jtnews | april 30, 2010

24
VOL. 86, NO. 9 n FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 n 16 IYAR 5770 n JTNEWS.NET A JEWISH TRANSCRIPT PUBLICATION n $2.00 inside new at www.jtnews.net the voice of jewish washington news J T Page 14 Page 12 Dani Weiss Photography Rabbi Dan Bridge, former executive director of Hillel at the University of Washington, had the platter; longtime supporter and former board president Michele Rosen had the fire; and longtime supporter Joel Gamoran had the actual piece of paper — the mortgage of the Karen Mayers Gamoran Family Center for Jewish Life, home of Hillel at the University of Washington — that after six years and $12 million became worth nothing more than its ashes. “It was a communal endeavor. There were certainly some incredibly generous donors,” said Rabbi Will Berkovitz, current Greenstein Family executive director at Hillel UW, “but it wasn’t just folks like that. It was really the $100 gifts, the $50 gifts, the $1,000 gifts. It was a communal effort. That, I think, says a lot about the Seattle Jewish community.” Joel Magalnick Editor, JTNews SPECIAL REPORT Relative to the news that some Jewish day schools across the country are shutting their doors, Jewish schools in Seattle appear to be surviving, and in some cases thriving. But the past two years have not been easy. While the five primary and secondary day schools have seen steady or slightly reduced attendance, drops in fundraising and increases in requests for tuition assistance have been much larger. e Northwest Yeshiva High School, the state’s only Jewish high school, will be covered in a future issue of JTNews. To account for these shortfalls, school administrators have had to get creative in finding grants, shifting priorities, and in some cases finding new modes of learning for the students. Compared to a number of schools in places like Mem- phis, Tenn., Lakewood, N.J. and even Los Angeles that have shut down or will do so at the end of the school year, things in Seattle aren’t so bad. e overriding theme at a January conference of four Jewish day school associations, at which representatives from several local schools were in attendance, was how to stay afloat during the economic crisis. “We’re all dealing with the same challenges of trying to make quality Jewish educational experiences for children,” Scott Goldberg, director of the Institute for University- School Partnership at Yeshiva University, told the JTA World News Service. “at commonality drove our programming from the macro-level — needing to do more with less and really forcing us to reassess how we do things.” While reassessment at local day schools has been ongoing — some staff has been laid off or positions have been left unfilled, for example — it has not for the most part resulted in massive infrastructure changes. School leaders acknowledge a private education is expensive, and understand all too well the gap between the actual cost of a child’s education and his or her fam- ily’s ability to pay for it. Yet many are captive to that cost — Orthodox families, and some non-Orthodox fami- lies, will not accept anything less than a comprehensive Jewish education. “Public school is not an option,” said Rivy Poupko Kletenik, head of school at the Seattle Hebrew Academy. “For our population there really aren’t alternatives.” Two organizations have tried to fill that gap. e Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle this past year gave nearly $450,000 of campaign and auxiliary funds to each school, with the exception of the Torah Day School. But the Fed- eration also brought in fewer dollars last year in its cam- paign and is running slightly behind that this year. “Our goal, of course, is that any family that wants to have their kid have a quality Jewish education should be able to have that, so I think we’re all struggling with that same issue,” said Richard Fruchter, the Federation’s CEO. e Samis Foundation, a trust intended specifically to provide funding for Jewish day schools that’s unique to this state’s Jewish community, has also been able to pro- vide much-needed relief. “We have to thank God every day that we have a Samis Foundation that is helping us,” Kletenik said. “at is really what sets Seattle apart from other cities that are really struggling.” “Samis has stepped up for us,” said Robert Sulkin, board president of the Jewish Day School. “If we didn’t have Samis, we couldn’t give tuition assistance to the [level] we’re giving it and not reduce programming.” But if the recession continues, all the assistance going to the five elementary day schools may simply be pro- longing some difficult decisions. “If the recession continues,…certainly Samis does not have enough resources that we can make up the gap of increasing scholarship needs and decreasing individual donations,” said Rabbi Rob Toren, Samis’s grants admin- istrator. In response to the recession, Samis increased its allo- cation to schools by 7 percent last year and 8 percent for the upcoming year. “We’re looking at deficits despite that increase,” Toren said. e Federation assesses the increase in need will be 20 to 30 percent. “ough there’s some glimmer of blue sky in the econ- omy, it takes time for that to translate to individual fam- ilies, and then campaigns and philanthropy,” Fruchter said. “It’s still not a happy scenario for schools, or our social service agencies, or even the Federation itself.” Despite the economic difficulties, all five schools believe they are doing okay, if not well. Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle According to Maria Erlitz, head of school at the Jewish Day School in Bellevue’s Crossroads neighborhood, things are going “very, very well.” ey have lost some students, though not all attrition has been directly related to the economy, but the incom- ing kindergarten is larger than this year’s 8th grade grad- uating class. In addition, Erlitz told JTNews, she has been receiving an inordinate number of inquiries from par- ents with children in public schools about applying for the middle school. “Classes, even on Mercer Island, [are] getting to be over 30 kids,” she said. “It’s not looking as pretty as they hoped it would.” at every 8th grade student who applied last year Area Jewish day schools surviving — but with much-needed help u Page 6 M.O.T.: Member of the Tribe 7 What’s Your JQ? 9 Arts & Entertainment 14 Community Calendar 17 Lifecycles 19 The Shouk Classifieds 22

Upload: joel-magalnick

Post on 27-Apr-2015

255 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

DESCRIPTION

JTNews | The Voice of Jewish Washington edition for April 30, 2010

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: JTNews | April 30, 2010

v o l . 8 6 , n o . 9 n f r i d ay, a p r i l 3 0 , 2 0 1 0 n 1 6 i ya r 5 7 7 0 n j t n e w s . n e t

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 $ 2 . 0 0

insid

e

new

at

www.jtnews.net

the voice of jewish washington

ne

wsJT

Page 14

Page 12

Dani Weiss Photography

Rabbi Dan Bridge, former executive director of Hillel at the University of Washington, had the platter; longtime supporter and former board president Michele Rosen had the fire; and longtime supporter Joel Gamoran had the actual piece of paper — the mortgage of the Karen Mayers Gamoran Family Center for Jewish Life, home of Hillel at the University of Washington — that after six years and $12 million became worth nothing more than its ashes. “It was a communal endeavor. There were certainly some incredibly generous donors,” said Rabbi Will Berkovitz, current Greenstein Family executive director at Hillel UW, “but it wasn’t just folks like that. It was really the $100 gifts, the $50 gifts, the $1,000 gifts. It was a communal effort. That, I think, says a lot about the Seattle Jewish community.”

Joel MagalnickEditor, JTNewsSpecial RepoRt

Relative to the news that some Jewish day schools across the country are shutting their doors, Jewish schools in Seattle appear to be surviving, and in some cases thriving.

But the past two years have not been easy. While the five primary and secondary day schools have seen steady or slightly reduced attendance, drops in fundraising and increases in requests for tuition assistance have been much larger. The Northwest Yeshiva High School, the state’s only Jewish high school, will be covered in a future issue of JTNews.

To account for these shortfalls, school administrators have had to get creative in finding grants, shifting priorities, and in some cases finding new modes of learning for the students.

Compared to a number of schools in places like Mem-phis, Tenn., Lakewood, N.J. and even Los Angeles that have shut down or will do so at the end of the school year, things in Seattle aren’t so bad.

The overriding theme at a January conference of four Jewish day school associations, at which representatives from several local schools were in attendance, was how to stay afloat during the economic crisis.

“We’re all dealing with the same challenges of trying to make quality Jewish educational experiences for children,” Scott Goldberg, director of the Institute for University-School Partnership at Yeshiva University, told the JTA World News Service. “That commonality drove our programming from the macro-level — needing to do more with less and really forcing us to reassess how we do things.”

While reassessment at local day schools has been ongoing — some staff has been laid off or positions have been left unfilled, for example — it has not for the most

part resulted in massive infrastructure changes.School leaders acknowledge a private education is

expensive, and understand all too well the gap between the actual cost of a child’s education and his or her fam-ily’s ability to pay for it. Yet many are captive to that cost — Orthodox families, and some non-Orthodox fami-lies, will not accept anything less than a comprehensive Jewish education.

“Public school is not an option,” said Rivy Poupko Kletenik, head of school at the Seattle Hebrew Academy. “For our population there really aren’t alternatives.”

Two organizations have tried to fill that gap. The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle this past year gave nearly $450,000 of campaign and auxiliary funds to each school, with the exception of the Torah Day School. But the Fed-eration also brought in fewer dollars last year in its cam-paign and is running slightly behind that this year.

“Our goal, of course, is that any family that wants to have their kid have a quality Jewish education should be able to have that, so I think we’re all struggling with that same issue,” said Richard Fruchter, the Federation’s CEO.

The Samis Foundation, a trust intended specifically to provide funding for Jewish day schools that’s unique to this state’s Jewish community, has also been able to pro-vide much-needed relief.

“We have to thank God every day that we have a Samis Foundation that is helping us,” Kletenik said. “That is really what sets Seattle apart from other cities that are really struggling.”

“Samis has stepped up for us,” said Robert Sulkin, board president of the Jewish Day School. “If we didn’t have Samis, we couldn’t give tuition assistance to the [level] we’re giving it and not reduce programming.”

But if the recession continues, all the assistance going to the five elementary day schools may simply be pro-longing some difficult decisions.

“If the recession continues,…certainly Samis does not have enough resources that we can make up the gap of increasing scholarship needs and decreasing individual donations,” said Rabbi Rob Toren, Samis’s grants admin-istrator.

In response to the recession, Samis increased its allo-cation to schools by 7 percent last year and 8 percent for the upcoming year. “We’re looking at deficits despite that increase,” Toren said.

The Federation assesses the increase in need will be 20 to 30 percent.

“Though there’s some glimmer of blue sky in the econ-omy, it takes time for that to translate to individual fam-ilies, and then campaigns and philanthropy,” Fruchter said. “It’s still not a happy scenario for schools, or our social service agencies, or even the Federation itself.”

Despite the economic difficulties, all five schools believe they are doing okay, if not well.

Jewish Day School of Metropolitan SeattleAccording to Maria Erlitz, head of school at the Jewish

Day School in Bellevue’s Crossroads neighborhood, things are going “very, very well.”

They have lost some students, though not all attrition has been directly related to the economy, but the incom-ing kindergarten is larger than this year’s 8th grade grad-uating class. In addition, Erlitz told JTNews, she has been receiving an inordinate number of inquiries from par-ents with children in public schools about applying for the middle school.

“Classes, even on Mercer Island, [are] getting to be over 30 kids,” she said. “It’s not looking as pretty as they hoped it would.”

That every 8th grade student who applied last year

area Jewish day schools surviving — but with much-needed help

u Page 6

M.o.t.: Member of the tribe 7what’s Your jQ? 9arts & entertainment 14community calendar 17lifecycles 19the shouk classifieds 22

Page 2: JTNews | April 30, 2010

Early Spring Family CalendarFor complete details about these and other upcoming JFS events and workshops, please visit our website: www.jfsseattle.org

For Adults Age 60+

Endless Opportunities A community-wide program offered in partnership with Temple B’nai Torah & Temple De Hirsch Sinai. EO events are free and open to the public.

Navigating the Elder NetworkWith Pam Piering, Director of Aging and Disability Services, City of Seattlem thursday, May 6

10:00 – 11:30 a.m.Temple B’nai Torah. 15727 NE 4th, Bellevue

What About Homelessness?A Committee Which is Making a Differencem tuesday, May 25

10:00 – 11:30 A.M.

Temple De Hirsch Sinai 1530 East Union, SeattleRSVP Ellen Hendin, (206) 861-3183 or [email protected] regarding all Endless Opportunities programs.

For the lgbtq coMMunity

Strengthening Lesbian RelationshipsExplore how you can build a healthier, stronger relationship with a woman you love. Facilitated by Dr. G. Dorsey Green, lesbian psychologist and co-author of Lesbian Couples: A Guide to Creating Healthy Relationships.m Wednesday, May 5

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.JFS, 1601 16th Ave, SeattleDessert and socializing following the discussion. $12/person.Scholarships available. Advance registration required.

Contact Emily Harris-Shears, (206) 861-8784 or [email protected]

For pArents

PEPSPEPS is now offering a peer support group experience for parents of newborns within a culturally relevant context. Jewish and interfaith parents are invited to join us!

Contact Marjorie Schnyder, (206) 861-3146, [email protected] or go to http://www.pepsgroup.org/register-for-peps/jfs.

Parenting Mindfully: The Middah of Faith Drawing on Jewish Values through Musarm sunday, May 16

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.Co-sponsored by and held at Temple B’nai Torah 15727 NE 4th Street, BellevueFREE. Advance registration encouraged.

Contact Marjorie Schnyder, (206) 861-3146 or [email protected]

Volunteer to MAke A diFFerence!

For details, please see Volunteer Opportunities on our website, or contact Jane Deer-Hileman, Director of Volunteer Services, (206) 861-3155 or [email protected]

For JeWish WoMen

Programs of Project DVORA (Domestic Violence Outreach, Response & Advocacy) are free of charge.

Confidential Support GroupPeer support, education and healing for Jewish women with controlling partners. m ongoingConfidential location, dates and time.

Contact Project DVORA, (206) 461-3240 or [email protected]

Healthy Relationships, Responsive CommunitiesFacilitated by Danica Bornstein, MSW, LICSW

Discuss the impact of community on our intimate relationships and explore Jewish values, while learning strategies for building the kind of supportive, responsive communities in which healthy intimate relationships can thrive.m Monday, May 3

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.At JFS, 1601 16th Ave., Seattle$10/person. Scholarships available.

Contact Michelle Lifton, (206) 861-3159 or [email protected]

1601 - 16th Avenue, Seattle (206) 461-3240

JFS services and programs are made possible through

generous community support of

to donate, please visit www.jfsseattle.org

For the coMMunity

AA Meetings at JFSm tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.JFS, 1601 – 16th Avenue, Seattle

Chai ChavurahA Judaic/12 Step Study Gathering for Jews in or considering recovery, their families and their friends. m saturday, May 8

Second Saturday each month 1:00 p.m.

Temple B’nai Torah. 15727 NE 4th, Bellevue Contact Eve M. Ruff, (206) 861-8782 or [email protected]

sAVe the dAte!

tuesday, May 11 noon - 1:30 p.m.Westin Seattle Hotel

Guest Speaker: Costco CEO Jim Sinegal

contact Gail Pollack at (206) 861-3151 or [email protected]

For children oF Aging pArents

Difficult Behaviors: Responding to Depression, Mental Illness & Substance AbusePart of the Caring for Our Aging Parents Workshop Series

Learn to recognize depression or substance abuse in your aging parents, and how to help them obtain the support they need.m Monday, May 3

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.Seattle Kollel Seward Park neighborhood of SeattleAdvance registration encouraged. $10/person. Scholarships available.

Contact Emily Harris-Shears, (206) 861-8784 or [email protected]

For single pArent FAMilies

Dinner & A Movie!Join other Jewish single moms and dads and their children for dinner, a chance for parents to talk & connect and a movie for the kids!

With a catered kosher meal and movie snacks.m sunday, May 16

5:00 – 8:00 p.m.JFS, 1601-16th Avenue, SeattleAdvance registration required by May 11. Donations welcome.

Contact Marjorie Schnyder, (206) 861-3146 or [email protected]

Page 3: JTNews | April 30, 2010

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: [email protected] 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 $56.50 for one year, $96.50 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 233Assistant Editor Leyna Krow 240 Account Executive Lynn Feldhammer 264 Account Executive David Stahl 235Account Executive Stacy Schill 292Classifieds Manager Rebecca Minsky 238 Art Director Susan Beardsley 239 Proofreader Mordecai Goldstein

BoARD oF DIReCToRSPeter Horvitz, Chair*; Robin Boehler; Andrew Cohen∞; Cynthia Flash Hemphill*; Nancy Greer∞; Aimee Johnson; Stan Mark; Daniel Mayer; Cantor David Serkin-Poole*; Leland Rockoff; Tana Senn∞ Richard Fruchter, CEO and President, Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle Ron Leibsohn, Federation Board Chair

*Member, JTNews Editorial Board∞ex-officio Member

The opinions of our columnists and advertisers do not necessarily reflect the views of JTNews.

friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnews 3vieWPoints

Page

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?/letters_guidelines.htmlthe deadline foR the next iSSue iS May 4, 2010 n futuRe deadlineS May be found online

Rabbi Rob TorenSamis Foundation

I received in my e-mail inbox a link to a fascinating YouTube video: A violinist playing at a subway station in a Washing-ton, D.C. Metro stop. What was interest-ing was that this was somewhat of an experiment or, more accurately, a “gen-tleman’s wager” (an un-PC expression for a dollar-less bet).

