

Dina Kraft Shahar Sorek plays another human

JTA World News Service
HERZLIYA, Israel (JTA) — Grover has
been getting to know Israel.
The furry blue “Sesame Street” char-
acter has visited the Dead Sea, Caesarea,
the Western Wall and even Jerusalem’s
shouk to sample the produce.  The Sesame Workshop has co-produc-
Along with Disney Channel star Anne-
lise van der Pol, Grover has been explor-
ing the Jewish State as part of a Sesame
Workshop production called “Shalom
Sesame.”
The 12-part series is geared toward
North American Jewish children and
their families to forge a sense of Jewish
identity by providing a taste of Israel,
Jewish traditions and culture. It will
include celebrity appearances by Jake
Gyllenhaal, Debra Messing and possibly
Ben Stiller, among others, and is sched-
uled for a Hanukkah 2010 release.
A 1986 production of the same name
sold 1 million copies and is considered
the top-selling Jewish educational title.
More than 20 years later, it was time to
update and overhaul the content.
“The needs of the Jewish community
have changed,” said Danny Labin, the
project’s executive director, speaking at
the studio outside of Tel Aviv where seg-
ments are being filmed.
Labin noted shifting demographic
realities such as intermarriage and Isra-
el’s large immigrant populations from
the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.
Two of the new human characters reflect
this diversity in Israel: One is an Ethio-
pian Israeli woman, the other a Russian
immigrant.
Scr ipts a nd concepts have been
reviewed with the help of a team of senior
experts in Jewish education representing
the religious streams and a range of back-
grounds, from Chabad to Reform.
“We are trying to make something that
is accessible to those not ensconced in a
formal Jewish framework to help parents
feel more comfortable and get them inter-
ested in a search for identity themselves,”
Labin said.
The project also intends to supplement
the TV show with an interactive Web site
and other media platforms, including
plans to use joint online projects to help
connect Jewish Israeli and American
children with the show as a vehicle.
In t he f i rst episode of “Sha lom
Sesame,” the character played by van der
Grover chats with an Israeli boy at an overlook of the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old
City during the filming of “Shalom Sesame.”
Pol — a Jewish-American actress who
was named after Anne Frank — is seen on
a plane flying to Israel for her first visit.
After hearing Grover, cast as a flight
attendant, shout out “Kosher meal! Aisle
10!” they strike up a friendship and
decide to travel together throughout
the country. Throughout the series the
pair remain in Israel — a device that lets
children see various landscapes, meet
Israeli children, and even learn a little
Hebrew.
There are episodes on the Jewish hol-
idays, mitzvah themes such as loving
animals and treating others k indly,
animation segments and interviews.
The Hanukkah episode will feature a
visit with a family whose menorah has
remained in the family for generations.
The Rosh Hashanah episode opens with
a discussion about new beginnings as the
audience sees an Israeli girl start her first
day at school and her brother learn how to
blow a shofar.
In an exclusive interview with JTA,
Grover discussed why he was excited
about the project.
“My home is ‘Sesame Street,’ but I love
meeting people from all over the world,
and one of those places is Israel, where I
have been able to make new friends and
learn,” he said in his trademark high-
pitched tone. “I have learned a few words
in Hebrew, like ‘todah’ [thank you] and
‘boker tov’ [good morning], and that
pretty much gets me by.”
Koby Gideon/Flash 90
Eric Jacobson, the puppeteer who
assumed the voice and actions of Grover
about 10 years ago after the legendary
Frank Oz retired, said Grover seems to
connect with audiences young and old
both in Israel and around the world.
“L et’s sta r t w it h t hat Grover is
blue,” Jacobson said during a break from
filming. “No one I know is blue, and
therefore he can be anybody.”
Three other puppets join Grover in
the cast, including a floppy-haired Arab
Israeli named Mahboub.
Torah Day School 2nd graders Devorah, Shifra, Esti, Rochel, Yael and Gabi try out
their desks on their first day of school on Tues., Sept. 1.
character, an archeologist who is reli-
giously observant and wears a kipah.
Often he is the one to explain some of the
Jewish rituals and Bible stories.
“I think it’s important to protect and
present our Jewish heritage, and this is a
tool for helping to do that,” Sorek said.
tions with some 18 countries, including
an Israeli version called “Rehov Sumsum”
and a Palestinian version called “Shara’a
Simsim.”
“Shalom Sesame” is the first series
intended to reach out specifically to an
American Diaspora audience, but simi-
lar programs are planned for children of
Arab Americans and of Indian Americans
based on “Sesame Street”-style programs
in Egypt and India.
During a scene shot last week from
the final episodes of “Shalom Sesame,”
at a farewell party for Grover and van der
Pol, a wistful van der Pol looks around at
her new friends and says, “I can’t believe
my Israel adventure is over. It’s been the
most amazing experience of my life — the
friends, the fun.”
“The falafel!” pipes in Grover, prompt-
ing a round of laughs.
Shoshana, who plays an Israeli family
friend of van der Pol’s character, turns
to her and says, “You will always have a
home here. You are our mishpacha now,
part of our family.”
The director calls out, “Okay everyone,
get a little mushy now.”
Rena Berger

Come join us…

in our celebration of the High Holy Days
4FQUFNCFS

m
0DUPCFS



IT’S TIME TO
BAG HUNGER
Services held at Seattle First Presbyterian Church
1013 - 8th Ave in Seattle

9/18 Erev Rosh Hashanah 7:30pm Service

-PDBM
TZOBHPHVFT

PSHBOJ[BUJPOT
BOE
TDIPPMT
BSF
DPMMFDUJOH

9/19 Rosh Hashanah 9:30am Children’s Service
UBYEFEVDUJCMF
EPOBUJPOT
PG
OPOQFSJTIBCMF
GPPE
BOE
HSPDFSZ

10:30am Main Service & Tashlich DBSET
GPS
PVS
+'4
'PPE
#BOL
%POBUF
B
MPU

EPOBUF
B
MJUUMF

9/27 Kol Nidre 7:30pm Service &JUIFS
XBZ

ZPVMM
GFFM
HPPE
JOTJEF
9/28 Yom Kippur 9:30am Children’s Service
10:30am Main Service
2pm Study Sessions
4pm Afternoon Service JEW-ISH .COM
Visit kol-haneshamah.org
For more information, please call (206) 461-3240
for more information and childcare reservations
or visit www.jfsseattle.org

