Volume 50, Issue 23

WASHINGTON (JTA)—If you believe the latest poll of American Jews, they have lost that lovin’ feeling for Joe Lieberman and probably never had it for Pastor John Hagee.  read more »

SDEROT, Israel (JTA)—At the New Age Beauty Salon in a run-down strip mall here, the manicurist and hairdresser swapped opinions of Barack Obama, the latest in a series of high-profile visitors to come through this southern Israeli town.  read more »

Olmert: No way to curb Jerusalem Arabs

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel has no way of preventing spontaneous terrorist attacks by Jerusalem Arabs, Ehud Olmert said.  read more »

More than 65 leaders from across the spectrum of Jewish Portland gathered July 16 to begin to collaborate on plans for Portland’s Jewish future in four areas: Jewish education, outreach and engagement, health and human services, and Israel and overseas.  read more »

Portland Jewish Events founder Jodi Berris is teaming up with Portland’s Jewish Student Union to offer a free winter-break birthright Israel trip to young adults from the greater Portland area.  read more »

“Torture is what establishes the line that separates constitutional government from tyranny,” according to George Hunsinger, who had cited the events recorded at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.  read more »

Dreams can come true—just ask Linda Nemer Singer whose new job as community concierge not only fulfills her dream, it also gives her the chance to make dreams come true for newcomers and community organizations.  read more »

She asked the Cedar Sinai Park residents to nestle into their seats before she moved on to breathing and movement.  read more »

KRAKOW, Poland (JTA)—When Mayer Kirshenblatt was born, the town of Opatow in south-central Poland was known to most of its inhabitants as “Apt.” That’s because most of the population was Jewish, and Apt was Opatow’s name in Yiddish.  read more »

When the curtain goes up on Portland Center Stage’s production of “Guys and Dolls” Oct. 16 in the Gerding Theater, Broadway gamblers Sky Masterson and Nathan Detroit won’t be the only winners in the room.  read more »

This September, the women heading for B’nai B’rith Camp for a weekend retreat will ReJewvenate not just themselves, but also the camp’s aging canoe fleet.  read more »

Beth Cook of Lake Oswego spent the week of July 13 in Brookline, Mass., participating in an intensive Institute for Educators, sponsored by the Jewish Women’s Archive.  read more »

I look at a picture of murderer Samir Kuntar as he gestures in what appears to be a Nazi salute amid the festivities in Lebanon on the occasion of his release from an Israeli prison last month.  read more »

Last month you may have seen the Oregonian’s article, “Circumcision: a painful decision.” I found several elements of the articles and “Letters to the Editor” very curious, if not troubling.  read more »

Jewish tradition teaches that we are commanded to write a Torah in our lifetime, but not a kinah, or dirge. For ages, our prophets and rabbis have done this for us, filtering and distancing, putting our most painful group memories into acrostic, poetic form.  read more »

Twenty people of Jewish ancestry from three states in the American southwest will be welcomed back into Jewish community Aug. 22 at Congregation Neveh Shalom.  read more »

Sept. 2 is the deadline to apply for grants from the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation Schnitzer Supporting Foundation and the OJCF Community Endowment Fund.  read more »

Lena Davidson is the new director of finance and human resources for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.  read more »

Portland’s Florence Melton Adult Mini-School and Machar are co-sponsoring a service picnic at Cedar Sinai Park. Participants will help pull ivy and maintain the grounds on Sunday, Aug. 3.  read more »

WEDDING

PERLMAN AND ISRAEL  read more »

MADRID (JTA)—When King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announced his intention some three months ago to reach out to the leaders of the main religions of the world, understandably there was no shortage of skepticism.  read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Ehud Olmert’s announcement that he will not seek re-election plunged Israel into deep political uncertainty as the country faces several diplomatic tests.  read more »

The Portland Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Yaacov Bergman, blends familiar favorites with the brand new in its Sept. 20 season opener with works by Camille Saint-Saens, Beethoven and Einojuhani Rautavaara.  read more »

Part carnival-barker, part cabaret master-of-ceremonies, Eric Stern got the crowd moving July 19 in Portland's Fernhill Park.  read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Witnesses at recent congressional hearings described the federal immigration raid on the country’s largest kosher plant as a travesty of justice, a national disgrace and an ambush.  read more »

More than once, every day, I say to myself: “I should do X or Y, but I don’t have time right now, this X or Y is more important.”  read more »

When Steve Laveson and Leslie Isenstein learned the extent of Jewish life in Romania, the country shot to the top of their must-see list.  read more »

Media reports from Belgrade say that the Serbian government will seek the extradition of a former West Linn man now living in Bellingham, Wash., who has admitted serving in a Nazi unit that murdered several thousand Serbian civilians during World War II.  read more »

The dust will settle this month and next as the new construction and renovation at Congregation Neveh Shalom is on track to meet late-summer and early fall target dates for completion—in time for the High Holidays and the start of school.  read more »

Babies born with clefts of the lip and palate in the Pacific Northwest now have access to state-of-the-art treatment thanks to the lure of Portland’s lifestyle.  read more »

POSTVILLE, Iowa (JTA)—When busloads of Jews from Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin started pulling up outside St. Bridget’s Catholic Church Sunday morning, July 27, and more than 350 people, some sporting yarmulkes, poured out to take part in a big immigration rally planned for the afternoon, locals noticed.  read more »

HERZLIYA, Israel (JTA)—On aerial photographs, the shrinking Dead Sea juts into the surrounding desert landscape like a blue index finger.  read more »

WEIMAR, Germany (JTA)—I learned a new word this summer—"allosemitism."  read more »

SHANGHAI, China (JTA)—Uri Gutman had more than parades and picnics in mind a couple of years ago when the Israeli government allotted funds to its Shanghai consul general for an Israel Independence Day reception.  read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) —As Russian and Georgian forces battle over South Ossetia, Israel finds itself on the defensive.  read more »

BEIJING (JTA) —The largest contingent in Israeli Olympic history was eyeing its biggest medal haul, with one Israeli competitor narrowly missing out and another still in the mix on the first full day of competition at the 2008 Games.  read more »