This was not your typical street musi-cian looking to pick up an extra buck or two. It was Joshua Bell, world-renowned concert violinist, playing solo Bach parti-tas during rush hour. The bet was around the question of whether anyone would pay any attention and notice extraordinarily beautiful music being played by a consum-mate concert artist.

Guess who won the bet? The person who bet there would be significant num-bers of passersby who would stop in their busy lives and take notice — akin to us Seattleites noticing “when the mountain’s

out” even while driving to work in agoniz-ingly slow rush hour traffic on 520 — lost.

Sure, one or two people stopped and dropped quarters into Bell’s violin case, a case that cradles a violin worth hundreds of thousands of dollars! But the video revealed countless passersby not paying any discernible notice to the artistry and beauty right in front of them. (Subway stations often have quite good acoustics, by the way, albeit a bit too echo-y.)

This interesting story of human oblivi-ousness to beauty or, let’s say generously, obliviousness to beauty out of context, seemed to me a Midrashic parable, or what our sages called a “mashal.” Expla-nation/digression: Rabbinic midrashic parables are stories our sages created to explicate or explain a usually challeng-ing narrative in the Torah, essentially interpreting one narrative by means of another, apparently more accessible one.

The “Joshua Bell in the Subway Tale” occurred to me as a “mashal” of many of our people’s response to Jewish life these days in the U.S. Here we have something of extraordinary beauty and power, attested to by its adherents throughout the his-tory of this culture and this people, being ignored, passed by; our people too busy or oblivious or otherwise occupied to stop, observe, and appreciate. (Confession: I’m a snob, which means I don’t believe that music or other great art is simply a matter of personal taste. Beethoven, or in this case, Bach, is simply better, greater music than Led Zeppelin or whatever goofy noise teenagers listen to nowadays. Mozart is even much greater than Abbey Road, a noisy album even an old snob like me can appreciate!). But, parentheses aside, I also don’t believe that Shabbat or Pesach or “Shnayim ochazin b’talit” (the provocative opening mishna of Bava Metzia discussing the dispute between two litigants laying apparently equal claim to a found object, but pick any other nearly infinitely fas-cinating and compelling teachings from the wellsprings of Torah, both written and oral) are equal to whatever is “out there” in the marketplace of ideas and sensations competing for Jewish time, Jewish energy, Jewish wisdom.

On an aesthetic plane, I suppose one could argue whether Shabbat is more moving or beautiful than hearing Joshua Bell play Mozart. But Jewish life is not about aesthetics, a value we inherit some-what from Classical Greece, though aes-

thetics play an important but limited role in traditional Judaism. Indeed, so much of Jewish life deals with ways of living one’s life and how a community should ideally live in “holiness.”

Jewish tradition concerns itself so often with limits. This emphasis on limits may be the core problem as to why so many pass by its beauty, opting for what-ever else. Much of the message of our Wikipedia, cable TV with 700-plus chan-nels, Google culture eschews limits. We celebrate freedom, bordering on an unbridled if not anarchic freedom.

The entire corpus of Jewish life and law embraces norms and rhythms of per-mitted and forbidden, kosher and non-kosher, categories of work and rest, pure and impure; the word kadosh/holy has as its root meaning “separation.” It is similar to classical music, with its rigors of form, melody, rhythm, instrumentation, yet mysteriously facilitating and providing a platform and framework for genius — in addition to the significant technical facil-ity required to bring a score, a written code, to life. In addition to the discomfit-ing fit between authentic Jewish concepts of holiness — not the spiritual, super-ficial fluff of “holiness” as some sort of disembodied or out-of-body experience — and popular culture, the misfit is also expressed by the disconnected if not nar-cissistic self (cf. Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone) in contrast to this collective iden-tity known as “the Jewish people” or, clas-sically, “Knesset Yisrael/Klal Yisrael.”

This reminds me of the wicked son’s question at the Pesach seder: “What’s all this to you, not him.” He denies his involvement in the collective Jewish experience of redemption and thus — and here’s the point — he denies a funda-mental truth of Judaism.

The sages of the Haggadah declare one of their most serious opprobriums on this wicked one: He is a “kopher b’ikkar,” a denier of the essence of Judaism. Prob-ably, more accurately, an essence, since there is considerable, ongoing dispute as to what the essence or ikkar of Judaism is. By denying the centrality of the col-lective Jewish people, elevating himself as an individual over the collective, he is deemed a heretic. (Oh, how modernity hates the word heresy; again, the culture-conflict between an unbridled individ-ualism and a collective with norms and standards.)

Many devote their professional lives to reversing or stemming this seemingly inexorable march of assimilation. Assim-ilation accompanied by low birthrates and high rates of perpetual “passing by” (read: “opting out”). In many ways, the challenges of cultivating a classical musi-cal audience are parallel to those facing Jewish professionals and organizations. Attend a typical Seattle Symphony or opera or chamber music concert — and we are truly blessed in this city by these wonderful world-class organizations and many other “minor” ones — and you’ll see what advocates observe as the “gray-ing of the audience.” Many wonder where the next generation of devotees will come from once all these gray heads — and I count myself proudly among this “wise” elite — are no more.

And the “assimilation” or, more accu-rately, attrition is a serious problem. On the other hand, the concerns about the next generation both among classical music advocates and Jewish communal leaders are decades old. I recall reading a 1954 study conducted by the American Jewish Committee about the crisis of con-tinuity, the lack of effective Jewish educa-tion, the ongoing disaster of assimilation and intermarriage, even if rates back then were much lower than the current roughly 50 percent. Sometimes I think we Jews just love a crisis mentality, even if the crisis is real. It’s the mentality, the drama, the “oy vey!” that we Jews so love. As noted Jewish historian, formerly of the UW faculty, Deborah Lipstadt famously quipped, “We Jews never fail to find the cloud in the silver lining.”

For those of us at the Samis Founda-tion, devoted to Jewish education and the continuity of the Jewish people, what other choice is there but to invest in effective Jewish education? We are truly blessed in our community to have such wonderful day schools and camps for those families possessing the wisdom and insight to not just “pass by” our glori-ous tradition. Even if we were not facing a crisis, which we Jews seem to so enjoy masochistically, this is the legacy Sam Israel bequeathed to the Jewish commu-nity of Washington State. If only more would pause for a moment and not just pass by, but stop and listen to this ach-ingly beautiful way of life, which has sus-tained our people for 4,000 years.

Seeking beautyTaking a moment to stop and smell the flowers of our Jewishness can yield intellectual and spiritual treasures

accentuating the PositiveThe article which appeared in the

April 9 edition of JTNews (“Opting out”) was offensive to me as a Holocaust survi-vor. Other survivors who read this article shared some of the same feelings with me that a Jewish paper supported by Jewish people would be so insensitive to publish this opinion in the week of Yom HaShoah.

When we commemorate Yom Ha- Shoah, we pay respects to those who have perished during the Holocaust. We also pay respects to those survivors who have risen from the ashes and come to America without knowing the language or customs. As survivors, we worked very hard to raise families for years, and many of us kept our past inside. In the last few decades many have decided to share their experiences by going to schools and sharing their sto-ries to prevent future Holocaust from hap-pening.

We survivors tell students about love and compassion and the quest to live and never to give up. We are the witnesses to some of the worst horrors—we don’t teach hate, we teach compassion and love for each other.

Therefore, when we commemorate Yom HaShoah we have to see the posi-tive — that each human is special and that each one of us is different. Personally, I am alive because one person risked her life.

In Germany today, before you gradu-ate from high school, you have to visit a concentration camp. I personally speak to thousands of people each year because educators feel it is important to teach the history of the Holocaust.

I hope that survivors are helping put an end to genocide by telling their stories.

Henry FriedmanFounder and President emeritus

Washington State Holocaust education Resource Center

Protesting granDPaSo the South African Zionist Federa-

tion has arranged to prevent Judge Richard Goldstone from attending his grandson’s Bar Mitzvah next month. Thus contin-ues the vilification and rejection of Gold-stone since the Goldstone Report on Israel’s 2008-9 campaign in Gaza. A blog-ger wants to “spit in his face and kick him in the ass.” What more is left — assas-sination? When a segment of Jewry cre-ates a safe haven for hatemongers, they are taking the proverbial serpents to their

u Page 4

rabbi’s turn

correctionThe name of Anna Cherkasov, one

of the 10 Jews Under 40 (April 16), was misspelled throughout the article.

JTNews regrets the error.

Page 4: JTNews | April 30, 2010

4 jtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

vieWPoints

Friday, May 76:00 PM/ BellevueShabbat Unplugged6:00 PM/ SeattleClassic ShabbatSaturday, May 8 9:30 AM/ SeattleTorah & T’llah Together10:30 AM/ SeattleShacharit10:30 AM/ BellevueShacharit

Friday, May 14NO SEATTLE PM SERVICE6:00 PM/ BellevueShabbat & Graduation ServiceSaturday, May 159:30 AM/ SeattleTorah & T’llah Together10:30 AM/ SeattleShacharit10:30 AM/ BellevueShacharit5:00 PM/ BellevueHavdalah

Friday, May 216:00 PM/ BellevueKabbalat Shabbat6:00 PM/ SeattleShabbat Unplugged Saturday, May 229:30 AM/ SeattleTorah & T’llah Together10:30 AM/ SeattleShacharit10:30 AM/ BellevueShacharit5:00 PM/ BellevueHavdalah

Friday, May 286:00 PM/ BellevueRock Shabbat7:30 PM/ Seattle4th ShabbatSaturday, May 299:30 AM/ SeattleTorah & T’llah Together10:30 AM/ SeattleShacharitNO AM BELLEVUE SERVICE5:00 PM/ BellevueHavdalah

Seattle Sanctuary1441 - 16th Avenue

(206) 323-8486 TEMPLEDe Hirsch Sinai click on TGIS @ TDHS at www.tdhs-nw.org

Bellevue Sanctuary3850 - 156th SE(425) 454-5085

MayTEMPLE

Worship Experiences at

Rainer Waldman Adkins and Teri CittermanSpecial to JTNews

I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line. “Where are you going?” I asked. “To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “to see how long and wide it is to be.

— Zechariah 2:1-2

Let’s be clear: Jerusalem must remain the capital of the Jewish homeland. But the only way to ensure Jerusalem’s future is to prevent the city from being reduced to a rhetorical flourish.

We are supporters of a t wo-state solution and want to see international recognition for the capital of Israel in Jerusalem. But we cannot help but be frustrated by how much of this debate is marred by a lack of information about what is really happening on the ground, and by simplistic rhetoric which mythol-ogizes Jerusalem as eternally united and undivided. We are troubled by the omis-sion that some recent Israeli actions are undermining the two-state solution, and with it, the future of Israel as a Jewish, democratic home.

The Obama administration was right to speak out against Israeli construc-tion in East Jerusalem because it makes it more difficult to achieve a successful two-state solution. No credible peace process can survive unproductive steps by either side, and Israeli actions in Jerusalem cer-tainly fit that bill. So, too, must the United States hold the Palestinians accountable against continued incitement to violence and glorification of terrorists.

We also believe that a viable two-state solution — the only way to secure Israel’s future as a Jewish, democratic home — must be based on 1967 lines with agreed and reciprocal land swaps, as well as a shared Jerusalem that houses the capitals of both states. Previous negotiations have

produced creative ideas for resolving the toughest issues and ensuring freedom of access and respect for holy sites.

And most importantly, achieving a two-state solution and broader regional peace is the single best way to finally achieve international recognition for Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. That will mean Palestinian rule over the Arab areas of East Jerusalem and Israeli con-trol over Jewish areas of Jerusalem. Then Israel can build anywhere within its established borders with the complete support of the international community.

Furthermore, many simplistic talking points about Jerusalem do not hold up under scrutiny.

Many American Jews know only West Jerusalem and the Old City, the latter of which represents just 1/60th of municipal Jerusalem. Yet greater Jerusalem, stretch-ing almost from Bethlehem to Ramallah (East Jerusalem was added to Jerusalem in 1967 and formally annexed by Israel in 1981), is a divided city with unequal regard for Arab and Jewish needs.

The rosy picture some paint of a Jeru-salem where all people — Jewish, Arab, and other — are able to build anywhere they want is simply false. It is virtually impossible for Arabs to build in Jewish neighborhoods, and politicized red tape and administrative hang-ups make it difficult for Palestinians to even obtain building permits in Arab neighborhoods.

Not only is it virtually impossible for Palestinians to build in Jerusalem, some are even evicted from their homes. Jewish housing projects are being set in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods such as Sheikh Jarrah, with construction funded by wealthy American Jews. Arab Palestinian families who have lived in their homes since 1948 have been evicted and thrown in the street to make way for Israeli Jewish families.

We now face a stark choice. Ameri-

can Jews, with our deep personal con-nections to Israel and to Jerusalem, can either choose to ensure Israel’s security and peace for Jerusalem by supporting pragmatic, win-win peace options or tac-itly support a dangerous, dead-end status quo.

We can line up with those who would hold on to all the land of Israel, even if it is destructive to Israel’s future or in con-flict with democratic and Jewish values. Or we can recognize the painful, yet nec-essary, steps we need to take to achieve a two-state solution and support Presi-dent Obama’s sensible leadership in the Middle East.

Thankfully, many throughout the American Jewish community agree. A March J Street poll found that 82 percent of American Jews support the United States playing an active role in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, with 73 percent of American Jews supporting this even if the United States publicly states its dis-agreements with both Israelis and Arabs. Nearly three-quarters of American Jews support the United States “exerting pres-sure” on all parties to make the necessary compromises to achieve peace.

With that kind of backing, now is the time for the United States to assert itself as a credible steward of peace through a two-state solution. It is critical President Obama receives support and encour-agement from pro-Israel and pro-peace American Jews as he presses for tough decisions from Israel and the Palestin-ians, because the gates of opportunity for real peace and security for Israel and the Palestinians are closing.

Rainer Waldman Adkins chairs the Western Washington branch of J Street, which defines itself as “the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans.” Teri Citterman is a J Street steering committee member.

Sharing Jerusalem: the key to peace?Two states means both sides need to work — and act — productively breasts, without being able to predict

what might come next. Goldstone did not “betray the Jewish people,” as some have said. Rather, the hatemongers do. Those who would keep him from his grandson’s Bar Mitzvah reject a whole array of Jewish values. I agree with retired South Afri-can justice Arthur Chaskalson that “they should hang their heads in shame.”

edna oberman Seattle

Direct talks, noWYour front page article “Senate letter

urging tensions tamp-down gets 76 signa-tures,” (April 16), was quite informative.

I hope the Obama administration heeds the words of more than three quar-ters of U.S. Senators urging them not to allow tensions with Israel to harm Israeli-Palestinian talks. It is more important than ever for Israel and the Palestinians to enter into direct face-to-face negotiations with-out pre-conditions on either side. The Senate letter rightly pointed out that Pal-estinian leaders are refusing to enter into direct negotiations with Israel.

Interestingly, a companion letter in the U.S. House of Representatives won over-whelming support in 72 hours.

Since Obama became president, his administration seems to view Israel as the primary cause of instability in the Middle East. They seem to forget the number of times Israel has unsuccessfully taken bold moves to make peace with Palestinian Arabs. Also, they overlook the fact that the U.S. has never had to go to war to defend the Jewish State. Israel is being unfairly accused of being an obstacle to peace. The greatest obstacle to peace remains Israel’s neighbors’ refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to a tiny state in their historic homeland.

On May 24, 2007, candidate Obama said Israel is our most reliable ally and the only established democracy in the Middle East. Israel’s security — which is of vital importance to the U.S. — can best be guaranteed by reaching negotiated peace agreements with its neighbors. But Israel must have credible partners with whom to negotiate.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rightly stated that Jerusalem is not “a settlement.” We must not allow Jerusalem to be used as a propaganda tool in the hands of people who sadly crave Israel’s destruction. We cannot accept a divided Jerusalem. People of all faiths have been allowed to pray there under Israeli rule since 1967. Jerusa-lem is the eternal capital of Israel and the Jewish people. It is not “the third holiest city” as it is for the Muslims. It is the only holy city of the Jewish people. It has been so for over 3,300 years. Jerusalem is men-tioned 700 times in the Jewish Holy Scrip-tures. Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the Koran. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammad never came to Jerusalem.