The unobtainable truth
Facts, fiction and fury in the battle of human rights groups vs. Israel
Ron Kampeas
JTA World News Service
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The fighting
in Gaza ended months ago, but the fight
over the war rages on between Israel and
NGOs.
NGOs have been issuing reports accus-
ing Israeli of war crimes. In response, the
Israeli army recently released a 163-page,
460-point account seeking to rebut such
claims and discredit those making them.
At issue is the three-week Israeli inva-
sion of Gaza starting in December 2008,
launched in response to thousands of
Palestinian rocket attacks against civil-
ian targets in the south of Israel. Approx-
imately 1,300 Palestinians were killed
in the fighting, many of them militant
fighters associated with Hamas, the Pal-
estinian group in control of Gaza. But
hundreds of Palestinian civilians are also
believed to have been killed.
Thirteen Israelis were killed, including
several civilians. Hamas rockets during
the war reached as far as the Israeli cities
of Yavneh, Beersheva and Kiryat Gat.
Some of the arguments between Israel
and the NGOs revolve around alternat-
ing versions of the facts of the war, others
address theories of the laws of war, and
still others lunge with ferocity at the very
legitimacy of one side or the other to even
make an argument.
The stakes are high — as high as the
threat of charges against Israeli officers
and an effort by some Israeli officials to
use the law as a weapon to limit interna-
tional funding of human rights groups.
From the outset, the Israeli report
cites an array of international law read-
ings to show that Israel’s war was just.
It also takes aim at what it describes
as the tendency of some critics to rush
to draw conclusions of national guilt
from scattered evidence. “Often,” the
Israeli report stated, “these leaps of logic
bypass the most basic steps, such as
Wishing the Jewish Community
a Happy New Year
from your friends at
swifty
printing
Printing
Imagesetting
Desktop Publishing
Design
Large Size
Poster
Binding
Mailing
Color Copies
Printing from Disk
Mailing
206-441-0800
2001 THIRD AVE.
identification of the specific legal obli-
gation at issue and explanation of how it
was violated.”
To buttress its case, the Israeli army
paper cited a wealth of recommended
practice from U.S., British and Dutch mil-
itary manuals, as well as rulings concern-
ing the NATO action against Yugoslavia
in Kosovo in 1999; the goal was to estab-
lish that there is a legally tolerable thresh-
old of civilian death, particularly in cases
of urban warfare.
At times, the Israeli report devolves
into petty sniping at critics. Meanwhile,
in recent weeks, top Israeli officials smear
critics with ancient guilt-by-association
accusations.
It’s not much prettier on the human
rights side: Reconstructions of the hor-
rific death of civilians replete with pains-
takingly gathered evidence are coupled
with bewildering omissions of context
and blended into a package that assumes
an inherent Israeli immorality.
The Israeli report repeatedly expressed
frustration with efforts to turn criticism
of individual officers and soldiers into a
wholesale indictment of Israel’s military
establishment and the decision to resort
to military force.
It’s a pattern in evidence in three suc-
cessive reports published by Human Rights
Watch, perhaps the most prominent of the
groups engaged by the government since
the end of the war. One in March dealt
with the use of white phosphorus; another
in June dealt with high-precision missiles
fired from pilotless drones; the most recent,
earlier this month, deals with the killings of
individuals bearing white flags.
Only the first report, on the use of
phosphorus, chronicles what could be
described as an alleged pattern of abuse.
The other two reports from Human
Rights Watch focus on a relatively small
number of cases: Six instances of Israeli
drones allegedly hitting civilian targets
isolated from fighting and seven shootings
DOWNTOWN SEATTLE
u
friday, september 4, 2009 n jtnews 25
national & international news
world news updates, daily at www.jtnews.net
resulting in 11 deaths. Still, even in those
reports, Human Rights Watch uses lan-
guage suggesting pervasive violations.
The HRW reports fail to assess evi-
dence — including videos of Israeli forces
holding their fire because of the presence
of civilians — that Israel has provided to
show that such incidents were the excep-
tion to the rule; they fail to examine what
measures Israel has taken to prevent
civilian deaths, which would be pertinent
in examining any claim of war crimes.
Israeli officials are also guilty of omis-
sions. The army report cites tonnage of
food and medical equipment allowed into
Gaza during the operation for humani-
tarian relief; it does not, however, trans-
late these raw figures into proportions
and fails to address claims by an array of
groups — including Human Rights Watch
— that Israel used humanitarian relief as
leverage, and the result has been malnu-
trition and want.
Similarly, in describing the lead up to
the war, the Israeli army provides a persua-
sive, blow-by-blow account of the intensi-
fication of indiscriminate rocket fire that
led it to launch its invasion; but it omits any
mention of the three-year siege Israel has
imposed on Gaza, or that Hamas rulers
in Gaza used the siege as a pretext for the
rocket fire. In one line, the Israeli report
states that Gaza is free of occupation, but
fails to note that Israel continues to control
all but one point of entry into the area.
One of the more bizarre omissions in
the Israeli army report is how it deals with
the deaths of 42 police cadets in a missile
strike in the first days of fighting. Human
rights groups allege that the police were
not a legitimate target; they were recruits,
drawn from the massive ranks of Gaza’s
unemployed, who were “at rest” at a gradu-
ation ceremony. Moreover, they were sup-
posedly slated for non-combat patrol roles.
The Israeli army report does not
mention the strike at all, or the deaths.
Instead, it spends five pages generally
September 11–October 4, 2009
November 27–December 20, 2009
And Then There Were None
a
justifying attacks on police, and noting
that in some cases terrorists have dou-
bled as police — although groups, includ-
ing B’Tselem, have suggested that in the
matter of the cadets, this assertion was
questionable at best. Two high-ranking
Hamas security officials present at the
ceremony were also slain in the attack,
one of at least 30 strikes on police stations
on Dec. 28, the second day of the war.
Israeli spokesmen also repeatedly
question the reliability of the human
rights reports, saying witnesses must be
compromised by fear of Hamas retalia-
tion. “Human Rights Watch is relying on
testimony from people who are not free
to speak out against the Hamas regime,”
Mark Regev, the prime minister’s spokes-
man, told the BBC on Aug. 13. In fact,
HRW attempts to get witnesses alone, and
corroborates their accounts with medical
examinations and forensic evidence.
Israeli government spokesmen, more-
over, do not account for the fear of retal-
iation — albeit of a less lethal kind,
involving social ostracization — when
they dismiss accounts of atrocities com-
piled from soldiers by groups such as
Breaking the Silence.
Then there are the examples where
facts simply diverge: Israel says it used
white phosphorus as an obscurant when
it faced Hamas anti-tank forces; human
rights groups have alleged that the pres-
ence, in some cases, of armed forces was
minimal and did not justify the use of
the phosphorus, which upon skin con-
tact may maim and kill. Israel says the
number of civilians killed was in the low
hundreds; human rights groups place it at
closer to 1,000.
Some divergences have to do with the
perspective of the claimant. The Israeli
army report says warnings to civilians to
leave an area were as precise as they could
be without betraying tactics and putting
u Page 27A
The Secret Garden
A Christmas Story
Arcadia
February 5–21, 2010
Love, Sex and the IRS
April 9–25, 2010
June 11–27, 2010
a26 jtnews n
national & international news
friday, september 4, 2009
Did Sweden fumble or Israel overreact?
A look at the organ harvesting controversy
Gil Shefler
JTA World News Service
ANALYSIS
NEW YORK (JTA) — A Swedish news-
paper is pushing forward with its far-
fetched claims that the Israeli army
harvested body organs from Palestin-
ians. But for many Israel watchers the
debate has shifted to whether the Swed-
ish government fumbled the controversy
or the Israeli government went overboard
with its incensed reaction.
The decision by the Swedish news-
paper Aftonbladet to publish the story,
which included no evidence — and an
admission to the contrary— that the alle-
gations were true, drew swift Israeli and
Jewish denunciations, as well as a con-
demnation by Sweden’s ambassador
to Israel. But then the Swedish Foreign
Ministry disavowed that condemnation
in the name of free speech, infuriating
Israeli officials.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
charged that the Swedish government
position was reminiscent of the country’s
policy of neutrality toward Nazi Germany
during World War II. Prime Minister Ben-
jamin Netanyahu demanded a formal
condemnation from the Swedes. And the
Israeli Government Press Office delayed
accreditation of two Aftonbladet report-
ers for a visit to Israel this month by Swed-
ish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
For their part, Stockholm officials
argued it is not the government’s place to
comment on press reports out of concern
for freedom of the press.
Meanwhile, some members of Swe-
den’s small Jewish community said this
week they were bewildered by Israel’s
handling of the affair. Some Israelis also
criticized their government’s response as
an overreaction.
“The Israeli reaction was very harsh,
and it created a storm on a diplomatic
scale,” Lena Ponser, president of the Offi-
cial Council of Jewish Communities in
Sweden, told JTA. “On the one side, it is
understandable. On the other, it shifts
the focus from the main issue at hand:
Instead of trying to expose [the falsehood
of the story], all the other papers are now
supporting the freedom of press.”
In an editorial, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz
said Lieberman’s invocation of the Holo-
caust and Sweden’s neutrality during
World War II caused political damage for
Israel and dishonored the memory of vic-
tims of Nazism.
“The argument cheapened the Holo-
caust, blew the article out of propor-
tion and caused an international uproar,
pushing Sweden — which currently holds
the presidency of the European Union —
into an unnecessary confrontation with
Israel,” the editorial said. “Lieberman
must understand that freedom of the
press exists in Sweden — for both good
journalism and bad — and that just as in
Israel, the government does not dictate
what is published. Its purpose is not to
condemn news stories.”
The controversial article penned by
freelancer Donald Boström ran on Aug.
17 in Aftonbladet, a tabloid and one of the
two leading newspapers in Sweden.
In his piece, Boström tied the recent
arrest of Lev y-Izha k Rosenbaum, a
Brooklyn Jew suspected of tr ying to
sell a kidney, to allegations by Palestin-
ians in the West Bank that the bodies of
family members killed in clashes with
Israeli forces were returned with organs
missing.
The next week, the newspaper followed
up with another report on allegations
of organ harvesting, calling on Israel to
investigate the issue. The newspaper’s
editor also penned a piece defending the
decision to publish the stories.
Sweden’s ambassador to Israel, Elis-
abet Borsiin Bonnier, called the origi-
nal article “shocking and appalling.”
But Sweden’s foreign minister later
disavowed her statement on his blog,
saying the government had no right to
comment.
Lieberman called the report a blood
libel. “The story published this week is a
natural continuation of the Protocols of
the Elders of Zion and blood libels like the
Beilis trial, in which Jews were accused
of adding Christian children’s blood to
Passover matzoh,” he said, according to
reports.
Jewish Swedes have watched with
dismay as the controversy has bal-
looned.
Anders Carlberg, the outgoing chair-
man of the Jewish Community in Goth-
enburg, Sweden, said Israeli officials
should have responded by publishing a
rebuttal to the allegations in Aftonbladet.
“The stance of the community in
general is that it’s strange that this has
become a government issue at all,” Car-
lberg said. “It falls along the lines of Vol-
taire: I disapprove of what you say, but I
will defend to death your right to say it.”
In the United States, however, Jewish
organizational officials were strident
in calling for Sweden to condemn the
report.
David Harris, executive director of the
American Jewish Committee, called on
Bildt to embrace the statement made by
Sweden’s ambassador in Tel Aviv.
“Assuming you disagreed with the
article, all you had to say was that you
found the report odious and welcomed
the reaction of Ambassador Bonnier,”
Harris wrote in a letter to the Swedish for-
eign minister. “That would have been the
right thing to do in a case that has gar-
nered global attention.”
Condemnation of the news story came
from some unexpected sources, too. Mat-
thew Cassel, a blogger for the pro-Pales-
tinian Web site Electronic Intifada, called
the Aftonbladet story “highly irresponsi-
ble” and said it “lacked credibility.”
But Cassel also said Israel was exploit-
ing the controversy for its benefit.
watch your business
grow…
Advertise in JTNews!

Letters t Page 3A
Do we really have a responsibility to
replace the Jews killed in the Holocaust?
What a weird idea, as if individuals can or
should be replaced.
What a thing to wish on innocent poten-
tial spouses, that someone gay or lesbian
should repress their desires and marry
anyway just to raise children. Would the
writer of the letter want to be married to a
gay man? Would she want her children to
be married to people who would rather be
with someone of the same sex?
In any case, gay men and lesbians can
and do raise children, whether their own
biological children or adopted.
Margaret Lemberg
Seattle
Time to Unite
I am deeply disturbed that the JTNews
chose to publish the objectionable and
narrow-minded message written by Edith
Isaacs Ervin, “Broad Goals,” in response
to the article “Gay Israelis Reeling After
Shooting Attack.” It is comments such as
these that further divide and destroy our
already small Jewish community, not the
decreased rates of reproduction amongst
gay Jewish couples as she alludes to.
Young Jews in my generation feel increas-
ingly disheartened by the political, ide-
ological, and religious divisions in the
Jewish community that exclude numerous
members out of a fear of our differences.
Telling gay Jews to “straighten up and fly
right” is not an appropriate way to encour-
age re-population “after the slaughter of
World War II” and is an example of the
harmful words that turn young Jews away
from their tradition. When our community
embraces every Jew, regardless of affilia-
tion, political stance, sexual orientation, or
gender, we will then fully thrive and flour-
ish. We must never forget our past per-
secution; however, we must heal, move
forward, and celebrate the diversity in our
community. As the Talmud says, “Who is
wise? The one who learns from all.”
Sasha Parsley
Western Washington University student
Kirkland
Teach respect
I was shocked and offended by the letter
to the editor (“Broad Goals,” Aug. 21).
To the best of my knowledge the teach-
ings of the Torah, which I take as the primary
goals of the Jewish people, do not require
procreation. Love, compassion and respect
for all people seem to me to be the essence,
friday, september 4, 2009
The Unobtainable Truth t Page 25A Instead, Israeli officials have devolved
into name-calling, backed by an array of
soldiers in danger; Human Rights Watch pro-Israel NGOs and lobbying groups that
says the warnings, while welcome, were distribute — sometimes anonymously —
often too generalized and even confusing. “backgrounders” that attempt through
Such differences might have been sometimes tenuous links to discredit the
addressed by dialogue and an exchange human rights groups. The foreign ministry
of information that would observe limits recently distributed material implicating
aimed at preser v ing Israeli tactical HRW editor Joe Stork with disseminat-
secrecy. Israeli officers, for instance, have ing radical, anti-Israel and pro-terrorist
said that they have names to attach to material in the 1970s; it was an odd volley
fatalities that show that the vast majority from the office of a minister, Avigdor Lie-
were combatants; but they have not pro- berman, who says police investigations of
vided these to human rights groups. criminal conduct and a youthful flirtation
Human rights groups have constantly with the racist Kach movement should not
pressed Israeli authorities to address spe- bear on his current diplomacy.
cific claims, and have been brushed off. Yet More substantively, Prime Minister
the release of information that at least 13 Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is
incidents were under criminal investiga- now seeking ways to legally cut off foreign
tion prior to the July 29 publication date of government funding for Israeli human
the military’s report might have gone some rights NGOs.
way toward refuting claims that Israel was The human rights groups are not
cavalier about abuse allegations. above using the law to make an exception
Karen Coval/JDS
The gates open in Bellevue and the students start pouring in for the Jewish Day
School’s first day of school on Wed., Sept. 2.
Is Your Estate Plan Complete?
* Complimentary Estate Plan Review
* Health Care Directive
* Special Needs Planning
* Probate and Estate Administration
* Wills and Trusts
* Asset Protection and Tax Planning
* Complimentary Educational Seminars
Byrd Garrett, pllc
206-363-0123 • www.byrdgarrett.com
n jtnews 27
community news
a
of Israel; HRW frequently calls for inter-
national investigations, saying that Israel
has repeatedly failed “to conduct credi-
ble investigations into alleged violations
of the laws of war.”
The problem with such calls is that
Israel believes such international mech-
anisms cannot be trusted because they
are wrapped into the United Nations —
a worry Human Rights Watch admits is
credible. Moreover, left unsaid is the fail-
ure generally among Western democra-
cies to dig too deep when human rights
abuses are at hand. The Obama adminis-
tration reportedly is considering a strat-
eg y for prosecuting individuals who
carried out torture, but not those who
ordered it.
Israeli army spokesmen say it is fairer
to note what Israel is doing to prevent the
recurrence of abuses, citing as an exam-
ple the introduction of the ultra-precise
missiles.
Crossword answers
(from page 6)
Call now to schedule a
complimentary consultation
and receive your choice of
one of our free reports:
Dangers of Do-it-Yourself
Wills & Trusts
15 Common Reasons to Do
Estate Planning