A lasting peace can only be achieved if Hamas and Fatah nullify their charters calling for the total destruction of Israel, renounce violence and end their hate campaign against Israelis and Jews living in their ancestral home.

Josh BassonSeattle

Letters t Page 3

wwwwww.jtnews.net

Who do you love?

By phone, call Becky at 441-4553 to subscribe, and tell her who you love. She’ll get your $10 gift to the right place.

Or log on to www.jtnews.net and subscribe using our simple, secure form. Important! Enter the organiza-tion in the “company” field at checkout.

If you have any questions, please call or e-mail Karen, 774-2267 or [email protected]. Thanks! This offer is only available to regular or multi-year renewals.

It’s simple. Subscribe by May 15 and

we’ll send $10 to the non profit organization

you love.

Page 5: JTNews | April 30, 2010

5friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnewscommunity neWs

SEEKING: INVENTOR OFNEW JEWISH RITUALSFriday, May 14. 8:30-9:30pm –A Program for Adults.Childcare available by pre-registration.

We invite you to attend Kabbalat Shabbat Service at 6:00pm andDinner at 7:00pm.Dinner reservations & prepayment required by May 10th.$25/person. Member discount available.Children 3 years and under free.

D’VAR TORAHSaturday, May 15 at Shabbat Morning services.Services begin at 9:30am. D’var Torah at approximately 11:15am.Children’s activities are available during services.Services are followed by kosher Kiddush Lunch at 12:15pm.

FUNKY TALMUDSaturday, May 15. 1:15-2:15pm.

DREAMS! DREAMS! DREAMS!Saturday, May 15. 8:00pm. Followed by Dessert, Havdallah, andOriginal Music by Sasson.Space is limited. RSVP by May 10th.

More information about the Scholar in Residence program is available athttp://bethshalomseattle.org/scholar_in_residence.php

All events take place at Congregation Beth Shalom.Lectures are open to the public and free of charge.

RSVP for Friday dinner, childcare, and Saturday night event by 5/10by calling the office or registering at www.bethshalomseattle.org.

EDWIN L. BIERMANSCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE

PROF. VANESSA L. OCHSMAY 14-15, 2010CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM

Congregation Beth Shalom6800 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115

(206) 524-0075 www.bethshalomseattle.org

WE ARE PROUD OF SHA ALUM

Elana Zana

A PERSON UNDER 40 MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Mazal Tov

from the Seattle Hebrew Academy

Janis SiegelJTNews Correspondent

Though it threatened her arrival, vol-canic ash clouds from Iceland couldn’t keep Israeli Comparative Literature pro-fessor Ilana Pardes from making it to Seattle to deliver her first evening lecture that kicked off the 35th Annual Samuel & Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies.

There was no need to worry about any pulverized powder deterring her flight, University of Washington Prof. Gad Bar-zilai, chair of the Stroum Jewish Studies Program and Pruzan Professor of Jewish Studies, jokingly told the nearly full audi-ence at the UW’s Kane Hall, because “the Stroums would take care of business.”

Pardes, a widely recognized scholar, was born and raised in Israel, and has been teaching at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem since 1992. Prior to return-ing to Israel, she taught at the University of California at Berkeley and Princeton University. Pardes spent last fall at The Center for Judaic Studies in Philadelphia.

“She is the most prominent expert on literal interpretations of the Bible and how the Old Testament has been gener-ated through and reproduced in poetry and literature,” Barzilai told JTNews.

Pardes’ books include Countertradi-tions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach (Harvard University Press, 1992), The Biography of Ancient Israel: National Nar-ratives in the Bible (University of Cali-

fornia Press, 2000), and Melville’s Bibles (University of California, 2008).

In the her first lecture of the series, “Upon the Handles of the Lock: Agnon, Balak, and the Israeli Bible,” Pardes explored the works of S.Y. Agnon, one of Israel’s most prominent authors, who won the Israel Prize in 1954 and the Nobel Prize in 1966, and who died in 1970, to gain a greater understanding of how the Bible is reflected in popular Israeli culture.

“This is really my first plunge into modern Hebrew literature,” Pardes told JTNews. “I always deal with the nexus of Bible, literature and culture, but these are stories and texts from the ’50s, mostly the Bible, within the Zionist imagination, explored through Agnon. I’m investigat-ing my own culture, the culture of my childhood.”

Born Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes in 1888 to an observant Jewish family in Buczacz, Galicia, S.Y. Agnon, learned biblical texts, rabbinical commentary and Hassidic liter-ature as a youth through his formal educa-tion and through the influence of his father, a rabbi, while his mother introduced him to German philosophical writings.

As an adult, he became interested in Zionism and emigrated to Palestine in 1907, joining the secular literati of the day there, before moving to Berlin, where he befriended other great writers includ-ing Martin Buber, Franz Rosensweig and Gershom Sholem.

Having established a close friend-

ship with both Rosensweig and Sholem, the three writers debated the sacredness of the Hebrew language and considered whether a more secular interpretation of biblical texts wouldn’t better reflect the character and ideology belonging to those Zionists who resettled the land.

“It is as though he were saying,” imag-ined Pardes in her prepared remarks, “‘Since you will not accept the continuity of tradition and its language in their true con-text, take them in the transformation which they have undergone in my work. Take them from someone who stands at the crossroads and can see from both directions.’”

In another work, Agnon reinterpreted the classical biblical book about love, “Song of Songs,” traditionally understood to be a metaphor of the love that God has for Israel. Agnon recast the themes of the story in secular Zionist tones that reflected the ideology of the then-fledg-ling country’s founders.

This romantic and celebratory narra-tive, said Pardes, is put on a pedestal in the writings of those who resettled the land.

“‘The Song of Songs’ is sort of an exem-plary text,” Pardes told JTNews. “It has its own special status within secular Zion-ism. That’s why I chose it.”

Agnon, according to Pardes, inter-preted the love poem as a “new national allegory…providing modern forms of col-lective love, primarily the love between the community and the land.”

“This was a shift from the biblical

text to questions about the Bible itself in modern literature and modern culture,” Pardes added. “This is a formative moment that I’m dealing with, but of course, it has implications for contemporary culture.”

Pardes’ second lecture was tit led “Agnon’s Ethnographies of Love and the Quest for the Ultimate Song.”

This year, the Stroum series intro-duced a new format for the third lec-ture. Pardes’ final presentation, “Freud, Zipporah, and the Bridegroom of Blood: National Ambivalence in the Bible” was

love songsStroum lecturer offers a different take on influential Israeli writer Agnon

u Page 22

t. sasson

2010 Stroum lecturer Ilana Pardes.

Page 6: JTNews | April 30, 2010

6community neWsjtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

got into the private high school of his or her choice probably helped to spur those inquiries, Erlitz noted.

The fundraising event the school held in March raised more than $400,000, but that highlight has not come with-out a cost. The school made cuts over the past year and a half that reduced staffing hours and reached into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Those cuts included “taking our IT guy from full-time to part-time,” Erlitz said, as well as reducing hours of support staff to keep from doing actual layoffs.

Erlitz doesn’t expect these efficiencies to revert to former levels, at least in the short term. The school has received grant money, including from the Women’s Endowment Foundation at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and the Samis Foundation, for teacher development programs to help continue the globally based curriculum the middle school has adopted.

“We’re very excited about the changes we’re looking at in the middle school,” she said. It is “more project-based, more global-based, more getting the kids out into the world. Even my most seasoned teachers are really excited about that.”

Erlitz emphasized that none of the cuts affected programming or services that directly affect the students.

“If you’re asking me to cut the quality, you need to get another head of school,” Erlitz said she told her board. “Why be here if you can’t enrich what’s happening with the students?”

Menachem Mendel Seattle ChederWhen the Menachem Mendel Seat-

tle Cheder moves into its newly acquired facility in Seattle’s Maple Leaf neigh-borhood — hopefully by mid-summer, school leaders say — they will have, in addition to the elementary school and girls’ high school, their recently opened early-childhood Montessori program in place. They’re also looking to open a licensed childcare within the facility.

According to MMSC’s head of school, Rabbi Yosef Charytan, the economy has been somewhat hard on the school, but they also felt effects of the recession on the early side.

“We always have been very budget con-scious, and I think that we as a school felt the economic downturn before many of the other schools did, and we were able to respond to it in advance of everything really coming down for the overall school com-munity…in Seattle.” Charytan told JTNews.

Currently, he said, “we’re doing great. Things, thank God, are running well.”

In the past two years, MMSC has made some budget cuts and tried to be conser-

vative in spending while launching its capital campaign and keeping program-ming intact.

Cuts have included discontinuing or suspending some extracurricular pro-grams or switching them from staff-led to volunteer efforts.

In addition, he said, “we’ve begun to explore other learning options that can help reduce our overall staff size, such as Internet-based instruction.”

Despite the cutbacks MMSC has had to make, admissions are looking steady and families are showing interest in the new facility.

“It’s something that has generated a

tremendous amount of excitement and interest overall from people who are cur-rently touring, and if they are current parents as well,” Charytan said.

Seattle Hebrew AcademyIn addition to the Seattle Hebrew

Academy, Seattle’s oldest day school, being hit hard by the economy came two unplanned incidents: A landslide in the urban forest behind their 100-year-old building’s grounds, and the entrance onto the campus of a man spouting anti-Semitic epithets that resulted in a $50,000 security expenditure. The school has appealed to the Jewish Federation for an emergency grant to help cover the approximately $100,000 it will cost to repair the damage and shore up the affected area.

“It is such a gift to be housed in this school,” said Kletenik, SHA’s head of school. “It is a beautiful campus…the sur-roundings are inspired, and it is a huge responsibility to keep it the way it is.”

Joanna Sandorffy, SHA’s board presi-dent, said figuring out how to maintain the school’s programming and grounds, particularly with the additional budget line items, has been a top priority.

“We’ve definitely had hard decisions to make, and our finance office, together with the volunteers, the finance committee, has scrutinized and painstakingly looked at items all the while,” Sandorffy said.

When SHA’s Judaics principal left the school last year, Kletenik took on those responsibilities to keep costs down.

“We decided not to fill the position, thinking that would be good for our budget — and it was,” Kletenik said.

Some teachers have stepped in to fill in any holes left by the absence of a dedicated person in the position as well, she said.

But things are looking up. Fundrais-ing for this year appears to be on track for reaching the school’s goals, Kletenik said, and a 2-for-1 challenge grant from the Samis Foundation announced this month has garnered enthusiasm from school staff.

“To tell you the truth, we’re euphoric,” Kletenik said. “Every single teacher is going to give $10. It’s a line item of giving that we had not anticipated this spring, and we’re hoping t hat parents and board members are going to be equally inspired.”

A salary freeze instituted last year will be dropped; teachers will receive a 3 per-cent pay increase as of July 1.

Kletenik credited the school’s steady enrollment to its status as an Orthodox school. The preschool program, San-dorffy said, is at capacity as well.

Seattle Jewish Community SchoolThe Seattle Jewish Community School

in North Seattle has one big change in its immediate future: A new head of school, Shoshana Bilavsky, arrives from Boul-der, Colo. this summer. The school she comes to is vastly different from the one that existed just five years ago — a new school building, a larger student body — and according to board president Yonah Karp, “we finally look like our vision of ourselves, the vision that we had for 18 years before we bought the building.”

One of the biggest bonuses of the facil-ity, which previously housed a Christian elementary school, is the science lab that became available when SJCS made the purchase.

“We do have a brand new science cur-riculum that’s an extension of previous curricula, and because we have a build-ing that’s basically a turnkey building with a science lab, we’ve been able to do things that we haven’t in the past,” Karp said.

The economy had an effect on the school over the past school year, mainly in the form of the need for increased schol-arships.

“The request for tuition assistance, and the number of families that are eli-gible, had gone up,” Karp said. “It’s made increases in fundraising much more appreciated than ever before.”

Enrollment has stayed fairly consis-tent, with some attrition, and mid-year applications have been strong this year, Karp said. Though the school did not lay off any staff, pay raises and retirement contributions were taken off the table. SJCS plans to reintroduce both into its budget for next year.

“Our staff is the backbone of our school. We would not be who we are with-out the teachers and staff,” Karp said. “We need to honor that as well as we can in any economy.”

One reason the school has managed to stay fairly consistent with its budget has been due to strong community sup-port, even from people not otherwise connected to the school. Samis has been crucial in helping SJCS reach its fund-raising goals, however, by instituting a 2-for-1 matching grant, similar to the one offered to SHA, through the end of the school year.

Bilavsky will also be crucial to future fundraising.

“She’s got quite a track record of fund-raising at her previous school,” Karp said.

Bilavsky’s impending arrival comes with high expectations, as well.

“I think she’s going to take us places that we haven’t been before, and we are every excited,” Karp said. “She has been in three different community day schools before coming to us…. I think that that richness of experience that she’s bringing to the table is certainly something that’s going to inform our growth as a school.”

Torah Day School of SeattleW hen the Torah Day School f irst

opened in 2006, the rented space near the Seward Park neighborhood from where

the Orthodox school draws most of its students was ample for its 52 elementary students. Four years later, finding a build-ing that will fit its 90 children (down from 94 earlier this year — any loss of students has come not from economic hardship but from families making aliyah) is one of TDS’ highest priorities.

“We are actively looking,” said Mike Eisenstein, co-president of the TDS board. They expect to find another space to rent — a building purchase is not rec-ommended for such a young school.

“Not all of our parameters are well-defined in terms of demographic and ultimate size at the rate we’re growing,” Eisenstein said.

Though school leaders believe the economy has not had a dramatic impact on the school, having to account for more tuition assistance requests, meaning less income, has clearly delayed some initia-tives, Eisenstein said. But being the new kid on the block has its benefits.

“When I sit around at a [heads of school] meeting and hear the discussion surrounding how to cut back and which programs need to be cut back, we’re not even there yet,” said Rabbi Sheftel Skaist, TDS’ head of school.

“There are so many things that we’re looking to add to the program,” he added. “Electives for middle school kids, and various programs that this facility can’t [handle]. We don’t have a gym. We don’t have a place for an art room. Our library is minuscule. So we’re looking to build.”

Eisenstein said many TDS students attend after-school and weekend supple-mental programs as well.

“You don’t need a Bunsen burner to learn science,” he said. “I’ve been very impressed with the biology and basic chemistry my daughter comes home spouting, without having a formal sci-ence lab in school. And that’s 2nd grade.”

The board has worked with outside consultants, including Samis, to help them with strategic planning in regards

to the school’s v ision and f inancial responsibilities.

Where TDS has firmly established itself is in its Judaics curriculum. Outside of Skaist’s office is a large grid, adapted by Rabbi Jonathan Rietti, founder of a New York-based organization called Jewish Inspiration, that allows for the use of mnemonic devices to help students take numerical values of English words and apply them to the Torah. The mention of the phrase “Rolls Royce,” for example, refers students to a specific passage in all five books.

“It’s astounding. They can do that now in Genesis, and in Exodus,” Skaist said. “If the English word translates to the word 42, then they make a connection between that English word and the subject matter in chapter 42 of Genesis.”

Schools t Page 1

Joel magalnick

Two Jewish Day School students rock out at a concert by Jewish musician eytan Katz in February at an all-day-school event at the Seattle Hebrew Academy. The event was sponsored by local developer Martin Selig and his wife Catherine Mayer. Katz also played a fundraiser that benefited all the local day schools.

Joel magalnick

Torah Day School’s head of school, Rabbi Sheftel Skaist, in his office.

u Page 20

Page 7: JTNews | April 30, 2010

7friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnewsm.o.t.: member of the tribe

WWW.SQUAREPEGCONCERTS.COM · TWITTER.COM/SQUAREPEGNW · WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SQUAREPEGCONCERTS · WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SQUAREPEGCONCERTSJOIN THE SQUARE PEG CONCERTS STREET TEAM · EMAIL [email protected]

FRIDAY MAY 7TRIPLE DOOR 216 UNION ST5:30PM DOORS · ALL AGESTICKETS AT TICKETMASTERCHARGE BY PHONE 1-800-745-3000

ElayneBOOSLER

7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $36 | (206) 365-7770 www.musicofremembrance.org

Mina Miller, Artistic Director • 12th Season

Spring Concert:Vedem

The oratorio VEDEM is based on the astonishing poems written by boy prisoners in their secret concentration camp journal. Northwest opera vocalists Ross Hauck and Angela Niederloh join the amazing Northwest Boychoir and the MOR Ensemble. Also: Schwarz’s In Memoriam, with cellist Julian Schwarz, and Pavel Haas’ String Quartet No. 3.

World Premiere of MOR Commission!

8:00 p.m.Monday, May 10, 2010Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle

7:15 p.m. Meet the Composer & Librettist: John Sharify interviews Lori Laitman and David Mason

Nort

hwes

t Bo

y Ch

oir

Diana BrementJTNews Columnist

All Bar and Bat Mitzvah kids are spe-cial, but Andrew and Esther Schorr of Mercer Island can be allowed a little leeway in thinking their son, Eitan is even more special — in fact they call him their “miracle baby.”

In 1996 Andrew was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). At the time, the Schorrs had been think-ing about having a third child, but knew chemotherapy drugs could cause infer-tility. Andrew’s doctor at the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he later took part in clinical trials, suggested the cancer was slow-growing enough to put off treatment. When Esther told the doctor of their plan, “he gave her a big hug and said, ‘Go have your baby,’” says Andrew.

“And that’s the kid who stood on the bima last Saturday,” April 17, at Temple B’nai Torah.

“He did a great job, by the way,” added Dad. “It was a very life-affirming thing.”

In a little twist of irony or destiny, Andrew, who grew up in New York’s Westchester County, was already a medi-

cal journalist when he received his diag-nosis. He holds journalism degrees from Columbia and the University of North Carolina, and had worked mostly in tele-vision, including for the groundbreaking “PM/Evening Magazine.”

He also assumed he didn’t have much time to live. Diagnosed around the same time as Seattle School District Superin-tendent John Stanford, he was horrified at how quickly Stanford died.

“To me, that was leukemia,” he says. “Strong guy, do not pass go, you’re dead.”

However, Andrew got a more favorable diagnosis, allowing him to forgo treat-ment u nt i l 2 0 0 0 when t he ca ncer began to affect his immune system.

His illness cata-pulted his work in a different direction. He started doing a Su nd a y mor n i n g radio show on KVI on different health topics.

“Soon it became apparent to me that its home base should be on the Internet,” he says.

Internet use at the t ime was low,

but growing. “Now the typical person, especially

the typical Jewish person, will look for health information online,” Andrew adds.

Five years ago he started Patient Power — www.patientpower.info — and he still does occasional programming, sponsored by the University of Washing-ton, on KOMO radio during drive time. He estimates those segments reach about 100,000 people a day, but 2.2 million people went to Patient Power last year, to

hear audio shows or watch short videos narrated by Andrew and Peter Frishauf, featuring a variety of medical experts.

The Schorrs live on Mercer Island, where Andrew runs his small business.

“It’s much less a business and much more a passion,” he says. “We zap audio and video files,” plus provide content to hospital Web sites, including the UW and Harborview. Sixty percent of the content is cancer-oriented, with a variety of other subjects covered, “connecting the most remote patient with the smartest doc-tors,” says Andrew.

And just to show the pace of research, the experimental drug combination Andrew had in 2000 in Houston has only just been approved by the FDA.

Meanwhile, he knows he is blessed to have been in remission and lead a normal life for the past 10 years. He enjoys Boy Scout outings with Eitan and running with their dog, Candy. He goes to the gym almost every day with Esther, “a ter-rific lady,” who works for Microsoft. Their oldest son, Ari, 20, is at the University of Michigan and middle daughter Ruth is a junior at Mercer Island High School.

•••It’s been quite a different type of job for

Karen Portman, who took over running The Beat — the Stroum Jewish Commu-nity Center’s cardiac rehabilitation pro-gram — from Kathy Hutchinson in 2008.

hearts and bloodlinesCancer survivor celebrates son’s Bar Mitzvah • Also: Helping cardiac patients get well

u Page 18

courtesy schorr family

The Schorr family, University of Michigan fans, on campus in Ann Arbor.

Page 8: JTNews | April 30, 2010

8community neWsjtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

Joel MagalnickEditor, JTNews

Jim Sinegal, co-founder and CEO of Costco Wholesale Corp., runs the larg-est chain of discount warehouses in the world. But he also has a charitable streak. In advance of his speaking engagement at Jewish Family Service of Greater Seat-tle’s annual Community of Caring lun-cheon, JTNews talked with Sinegal about his views on philanthropy, both person-ally and for his company. An abridged version of the conversation can be found here. Find the full transcript online at www.jtnews.net.

JTNews: You’re active in several charities, United Way and Children’s Hospital, to name a few. What is your own personal philosophy on charita-ble giving?

Jim Sinegal: It’s all directed toward health and human services. I don’t think I give a thousand dollars a year to the arts. It’s all directed toward things like Children’s Hospital, toward education. I’m on the board of trustees at Seattle University, so I’ve set up a fund for the school of nursing, for which I think there’s a big need in our community. My wife and I have done that.

My wife is very active in Children’s Hospital, so we’ve not only supported children’s hospital ourselves person-ally, but Janet has devoted an enormous amount of time to Children’s Hospital. She’s been on the board of trustees at the hospital. She was at one time on all three boards: The guild board, the foundation board, the hospital board. She was the first person, I think, in history, who was ever on all three boards at one time.

I’m also on the board at Mendoza School of Business at Notre Dame, and provided a scholarship program there, and I’m on the board of San Diego State University, where both Janet and I went to school and we provided a scholarship program for…people who just need help getting through school. Even though it’s an inexpensive school, it’s still costly to go. Then I’m on the board of the United Negro College Fund on a national basis, so as you can see, education and children and that type of thing is generally where we’ve given most of our money.

JT: What’s driven your desire to be so charitable?

Sinegal: Why wouldn’t I be? Look how

lucky I’ve been. I’ve been very fortunate. I came from a very humble background — my father worked in the coal mines and steel mills in the Pittsburgh area. It’s quite a leap from there, an immigrant family, to be in a position like I am in right now. So life has been very good to me, the country has been very good to me. You’d have to be pretty foolish not to under-stand how lucky you’ve been and to want to share that. And, I think, I’ve been for-tunate to have people who have mentored me in that direction.

It goes back to when I went to school. The nuns would beat it into our heads, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” I guess after a period of time it starts to seep in. Why they ever thought we would ever have anything, I don’t know. But we were fortunate enough in my particular case, and in many of my colleagues’ at school at that time.

JT: How are you taking those chari-table values to the stores, to the employ-ees, to the customers, to the company?

Sinegal: Well, first of all, we’ve got a pretty simple code of ethics. You may know it, maybe you’ve heard it. We think as a company we have to do four things: We’ve got to obey the law, we’ve got to take care of our customers, we’ve got to take care of our people, and respect our supplies. And we think if we do those four things, pretty much in that order, that we’ll do what we ultimately have to do, which is to reward our shareholders.

We think it’s possible to reward your shareholders without paying attention to all those four things, but we think if you don’t you’re going to stumble somewhere along the way. So we feel pretty good about some of the things we do, then to be able to make a profit out of it, that’s gravy. And that’s what it’s all about, obviously. You can have the loftiest goals in the world, but if we weren’t showing a profit, weren’t able to out-efficiency the other guy and make more money, nobody would give a s--- what we were doing, we would be just another asterisk, another company that was flying a supersonic, low-flying jet.

JT: To name an example, right? There’s a donation matching program with United Way, for instance, that employees can give and Costco would match?

Sinegal: Yes, employees can do that, of course they can designate if they want, or they can put it into the United Way safety net, or designate to specific chari-ties, which many people do. As a matter of fact, that’s really made it more popular than ever, that they can designate their own charitable giving.

the coal miner’s son who teaches a man to fishCostco co-founder sees providing jobs as highest form of social work

Answers on page 18

The Jerusalem Post Crossword Puzzle

By David Benkof

Across1. Word with rain or dew

5. Marina ___ Rey

8. That girl

11. Actor famous for his role in “ER”

13. Kind of wave

16. Prominent religious Zionist rabbi

18. Staffs

19. Up for grabs

21. Judaism alternative

24. Later!

25. Follow a commandment,

perhaps

26. Cleveland Jewish News location

27. Smile widely

29. Prize money

30. Munch

31. Agudath Israel spokesman

Shafran

32. J___ (matchmaking Web site)

33. Pilot’s announcement, briefly

34. The gemara is part of it

36. Hebrew letter, palindromic in

English

39. He composed “Ol’ Man River”

41. Mideast commodity

42. Itzhak Perlman’s chance to shine

43. Treat badly

45. Adorable

46. Plan

47. Hunks have nice ones

48. It might say “Shalom”

49. Actress Midler (“The Rose”)

50. Nurse

52. Simplest Hebrew verb

construction

54. Major investor and

philanthropist, especially to

Chabad

59. Grow

60. Grow

61. Heaven

62. Hannah has two

63. Tie

Down1. Double helix

2. Brisker ___

3. Rower’s need

4. Moses’ nemesis

5. Chevruta, e.g.

6. Stately trees

7. Neighborhood of many E.

European Jewish immigrants

8. Israel, e.g.

9. Widest part of the skeleton

10. Delete

12. “To ___ shall I make out the

check?”

14. 1936-39 uprising in Palestine

15. Michigan and others

17. Financier Salomon

20. Moshe Dayan had one

21. Actress Skye

22. Opportunity

23. Phoebe from “Friends”

24. Free from jail

27. Kibbutz building, perhaps

28. Adolf’s other

29. Manhandle

32. R. Crumb’s “___ Steinberger, the

Jewish Cowgirl”

34. Sen. Ron Wyden’s state

35. Prepared to bless the candles

37. Oodles

38. Knesset action

40. Dead Sea sect

42. Participated in a bee

43. Network of the J.J. Abrams-

produced “Lost”

44. Some chazers

45. King or queen

48. Yiddish actress Picon

49. Boxer Max

51. Poet Marcia

52. National Museum of American

Jewish History’s St.

53. Rainbows, e.g.

55. ___-eating contest

56. Purim mo.

57. Happy ___ clam

58. L’shana Tovah! (Happy ___ Year!)

u Page 18

Joel magalnick

Costco Wholesale Corp. co-founder and Ceo Jim Sinegal, in his Issaquah office.

if you go:

The Jewish Family Service Community of Caring luncheon takes place Tues., May 11, noon–1:30 p.m. at the Westin Seattle, 1900 5th Ave. RSVP required by contacting Gail Pollack at 206-861-3151 or [email protected]. $150 minimum gift requested.

Page 9: JTNews | April 30, 2010

9friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnews

Rivy Poupko KletenikJTNews Columnist

Dear Rivy,Knowing that your father has just

passed away I thought it would be timely to ask about the mirrors in a house of mourning. I recall the practice of covering all the mirrors in the house from my childhood, when my parents sat shiva for relatives. Where does this practice come from, why do we do it, and is it still practiced?

For an hour or so during the Shabbat morning of shiva, I was charged with the watching of our grandchild as his tired jet-lagged-East-Coast mother took a nap and the rest of the family was in syna-gogue. At a bit of a desperate moment of having exhausted many an entertain-ment option, I plunked little Ilan down in front of a full-length mirror, the bottom of which did not get covered as it should have been. As I watched him curiously consider his image, it never occurred to me that this odd juxtaposition of the week of shiva for my father, of blessed memory, who lived till the beautiful old

age of 93, and this fetching, little gazing 10-month-old, was a hint as to why mir-rors are indeed covered in a Jewish house of mourning. More on this later, but first the basics.

During the week of shiva, I, along with most mourners, had the opportunity to revisit, discuss and learn about the host of rituals that are part of the Jewish customs of mourning. Most would agree there is a tremendous amount of sense and prac-ticality about the Jewish way in death. In the case of covering mirrors, there is much meaning to the symbolism.

The basic practice is that as soon as mourning begins for a loved one who has passed away, the mirrors in the home are covered. According to Jewish law, there are seven relatives for whom one officially mourns: Father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter and spouse. It is for these that one observes shiva and then addi-tional mourning of 30 days, and for parents only, a full year. Some practices are pretty self-explanatory: Tearing clothes, sitting low to the ground, not wearing leather, not offering greetings, not studying Torah — all resonate with shades of sorrow. Does this practice of mirror covering fit in this category as well? It just might. We are sad and therefore not inclined to vainly pretty-up. But there seems to be more.

Some suggest the mirror is a cynical instrument. It reflects only what it sees in the immediate present. It has no memory and no skill for anticipating the future.

Cover the mirror. We wish to distance ourselves from such behavior; we hope to remember the person who has died and treasure him or her well into the future.

We are not the only ones to have this practice. Far be it for me to attempt a “who came first” on this one. Many cul-tures have the practice of covering mir-rors upon a death in the family. It is attributed to Irish, Italians, to the Vic-torian age, to Germany, Belgium, Eng-land and France. For some, the basic explanation is similar to our most preva-lent explanation: That is, that the mirror draws attention to one’s self and the time of mourning is a time to focus on the indi-vidual who has passed — not on our own particular narcissistic diversions.

But for some, the explanation is more of the paranormal, Snow White variety: “Mirror, mirror on the wall!” Mirrors are seen as a portal to the afterworld, to spir-its and ghosts on “the other side.” Some were wont to conjure up souls by divin-ing through mirrors and feared being swept away by a returning soul still roam-ing about who through the mirror might draw a live soul into the netherworld. For this reason the mirrors are covered so as to stymie these activities.

Yet the fundamental reason, sensible though it is, would be enough: Our tra-dition has recorded a number of other perspectives with further layers to this conversation. Some offer a matter-of-fact, utilitarian explanation. Mirrors are cov-

ered because prayers are usually recited in a house of mourning and one may not pray in front of a mirror.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in the chapter, “Sitting Shiva is Doing Tes-huvah” in Reflections of the Rav, cites the Talmud Moed Katan’s exhortation that “a mourner is obligated to overturn his bed” as the precursor to the modern-day practice of covering the mirrors. In Tal-mudic times it was the practice to turn one’s bed upside down during the week of shiva. On one hand, this would pre-clude the sitting on the bed, which is for-bidden. We are to sit low during shiva. But on the other hand, it evokes the idea that new souls are drawn into this world in the bed of mother and father, the bed being the agent of the procreative process. With the passing of one of these links we real-ize our human failure at perhaps not living up to the mission of being a bridge in the tradition being passed from parent to child. He writes:

Overturning the bed was later replaced by turning the mirrors to the wall or covering them. The sym-bolism is the same as the turning of the bed, namely that our image is not as lustrous as it should be. The period of mourning suggest human failure and covering the mirror is a form of vidui, confession.

What’s your Jq?

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattleand the Maimonides Society of Washington State

with special guest Daniel Biran,Administrative Ambassador tothe Israel Consulate of New York

Hear the personal account of being a first responderin Haiti after its devastating earthquake and theIsrael Defense Force’s life-saving efforts.

RSVP: www.JewishInSeattle.org/[email protected] or 206 774-2272Maimonides Society Chairs: Dr. David Isenberg & Dr. Donald Shifrin

news

Professional Directoryto Jewish WashingtonNetworking Our Local Jewish Community

Accepting listings now

EventPartners:

ISRAEL to HAITI:Across the Worldin 48 Hours

Thursday, May 6 at 7pm“Top of the Market” in Pike Place MarketHeavy Hors d’Oeuvres & Wine (kosher)$18 per person

Andrew Conru

in memoriamWhy we cover our mirrors during the week of shiva

u Page 23

Page 10: JTNews | April 30, 2010

10 jtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

At SuperCamp, students gain confidence,motivation and learning skills to makethem unstoppable.

supercamp®

raising grades, confidence and motivation

84% Increase self-esteem

73% Improve grades

81% Develop more confidence

68% Increase motivation

98% Continue to use skills At University ofWashington,UCLA,

Stanford and6 other schoolsthis summer.

Visit our website orcall us to request afree brochure.

www.supercamp.com800-285-3276

“Yes I can!”

View our Recreation Guide at www.miparks.net Registration is easy! www.myparksandrecreation.com or call 206.275.7609x1, 8236 SE 24th St. Mercer Island, WA 98040

Mercer Island Parks and Recreation Summer Camps

Art*Cooking*Day Camps*Gymnastics*TennisBoating*Basketball*T-Ball*Soccer Field Trips Galore and more! Ages 3&up

North America’s #1 Tech Camp for ages 7-18 held at:University of WashingtonU of British ColumbiaStanford UniversityUC BerkeleyMIT & more!