80
the broad goal, of the Jewish people.
WELCOMECelebrating
TO UWAJIMAYA.
Our
thAnniversary
No person — read: Woman — should
be seen as an incubator for future war- Offering the freshest produce, seafood, deli, grocery,
riors of a state. No person, man or woman,
should be chastised should she/he choose meat and gift ideas in the Pacific Northwest.
not to reproduce. Many heterosexual
people choose not to reproduce. Would 19 2 8 -2 0 0 8

py
they too, be the victims of Ms. Ervin’s vitri-

H a p
olic comments? In fact, many homosexuals,
male and female, raise children in happy

r
homes. Scientific research has shown these

Y e a
children to be as happy and healthy as chil-

New
dren raised in heterosexual homes.
I would like to point out that most
homosexual adults were raised in hetero-
sexual households. Sexual orientation is
not about parents’ modeling behavior.
In a world that is overpopulated, in a time
when there is so much violence between
individuals and groups, it seems particu-
larly sad that people who love one another Quality Asian Grocery & Gifts Since 1928
should be spoken about with such disdain.
As an educator I know it is true that we
teach by example. I hope Ms. Ervin will
begin teaching to those around her the
precepts of Judaism that are at our core:
seattle
seattle: :205.624.6248
206.624.6248 | bellevue
| bellevue: : 425.747.9012
425.747.9012 | beaverton
| renton: 425.277.1635 | beaverton:
: 503.643.4512
503.643.4512
Respect for others.
Kayla Weiner, Ph.D. www.uwajimaya.com
www.uwajimaya.com
Seattle
a28 jtnews
community news
n friday, september 4, 2009
Iran Sanctions t Page 1A
still was not cooperating with efforts to
assess whether it is militarizing its civil-
ian nuclear program, it provided support
to the tough line European leaders have
been taking recently against Iran.
“We already have sanctions in place,
but we can go further on sanctions, and
we’re ready to do that,” German Chan-
cellor Angela Merkel said in a joint news
conference with Netanyahu on Aug. 27
during the Israeli prime minister’s visit
to Germany.
Merkel stressed that to be effec-
tive, sanctions must include Russia and
China, two major trading partners with
the Islamic Republic that until now have
been reluctant to expand sanctions.
“We will not be able to allow for a sit-
uation where a few countries of the Euro-
pean Union and America are in on this
but we leave China, for example, Russia
and other countries outside of this,” she
said.
There are parallel efforts in the U.S.
Congress to pass a unilateral sanctions
package targeting Iran’s energy sector
and banking system.
It s e eme d c le a r t h at G er m a ny,
France, Britain and the U.S. were pre-
pared to make the strong sanctions
case possible this week when their rep-
resentatives meet in Germany with rep-
resentatives of Russia and China at a
pre-General Assembly gathering of the
“P5 plus 1” — the five permanent mem-
bers of the Security Council plus Ger-
many.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
said last week that Iran’s discredited
election in June robbed the nation of
credibility.
“It is the same leaders in Iran who say
that the nuclear program is peaceful and
that the elections were honest,” Sarkozy
was reported by Reuters as saying in his
annual address Aug. 26 to French ambas-
sadors. “Who can believe them?”
The same day, British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown also expressed skepticism
of Iran’s denials that its civilian nuclear
program did not have a military end.
“The region and world have nothing
to fear from a civilian nuclear program in
Iran,” Brown said, “but Iran’s actions do
not make their arguments convincing.”
On Aug. 25, Iranian media reported
that Tehran was prepared to offer a new
nuclear package to the international
communit y. Details were not forth-
coming.
The prospect of international unanim-
ity on isolating Iran may help pave the
way for Netanyahu to freeze settlement
building in the West Bank and Jerusalem,
a component the Obama administration
considers critical to advancing the peace
process.
Israeli media reports suggest that the
Americans and Israelis have arrived at a
formula that would end their recent war
of words over settlements: Netanyahu
effectively would end settlement expan-
sion, including construction in eastern
Jerusalem, and the United States would
back away from unequivocal demands
for a stop to such building.
L'Shana Tova
Wishing
the community
a happy and
healthy
U.S. officials in recent days seemed to
be tamping down their anti-settlement
rhetoric.
“We want to keep these negotiations
in a confidential, diplomatic track,” State
Department spokesman Ian Kelly said
Aug. 26 when he was pressed on the set-
tlement matter. “We are in a sensitive
time.”
Netanyahu met in London last week
w it h George Mitchell, Obama’s top
Middle East envoy, who issued a state-
ment afterward describing “good prog-
ress” toward resuming talks with the
Palestinians.
Mitchell held meetings this week with
Mike Herzog, the chief of staff for Israel’s
Defense Ministry, and Yitzhak Molcho,
Netanyahu’s top diplomatic adviser.
On the peace process, European lead-
ers have praised Netanyahu’s measures
to ease daily life for West Bank Palestin-
ians.
“I strongly welcome his recent moves
to remove checkpoints on the West
Bank,” Brown said last week at his joint
news conference with Netanyahu. “An
economic road map should underpin and
sustain political dialogue, and I know
that the prime minister is committed to
exactly that.”
This week, Israeli President Shimon
Peres told reporters that the next step
was a summit during the General Assem-
bly bringing together Obama, Netanyahu
and the Palestinian Authority president,
Mahmoud Abbas.
Oba m a, ac c ord i ng to Ha’are t z ,
w i l l out l i ne a t wo-yea r t i met able
9OUDONTHAVETOBEATRADITIONAL*EW party or corporate event, and it’s
TOSHAREIN*EWISHTRADITIONS
*OINUSINCELEBRATING
2OSH(ASHANAH
toward arriving at a final-status deal.
That would correspond with the plan
announced last week by Salam Fayyad,
the P.A. prime minister, to establish a
de facto Palestinian state within two
years.
Abba s a nd Fay yad a re eager to
undercut both Hamas, the terrorist
group controlling the Gaza Strip, and
their own Fatah Party’s young guard,
who cha l lenged t he establ ish ment
leadership dur ing t he recent pa r t y
congress. A plan for statehood could
underscore the leadership’s seriousness
against a recent history that instead has
suggested impotence against Israel and
Hamas.
U.S. officials have welcomed the plan,
insofar as it calls for the establishment of
critical infrastructure. But Israel’s For-
eign Ministry rejected Fayyad’s unilat-
eralism, albeit in tepid terms suggesting
that Israel might endorse a plan that was
less unequivocal about a deadline for
statehood.
“The Palestinians’ unilateral ini-
tiatives do not contribute to a positive
dialogue between the parties, and if
the unilateral initiative presented by
Salam Fayyad is promoted, Israel will
respond,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lie-
berman said in a statement Monday.
“A positive dynamic must be created
between both sides without committing
to target dates for an overall arrange-
ment, which in the past gave rise to dis-
appointment and frustration, which led
to the outbreak of conflict between the
two sides.”
A Seattle tradition for 20 years
Relax
and Enjoy!
Our staff will partner with you to
create a memorable experience.
Whether it’s your wedding, holiday
at your office, our venue or your
special location, leave the work to us!
Upcoming Events at Kaspars
Cynthia Williams New Year. 3EPTEMBER
PM Sept. 26 Cooking Class:
Kaspar’s Fall Favorites
•
Associate Broker, EcoBroker 3HALOM3UNDAY3CHOOLSTARTS3EPT Oct. 2 Springhill Farm Harvest Dinner
Quorum Real Estate—Laurelhurst, Inc. at Kaspars
+
"NAI-ITZVAHFAMILYEVENTS Oct. 16 Yakima Wine Dinner
Call 206-769-7140 0LEASECALLFORATOUR with Seattle DINING!
cwilliams@quorumseattle.com •
&ORMOREINFORMATION Nov. 26 Thanksgiving Buffet Dinner
Dec. 2 Champagne Tasting Dinner
PLEASECONTACTUSAT


Dec. 31 New Year’s Eve Gala
INFO SECULARJEWISHCIRCLEORG
WWWSECULARJEWISHCIRCLEORG Visit kaspars.com for menus and more info.
19 West Harrison • Seattle, WA 98119
3EATTLESONLY(UMANISTIC*EWISH#OMMUNITY 206.298.0123 • info@kaspars.com
Jewish community

4FQUFNCFS

m
0DUPCFS



IT’S TIME TO
BAG HUNGER
-PDBM
TZOBHPHVFT
PSHBOJ[BUJPOT
BOE
TDIPPMT
BSF
DPMMFDUJOH

UBYEFEVDUJCMF
EPOBUJPOT
PG
OPOQFSJTIBCMF
GPPE
BOE
HSPDFSZ

DBSET
GPS
PVS
+'4
'PPE
#BOL
%POBUF
B
MPU
EPOBUF
B
MJUUMF

Russ Katz, Realtor &JUIFS
XBZ
ZPVMM
GFFM
HPPE
JOTJEF
Windermere Real Estate/Wall St. Inc.
206-284-7327 (Direct)
www.russellkatz.com