Game Design3D ModelingWeb Design

REGISTER TODAY! Save with Code WA28 FilmmakingProgrammingRobotics & more!iD Gaming Academy for teens at UW

----------------------

T E C H C A M P SinternalDrive.com 1-888-709-TECH (8324)

SHABBAT DIN

NER

BEST DAYS

MY COUNSELOR

HANGING OUT

Sessions are filling fast! Don’t miss your chance for the summer of a lifetime!

BUNKMATES

camPs anD eDucation

Lake Union CrewExperienced or non-experienced rowers! LUC Summer Camps are co-ed and open to 8–17 year olds. They recom mend that you take one complete session, but you may mix and match weeks from the 3 sessions if you need to work around family vacations. You must take a complete ‘Week One’ if you’re new to rowing. Check their Web site for complete schedule. 206-860-4199 • www.lakeunioncrew.com

iD Tech Camps Summer tech fun! Over 100,000 students worldwide have created video games, Web sites with Flash®, digital movies, iPhone® and Facebook® apps, robots, 3D models and more. Ages 7–17 enroll in these weeklong, day and residential summer camps, located at 60 universities in the U.S. and Canada. This includes the University of Washington, the University of British Columbia, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Harvard and more. Teen programs for ages 13–18 at select locations: iD Gaming Academy (at UW), iD Visual Arts Academy and iD Programming Academy. Also, year-round learning with iD 365. For details and specials visit www.internalDrive.com or call 1-888-709-TECH (8324). Save with code WA28.

The Mercer Island Parks and Recreation Department Join Mercer Island Parks and Recreation Depertment for a summer full of fun! They offer a variety of camps for everyone. Full-day and half-day camps, Nate Robinson Basketball, British soccer, art camps and so much more.206-275-7609 • www.myparksandrecreation.com

SupercampGrowth happens at SuperCamp, an elite summer enrichment program held at the University of Washington, Stanford and UCLA. Added confidence and motivation, plus powerful new learning, social and leadership skills. Programs for incoming 6th–8th graders (7 days) and 9th–12th graders (10 days).800-285-3276 • www.supercamp.com.

URJ Camp KaLsman Situated on 300 acres, their state-of-the-art facility is just over an hour north of downtown Seattle in the foothills of the Cascades. Sessions range in length from one to three weeks and are staffed by mature college students under the guidance of experienced senior staff members and faculty from across the country. Camp Kalsman is proud of its com-mitment to providing campers with strong and encouraging Jewish role models. Your child will never forget the joy of living in a close-knit community and developing new skills under the guidance of a dynamic staff—and the Jewish values and identity developed in camp will last a lifetime! 206-443-8340 • www.kalsman.urjcamps.org

camps

Page 11: JTNews | April 30, 2010

11JeWish anD green

friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnews

Join the

Hundr edsof satisf ied customers

ar ound the

Puget Sound who have joined

in the

Solar Revolution!

WA GCL# SUNERSI905DU, WA ECL# SUNERSI905D4

206-297-0086

800-997-0086SunergySystems.com

ZERO out your electric bill!

Leyna KrowAssistant Editor, JTNews

Can riding a bicycle make you a better Jew?

That question remains open for debate, but organizers of the upcoming Hazon California Bike Ride believe that riding bikes can help Jewish environmentalists make the connection between their pas-sion for protecting the planet and their religion.

“A lot of people have environmental ethics – to behave responsibly, be it with regard to food or transportation,” said Ilana Mantell, director of operations for the Kavana Cooperative, who is co-orga-nizing a team of cyclists from Seattle to take part in the ride. “For a lot of people there’s a desire to connect those ethics with Jewish values, though how to do that isn’t always obvious. Hazon is trying to make that connection.”

The event, which runs May 7-10, includes a two-day Shabbat retreat in Sonoma County, followed by a two-day bike ride to San Francisco. The retreat will feature rabbis and Jewish educators from around the country offering lectures, classes, and services centered around the connection between Judaism and envi-ronmentalism.

“By the time people get on their bikes, they will have been marinating for two days in the idea that Jews are caretakers of the world,” Mantell said.

The ride isn’t just an educational opportunit y; it ’s a lso a f undraiser. Cyclists are asked to raise a minimum of $1,000 to participate, with the money being distributed by Hazon, a New York-based Jewish environmental advocacy organization, to a variety of American and Israeli projects. Recipients include ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental

Fellowship, a three-month leadership training program for young adults, and The Jewish Farm School, which hosts alternative spring breaks for students on the East Coast and in California. Some of the money stays with Hazon to help fund their annual food conference, commu-nity supported agriculture program, and future bike rides.

Hazon began hosting bike rides in 2001, with previous events taking place in New York and Israel. This is the first time a ride has been held on the West Coast.

Mantell said the idea to field a team of Seattleites for the Hazon ride first came in December when she and several other leaders from Seattle Jewish organizations attended Hazon’s annual food confer-ence in Monterey, Calif.

“They were advertising the ride at the conference, and we were so thrilled to find another way for people to com-bine Judaism with environmentalism,” she said.

Rabbi Jessica Kessler Marshall of Ever-ett’s Temple Beth Or took part in Hazon’s New York ride last summer.

“Hazon announced they would be doing a California ride in 2010 and I thought, ‘Great, I don’t have to f ly across the country to do this anymore,’” recalled Marshall, an avid cyclist and outdoor enthusiast. “And then I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get other people from Seattle to come along?’”

Mantell and Marshall combined their efforts and the Seattle group is being orga-nized as a partnership between Kavana,

Congregation Beth Shalom, the Ravenna Kibbutz, Temple Beth Or, and Hillel at the University of Washington. They’re calling themselves Team Seattle and, as of April, they represented the largest single con-tingent to sign up from any city.

Participants needn’t be affiliates of any of the organizing communities, how-ever. According to Mantell, the team is a mix of people from a broad cross section of Jewish life.

“For the most part these aren’t Talmud scholars or people who are going to syn-agogue every week,” Mantell said. “For a lot of people, they’re looking for a way to make Judaism relevant to their values.”

For the past few months, the team has been doing Sunday morning train-ing rides to prepare for the miles they will cover in California. Marshall said the turnout for these rides has often been larger than the team itself.

“It’s a mix of people who are partici-pating, but also just Jewish bikers who like riding and want to join us,” she said.

For Marshall, riding a bicycle is not only a way for her to practice her own brand of Jewish ethics, but also as a way to facilitate conversations about Judaism.

“I really feel like for me, my spirit just soars with having kind of deeper conver-sations while on a bike,” she said. “I’ve had all kinds of discussions, from what are the different definitions of God to what to do about a daughter who’s dating a non-Jewish guy.”

Marshall said she hopes Team Seat-tle members will return from California with a better sense of how their religion fits with their other passions, cycling or otherwise.

“There are a myriad of different ways for people to connect with Judaism,” she said. “It doesn’t always have to be while sitting in a pew in a building.”

Judaism on two wheelsSeattle cyclists prepare for a trip to California for Jewish environmental group’s bike ride

courtesy ilana mantell

Members of Team Seattle before a Sunday training ride.

Page 12: JTNews | April 30, 2010

JeWish anD greenjtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

A day of volunteerismLocal Jewish teens get their hands dirty in service to the community

They swept, scrubbed, painted, collected, stuffed, schmoozed and, after a few hours, finished up with some much-needed pizza. More than 90 Jewish teens from around the Puget Sound region gathered at the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Sun., April 25 to participate in the J-Serve international day of Jewish volunteer service, organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle with help from BBYO, to do projects for other kids. The students performed maintenance tasks at the First Place School and Treehouse in Seattle’s Central District, collected goods at supermarkets for young children served by Eastside Baby Corner and Westside Baby, and sent out Mother’s Day cards on behalf of the Hope Heart Institute, and much more.

Photos by Joel Magalnick and Matt Lemchen.

Above: Jenna and Jessica scrub a classroom at the First Place School in the Central District. At right: Alexa and Katie clear the floors of the lobby at the Stroum JCC.

Above: Ruthie smiles at her friends before putting paint on the rollers. Below: Nathan, eliana and Katie collect toys and clothing for eastside Baby Corner outside a QFC supermarket.

A little rock-paper-scissors to pass the time before getting on the bus to head to the volunteer projects.

12

Published May 28, this joyful, poignant issue celebrates generations of Jewish women.

Be a part of it.

Space reservation deadline May 19.

Seattle & North: Stacy 774-2292 [email protected]

Eastside & South: Lynn774-2264 [email protected]

Professional Services: Becky774-2238 [email protected]

Everyone Else: Karen774-2267 [email protected]

Page 13: JTNews | April 30, 2010

MAY 25 - 30 | The pArAMounT TheATre877-STG-4TIX • The Paramount Theatre Box Office • www.STGPresents.org

Priority seating and discounts for groups of 15 or more, call 888.214.6856

All single tickets now sold through Tickets.com.

®

®

®

on SALe noW!“A monumental performance-for-the-ages!”

–Atlanta Journal Constitution

010-1175.Seattle.FOTR.SeaJewNews.9.8125x16.indd 1 4/14/10 5:52 PM

Page 14: JTNews | April 30, 2010

14 jtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

arts & entertainment

Seattle Hebrew Academy n 1617 Interlaken Drive E. n Seattle, WA 98112 206-323-7933, ext. 239 n Sari Weiss, Admissions Coordinator n [email protected]

A highly informed love, reverence and knowledge of Torah is critical not only to the observance of mitzvot relating to G-d but also to mitzvot geared towards humanity, commitment to the Jewish people, and responsibility for all humankind and to the physical world.

A day school education fosters intellectual honesty, a spirit of objectivity, respect for diversity of views, as well as the equality and dignity of all people.

Unique to a day school education is reality that intellectual growth and self-esteem are cultivated within a warm and nurturing environment that integrates the values of Torah. Day school education encourages critical and creative thinking as students are encouraged to excel academically.

Judaic Studies and General Studies are complementary and mutually reinforcing in a day school setting. Aspects of both curricula are often intermingled, putting our Jewish and global heritages in perspective. Talmudic concepts enrich comprehension of the humanities, while literary insights deepen understanding of the Torah. Jewish history is learned in the context of the history of the greater world. Programs in art, music, and co-curricular activities include both spheres. We prepare students to live productive and committed Jewish lives in contemporary society and to feel a proud loyalty to both America and Israel.

Torah study must result in living Torah! At SHA, learning Torah is learning how to be the best person you are meant to be!

Ask goIn what way would a day school education impact my child?

Have a question about education? Need answers?

Contact SHA!

Peter A. KleinSpecial to JTNews

The poetry of teenaged Jewish boys imprisoned in the Terezín concentra-tion camp will be given new life in the oratorio Vedem, by composer Lori Lait-man and librettist David Mason. Vedem will receive its world premiere at Music of Remembrance’s spring concert on May 10. Laitman believes these lines of Mason’s express the essence of the piece:

We lived for what we wrote and painted,as if imagination were a jewel.

Terezín (aka Theresienstadt) is an old Czech fortress town that the Nazis turned into a transit camp during the Holocaust. 144,000 Jews were sent to Terezín, includ-ing many from the arts and letters. One-quarter of the prisoners died there, and two-thirds were later killed in the death camps. Yet they created an astounding cultural life in the camp, which existed right alongside starvation, cold, over-crowding, disease, and death.

Boys in Terezín lived in a converted school building designated L417, with the oldest occupying a room known as Home Number One. Educating the children was forbidden, but the Jewish leaders of the homes did so secretly.

Home No. One’s adult leader, Valtr Eis-inger, was a teacher of Czech language and literature. With Eisinger’s encouragement, the boys created their own clandestine literary magazine, called Vedem, which means “We Lead” in Czech. Vedem existed for two years between 1942 and 1944. The key contributors were aged about 14-16. Petr Ginz, a multi-talented writer, artist and diarist, was editor-in-chief. The magazine’s logo was a Jules Verne-inspired rocket ship flying past a book toward a star.

Imagine your high school newspaper and creative writing magazine rolled into

one — handwritten, in a concentration camp. The boys created stories, poems, essays and drawings which expressed their observations, hopes, fears and dreams. Every Friday night, they read aloud and critiqued the week’s work.

According to Mason, an acclaimed poet and Bellingham native who now lives in Colorado, the story of Vedem is “an opportunity to get at the lives of very spe-cific boys, and they’re not angels, they’re rascally little guys,” he said. “They’re in that strange period between childhood and adolescence…and I find that pro-foundly interesting. We’re not only writ-ing about mechanistic, institutionalized victimization…it’s a story about human aspiration and fire and creativity in the face of absolute annihilation.”

Mason is the author or editor of nine books of poetry, and a regular contribu-tor to magazines such as The New Yorker, Poetry and The Nation.

Approximately 100 boys worked on Vedem. Only about 15 survived. Most, including Ginz, died at Auschwitz. One boy, Sydney Taussig, was allowed to remain in Terezín because he had worked in his father’s blacksmith shop, which the Ger-mans considered essential. Taussig buried about 800 pages of the magazine in a metal container meant to hold crematorium ashes, and retrieved them after liberation.

In the mid-1990s, the Vedem boys’ story and work were published in the book We Are Children Just the Same, first in Czech, then in English. Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who went into space on the ill-fated Columbia shuttle mission, took with him a copy of Ginz’s drawing of Earth viewed from a fanciful lunar landscape.

When MOR Artistic Director Mina Miller read the book about Vedem, she told herself, “One day I will commission a piece on this.” Miller had someone in mind — Lori Laitman, one of America’s foremost composers of art songs. Over the years, MOR has performed several of

Laitman’s Holocaust-related song cycles. But this time, Miller wanted something bigger, an oratorio with soloists, a chil-dren’s chorus, and a chamber ensemble.

Laitman turned to Mason, with whom she recently collaborated on her first full-length opera, The Scarlet Letter. She selected a group of the boys’ poems, which Mason wove into a narrative libretto.

Laitman studied at the Yale School of Music in the 1970s. She earned her mas-ter’s degree in flute performance, but also studied composition. At that time, she was mostly interested in composing for film and theater. After Yale, she taught flute, scored several industrial films, and wrote

incidental music to Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

M o t h e r h o o d occupied most of her t ime in the 1980s. Then in 1991 soprano Lauren Wagner, an old f r iend, asked Laitman to write an ar t song for Wag-ner’s debut CD. It turned out to be the spark that ignited her career.

“I haven’t stopped si nce,” sa id L a it-man. “I found my voice writing for the voice.”

She now has more than 200 songs to her credit, to texts by many noted poets past and present.

Talk to Laitman about her craft today, and she radiates self-confidence. Her work- ing method is differ- ent from that of many other composers.

“I always write the vocal line first,” Laitman said. “I never think of a musical structure and squish words into it.”

Each melody is “custom crafted,” she said, with musical notes matched to the text’s meaning, flow and dramatic content. Only after she is satisfied with the vocal line will she begin to flesh out other ele-ments, such as harmony and accompani-ment. Each of these layers exists to further “color and magnify the emotions that are inside and behind the words,” she said.

Mason descr ibes t hei r work i ng partnership as “a collaboration of great

poetry from imprisonmentMusic of Remembrance’s spring concert inspired by a secret magazine created by boys at Terezín camp

u Page 15

courtesy mor

Sydney Taussig, a survivor of Terezin who saved the 800-page manuscript of the magazine Vedem, with his bound replica of the recovered publications.

Page 15: JTNews | April 30, 2010

15friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnewsarts & entertainment

Want to know where they end up?Join us at gradua on on Wednesday, June 16th - 7:30pm

at Sephardic Bikur Holim

Accep ng applica ons for students entering 9th - 12th

grades for the 2010-2011 school year.

Visit us at www.nyhs.net

NYHS is a beneciary agency

of the Samis Founda on

and the Jewish Federa on

of Greater Sea le

nyhs

.04.

22.1

0 by

edi

son

leon

en

Be’er Miriam

Beloit

Boston University

Bradley University

Brandeis College

Derech Etz Chaim

Eckerd College

Eretz HaTzvi

Franklin and Marshall

George Washington University

Goucher College

Hampshire College

Hobart and William Smith

Knox College

Lafaye e Univers y

Smith College

Stern College

Touro College

Tulane University

U. of California, San Diego

U. of Massachuse s

U. of Ohio

U. of Pi sburgh Honors Program

U. of Rochester

U. of Tampa Honors Program

U. of Washington

U. of Washington Honors Program

Yesodei HaTorah

Young Judea

LeHigh University

Machon Maayan

Mechinat Beit Yisroel

Michlelet Mivaseret Yerushalayim

Midreshet Morasha

Migdal Oz

Mills College

Ne v Areyeh Jerusalem

New York University

Nishmat

Rutgers University

Sea le University

Shvilei HaTorah

Simmons College

Some of the great colleges, yeshivot, and Israel programs to which our students have been accepted:

We applaud the NYHS Class of 2010!

Sign up for classes now at bellevuecollege.edu.

joy for both of us,” he said.When working on a project, they talk

almost daily, with Laitman often singing themes to Mason and playing the piano over the telephone.

“He understands what it is that I need. He understands how to write a libretto, how to write a poem,” Laitman said. “He’s a genius.”

“I’m in the hands of a great composer, and I can trust her absolutely,” Mason said. “She responds to language in a way that I cannot even begin to describe.”

For Vedem, Laitman stretched her “vocal line first” rule a bit, she said, cre-ating an instrumental theme that recurs and develops throughout the work.

Vedem is MOR’s most ambitious proj-ect to date. In addition to the full oratorio, Laitman has crafted a more portable ver-sion without choir that can be performed at schools and outreach concerts. Filmmaker John Sharify is creating a Vedem docu-mentary that includes interviews with five of the six survivors still alive today. Miller and Laitman each met separately with two survivors — Emil Kopel and Leopold Lowy — at Lowy’s New Jersey home.

Because Miller was a musician and would understand, Kopel took her aside and revealed something he’d never told anyone before, fearing he’d be thought crazy — how a well-known piece of classical music saved his life during a death march out of Buchenwald. Prisoners who collapsed or fell behind were shot. Kopel kept pace by “listening” to Dvorák’s “Humoresque No. 7” over and over in his mind.

“I was stunned,” Miller said. Her

“hands still shaking,” she called Lait-man on her cell phone, introduced Kopel, and they told Laitman the story. Laitman agreed to include the “Humoresque” in Vedem, then found to her surprise that the melody “fit exactly” into a section of music she had just written.

The concert also includes the String Quartet No. 3 (1938) by the Czech-Jew-ish Pavel Haas, one of several compos-ers imprisoned at Terezín. The program opens with a reprise performance of Seattle Symphony conductor Gerard Schwarz’ In Memoriam, dedicated to the memory of beloved Symphony and MOR cellist David Tonkonogui, and played by Schwarz’ cellist son Julian.

“We’re dedicating the concert,” said Miller, “to all who died too young.”

if you go:

Vedem will be performed Mon., May 10 at 8 p.m. at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Benaroya Hall, 3rd and Union, downtown Seattle. Performed by tenor Ross Hauck and mezzo-soprano Angela Niederloh, and the Northwest Boychoir (Joseph Crnko, conductor), accompanied by Mikhail Shmidt, violin, Laura DeLuca, clarinet, Walter Gray, cello, and Mina Miller, piano. Tickets cost $36. Visit www.musicofremembrance.org or call 206-365-7770 for tickets.

NoW – JUNeLeonard Bernstein Arts FestivalMusic and Theaterwww.seattlecelebratesbernstein.orgA consortium of 19 arts organizations present a celebration of composer Leonard Bernstein. Events include talks, a performance by the Seattle Jewish Chorale, and a run of Bern-stein’s classic musical, On the Town at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Visit the Web site for details and a calendar of events.

the arts may 2 – 12SUNDAy, MAy 2 AT 3:30 P.M.Tzuza Dancers of IsraelDancewww.jewishinseattle.org/lagbomer Tzuza Dancers of Israel, a teen dance troupe from Kiryat Malachi, an Israeli town provided assistance by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle’s TIPS partnership, will perform at the Stroum Jewish Community Center’s Lag B’Omer celebration. Tzuza Dancers of Israel compete at the national level with some of Israel’s best student dance troupes. Free for those who pre-register, or $5 at the door. At the Stroum JCC, 3801 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.

u Page 22

SJCS Annual Meeting & Dessert ReceptionMonday, May 17, 2010

7:00 p.m. n SJCS Auditorium

Honoring Debra J.G. Butler

Founding Principal 1991-1995 Advisory Board 1996-2005 Head of School 2006-2010

Volunteer of the Year Seth Rosenbloom

R.S.V.P. to [email protected].

www.sjcs.net n 206.522.5212 12351 8th Avenue NE n Seattle 98125

Page 16: JTNews | April 30, 2010

16 jtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

arts & entertainment

GREATER SEATTLEChabad House (Traditional) 206/527-14114541 19th Ave. NE Bet Alef (Meditative Reform) 206/527-939916330 NE 4th St., Bellevue (in Unity Church) Congregation Kol Ami (Reform) 425/844-160416530 Avondale Rd. NE, Woodinville Cong. Beis Menachem (Traditional Hassidic)1837 156th Ave. NE, Bellevue 425/957-7860Congregation Beth Shalom (Conservative)6800 35th Ave. NE 206/524-0075Cong. Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath (Orthodox)5145 S Morgan 206/721-0970Capitol Hill Minyan-BCMH (Orthodox) 1501 17th Ave. E 206/721-0970Congregation Eitz Or (Jewish Renewal)6556 35th Ave. NE 206/467-2617Cong. Ezra Bessaroth (Sephardic Orthodox)5217 S. Brandon Street 206/722-5500Congregation Shaarei Tefilah-Lubavitch(Orthodox/Hassidic)6250 43rd Ave. NE 206/527-1411Congregation Shevet Achim (Orthodox) 5017 90th Ave. SE (at NW Yeshiva HS) Mercer Island 206/275-1539Congregation Tikvah Chadashah (Gay/Lesbian) 206/355-1414Emanuel Congregation (Modern Orthodox)3412 NE 65th Street 206/525-1055Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation (Conservative) 206/232-85553700 E. Mercer Way, Mercer IslandHillel (Multi-denominational)4745 17th Ave. NE 206/527-1997Kadima (Reconstructionist) 206/547-391412353 NE 8th, SeattleKavana Cooperative [email protected]

TAcomAChabad-Lubavitch of Pierce County 1889 N Hawthorne Dr. 253/565-8770Temple Beth El (Reform) 253/564-71015975 S. 12th St.

TRi ciTiESCongregation Beth Sholom (Conservative)312 Thayer Drive, Richland 509/375-4740

VAncouVERChabad-Lubavitch of Clark County9604 NE 126th Ave., Suite 2320 360/993-5222 E-mail: [email protected] www.chabadclarkcounty.comCongregation Kol Ami 360/574-5169Service times and location can be found at www.jewishvancouverusa.org

VAShon iSLAndHavurat Ee Shalom 206/567-160815401 Westside Highway P O Box 89, Vashon Island, WA 98070

WALLA WALLACongregation Beth Israel 509/522-2511E-mail: [email protected]

WEnATchEEGreater Wenatchee Jewish Community509/662-3333 or 206/782-1044

WhidbEy iSLAndJewish Community of Whidbey Island 360/331-2190

yAkimATemple Shalom (Reform) 509/453-89881517 Browne Ave. [email protected]

K’hal Ateres Zekainim (Orthodox) 206/722-1464at Kline Galland Home, 7500 Seward Park Ave. S Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation (Orthodox)6500 52nd Ave. S 206/723-3028The Summit at First Hill (Orthodox)1200 University St. 206/652-4444Temple Beth Am (Reform) 206/525-09152632 NE 80th St. Temple B’nai Torah (Reform) 425/603-967715727 NE 4th, Bellevue Temple De Hirsch Sinai (Reform)Seattle, 1441 16th Ave. 206/323-8486Bellevue, 3850 156th Ave. SE 425/454-5085

SOuTH KING COuNTyBet Chaverim (Reform) 206/577-040325701 14th Place S, Des Moines

WEST SEATTLE Kol HaNeshamah (Reform) 206/935-1590Alki UCC, 6115 SW Hinds St.Torah Learning Center (Orthodox) 5121 SW Olga St. 206/938-4852

WAShinGTon STATEAbERdEEn

Temple Beth Israel 360/533-57551819 Sumner at Martin

AnAcoRTESAnacortes Jewish Community 360/293-4123

bAinbRidGE iSLAnd Congregation Kol Shalom (Reform) 9010 Miller Road NE 206/855-0885 Chavurat Shir Hayam 206/842-8453

bELLinGhAmChabad Jewish Center of Whatcom County820 Newell St. 360/393-3845Congregation Beth Israel (Reform) 2200 Broadway 360/733-8890

bREmERTonCongregation Beth Hatikvah 360/373-988411th and Veneta

EVERETT / EdmondSChabad Jewish Center of Snohomish County2225 100th Ave. W, Edmonds 425/967-3036Temple Beth Or (Reform) 425/259-71253215 Lombard St., Everett

FoRT LEWiSJewish Chapel 253/967-6590Liggett Avenue & 12th

iSSAquAhChabad of the Central Cascades (Hassidic Traditional)24121 SE Black Nugget Rd. 425/427-1654

oLympiAChabad Jewish Discovery Center 1611 Legion Way SE 360/584-4306Congregation B’nai Torah (Conservative) 3437 Libby Rd. 360/943-7354Temple Beth Hatfiloh (Reconstructionist)201 8th Ave. SE 360/754-8519

poRT AnGELES And SEquimCongregation B’nai Shalom 360/452-2471

poRT ToWnSEndCongregation Bet Shira 360/379-3042

puLLmAn, WA And moScoW, idJewish Community of the Palouse 509/334-7868 or 208/882-1280

SpokAnEChabad of Spokane County 4116 E. 37th Ave., Spokane 99223

509/443-0770Congregation Emanu-El (Reform)P O Box 30234, Spokane 99223 509/835-5050 www.spokaneemanu-el.orgTemple Beth Shalom (Conservative)1322 E. 30th Ave. 509/747-3304

W h E R E T o W o R S h i p

Emily KeelerSpecial to JTNews

Hazzan Isaac Azose’s CD, Ladino Reflections, took just six months to pro-duce, but it took 20 years to dream. His double-disc collection of Ladino folk-songs is the cherr y atop a l i fet ime of Sephardic liturgical and cantorial achievements.

The CD follows Azose’s far-reaching contributions to the preservation of Turk-ish and Rhodesli Jewish customs and the Ladino language. Azose’s first CD, The Liturgy of Ezra Bessaroth, came out in 1999, and 2002 saw the release of his Seattle Sephardic Siddur, the only prayer book to follow the customs of Jews from Turkey and the Greek Isle of Rhodes.

The siddur became an overnight sen-sation and is used not only in Seattle but also in Sephardic congregations as far as Maryland and South Africa. In 2007, Azose published the Seattle Sephardic mahzor — festival prayer book — for Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.

Azose’s production of a Ladino album is a natural progression from his back-ground as hazzan (cantor) of Ezra Bessar-oth for nearly half a century. Born in 1930 to Turkish parents, Azose was intrigued with liturgy from a young age. He came to learn nearly all the synagogue liturgy by listening intently to the different Seat-tle hazzanim. Azose began working for Boeing in 1950, moonlighting as a hazzan in the early ’60s at the site of the then-new Sephardic Bikur Holim, then called “The Branch.” In 1966, Azose became the hazzan of Ezra Bessaroth, where he remained until his retirement in 2000.

The preservation of Ladino language,

in which he is fluent, is one of Azose’s passions. Also known as Judeo-Spanish, Judezmo, Spaniolit and a number of other names, Ladino is a Hebrew and old Span-ish hybrid colored primarily by Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic and Greek and, to a lesser extent, Italian and French. Fewer than an estimated 200,000 people still speak this language, which became specific to the Jews after the Spanish expulsion in 1492. Efforts to preserve the language and cul-ture are being made, particularly in Israel and in Internet forums like LadinoKo-munita.

The origins of the 34 songs on Azose’s CD are virtually unknown. Riding the wave of migration, their roots can only be traced so far before they disappear

into history. What-ever t hei r beg i n-n i ng s, S eph a rd ic l i fe has preser ved its Ladino roman-zas, or romanceras, remarkably well. The folk songs appear to be part of some Sephardic collective unconscious.

“Some of t hese I’ve learned as part of the liturgy,” says Azose. “Some of them I’ve learned f rom Mom and Dad and t heir f r iends who used to get together on a Saturday night.”

He recalls listen-ing to Ladino songs in his home as a child, when, before

television, the adults gathered on Satur-day nights to listen to records and dance.

The songs on Ladino Reflections cap-ture those eternal themes of love: Love found, love lost, love forbidden. Cryptic and beautiful, “La Serena” (“The Siren”) begins: “If the sea were made of milk / And the boats of cinnamon / I would stain myself completely / To save your banner. / If the sea were made of milk / I would become a fisherman / I would fish for my sorrows / With little words of love.”

Each romanza should be a lesson for aspiring poets, many of them reminis-cent of the biblical “Song of Songs.” The voice of “La Rosa Enflorese” (“The Rose Blooms”) sings, “The rose blooms in the month of May / My soul darkens suf-

fering with love / Come quickly, dove, come quickly to me / (Come) quickly my soul, because I shall die.” The instru-mental accompaniment of guitar, piano, mandolin and cittern — a three-string guitar popular during the Renaissance — appeals to the emotions of each song with a sound reminiscent of Spain and the Orient.

Although the folksongs largely speak of love, others, like “La Vida Do El Por Raki” (“I Would Give My Life for Arak”) attest to the fact that every culture has a drinking ballad. On the other side of the spectrum is “Kuando El Rey Nimrod.” In this uplifting folksong, Nimrod sees a holy light above the Jewish quarter pre-dicting Abraham’s birth.

Several songs have experienced a rebirth, and tracing them back to their sources becomes a musicological excava-tion. For instance, “Miserlu” (Greek and Turkish: “Egyptian Girl”) is well known in Greek, Turkish and Arab cultures and likely filtered into Sephardic Jewry during its years in the Ottoman Empire. “Miserlu” was introduced to America in 1963 by Dick Dale (formerly Richard Mansour, a Lebanese American), and it spawned the genre of surfer rock, going on to be fea-tured in the film Pulp Fiction. This catchy tune was most recently sampled in 2006 by hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas.

And no one can be sure whether “Adio Kerida” (“Farewell, My Love”) preceded or emerged from Verdi’s opera, La Traviata. Debate on this subject abounds. Rising star and Ladino Shakira Yasmin Levy per-forms this haunting and mysterious song on her 2009 album, Mano Suave.

a 20-year project, now completedA Sephardic hazzan’s musical project is a reflection on his people’s history

u Page 18

courtesy isaac azose

ezra Bessaroth’s Hazzan emeritus Isaac Azose.

Page 17: JTNews | April 30, 2010

17friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnewscommunity calenDar

Caddell’slaser & eleCtrolysis CliniC

Enhance Your Beauty

Proud suppliers of Obagi Skincare

products

• Hair removal & electrolysis since 1982

• Facial rejuvenation (anti-aging services)

• Vein elimination & broken capillaries

• Free consultation

Call for an appointment

4 2 5.4 6 2 .9 8 6 840 lake Bellevue Drive, suite 100, Bellevue

www.caddellslaserclinic.com

20% DisCount with this aD First time clients only

Architects, Consultants & ContractorsConstruction Contact Information Now Online!

Check www.kcls.org/buildings for information about KCLS construction projects. You’ll find the latest available details on current and pending projects:

•RequestsforProposals •AnnouncementsofFinalists •RequestsforQualifications •CommunityMeetings •CurrentProjectBidListings •Contacts •CallsforArtProposals •NewsReleases •SiteSelectionPolicy

TheKingCountyLibrarySystemrecognizesstrengthand value within our communities, and we encourage allinterestedandqualifiedserviceproviderstoreviewour public bid construction project opportunities.

For additional information, contact Kelly L. Iverson, Facilities Management Services Department, King County Library System: [email protected] 425-369-3308

Thinking abouT… WRITING A BOOK OR A MEMOIR?

MAYBE A MOVIE SCRIPT?

JUST PICK UP A VOICE RECORDER AND

START TALKING INTO THE MICROPHONE.

A FORMER SCRIPT EDITOR AT WARNER BROS. WILL DO THE REST.

CALL ME TO DISCUSS YOUR PROJECT.

MORDECAI (425) 280-1724

© 2010 sunball-productions.com

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 submit-ted no later than 10 days before publication.

candle lighting times4/30/10 8:01 p.m.5/7/10 8:11 p.m.5/14/10 8:20 p.m.5/21/10 8:29 p.m.

april

fRiday 306 p.m. – Reclaiming Spinoza n

Kristine Ganes at 206-528-1944 or [email protected] potluck with the Secular Jewish Circle and a program on 17th-century Dutch phi-losopher Baruch Spinoza. Location provided upon RSVP.