JEW-ISH .COM
JDS Grad & Past Board of Trustees Member
Mercer Island High School Grad For more information, please call (206) 461-3240
University of Washington Grad or visit www.jfsseattle.org
 friday, september 4, 2009 n jtnews 29
national & international news
a
Pooling resources
Israeli, Palestinian mayors pitch rare joint industrial project

Gil Shefler
JTA World News Service
NEW YORK (JTA) — Even as Israeli
and Palestinian leaders argue about the
conditions that must be in place for a
return to the negotiating table, they are
striking similar tones on the need for eco-
nomic development.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister
Salam Fayyad unveiled an economic plan
last week intended to bring about a stable,
independent Palestinian state within two
years, while Israeli Prime Minister Ben-
jamin Netanyahu has been talking for
months about the need for an “economic
peace.”
Some local Israeli and Palestinian
officials aren’t waiting for the rhetoric to
translate into action. They’re taking mat-
ters into their own hands.
This week, the Jewish mayor of a
region in northern Israel adjacent to the
West Bank announced a plan with the
governor of the West Bank city of Jenin for
a joint industrial zone, coexistence proj-
ects and a sports league that would bring
together the region’s Israeli and Palestin-
ian children.
“We believe that life in the Middle
East can be different,” said Danny Atar,
the Jewish mayor of the Gilboa Regional
Council, a mountainous area of Israel
of 22,000 people located between Jenin
and the Israeli city of Beit Shean. “We’re
taking responsibility and combining pol-
itics with economics. We are building an
industrial park that will provide employ-
ment for 15,000 Palestinians and 2,000
Israelis.”
The plan is unusual not only because
it represent s a coord i nated ef for t
between local Israeli and Palestinian
officials, but also because it involves
the Palestinian governor of a city that
until recently was known as the sui-
cide-bomber capital of the West Bank,
and because the project is being sup-
ported by Jewish groups in the United
States.
Jenin’s governor, Qadoura Qadoura,
says now is the time for cooperation.
“No two people can live beside each
other while one is prospering and the
other is not,” he said.
Qadoura and Atar, along with Atar’s
Israeli-Arab deputy, Eid Saleem, are on a
U.S. tour this week trying to sell their idea
to the Jewish public and win investors for
the project.  tence. A hotbed of militancy from which
The plan calls for establishing a joint
Israel-Palestinian industrial park just
inside the West Bank that will manu-
facture products such as olive oil and
packaged salad greens to be exported
to overseas markets via Israel. It also
involves setting up cultural centers
to teach Hebrew to Palestinians and
Arabic to Israeli Jews, organizing wom-
en’s empowerment courses and hold-
ing sports tournaments for children from
both communities.
“The plans are already all set up,” Atar
said at a news conference Monday at the
Conference of Presidents of Major Amer-
ican Jewish Organizations in New York.
“It is in my own benefit as an Israeli that
the Palestinians do well, and we hope
that two years from now it will start
operating. We will provide the infra-
structure from the Israeli side, but this is
their project. It is entirely up to them to
make it succeed, and that makes all the
difference.”
Robert Zwank, the executive director
of the Jewish Federation of Western Con-
necticut who organized the tour, says he
hopes the plan will be extended to other
parts of Israel and the West Bank.
“As a bottom-up initiative, it has to
be supported by people in the private
sector,” he said in a phone interview.
Seven years ago, few could have
imagined Jenin as a model of coexis-
Palestinian militant groups dispatched
suicide bombers to strike Israeli cities,
Jenin was the site of a 2002 Israeli army
incursion that left many dead on both
sides and leveled parts of the city’s ref-
ugee camp.
Now, however, Jenin is one of the
places Palestinian and U.S. officials tout
as a model of success for a revamped Pal-
estinian security force, and even some
Israeli officials speak of a changed atmo-
sphere in the city.
“I can walk around Jenin without a
guard, without any of Qadoura’s people,”
Atar said. “It is now a paradigm of good
security and good governance.”
Qadoura, a member of P.A. Presi-
dent Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party, says
the project will help bolster moderates
among Palestinians and weaken support
for Hamas and its radicalism.
“We have our radicals and it is of con-
cern, but when we have over 50 percent
unemploy ment and 6,000 graduates
without work, then they become targets
for radicals,” Qadoura said.
This isn’t the first attempt at a joint Pal-
estinian-Israeli industrial project. Per-
haps the best known is the industrial park
at the Erez Crossing, on the north end
of the Gaza Strip. Once a thriving com-
mercial area that provided employment
for thousands of Palestinians, it now lies
vacant following repeated attacks by
Hamas on the facility.
At their meeting Monday in New York,
Atar said his project would not suffer the
same fate as the Erez park.
“This is not an intergovernmental
project,” he said. “Our aim is to encour-
age the private sector to invest.”
Atar adds, “What other alternatives
are there, to have nothing in the news but
how many Palestinians or Israelis were
killed?”