May

SatuRday 11:15 p.m. – Rabbi’s Tisch n

Carol Benedick at 206-524-0075, ext. 4 or [email protected] hour of study and discussion with Rabbi Jill Borodin on mitzvot and middot. At Con-gregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.

Sunday 210 a.m. – History Tour of the Paramount n

www.wsjhs.orgA special tour of the Paramount Theatre for members of the Washington State Jewish Historical Society. At the Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle.

11:30 a.m. – Lag B’omer n

Isolde Shiebert at 206-232-8555, ext. 204 or [email protected] and bonfire to celebrate Lag B’Omer. At Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, 3700 E Mercer Way, Mercer Island.

4 p.m.–Lag B’omer Picnic n

Lag B’Omer picnic and scavenger hunt hosted by the Capitol Hill Minyan. All are welcome. At the Volunteer Park playfield, 1400 E Prospect St., Seattle.

4 p.m.–Torah Dedication and Lag B’omer n

CelebrationRabbi Zevi Goldberg at 425-967-3036 or [email protected] Jewish Center of Snohomish County dedicates its new Torah and celebrates Lag B’Omer. All are welcome. At the Edmonds Conference Center, 201 4th Ave. N, Edmonds.

Monday 311 a.m. – Parenting Mindfully n

Marjorie Schnyder at 206-861-3146 or [email protected] Family Service presents a four-session class aimed at exploring how parents can express their emotions and beliefs in balanced and healthy ways. At Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE 4th St., Bellevue.

tueSday 47 p.m. – Making Marriage Work n

www.townhallseattle.orgDr. John Gottman, founder of the Gottman Institute for Marriage Research and the author of more than 40 books, will offer tools and insights to couples who want to take their marriage to the next level. Sponsored by ParentMap. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. At Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave., Seattle.

thuRSday 67 p.m. – Israel to Haiti: Across the World n

in 48 HoursRebecca at 206-774-2272 or [email protected] Biran, administrative ambassador to the Israel Consulate of New York, will share his experience as a first responder to Haiti after its recent earthquake and the Israeli Defense Force’s efforts in aiding Haiti. Hosted by the Maimonides Society of Washington State. $18. RSVP requested. At Top of the Market, 93 Pike St., Seattle.

Sunday 910 a.m. – Rescuers of Jews During the n

HolocaustAlysa Rosen at 206-525-0915 or [email protected] Sunday morning forum with Dr. Patrick Henry, author of We Only Know Men: The Rescue of Jews in France during the Holocaust, about why rescuers risked their lives to save strangers, and why it is important to make them part of Holocaust education. At Temple Beth Am, 2632 NE 80th St., Seattle.

Monday 107 p.m. – The y Chromosome and Beyond: n

Tracing your Genealogy with the “other” [email protected] or www.jgsws.orgBennett Greenspan, founder and CEO of Family Tree DNA, explains the nuances of Y-DNA and mtDNA testing for the Jewish Genealogi-cal Society of Washington State. At the Stroum JCC, 3801 East Mercer Way, Mercer Island.

7:30 p.m. – The Way to Pray n

[email protected] Rabbi Yechezkel Kornfeld explains the structure of Shavuot davening, including when to do what and why. Free. At Northwest Yeshiva High School, 5017 90th Ave. SE, Seattle.

tueSday 1111:30 a.m. – Injured Soldiers Helping n

Injured SoldiersU.S. and Israeli soldiers wounded in combat reflect on their experiences and shared struggles. At Seward Park.

12 p.m. – Community of Caring n

LuncheonGail Pollack at 206-861-3151 or [email protected] annual Community of Caring luncheon benefiting Jewish Family Service, featuring Costco CEO Jim Sinegal. At the Westin Seattle, 1900 5th Ave., Seattle.

thuRSday 136:30 p.m. – NyHS Cake, Food and Dessert n

Auction206-232-5272, ext. 515 or [email protected]

A fundraiser for Northwest Yeshiva High School featuring home-baked dishes to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Location provided upon RSVP.

fRiday 146 p.m. – edwin L. Bierman Scholar in n

Residence Weekend with Prof. Vanessa L. ochsCarol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or [email protected] or www.bethshalomseattle.orgVanessa L. Ochs, professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, offers an explo-ration of new Jewish rituals. $25/person. Includes dinner and Shabbat service. Member discount available. Children 3 years and under free. Childcare available during program by pre-registration. At Congregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.

SatuRday 151:15 p.m. – edwin L. Bierman Scholar in n

Residence Weekend with Prof. Vanessa L. ochsCarol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or [email protected] or www.bethshalomseattle.orgVanessa L. Ochs takes a look at some of the most curious, infuriating, and dazzling passages of Talmud. Free. At Congregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.

8 p.m. – edwin L. Bierman Scholar in n

Residence Weekend with Prof. Vanessa L. ochsCarol Benedick at 206-524-0075 or [email protected] or www.bethshalomseattle.orgVanessa L. Ochs explores what Jewish tradition has to say about dreaming, dream interpreta-tion, and rituals for incubating dreams and chasing away nightmares. Dessert and Havdalah included. RSVP requested. Free. At Congregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.

Sunday 165 p.m. – The Seattle Kollel’s 19th Annual n

april 30 – may 18

u Page 22

Page 18: JTNews | April 30, 2010

18 jtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

community neWs

Hazzan Azose, who never received formal voice training, commands the album. He is accompanied on guitar by Asaf Erez and Julian Catford and on piano by Steve Rice. David Bartley accompa-nies on guitar, cittern and mandolin. The CD’s liner notes include the Ladino lyrics without English translations. The one exception is “Avrij Mi Galanika” (“Open Up, My Beauty”), about a young man beg-ging his lover to let him inside. This song is depicted in the artwork throughout the CD booklet.

Ladino Reflections does not simply transmit music. It also transmits history and Ladino culture and language.

“I just wanted to have Ladino perpet-uated, to leave a legacy for the Sephardic community of Seattle,” Azose says. “And my children.”

Hazzan Isaac Azose’s CD Ladino Reflections can be purchased online at www.isaacazose.com/ladinoreflections.html, on Ebay, and at performances around Seattle.

Isaac Azose t Page 16

The career R.N. has worked in cardiology nursing for 32 years — including teaching for a decade — and was running clinical trials before she came to the J.

The Beat is a stage four rehab program (stage one begins when patients are still in the hospital). It is a guided fitness pro-gram incorporating aerobic exercise, strength training, stretching and relax-ation into a one-hour class up to three times a week.

“When you start the program, I do a nursing history and physical,” explains the Temple B’nai Torah member, who adds that patients’ cardiologists pro-vide background information about their health and any limitations clients might have (with HIPAA guidelines followed).

Blood pressure and heart rate are

checked before each class.

“E v er yone h a s a n e x e r c i s e lo g , s o e v er y t h i n g i s rec orded,” K a ren says. It’s “a safe envi-ronment for people to come work out.”

It’s not only fun, but clients get to see the positive effect of exercise over time as their heart rates and blood pressures fall, and learn “more about their body and what they can toler-ate.” Karen reports prog ress to t hei r doctors, which helps

physicians make adjustments to medica-tion and activity recommendations.

“Plus the camaraderie,” she says of her clients. “They just love each other.”

Karen grew up in Cleveland and she and her husband, Dr. Michael Portman, a pediatric cardiologist at Seattle Chil-dren’s, have lived on Mercer Island for 18 years. When I ask what she does for fun, she says, “This job is really fun for me.” She likes the short commute, too, and the community feel of the J.

“The people are really appreciative and have such a good time. Some are more confident, have more strength, and are staying healthy.”

The Beat is open to non-members (and non-Jews, too!). For information visit www.sjcc.org under “Health, Fitness and Wellness,” or contact [email protected] or 206-388-0828.

M.O.T. t Page 7

JT: Talking about not just Costco, but corporate America in general, what role should companies play in giving to charity or giving a leg up to people who might not even be fortunate enough to shop at your stores?

Sinegal: I think an awful lot of it goes back to the philosophy that Peter Drucker has, the business guru…. It’s about more than making money.

It’s about the fact that you have a con-tract with society, that there’s a social contract that you’re going to do the right things in the community where you’re doing business, that you’re going to pro-vide good jobs, that you’re going to pro-

vide good merchandise, and you’re going to be honest and above board in what you do.... Think of the suppliers that pro-vide goods for us, and their families, and how many factories would go out of busi-ness or have serious layoffs if we weren’t around.

JT: Do you see a lot of companies not holding up their end of that contract?

Sinegal: I think in corporate America we have allowed ourselves to get sucked into the situation where there are a lot of short-term goals that are forcing every-body to act differently than they would if they really were looking at how they sur-vive their business 50 years from now. One of the things about Costco, one of the

things that we’re proud about, when Jeff [Brotman] and I started the business, we could have sold the business hundreds of times. There were all kinds of people cov-eting the business in the early days. But we never wanted to sell it.

We wanted to build an institution. We wanted the company to be here years from now, and still be flourishing and still be prosperous and still to be an impor-tant part of the community.

I’ve been involved recently w ith Rwanda. I was introduced to the presi-dent of the country, and met him and have introduced him to several other business people. He was the guy who liberated the country from that terrible genocide that was taking place. They lost like a million

people in 100 days in the worst fashion you can imagine — machetes out in the street. It was just horrible. As the presi-dent of the country, he’s determined that aid is bad.

Just taking money and continuing to take money is never going to move his country forward. If he’s ever going to have any chance of success in his country, they have to build some commercial base. They have to develop a middle class and to have a form of business. And really, businesses in every country of the world, in every suc-cessful country, in every non-third world country, that’s really what makes the dif-ference: Successful business, a middle class that develops out of that business. That creation of jobs, as they say, is the highest form of social service, and it also creates the types of entrepreneurs that you see flourishing in our country.

Jim Sinegal t Page 8

courtesy karen Portman

Karen Portman, second from left, with members of The Beat cardiac rehab program: David Bloch, left, Don Rempe, center, evelyn Reutimann, and Jerry Pomeroy, right.

Join us!May 28, JTNews explores the life and times of Northwest Jewish teens in a distinctive new magazine.

J-Teen teams up with high school students to tap into the bigger-than-life and ordinary moments that define teenage experience.

Published semi annually in May & November.

Now!May 28 (ad deadline May 19) & again on November 12

Your J-Teen ad appears in print and online in our Reader’s Corner. Plus, one lucky J-Teen advertiser will get a free E-Blast banner in our May 28 E-newsletter.

Advertise in JTeen magazine and you are automatically entered to win!

Now!when?when?

win!win!

Seattle & North: Stacy 774-2292 [email protected]

Eastside & South: Lynn774-2264 [email protected]

Professional Services: Becky774-2238 [email protected]

Everyone Else: Karen774-2267 [email protected]

advertise

Page 19: JTNews | April 30, 2010

friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnewslifecycles

19Send submissions to: JTNews — Lifecycles, 2041 Third Ave., Seattle, WA [email protected] Phone: 206-441-4553 Submissions for the May 14, 2010 issue are due by May 4 Download forms or submit online at www.jtnews.net/index.php?/lifecycle

Express yourself with our special “Tribute Cards” and help fund JFS programs at the sametime…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.

2-for-1 “ Happy Anniversary” Cards

Vicki Robbins, ctc

Robbins Travel at Lake City

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

[email protected]

Voted Best Travel Agent 2006—JTNews readers

Seattle’s Only Independent Handbag Boutique

over 20 of your favorite designers

1212 4th avenue, seattle n 206.624.2362 n www.clutchseattle.com

clutch

Bar MitzvahIsaac Cordes

I s a a c w i l l celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on May 8, 2010 at Congrega-tion Beth Shalom in Seattle.

Isaac is the son of Bob and Hannah Cordes of Seattle and the brother of Sam.

Isaac is in the 7th grade at Eckstein Middle School. He enjoys baseball and basketball, playing double bass in the Eckstein Middle School orchestra, reading, drama, hanging out with his friends and family, and he looks forward to going to Camp Solomon Schechter this summer. For his mitzvah project, Isaac will be volunteer-ing with the JHarvest CSA program at Hillel at the University of Washington.

Bat MitzvahSophie Katz

Sophie wil l celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on May 1, 2010 at Temple B e t h A m i n Seattle.

Sophie is the daughter of Audrey Fine and Stephen Katz of Seattle and the sister of Adam and Mitchell. Her grandparents are Ann and Norman Katz of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Alice Fine of Seattle and the late Morton Fine.

Sophie is in the 7th grade at the Northwest School. She is an accomplished equestrian.

EngagementBriana Goldstein and Jeff Roberts

Briana and Jeff are engaged to be married in October 2010 in Seattle. Rabbi Josh Hearshen of Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation will officiate the ceremony.

Briana is the daughter of Dennis Goldstein and Robin Rogel-Goldstein of Bellevue. Her grandparents are David and Helaine Goldstein of Redmond and Joseph and Ann Lee Rogel of Bellevue.

She is a graduate of the Bellevue Inter-national School and holds bachelor’s degrees in business administration and French from Emory University. She works as a program manager in Microsoft’s Trust-worthy Computing organization.

Jeff is the son of Patrick and Marilyn Roberts of Seattle. His grandparents are Jeanna Roberts of Willows, Calif. and the late Fred Roberts and Richard Friedenrich

of Laguna Woods, Calif. and the late Gladys Friedenrich.

He is a graduate of Garfield High School and holds a B.A. in business administration from the University of Washington. He is a manager with Ernst & Young’s advisory services practice.

Rabbi Dr. Bernard Poupko, a nation-ally prominent Orthodox rabbi recog-nized for his initiatives in saving Soviet Jewry, pioneering efforts in the Jewish day school movement, and for his lead-ership of religious Zionism, died April 14 in Seattle, where he had lived for the last six years. He was 93 years old and suc-cumbed to Alzheimer’s.

At the time of his death, Rabbi Poupko was rabbi emeritus of Shaare Torah Con-gregation in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he served as rabbi from 1941-2004. He was a former national president of the Reli-gious Zionists of America and a national vice-president of the Rabbinical Coun-cil of America. Rabbi Poupko was influ-ential in building the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, serving as president of its rabbinical council from 1949-1999, co-founding Hillel Academy, the Holocaust Center, and the Greater Association of Pittsburgh Rabbis, as well as supporting other Jewish institutions there.

Born in Velizh, a town in Smolensk Oblast, Russia in 1917, Rabbi Poupko was known to refer to himself in humor as “a child of the revolution.” The fifth of eight children born to the late Rabbi Eliezer Poupko, the town’s religious leader, and Pesha Chaya Sapir, a renowned Talmud scholar, Rabbi Poupko became sensitized from a young age to the implications that the Bolshevik Revolution had for religious observance. The scope became clear when his father was twice arrested and tried by the Communists and sentenced to years of hard labor in Siberia for his leadership in upholding Jewish practice in the town.

In 1930, by rowboat in the middle of the night, the family escaped and made their way to the home of the Hafetz Hayyim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, in Radun, Poland. There, Rabbi Poupko and his family were reunited with his three older brothers, who had been sent there nine years earlier to study Torah. Rabbi Poupko often recalled the life-shaping moment when the Hafetz Hayyim turned to him and said, “In Russia, the Communists pre-

vented you from studying Torah. Now you must devote the rest of your life to plumb-ing its depths and spreading its word.”

From Poland the family, with help from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, secured visas to the United States and immigrated here in 1931.

Rabbi Poupko studied at Yeshiva Col-lege, City College and Columbia University, receiving his B.A. and M.A., as well as his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in 1941. He moved to Pittsburgh, and become rabbi of Shaare Torah Congre-gation and married the late Gilda Twersky-Novoseller Poupko. By 1952 Rabbi Poupko had earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He wrote his dissertation on the state of Jewish adult education in the U.S., tracing its history, studying its trends, and prescribing its future.

A lt hough Rabbi Poupko escaped Communism, he felt his escape was less a privilege and more a responsibility. His synagogue, therefore, was the first to hang a “Free Soviet Jewry” sign, and he was the first rabbi to speak publicly in Moscow under Soviet rule. He risked his life, being tracked by the KGB when he traveled to Russia a dozen times to cam-paign for the liberation of Soviet Jewry and bear witness to their plight. Due in no small part to these efforts, more than one and a half million Soviet Jews emigrated to Israel and the United States.