In this New Year, all of us at

Stone-Buhr, from those who
prepare the soil and plant, to
those who reap and process,
and finally those who take
it to your shelves promise
to continue to bring you the
“bounty of the earth.”
You can see us all at
FindTheFarmer.com
a30 jtnews
obituaries
n friday, september 4, 2009
Kennedy seen as giant on
domestic issues, Soviet Jewry
Eric Fingerhut
JTA World News Service
WASHINGTON (JTA) — U.S. Sen.
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is being
remembered in the Jewish community for
his impact on domestic issues such as edu-
cation and health care, but also as a giant
in the Soviet Jewry movement.
Kennedy “was one of the earliest,
strongest champions on behalf of Soviet
Jewry,” said Mark Levin, executive direc-
tor of NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in
Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eur-
asia. “He was always proactive and didn’t
wait for NCSJ and other organizations to
come to him — he was always looking to
see where he could make a difference.”
In his 2006 book, The Case for Democ-
racy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome
Tyranny and Terror, Natan Sharansky
specifically mentions Kennedy as the first
Western politician to meet with refuse-
niks “in a midnight meeting that was
kept secret from the KGB until the very
last moment.”
And Levin noted that whenever Ken-
nedy met with Soviet officials, in Wash-
ington or in the Soviet Union, he would
bring lists of those he wanted to see
released.
“He never forgot we were talking about
individuals and families,” Levin said.
Kennedy also will be remembered as
a strong champion of Israel. Jewish orga-
nizational officials noted he was a stal-
wart supporter of foreign aid, opposed
arms sales to Jordan and Saudi Arabia in
the early 1980s, and was a strong backer
of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel. He also publicly rebuked President
George H.W. Bush when he linked settle-
ments to U.S. loan guarantees for the emi-
gration of Soviet Jews, and was a leading
voice in speaking out against the Arab
boycott of Israel.
Shana Tova
from
Vicki Robbins, ctc
Robbins Travel
at Lake City
Voted Best Travel Agent 2006
—JTNews readers
We are your experts for Israel—
our specialty!
UW special contract fares
El Al wholesaler
Multi-lingual
Great prices on Hawaii packages,
cruises, international tickets
and tours.
Your key to the world.
12316 Lake City Way NE • Seattle, WA 98125
Tel: (206) 526-5010 • (206) 364-0100
Toll free: 1-800-621-2662
robbins@lakecitytravel.com
a housecleaning service
seattle
• Licensed
• Bonded
206/325-8902
• insured www.renta-yenta.com
Israeli official rushed to praise Ken-
nedy, with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu calling the senator “an Amer-
ican patriot” and “a great friend of Israel,”
according to media reports.
And Israeli President Shimon Peres
said Kennedy’s death was “a very big loss
to every sensitive and thinking person
the world over.”
“Kennedy was a clear friend of Israel
the whole way, and in every place that he
could help us he did help,” he added.
The late senator drew praise from a
broad range of Jewish organizations,
including both the Orthodox Union and
the Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism. They noted that he had worked
on a vast array of domestic issues over
his 47 years on Capitol Hill, from reli-
gious liberty bills such as the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act, to his efforts on
children’s health insurance.
In a statement, the president of the
National Council of Jew ish Women,
Nancy Ratzan, said: “We were honored
to work by his side on so many critical
issues: Family and Medical Leave, the
Lilly Ledbetter Act, the Civil Rights Act,
Voting Rights, the Americans with Dis-
ability Act, hate crimes prevention, the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances
Act, health care, the increase in the mini-
mum wage, and numerous judicial nomi-
nations — to name a few.”
The Nat ional Jew ish Democrat ic
Council said in a statement that the
“greatest tribute” to Kennedy would be to
enact comprehensive health insurance
reform.
“On the little stuff and the big stuff,
he was always there for us,” said Nancy
Kaufman, executive director of t he
Jewish Community Relations Council of
Greater Boston. “There wasn’t an issue he
wasn’t on top of.”
Home owners club
1202 harrison seattle 98109
Have you ever worried about which
electrician to call for help? Which painter
or carpenter or appliance repairman?
For over 50 years the Home owners club
has assisted thousands of local homeowners in
securing quality and guaranteed home
services! To join or for more information call…
(206) 622-3500
www.homeownersclub.org
sound and silence
A unique approach to music lessons
Ages 3 to adult
Leschi/Mt. Baker
Jay Hamilton
www.soundand.com
206-328-7694
eastside Gift
425/454-1512 Certificate
Available!
Death announcement
Howard S. Keller
November 9, 1914–July 19, 2009
Howard S. Keller was born on November 9, 1914, in Portland,
Oregon, and passed away surrounded by family on July 19, 2009,
in Seattle, at the age of 94. He is survived by Frances, his best
friend and adored wife of 69 years, and his grateful children,
Leatrice and Jim Keller, Barbara and Stuart Sulman, and Michele
and Nick Keller, all of Seattle. He will also be missed by his
loving grandchildren, Felice and Colman Becker, Carin and Scott
Jacobson, Lainey and Scott Slotnick, Scott Sulman, Caitlin Keller,
Michael Keller, and Courtney Keller, and his three great-grand-
children, Keller and Molly Slotnick, and Ryan Jacobson.
Howard graduated from Reed College in 1937 and pursued his
MBA at Northwestern University in 1939. He founded Keller Supply
Company in 1945, which has grown to become a successful, multi-
state, wholesale plumbing company. He retired in 1982 and enjoyed
traveling, tennis, and spending time with his family.
He had a great love of learning and reading and was instru-
mental in fostering the Access Program for adult learning at the
University of Washington. He attended more than 100 classes
there over 20 years, mostly in history, but also in German, com-
parative religion, Jewish culture, and other subjects. As members
of the History Department’s Visiting Committee, Howard and
Frances became aware of the department’s need for additional
funds and created the Howard and Frances Keller Endowed
Professorship in History, enhancing the UW’s ability to attract
and retain distinguished faculty. They also established the Howard
and Frances Keller Research Fund and were enthusiastic backers
of the UW Athletic Department.
Howard supported a variety of worthwhile organizations and
was especially committed to promoting education. In addition
to his contributions to the University of Washington, he was a
proud supporter of Reed College, among other schools. He and
his wife also instituted the Frances & Howard Keller Family
Lecture Series at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, striving to bring
important speakers and educators to the community.
Howard will be remembered for his extensive knowledge
(developed over years of reading), his sense of humor, his kindness
to all people, his entrepreneurial spirit, his true affection and
appreciation for the people he worked with, and his love for his
wife, family and education. He had countless friends and extended
family members who will continue to be inspired by Howard’s
friendship, positive attitude, and accomplishments.
Memorial services were held at Temple De Hirsch Sinai in
Seattle. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Jewish
Family Service, Kline Galland Center, The University of Wash-
ington Department of History, or the charity of your choice.
®
Dennis B. Goldstein
& Associates
Certified Public Accountants
Personalized Consulting & Planning
for Individuals & Small Business
Tax Preparation
12715 Bel-Red Road • Suite 120 • Bellevue, WA 98005
Phone: 425-455-0430 • Fax: 425-455-0459
dennis@dbgoldsteincpa.com
Health & Happiness in the New Year
Ken Shiovitz 206-718-2140
Associate Broker
E-mail: ken@shiovitz.com
Serving the community for over 25 years
206-526-5544
http://home.sprynet.com/~shiovitz
Be in the know…
Subscribe to JTNews
206.441.4553
Send submissions to: JTNews — Lifecycles, 2041 Third Ave., Seattle, WA 98121
lifecycles@jtnews.net Phone: 206-441-4553
Wedding
Rebecca Susan Frankel and
Daniel Stephen Novick
Rebecca and Daniel were married March
21, 2009 in Atlanta, Ga. The ceremony was
officiated by Rabbi Alvin Sugarman, who
is a cousin of the bride.
Rebecca is the daughter of Barry and
Judy Frankel of Atlanta. Her grandparents
are Shirley and Don Wender of Atlanta and
the late Milton Romm, the late Meyer
Frankel and the late Evelyn Frankel. She
has a Bachelor’s degree in Education from
the University of Texas at Austin. She works
for the El Paso Independent School
District.
Daniel is the son of Michael and Tina
Novick of Bellevue. His grandparents are
Dorothy Borschow of Dallas, Texas and
the late Paul Borschow and the late Jules
and Ruth Novick.
Daniel is an alumni of Bellevue High
School. He has a Bachelor’s degree in
broadcast journalism and government. He
is a television news anchor and reporter for
KFOX-TV in El Paso.
Michael Aaron Yashar
Bar Mitzvah
Michael will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah
on September 5, 2009 at Temple B’nai
Torah in Bellevue.
Michael is the son of Mayer and Sara
Yashar of Redmond and the brother of Elliot
and Noah. His grandparents are Arthur
Hartman of Toronto, Ontario, Susanna and
David Bensinger of San Francisco, Calif.,
Monazam Yashar of Concord, Calif. and
the late Azizollah Yashar.
Michael is in the 7th grade at the Jewish
Day School.
2-for-1
“Happy Happy Birthday”
Cards
Express yourself with our special
“Tribute Cards” and help fund
JFS programs at the same time…
meeting the needs of friends,
family and loved ones here at
home. Call Irene at (206) 861-3150
or, on the web, click on “Donations”
at www.jfsseattle.org. It’s a 2-for-1
that says it all.
Wedding
Jennifer Bolson and
Jonathan Meer
Jennifer and Jonathan were married on
July 5, 2009 at the Snoqualmie Ridge Golf
Club. The ceremony was officiated by Rabbi
James Mirel of Temple B’nai Torah.
Jennifer is the daughter of Edward and
Adele Brady Bolson of Redmond. Her
grandparents are Carol Bolson of Bellevue
and the late Harry Bolson and the late Jack
and Audrey Brady.
She attended Lake Washington High
School as well as the Overlake School and
the Jewish Day School. She has a B.A. in
Psychology from the University of Penn-
sylvania and an M.B.A. and an M.A. in
Education from Stanford University.
Jennifer works as a management con-
sultant for McKinsey & Company.
Jonathan is the son of Peter and Ioana
Meer of East Brunswick, N.J. His grandparents
are the late Solomon and Irina Anton-Manea
and the late Paul and Zsuzsa Meer.
He has a B.A. in economics from
Princeton University and a Ph.D. in
economics from Stanford University. He is
an assistant professor of economics at Texas
A&M University. He received his elementary education in Palestine, graduated
The couple resides in College Station,
Texas.
JTNews Accepts
Death Notices
for Print and
Online
Publication
Please use our simple online form to
submit death notices directly to
JTNews for publication.
To submit a death notice, please
visit www.jtnews.net, log in, click
on the lifecycles tab, and complete the
simple form. If you would assistance
completing the form, please contact
Lynn at 206-441-4553.
Once you have completed the form, a
JTNews representative will contact
you within 24 hours to finalize and
confirm details. Please note: Your
Death Announcement is not complete
and will not be published until we
have contacted you and confirmed the
details. Call Lynn at 206-441-4553
for more information.
www.jtnews.net . 206-441-4553
friday, september 4, 2009 n jtnews 31
lifecycles a
Death announcement
Ann Ostrer
October 2, 1920–August 15, 2009
Ann Ostrer was born in the Bronx, New York on October 2,
1920, and passed away at the Kline-Galland Home in Seattle on
August 15. She was 88 years old.
Ann and her late husband Len were both born and raised in
the Bronx and moved to Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in
December, 1944.
Ann and Len raised three children; Jerry, Elliott and Donna.
As a young woman in Seattle, Ann was very active in local B’nai
B’rith women’s chapters, and worked full-time with Len in their
business in Seattle.
In the late 1950s, Ann and Len had a custom-built house
constructed in Bellevue a few blocks from the Glendale Country Club.
After retirement in the early 1970s, Len and Ann sold their
Bellevue “dream house” and moved first to Federal Way, then
to Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula, and finally to Scottsdale,
Arizona where Ann and Len enjoyed life in the desert sun. After
Len died in 1992, Ann continued to reside in Scottsdale until
she moved back to Seattle three years ago to be closer to her
children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Ann was a resident of The Summit for three years until a few
days prior to her death, when she was moved to The Kline-
Galland Home due to her deteriorating health. She is survived
by her daughter, Donna Mollan (John), her son Jerry (Sue), her
sister Irene Cohn, nine grandchildren, and seven great-grand-
children. Her husband, Len, after over 50 years of marriage, died
in 1992, and her son, Elliott (Leslie), died this year. Per Ann’s
request, there will not be a funeral service. In lieu of flowers,
please send any donations to the charity of your choice.
Death announcement
Joseph M. Voss
July 23, 1931–July 28, 2009
Joseph M. Voss was born July 23, 1931 in Julich, Germany
to Hugo and Hannah Voss. He drowned in a swimming accident
July 28, 2009 in Seward Park.
Joe immigrated to Palestine in 1938 and to the U.S. in 1947.
from Brooklyn Technical High School in New York in 1948,
earned a B.A. in electrical engineering from the Cooper Union
College of Art and Engineering in New York in 1953, and a
M.S.E.E. from the University of Washington in 1970.
On Joe’s graduation in 1953, the Boeing Co. recruited him
to the space division. He worked on the Minute Man, AWACS,
and MX defense programs and the 777 airplane, retiring in 1995.
In 1967, he worked for Boeing in Munich, Germany.
In 1972, Joe took his family to Israel where he worked three
years for the Israeli defense ministry.
Joe was an avid traveler to Europe and the Middle East and
a Holocaust researcher. He served on the boards of Congregation
Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath, the Washington State Jewish
Historical Society, and the Jewish Genealogical Society. He was
a past president of the Hebrew Free Loan Society. Recently he
volunteered at Group Health Co-op Hospital, was an AARP tax
preparation consultant, and taught seniors to use e-mail.
Joe is survived by his wife, Hannah; son Alex, daughter-in-law
Ruthie and their children, Sarah, Joshua and Jeremy; daughter
Naomi, son-in-law Michael Potter and their children Ruth, Shira
and Daniel.
Donations may be made to Hebrew Free Loan, Cong. Bikur
Cholim-Machzikay Hadath, the HMB Foundation at Northwest
Yeshiva High School, or a charity of your choice.
Serving the community with dignity & respect.
Burial  Cremation
Columbarium  Receptions
On Queen Anne
at 520 W. Raye St.,
Seattle
(In front of Hills of Eternity Cemetery)
Barbara Cannon
PleAse cAll 206-622-0949 or 206-282-5500
a32 jtnews n
national & international news
friday, september 4, 2009

Sending out an SOS (Save our sandwich)

Man on a mission to save the Jewish deli
Sue Fishkoff
JTA World News Service
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — Chicago
and Cleveland have the best corned beef.
Detroit is tops for rye bread. The best
smoked meat is in Montreal, and for pas-
trami, you can’t touch New York and L.A.
When it comes to Jewish delicatessen,
30-year-old David Sax is the go-to guy. A
longtime deli aficionado, the annoyingly
trim Sax spent three years eating his way
through more than 150 Jewish delis to
research Save the Deli: In Search of Per-
fect Pastrami, Crusty Rye and the Heart
of Jewish Delicatessen, a wistful, riotously
funny paean to this quintessential slice of
American Jewish history.
The book, which will be published in
October by Houghton Miflin Harcourt,
is a delicious romp through a fast-disap-
pearing world.
In 1931, Sax reports, there were 2,000
delis in New York Cit y, t hree-quar-
ters of them kosher. Today, Sax says,
his research turns up 25 Jewish delis in
the city, two-thirds of which are kosher.
A similar pattern has followed across
Nort h A merica, w it h cit y af ter cit y
sounding the death knell for its last tra-
ditional deli. Sax guesses there are just
a few hundred left worldwide, most of
them in the United States.
“The Jewish deli is dying,” Sax told
JTA. “Each time I hear a deli closes, some-
thing inside me dies.”
German immigrants brought the deli
to New York in the 1820s, Sax reports. By
the 1870s and ’80s, German Jews had made
their own kosher modifications to the tra-
ditional treif recipes: Schmaltz, or ren-
dered chicken fat, instead of lard; ptcha, or
jellied calves’ feet, instead of pig trotters.
beef, tongue, pastrami or smoked beef, a
softer, gentler Canadian variant.
Although delicatessen originated in
Europe, American Jews put their own
stamp on it. Pastramia, for example, was
The origins of the first in its native Romania a method of pre-
pastrami sandwich paring any meat or poultry, and was in
is shrouded in mys- fact originally used most often for duck
tery, although writer or goose. In the United States, Romanian
Patricia Volk told Sax Jews applied the same technique to beef,
her great-grandfather which began pouring in from the great
was the first to slap Western plains and was much cheaper
past rami bet ween than game poultry.
two slices of rye bread “The Jewish deli is rooted in the fla-
at his kosher butcher vors of the Old World,” Sax says. “Some
shop in New York in things are the same, like the chopped
the late 1880s. liver, t he chicken soup. Ot hers are
S a x c h ron ic le s amalgamations, like the sandwich, an
the rise and decline American thing that the Jewish delis
of the “kosher-style” appropriated.”
deli, an A merican A big part of Sax’s mission is to encour-
innovation that orig- age young Jews to take over delis at risk of
inally differed from closing or to open new ones, a goal that
its kosher counter- might seem counterintuitive in today’s
part mainly in hours economic climate. But he insists the
of operation (t hey market for deli food is there, as a new gen-
did not close on the eration looks back nostalgically to a cui-
Sabbath) and lack of sine that represents an earlier, simpler,
rabbinical supervi- VirtualErn/Creative Commons more comforting era.
sion. Reaching its heyday in the 1950s and says, using the Hebrew for kosher certifi- “People aren’t really looking for inno-
’60s, the kosher-style deli eventually suc- cation. “It’s a turf war that uses religion vation in deli,” he insists. “The best things
cumbed to economic pressure and pop- as leverage.” I see in the new delis are a return to tra-
ular tastes and began putting cheese on But most of this book is about food, dition.”
turkey sandwiches, offering milk with the gloriously fatty, heart-stopping Ash- His favorite new Jewish delis are
coffee and using non-kosher meats. From kenazi cuisine that is the signature of the taking advantage of the organic, do-it-
there, it was an easy hop to serving bacon Jewish deli: Braised brisket in wine sauce; yourself movement that is influencing the
with French toast. Today few such delis pickled tongue; cabbage rolls in sweet- country’s restaurant scene.
use the term “kosher-style,” preferring to and-sour tomato; matjes herring; and, “It’s ‘innovative’ today to pickle your
call themselves Jewish or New York delis. of course, the litany of “k’s,” the knishes, own meat or make your own kishke,”
Sax bemoans the rise of Glatt kosher, kreplach, kugel and kvetching. he says.
a stricter standard for kosher meat that He saves his highest praise for the deli In his effort to give props to these
demands round-the-clock oversight by a meats: Corned beef pickled and boiled in newcomers, Sax glosses over the sad but
mashgiach, or kosher supervisor. He says vats of brine; pastrami, lovingly rubbed very real possibility that the Jewish deli
it puts financial demands on deli owners with secret spice mixtures, then smoked may not survive outside a few key cities.
that most cannot meet. That’s why most and steamed to perfection. The way to New York’s deli scene has imploded, he
new delis are not kosher, he claims — it’s suss out a good deli, he says, is to order says, and new delis in Portland, Ore. and
just too expensive. the matzoh ball soup and whatever deli Boulder, Colo., may be just flashes in the
“There’s a lot of money in hechsher,” he meat the city specializes in, be it corned matzoh brie pan.

W h E R E To Wo R S h i p
GREATER SEATTLE K’hal Ateres Zekainim (Orthodox) 206/722-1464 bREmERTon TAcomA
Chabad House (Traditional) 206/527-1411 at Kline Galland Home, 7500 Seward Park Ave. S Congregation Beth Hatikvah 360/373-9884 Chabad-Lubavitch of Pierce County
4541 19th Ave. NE Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation (Orthodox) 11th and Veneta 1889 N Hawthorne Dr. 253/565-8770
Bet Alef (Meditative Reform) 206/527-9399 6500 52nd Ave. S 206/723-3028 EVERETT / EdmondS Temple Beth El (Reform) 253/564-7101
16330 NE 4th St., Bellevue (in Unity Church) The Summit at First Hill (Orthodox) Chabad Jewish Center of Snohomish County 5975 S. 12th St.
Congregation Kol Ami (Reform) 425/844-1604 1200 University St. 206/652-4444 2225 100th Ave. W, Edmonds 425/967-3036 TRi ciTiES
16530 Avondale Rd. NE, Woodinville Temple Beth Am (Reform) 206/525-0915 Temple Beth Or (Reform) 425/259-7125 Congregation Beth Sholom (Conservative)
Cong. Beis Menachem (Traditional Hassidic) 2632 NE 80th St. 3215 Lombard St., Everett 312 Thayer Drive, Richland 509/375-4740
1837 156th Ave. NE, Bellevue 425/957-7860 Temple B’nai Torah (Reform) 425/603-9677 FoRT LEWiS VAncouVER
Congregation Beth Shalom (Conservative) 15727 NE 4th, Bellevue Jewish Chapel 253/967-6590 Chabad-Lubavitch of Clark County
6800 35th Ave. NE 206/524-0075 Temple De Hirsch Sinai (Reform) Liggett Avenue & 12th 9604 NE 126th Ave., Suite 2320 360/993-5222
Cong. Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath Seattle, 1441 16th Ave. 206/323-8486 iSSAquAh E-mail: Rabbi@ChabadClarkCounty.com
(Orthodox) Bellevue, 3850 156th Ave. SE 425/454-5085 Chabad of the Central Cascades (Hassidic Traditional) www.chabadclarkcounty.com
5145 S Morgan 206/721-0970 SOuTH KING COuNTy 24121 SE Black Nugget Rd. 425/427-1654 Congregation Kol Ami 360/574-5169
Capitol Hill Minyan-BCMH (Orthodox) Bet Chaverim (Reform) 206/577-0403 oLympiA Service times and location can be found at
1501 17th Ave. E 206/721-0970 25701 14th Place S, Des Moines Chabad Jewish Discovery Center www.jewishvancouverusa.org
Congregation Eitz Or (Jewish Renewal) WEST SEATTLE 1611 Legion Way SE 360/584-4306 VAShon iSLAnd
6556 35th Ave. NE 206/467-2617 Kol HaNeshamah (Reform) 206/935-1590 Congregation B’nai Torah (Conservative) Havurat Ee Shalom 206/567-1608
Cong. Ezra Bessaroth (Sephardic Orthodox) Alki UCC, 6115 SW Hinds St. 3437 Libby Rd. 360/943-7354 15401 Westside Highway
5217 S. Brandon Street 206/722-5500 Torah Learning Center (Orthodox) Temple Beth Hatfiloh (Reconstructionist) P O Box 89, Vashon Island, WA 98070
Congregation Shaarei Tefilah-Lubavitch 5121 SW Olga St. 206/938-4852 201 8th Ave. SE 360/754-8519 WALLA WALLA
(Orthodox/Hassidic) poRT AnGELES And SEquim Congregation Beth Israel 509/522-2511
6250 43rd Ave. NE 206/527-1411 WAShinGTon STATE Congregation B’nai Shalom 360/452-2471 E-mail: nsleavitt@hotmail.com
Congregation Shevet Achim (Orthodox) AbERdEEn poRT ToWnSEnd WEnATchEE
5017 90th Ave. SE (at NW Yeshiva HS) Temple Beth Israel 360/533-5755 Congregation Bet Shira 360/379-3042 Greater Wenatchee Jewish Community
Mercer Island 206/275-1539 1819 Sumner at Martin puLLmAn, WA And moScoW, id 509/662-3333 or 206/782-1044
Congregation Tikvah Chadashah AnAcoRTES Jewish Community of the Palouse WhidbEy iSLAnd
(Gay/Lesbian) 206/355-1414 Anacortes Jewish Community 360/293-4123 509/334-7868 or 208/882-1280 Jewish Community of Whidbey Island
Emanuel Congregation (Modern Orthodox) bAinbRidGE iSLAnd SpokAnE 360/331-2190
3412 NE 65th Street 206/525-1055 Congregation Kol Shalom (Reform) Congregation Emanu-El (Reform) yAkimA
Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation 9010 Miller Road NE 206/855-0885 P O Box 30234, Spokane 99223 509/835-5050 Temple Shalom (Reform) 509/453-8988
(Conservative) 206/232-8555 Chavurat Shir Hayam 206/842-8453 www.spokaneemanu-el.org 1517 Browne Ave.
3700 E. Mercer Way, Mercer Island bELLinGhAm Temple Beth Shalom (Conservative)
Hillel (Multi-denominational) Chabad Jewish Center of Whatcom County 1322 E. 30th Ave. 509/747-3304
4745 17th Ave. NE 206/527-1997 717 High St. 360/933-4818
Kadima (Reconstructionist) 206/547-3914 Congregation Beth Israel (Reform)
12353 NE 8th, Seattle 2200 Broadway 360/733-8890
Kavana Cooperative kavanaseattle@gmail.com

Care Givers
Home Care Associates
A program of Jewish Family Service
☎☎ 206-861-3193
 www.homecareassoc.org
Provides personal care, assistance with
daily activities, medication reminders,
light housekeeping, meal preparation and
companionship to older adults living at
home or in assisted-living facilities.
Hyatt Home Care Services, LLC
In-Home Care Aides
☎☎ 206-851-5277
✉☎ care@hyatthomecare.com
Assisting with non-medical tasks & home
support needs • Housekeeping Personal
care • Respite care • Meal preparation.
Washington State Licensed Home Care
Agency
Quality Home Care for Seniors
☎☎ 206-459-5255
✉☎ beckyspark@hotmail.com
Rivka Park, RN offers private geriatric
nursing care coupled with unique domes-
tic skills in support of seniors seeking to
maintain quality of life at home. Extensive
references.
Catering
Goldberg’s Famous Delicatessen
☎☎ 425-641-6622
✉☎ matt@goldbergsdeli.com
 www.goldbergsdeli.com
Catering for weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs
Birthdays, business events & all your
Special occasions • Contact Khled/James
Leah’s Catering, Inc.
Seattle’s Premier Kosher Caterer
☎☎ 206-985-2647
✉☎ leah@leahscatering.com
Full Service, Glatt Kosher,
Delivery or Pickup
All your catering needs.
Va’ad supervised.
Madison Park Cafe
Simmering in Seattle for over 30 years
☎☎ 206-324-2626
Full service catering for all your Jewish
life passages: Bar/Bat Mitzvahs • Weddings
• Brit Milah • Special Occasions.
Karen Binder
Matzoh Momma Catering
Catering with a personal touch
☎☎ 206-324-MaMa
Serving the community for over 25 years.
Full service catering and event planning
for all your Life Cycle events.
Miriam and Pip Meyerson
Rachel’s Sephardic Delicacies
☎☎ 425-793-1945
✉☎ ralmeleh2@q.com
 www.sephardicdelicacies.com
Mediterranean Cuisine • Holiday Specials
Gift baskets made to order! Wide selection
for special occasions. Phone for price list
and orders.
Certified Public
Accountants
Dennis B. Goldstein & Assoc., CPAs, PS
☎☎ 425-455-0430
F 425-455-0459
✉☎ dennis@dbgoldsteincpa.com
12715 Bel-Red Rd., Suite 120
Bellevue 98005
Newman Dierst Hales, PLLC
Nolan A. Newman, CPA
☎☎ 206-284-1383
✉☎ nnewman@ndhaccountants.com
 www.ndhaccountants.com
Tax • accounting • Healthcare Consulting
PlACE YouR
SERvICE oNlINE
SEE YouR SERvICE
IN PRINT
College Placement
College Placement Consultants
☎☎ 425-453-1730
✉☎ preiter@qwest.net
 www.collegeplacementconsultants.com
Pauline B. Reiter, Ph.D.
Expert help with college selection,
applications and essays.
40 Lake Bellevue, #100, Bellevue 98005
Linda Jacobs & Associates
College Placement Services
☎☎ 206-323-8902
✉☎ linjacobs@aol.com
Successfully matching student and
school. Seattle.
Counselors/Therapists
Jewish Family Service
Individual, couple, child and family therapy
☎☎ 206-861-3195
 www.jfsseattle.org
Expertise with life transitions, relationships
and personal challenges. Jewish knowledge
and sensitivity. Offices in Seattle and
Bellevue. Day and evening hours.
Subsidized fee scale available.
Frances M. Pomerantz, MS
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
☎☎ 425-451-1655
✉☎ fpomerantz@earthlink.net
Specializing in couples and individuals.
Facilitating better communication, more
satisfying relationships, increased self-
awareness and personal growth. Day &
early eve hours available.
1621 114th Ave. SE, #224, Bellevue 98004
Dentists
Galina Borodyansky, DDS
☎☎ 425-644-8787
UW School of Dentistry faculty
• Implant, Cosmetic, Family Dentistry
• Personalized care in a friendly environment
• Preferred provider for most insurances
14535 Bel-Red Rd. #101B, Bellevue
B. Robert Cohanim, D.D.S., M.S.
Orthodontics for Adults and Children
☎☎ 206-322-7223
 www.smile-works.com
Invisalign Premier Provider. On First Hill
across from Swedish Hospital.
Warren J. Libman, D.D.S., M.S.D.
☎☎ 425-453-1308
 www.libmandds.com
Certified Specialist in Prosthodontics:
• Restorative • Reconstructive
• Cosmetic Dentistry
14595 Bel Red Rd. #100, Bellevue
Arnold S. Reich, D.M.D.
☎☎ 425-228-6444
 www.drareich.com
Just off 405 in N. Renton • Gentle Care
• Family • Preventive • Cosmetic Dentistry
Now in print
Your Business
Category
Your Company Name
Your Name or Company
☎☎ Your Phone Number
✉☎ Your E-mail address
 Your Web site
A few lines of copy about your business.
Your business address
Please call Becky at 774-2238 to update your print listing
and receive an online listing free for a limited time!
September 4, 2009
Networking Our Local Jewish Community
Dentists (continued) Graphic Design Photographers
Michael Spektor, D.D.S. Spear Studios, Graphic Design All About Graphics
☎☎ 425-643-3746 Sandra Spear Joel Dames Photography
✉☎ info@spektordental.com ☎☎ 206-621-0240 ☎☎ 206-367-1276
 www.spektordental.com ✉☎ sspear@spearstudios.com  www.joeldamesphotography.com
Specializing in periodontics, dental • Newsletters • Brochures • Logos Events, Commercial, Portraits, Graphics,
implants, and cosmetic gum therapy. • Letterheads • Custom invitations albums • all Your Photographic Needs
Bellevue • Photo Editing for Genealogy Projects
Dani Weiss Photography
Wendy Shultz Spektor, D.D.S. Insurance ☎☎ 206-760-3336
☎☎ 425-454-1322  www.daniweissphotography.com
✉☎ info@spektordental.com Abolofia Insurance Agency Photographer Specializing in People.
 www.spektordental.com Bob Abolofia, Agent Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, parties, promotions &
Emphasis: Cosmetic and Preventive ☎☎ 425-641-7682 weddings. Reasonable rates
Dentistry • Convenient location in Bellevue. F 425-988-0280 Digital or film
✉☎ babolofia@yahoo.com
Independent agent representing Real Estate
www.jtnews.net Pemco since 1979
www.jew-ish.com Helene Rubens
Eastside Insurance Services Residential & Investment Specialist
Chuck Rubin, agent Greater Eastside/King County areas
Financial Services ☎☎ 425-271-3101 ☎☎ 206-817-1300 (cell)
F 425-277-3711 ✉☎ helener@johnlscott.com
Hamrick Investment Counsel, LLC 4508 NE 4th, #B, Renton  www.johnlscott.com/helener
Roy a. Hamrick, CFa Tom Brody, agent I have knowledge and skills to assure an
☎☎ 206-441-9911 ☎☎ 425-646-3932 easy and stress free real estate transaction.
✉☎ rahamrick@hamrickinvestment.com F 425-646-8750 I will turn your dreams into reality and walk
Professional portfolio management 2227 112th Ave. NE, Bellevue you through the process with ease!
services for individuals, foundations and We represent Pemco, Safeco, Hartford &
nonprofit organizations. Progressive Senior Services
 www.e-z-insurance.com
Mass Mutual Financial Group Jewish Family Service
Albert Israel, CFP Norwest Insurance Agency ☎☎ 206-461-3240
☎☎ 206-346-3327 Sigrid Benezra, Owner/Agent  www.jfsseattle.org
✉☎ aisrael@finsvcs.com ☎☎ 206-965-8140 Comprehensive geriatric care management
Jamison Russ ✉☎ admin@norwestagency.com and support services for seniors and
☎☎ 206-346-3266  www.norwestagency.com their families. Expertise with in-home
✉☎ jruss@finsvcs.com Representing Safeco, Progressive, assessments, residential placement, family
Retirement planning for those nearing MetLife auto and Home dynamics and on-going case management.
retirement • Estate planning for those Jewish knowledge and sensitivity.
subject to estate taxes • General investment United Insurance Brokers, Inc.
management • Life, disability, long-term Linda Kosin Travel Services
care & health insurance • Complimentary ☎☎ 425-454-9373
one hour sessions available ✉☎ lkosin@uib.com Travel the World with Quest
F 425-453-5313 ☎☎ 206 327 1274
Solomon M. Karmel, Ph.D Your insurance source since 1968 ✉☎ peta@questtravel.ca
First Allied Securities Business, group and personal insurance  www.questtravel.ca
☎☎ 425-454-2285 x 1080 50 116th Ave SE #201, Bellevue 98004 Great airfares to Israel, South Africa and
 www.hedgingstrategist.com the rest of the world! Your Journey
Retirement, stocks, bonds, college, Invitations Awaits: packages and tours to experience
annuities, business 401Ks. the cultures of people all around the
Occasionally Yours world. Cruises: You are just one click
Funeral/Burial Adrian Lustig, owner away from searching the world’s leading
Services ☎☎ 425-644-8551 cruise lines.
✉☎ Lustigmail@comcast.net
Congregation Beth Shalom Cemetery Specializing in Jewish Wedding and
☎☎ 206-524-0075 Bar/Bat Mitzvah Invitations
✉☎ info@bethshalomseattle.org 20% Discount • Hebrew type
This beautiful new cemetery is available ThouSANDS oF
to the Jewish community and is located Mohelim
just north of Seattle. READERS IN PRINT
Rabbi Simon Benzaquen
Hills of Eternity Cemetery ☎☎ 206-721-2275 • 206-723-3028 AND oNlINE =
Owned and operated by Temple De Hirsch Sinai Fastest Mohel in the West
☎☎ 206-323-8486 Certified Mohel Thousands of
Serving the greater Seattle Jewish
community. Jewish cemetery open to all Rabbi Salomon Cohen-Scali Prospective clients
pre-need and at-need services. Affordable ☎☎ 206-722-5500 • 206-947-7791
rates • Planning assistance. Certified Orthodox Mohel
Queen Anne, Seattle
Our Professional Services Directory has changed! Now you can
promote your business online as well as in the pages of JTNews.
and online!
Post your own listing on our Web site and choose even more options, including your
logo, up to five photographs, and detailed text you can update any time you like.
If your business is on the Eastside or South Sound, call Lynn at 206-774-2264;
Northend or West Seattle, call Stacy at 206-774-2292; Urban Seattle, call David
at 206-774-2235
Call 206-441-4553 for more information, or log on to www.jtnews.net and click
on the Professional Directory logo to get started.
You come highly
recommended.
a34 jtnews n
national & international news
friday, september 4, 2009

EU official: Israel hijacked Russian ship

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel inter-
cepted a Russian-manned cargo ship
allegedly carrying secret weapons that
had disappeared, a European Union offi-
cial said.
Adm. Tarmo Kouts, the European
Union’s rapporteur on piracy and a
former commander of t he Estonian
armed forces, told Time in an arti-
cle posted Monday on the magazine’s
Web site that although Russia claimed
the ship was carrying lumber, only a
shipment of missiles could explain its
actions since the alleged hijacking on
July 24.
“There is the idea that there were mis-
siles aboard, and one can’t explain this
situation in any other way,” Kouts told
Time. “As a sailor with years of experi-
ence, I can tell you that the official ver-
sions are not realistic.”
Russia said the ship, the Arctic Sea,
was destined for Algeria with less than
$2 million of timber, was hijacked and
its tracking device disabled in late July.
In mid-August the Russian government
sent out a search party, which recovered
the ship and its crew without firing a shot,
according to Time.
Russia denied the ship was running
weapons to the Middle East.
According to Time, Israeli President
Shimon Peres met with his Russian coun-
terpart, Dmitry Medvedev, the day after
the ship was recovered and the leaders
discussed “the sale of Russian weapons
and military hardware to countries hos-
tile to Israel,” though the Arctic Sea was
not specifically mentioned.
In addition, Time wrote, Russia sent
a disproportionate force that included
destroyers and submarines to look for the
ship, and returned the small crew and
alleged pirates in two enormous military
cargo planes.
Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dm it r i
Rogozin, said Kouts should stop “run-
ning his mouth,” Time reported.
— JTA World News Service

the shouk @ jtnews september 4, 2009

help wanted catering printing real estate

part-time music Janee Hahn call loraine

teacher wanted
rachel's behling-krainess, gri
sephardic delicacies • InvItatIons
Jennifer rosen Meade preschool is looking for all occasions certified residential specialist
meDIterranean cUIsIne • Hebrew type
for a part-time music teacher, Fridays, • Discounts on
Phone for price list and orders total order need real
2–3 hours/week. Needs to play piano or
guitar and have a good understanding
425-793-1945 p: 206.784.6350
estate help?
ralmeleh2@q.com f: 206.782.8108
of secular and Jewish songs and music. www.sephardicdelicacies.com janee@cateredprinting.com call 425-
Knowledge of Hebrew is a plus. 746-6733
please contact laurel abrams at
career/retirement
laurel@tdhs-nw.org college placement

cleaning services
a college eDUcatIon housing for rent
Is a maJor
InVestment seward park duplex
domestic angels
Sensitive professional Furnished/unfurnished 3 bedroom,
clean your house and office assistance to ensure
Reasonable rates • Licensed/Bonded a succesful match 1 bath, hardwood floors,
Responsible • References • Free estimate between student
and school bright open floor plan, fully equipped kitchen,
Seattle/Eastside
fenced backyard, garage.
call Yolimar perez or Maria absalon linda Jacobs & associates
206-356-2245 or 206-391-9792
Close to synagogues, transportation, shopping.
college Placement services $1,295/mo unfurnished—
ylmrprz@aol.com
206/323-8902 $1,400/mo unfurnished.
looking for experienced cleaning help?— linjacobs@aol.com call chris at 206-427-8762
Reliable, honest and a price you can afford. Excellent
references. Call Elaine at 425-868-5091/206-491-7435.
www.elainegordonevans.com
insurance services merCer iSland
View home in private northend
funeral/burial services For insurance and announcements (Mercerdale) location. 4 bdrm/2.5 ba,
Financial services
tiM J. caShMan appliances, carport. Easy access to

Kidney donor needed

agent — lUtcf I-90. Available Sept. 1. $1950/mo.
quiring state Farm
Insurance
company
206-232-1024
tim@timcashman.com
7435 SE 27th Street, Mercer Is., WA 98040
Member of Bet alef Synagogue
No pets, no smoking.
Please contact Kathryn at
monuments is in urgent need of kathrynlcrawford@comcast.net
Serving the Jewish Community home services
a kidney donor. or 206-919-1522
for over 80 years
for more information,
handyman/reliable

hbxnt Preserving memories since 1925

9608 Aurora Avenue N,

maintenance
Affordable, 20 year’s experience.
Construction, plumbing, electrical
Remodels & additions welcome.
please call david at
360-915-6279

WE NEED CARS!
vacation rental

marriott deSert SPringS

villa 1
Palm deSert, Ca
Seattle, WA 98103 Licensed • Insured • Bonded Luxurious 2 bdrm, 2 bath with double balconies,
206-522-8400 Excellent references • Free estimates • Free Pick-up • No DOL filing sleeps 8. 5-star resort accomodations at
• No smog certif. • Running or not bargain price: hotel tennis and spa are free, pools,
www.monuments.com call rick petersen championship golf course, full kitchen, BBQ, gourmet
425-736-3433 donate your used car to chabad & restaurants. 2 families can share, incl. lockoff.
receive a tremendous tax write-off. $1600. Available 1 wk or 2, Dec. 19–26
cemetery gan shalom and/or Dec. 26– Jan. 2, 2010
• Any vehicle okay
A Jewish cemetery that meets the needs of
the greater Seattle Jewish community. The • Plus RVs, boats, real estate, lots, etc.
barbrappo@hotmail.com or 425-562-4222
Zero interest payments available.
For information, call temple Beth am at
Handy Man 206-527-1411
206-525-0915.
Palm SPringS getaway
carpentry/Power Washing
Deck, Dock & Fence repair 2 bdrm, 2 bath condo. Patio and
Traditional Jewish funeral services provided by the
Seattle Jewish Chapel. For further information, please Painting/Drywall/trim/misc. rooftop deck with mountain view.
next issue: september 11
call 206-725-3067. references/Insured/Bonded
ad deadline: september 4
Walk to shops, restaurants and movies.
Burial plots are available for purchase at Bikur Cholim Eldon F. Slife
Free es call becky: 206-774-2238
Check out www.casaweinberg.com
and Machzikay Hadath cemeteries. For further at 206-275-0141
information, please call 206-721-0970. Estim Email: epslife@comcast.net and book now!

Holocaust museum shooter appears in court
WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA) — The man
charged with killing a security officer at
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
made his first appearance in court.
James von Brunn, who is charged with
gunning down guard Stephen Johns on
June 10, was wheeled into a hearing in a
Washington federal courtroom.
Prev ious hea r i ngs were delayed
because of the injuries von Brunn sus-
tained from the return fire of museum
security officers after the 89-year-old
white supremacist started shooting at the
Racism t Page 12A
Gurvitz feels the situation is deterio-
rating rapidly.
“It is becoming harder and harder to
be secular in Israel, and I fear that within
five to 10 years, we might be at a civil war
between Jews and Arabs, and the entire
state might become Orthodox. Even
now we see incidents of parties trying to
pass racist laws,” he says. “Just last April,
there was an incident where some mis-
sionaries tried to distribute copies of
the New Testament, and the city admin-
istration had them collected back and
burned.”
Halamish and Bismut, on the other
hand, feel the opposite is occurring and
that radical views are decreasing.
“We were born and raised here,” notes
Halamish, “so we don’t share our parents’
SWEDISH
BIRTHWAYS
2009
Early Learning
and the Brain
DR. ANDREW
MELTZOFF
SEPT 24, 7PM
Swedish Hospital,
Glaser Auditorium
TICKETS: $15
Sponsored by:
entrance to the museum.
Prosecutor Nicole Waid said at the
hearing that von Brunn wanted to “send
a message to the Jewish community” that
the Holocaust was a hoax. She said von
Brunn had planned the shooting months
in advance, and had set up funeral plans
and put his finances in order because he
expected to die in the attack, the Wash-
ington Post reported.
Von Brunn objected to his lawyer’s
request that Judge Reggie Walton order a
mental competency exam.
views, and are therefore less prone to dis-
criminate.”
“It takes about two generations for an
ethnic group to adapt to the culture, so
with time, things are better,” says Bismut,
a sentiment shared by Brantz. However,
everyone agrees that the responsibility
to foster change falls on their own shoul-
ders. Bismut notes that schools and the
army have the best means to enlighten
the public to fight racism, but education
has to start at home.
Brantz adds that shapers of public
opinion such as academia, musicians,
authors and journalists should carry this
burden. “Of course, these are processes
that take many years to [come to] frui-
tion,” he notes.
Halamish stresses it’s also very impor-
tant to delegitimize any display of racism,
and exposing it when it occurs is crucial.
In-kind Sponsor:
friday, september 4, 2009 n jtnews 35
national & international news
“Your Constitution guarantees me a
speedy and fair trial,” he said, accord-
ing to media reports. “I’m a United States
citizen, and as a U.S. Naval officer, I
swore to protect my country. I take my
vows seriously.”
The judge ordered the exam and that
von Brunn be detained pending trial.
He also delayed von Brunn’s arraign-
ment and scheduled another hearing for
Oct. 14.
— JTA World News Service
“The rules and regulations are already
here, “he says, “but we have to make the
public aware.”
W here there is varied opinion on
whether racism does exist in Israel, the
idea of political correctness, or the use
of more euphemistic terms to describe a
group of people’s characteristics is met
with universal derision.
“The rest of the world is used to tip-toe-
ing around the subject,” says Brantz, “but
we see that as absurd — a type of hypocrisy.
Israelis feel they are being open and honest
by not using politically correct terms, and
if you are part of this culture, it’s easier to
accept this and not see it as racism.”
That opinion includes the institution-
alizing of concepts often seen as political
correctness: “One thing I’m really glad we
didn’t adopt yet,” says Halamish, “is affir-
mative action.”
a
M.O.T. t Page 9A
In 2008, her grandson Bryan ran, too, but
this year he was on the NESIYA program
in Israel.
Esther has been running for 30 years,
starting on the advice of her then-exer-
cise teacher at the Stroum Jewish Com-
munity Center.
“All we were doing was aerobics,” but
this teacher insisted the class jog for their
hearts. The first day they jogged around
the gym. “We gasped and gagged.” But
the teacher insisted, “so I just kept doing
it.”
Soon she could run 10 blocks. “Then I
started going down to 40th and up Island
Crest Way,” (she lives on Mercer Island).
“People would honk…I would wave.”
Feeling better and losing weight were
her rewards and it took her mind off
“menial problems.” Eventually, she ran
a 10k race, finishing second, then com-
pleted a half marathon.
From lectures and classes about run-
ning she concluded that shoes were the
key to success and freedom from pain.
“I spend all my money on my shoes,”
she says. “I don’t care about my clothes.”
She buys two pairs of shoes every three
months, and alternates between them.
Esther has slowed down a little in
retirement. Once a daily runner, she now
runs three days a week, working out at
the gym three other days. She has “proba-
bly belonged to every organization in the
world,” and has been a volunteer for the
SJCC, Kline Galland and Hadassah. She
and Al have been long-time and active
members of Herzl-Ner Tamid.
 THE CURTAIN RISES
SEP T E M B ER 12 , 2 0 0 9. Anthropologie
Arthur
Artisanal Brasserie & Wine Bar
The Artisanal Table
Bank of America
Brooks Brothers Country Club
DavidBartonGym
DNA 2050
Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa
Eye Society
Hermès
Jimmy Choo
John Howie Steak
Louis Vuitton
Mariposa at Neiman Marcus
Masins
Neiman Marcus
Piazza Sempione
Salvatore Ferragamo
Silberman Brown
Sur La Table
Tory Burch
Trophy Cupcakes
Wild Ginger
Wolford

The stage is set for the world’s most sought-after fashion brands, award-
winning restaurants and renowned services. Experience all the wonders of
this vibrant, European-inspired outdoor village. Opening September 12.
The Shops at The Bravern. Only here.

THEBR AVERN.COM NE 8th Street at 112th Avenue NE in Bellevue, Washington

She wears a Monique Lhullier gown and Fragments necklace, both from Neiman Marcus.
Live at The Bravern Signature Residences. Visit BravernResidences.com

Fin_SNW3011_Bravern_JT News.indd 1 8/19/09 10:35:35 AM

FULL PAGE NONE SPEC’D 9.8125 X 16 NONE CMYK INDESIGN CS3 JT NEWS