Rabbi Poupko’s efforts to save Soviet Jewry are recounted in his award-win-ning Yiddish book, In the Shadow of the Kremlin, as well as in dozens of newspa-per articles that he wrote. He also edited and co-edited 38 sermon manuals for the Rabbinical Council of America, many of which include his own sermons.

Rabbi Poupko’s articles and sermons took on a progressive, tolerant and vision-ary tone, often calling for activism in upholding social justice, understand-ing of difference and confidence in the Jewish future.

Rabbi Poupko is survived by his wife, Miriam Bak-Poupko, five children, among them Rivy Poupko Kletenik of Seattle, 28 grandchildren and 41 great-grandchil-dren. Rabbi Poupko instilled within his family a deep love for the people Israel, the noble notion of community service, and devotion to the State of Israel.

He is remembered for his stirring elo-quence, buoyant optimism, and enduring dignity. More than anything else, Rabbi Poupko’s life was marked by a deep con-cern for the human-other in service, of the divinely Other, and commitment to mend-ing whatever brokenness he encountered. The family is deeply grateful to the Kline Galland Home and its staff members for providing Rabbi Poupko with a sanctuary of dignity and Jewish respect in which to complete his days on earth.

— Gilah Kletenik

obituaryRabbi Dr. Bernard Poupko1917–April 14, 2010

renewsubscribeCall 206-441-4553 or subscribe online at www.jtnews.net.now

Page 20: JTNews | April 30, 2010

20 jtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

national & international neWs

Call Liz @ 206.782.8220

Cynthia WilliamsCall me for current market information Call 206-769-7140

Associate Broker, EcoBroker Quorum—Laurelhurst, Inc.

[email protected] www.seattlehomesforsale.net

Office 206-522-7003

Russ Katz, RealtorWindermere Real Estate/Wall St. Inc.206-284-7327 (Direct)www.russellkatz.com

JDS Grad & Past Board of Trustees MemberMercer Island High School Grad

University of Washington Grad

Dennis B. Goldstein & AssociatesCertified Public Accountants

Personalized Consulting & Planning for Individuals & Small Business

Tax Preparation

12715 Bel-Red Road • Suite 120 • Bellevue, WA 98005Phone: 425-455-0430 • Fax: 425-455-0459

[email protected]

Marvin Meyers

Should you consider long-term care insurance? Let us help.

206-448-6940 7525 SE 24th Street, Suite 350, Mercer Island, WA 98040

[email protected]

Melissa ApterJTA World News Service

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jewish groups are slamming Arizona’s stringent new immigration-enforcement law, but hope outrage over the measure will reignite efforts to push comprehensive immigra-tion reform on a national level.

“I believe that it has absolutely ignited a movement across this country for com-prehensive immigration reform,” said U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), the daughter of Jewish immigrants, who is a co-sponsor of a bill that would provide illegal immigrants with an opportunity to normalize their status. “You see people pouring out of their homes and into the streets and halls of government reject-ing this notion of allowing our country to become a police state.”

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act into law last week, though the measure won’t go into effect for 90 days. The new law requires that police check the immigration status of anyone suspected of being an illegal

immigrant, a tactic civil liberties groups and several Jewish organizations say effectively mandates racial profiling.

Proponents of the law say the tough measures are necessary — given the federal government’s failure to act — to rescue the state from a flood of ille-gal immigrants from Mexico they say sap taxpayer-funded programs and, in some cases, commit violent crime. They also note that the governor has issued an executive order establishing a training program on how to avoiding racial profil-ing when implementing the new rules.

On Monday, following a weekend of protests, vandals — apparently opposed to the new law — smeared refried beans in the shape of swastikas on the win-dows of the Arizona State Capitol build-ings, The Associated Press reported. More protests were being planned, including a vigil organized by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs.

The new law has been criticized by an array of Jewish groups, including the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Anti-Def-amation League, American Jewish Com-mittee, Simon Wiesenthal Center and the

National Council of Jewish Women.Gideon Aronoff, the president and

CEO of HIAS, who supports legisla-tion like Schakowsky’s and that of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), said he is working actively with other Jewish orga-nizations to draft a broad statement con-demning the federal government’s failure to enact comprehensive reform. HIAS also is coordinating with its partners in Arizona and anticipates that rallies, the filing of amicus briefs and other actions may be warranted in the near future.

“Are most of the Latinos who suffer from this law Jewish? The answer is no, but we look at this through the oral com-mandment of ‘welcome the stranger,’” Aronoff said. “We are all Americans, we are all our brothers’ keepers. We have an obligation not to stand by when legisla-tion so harmful is put through.”

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, a Jewish Democrat, referred to the immigration bill as one that “nationally embarrasses Arizona” in an Op-Ed piece published April 25 in The Washington Post.

“Already, I have called a special meet-ing of the Phoenix City Council to establish standing to sue the state on the grounds that S.B. 1070 unconstitutionally co-opts our police force to enforce immigration laws that are the rightful jurisdiction of the federal government,” Gordon wrote.

Eight of the state’s Reform rabbis wrote a letter to Brewer urging the gov-ernor to veto the measure, calling it “an affront to American values of justice and our historic status as a nation of immi-grants.” And The Jewish News of Greater Phoenix voiced concern in an editorial that the new law would lead to racial pro-filing and questioning of U.S. citizens.

Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said in a statement that “Allow-ing an individual’s accent or skin color to

precipitate an investigation into his or her legal status is an anathema to American values of justice and our historic status as a nation of immigrants. The bill is also likely to endanger our communities by discouraging immigrants from cooper-ating with law enforcement on issues of national security.”

Along similar lines, Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a statement saying, “This law makes no sense — it guarantees and stig-matizes people of color as second-class citizens and exposes them to intimida-tion and the use of racial profiling as a weapon of bias.”

Amy Laff, chair of the Arizona chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition, told The Jewish News of Greater Phoenix that she has lingering concerns about the new law.

“I’m concerned that the law will be viewed by many as mean-spirited and hostile to minorities,” she said. “I’m also disturbed by the prospect of Arizona res-idents filing actions against law enforce-ment personnel whom they deem not to be enforcing federal immigration stat-utes to the full extent of the law.”

Another Jewish Republican, state Sen. Barbara Leff, voted for the law and defended it.

Leff, the only Jewish member of the Ari-zona Senate, told the local Jewish newspa-per that “no one can be stopped without probable cause, and no one can be asked anything about their immigration status without there being reasonable suspicion that they are here illegally. Racial profiling will not be tolerated in this state.”

Debra Morton Gelbart contributed to this report from Phoenix.

border crossingsNew Arizona law brings renewed attention to immigration reform

Younger students have created jour-nals that allow them to learn and under-stand all 613 mitzvot — a program completed over the course of three years. It’s all a part of the idea that connects stu-dents to their religion and their history.

“The mitzvah is not just an isolated piece of the puzzle, but the puzzle has been assembled for them,” Skaist said. “They have the complete picture — they have the sense of ‘You are here.’”

Given the size of the area’s Jewish community, are there too many day schools in Seattle?

“I would say there are too few kids,” SJCS’ Karp said. “I think there should be two to three times as many kids in the day schools.”

W hen the Torah Day School f irst opened, SHA saw a slight dip in enroll-ment that has since returned to previous levels, Sandorffy said. Kletenik quoted Maimonides to explain why one should not stop his neighbor from opening up a new school: “The more Jewish schools, the more Torah schools, the better.”

Given Toren’s knowledge of the his-tory of nearly all of the area’s schools, and citing a study about “the boutique-ization of Orthodox schools” by the Avi Chai Foun-dation, a national organization dedicated to Jewish education, contraction or merg-ers would not likely serve the families that rely on the services each school provides.

“Each community wants to meet its own special needs. Can we afford that? It’s a good question,” Toren said. “Par-ents make those choices. They’re making those decisions with their feet.”

Schools t Page 6

Thursday,June 24, 2010

5:30–8pm

The Frye Art MuseumSeattle 98104

Cost:

$36 or $72 (Patron)

RSVP:206 774-2272

Jewish Federationof Greater Seattle

ANNUAL MEETING

Page 21: JTNews | April 30, 2010

access the directory online

www.jtnews.netwww.jew-ish.com

Please call Becky at 774-2238 to update your print listing

and receive an online listing free for a limited time!

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, LLCIn-Home Care Aides

206-851-5277☎☎[email protected] ☎✉

Assisting with non-medical tasks & home support needs • Housekeeping Personal care • Respite care • Meal preparation. Washington State Licensed Home Care Agency

Seniors Helping SeniorsHome Care Agency

206-971-6616☎☎www.seniorshelpingseniors.com��

A senior helping another senior. We offer all the services you need to remain in your own home: transportation, errands and doctor appointments, companion and personal care, homemaker services, pet care and more. A way to give and receive.

catering

Leah’s Catering, Inc. Seattle’s Premier Kosher Caterer

206-985-2647☎☎[email protected]☎✉

Full Service, Glatt Kosher, Delivery or Pickup All your catering needs. Va’ad supervised.

Madison Park CafeSimmering 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-☎☎ MaMaServing the community for over 25 years.Full service catering and event planning for all your Life Cycle events. Miriam and Pip Meyerson

certified Public accountants

Dennis B. Goldstein & Assoc., CPAs, PS425-455-0430☎☎425-455-0459 [email protected]☎✉

12715 Bel-Red Rd., Suite 120 Bellevue 98005

Newman Dierst Hales, PLLCNolan A. Newman, CPA

206-284-1383☎☎[email protected]☎✉www.ndhaccountants.com ��

Tax • accounting • Healthcare Consulting

invitations

Occasionally Yours Adrian Lustig, owner

425-644-8551 ☎☎[email protected]☎✉

Specializing in Jewish Wedding and Bar/Bat Mitzvah Invitations 20% Discount • Hebrew type

Mohelim

Rabbi Simon Benzaquen206-721-2275 • 206-723-3028☎☎

Fastest Mohel in the WestCertified Mohel

Photographers

All About GraphicsJoel Dames Photography

206-367-1276☎☎www.joeldamesphotography.com ��

Events, Commercial, Portraits, Graphics, albums • all Your Photographic Needs

Dani Weiss Photography 206-760-3336☎☎www.daniweissphotography.com��

Photographer Specializing in People.Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, parties, promotions &weddings. Reasonable rates Digital or film

senior services

Jewish Family Service206-461-3240☎☎www.jfsseattle.org��

Comprehensive geriatric care management and support services for seniors and their families. Expertise with in-home assessments, residential placement, family dynamics and on-going case management. Jewish knowledge and sensitivity.

The Summit at First Hill206-652-4444☎☎www.klinegallandcenter.org��

The only Jewish retirement community in the state of Washington offers transition assessment and planning for individuals looking to downsize or be part of an active community of peers. Multi-disciplinary professionals with depth of experience available for consultation.

Networking Our Local Jewish Community

you come highly recommended.

now in print

connectinG ProFessionals

with our jewish

coMMunity

and online!

Our Professional Services Directory has changed! Now you can promote your business online as well as in the pages of JTNews.

your Business category

Your Company NameYour Name or Company

Your Phone Number ☎☎Your E-mail address☎✉Your Web site ��

A few lines of copy about your business.Your business address

april 30, 2010

www.jtnews.netwww.jew-ish.com

Funeral/Burial services

Congregation Beth Shalom Cemetery206-524-0075☎☎[email protected]☎✉

This beautiful new cemetery is available to the Jewish community and is located just north of Seattle.

Hills of Eternity CemeteryOwned and operated by Temple De Hirsch Sinai

206-323-8486☎☎Serving the greater Seattle Jewish community. Jewish cemetery open to all pre-need and at-need services. Affordable rates • Planning assistance.Queen Anne, Seattle

Graphic design

Spear Studios, Graphic Design Sandra Spear

206-621-0240☎☎[email protected]☎✉

• Newsletters • Brochures • Logos • Letterheads • Custom invitations • Photo Editing for Genealogy Projects

insurance

Abolofia Insurance AgencyBob abolofia, agent

425-641-7682☎☎425-988-0280 [email protected] ☎✉

Independent agent representing Pemco since 1979

Eastside Insurance ServicesChuck Rubin, agent

425-271-3101☎☎425-277-3711 F

4508 NE 4th, #B, RentonTom Brody, agent

425-646-3932☎☎425-646-8750 F

2227 112th ave. NE, Bellevue We represent Pemco, Safeco, Hartford & Progressive

www.e-z-insurance.com ��

United Insurance Brokers, Inc.Linda Kosin

425-454-9373☎☎[email protected]☎✉425-453-5313 F

Your insurance source since 1968 Employee benefits Commercial business and Personal insurance 50 116th ave SE #201, Bellevue 98004

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.

college Placement

College Placement Consultants425-453-1730☎☎[email protected]☎✉www.collegeplacementconsultants.com ��

Pauline B. Reiter, Ph.D. Expert help with college selection, applications and essays. 40 Lake Bellevue, #100, Bellevue 98005

Linda Jacobs & AssociatesCollege Placement Services

206-323-8902☎☎[email protected] ☎✉

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, MSLicensed Marriage & Family Therapist

425-451-1655☎☎[email protected] ☎✉

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, DDS425-644-8787 ☎☎

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

Toni Calvo Waldbaum, DDSRichard Calvo, DDS

206-246-1424 ☎☎Cosmetic & Restorative Dentistry Designing beautiful smiles 207 SW 156th St., #4, Seattle

B. Robert Cohanim, DDS, MSOrthodontics for Adults and Children

206-322-7223 ☎☎www.smile-works.com ��

Invisalign Premier Provider. On First Hill across from Swedish Hospital.

thousands oF

readers

in Print

and online

=

thousands of

prospective clients

dentists (continued)

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

Michael Spektor, D.D.S.425-643-3746☎☎[email protected] ☎✉www.spektordental.com��

Specializing in periodontics, dental implants, and cosmetic gum therapy.Bellevue

Wendy Shultz Spektor, D.D.S.425-454-1322☎☎[email protected]☎✉www.spektordental.com ��

Emphasis: Cosmetic and Preventive Dentistry • Convenient location in Bellevue.

Financial services

Mass Mutual Financial GroupAlbert Israel, CFP

206-346-3327☎☎[email protected]☎✉

Jamison Russ206-346-3266☎☎[email protected] ☎✉

Retirement planning for those nearing retirement • Estate planning for those subject to estate taxes • General investment management • Life, disability, long-term care & health insurance • Complimentary one hour sessions available

Solomon M. Karmel, Ph.D First Allied Securities

425-454-2285 x 1080 ☎☎www.hedgingstrategist.com ��

Retirement, stocks, bonds, college, annuities, business 401Ks.

Page 22: JTNews | April 30, 2010

22 jtnews n friday, april 30, 2010

arts & entertainment

cleaning services

domestic angelsClean your house and office

Reasonable rates • Licensed/Bonded Responsible • References • Free estimate

Seattle/Eastside

Call Yolimar Perez or Maria Absalon206-356-2245 or 206-391-9792

[email protected]

dust bunnies, ltd.Housecleaning Services

Let me clean your house, apt. or condo!

18 years experience • Affordable rates Responsible • Excellent references

Honest and reliableNorth Seattle

call 206-632-6614

Mature woman seeks to share your home, condo or apt.

Highly educated, sophisticated & fun woman. N/S. Attends

Herzl-Ner Tamid. Responsible, excellent references.

Please call 206-375-7701

april 30, 2010the shouk @ jtnews

college placement

seeking housing

WE NEED CARS!• Free Pick-up • No DOL filing

• No smog certif. • Running or not

Donate your used car to Chabad & receive a tremendous tax write-off.

• Any vehicle okay • Plus RVs, boats, real estate, lots, etc.

206-527-1411

Traditional Jewish funeral services provided by the Seattle Jewish Chapel. For further information, please call 206-725-3067.

Burial plots are available for purchase at Bikur Cholim and Machzikay Hadath cemeteries. For further information, please call 206-721-0970.

funeral/burial services

cemetery gan shalomA Jewish cemetery that meets the needs of

the greater Seattle Jewish community. Zero interest payments available.

For information, call temple Beth am at 206-525-0915.

caregiving

announcements

admissions counseling

linda Jacobs & associatescollege Placement services

206/323-8902 [email protected]

a college eDUcatIon Is a maJor InVestmentSensitive professional assistance to ensure a succesful match between student and school

home services

seeking employment

next issue: may 14

ad deadline: may 5

call becky: 206-774-2238www

www.jtnews.net

Commercial & ResidentialtoRChdown/shingle speCialties

new • re-roofs leaks • repairs 24 hours

lic. #roofM**961pD

206-510-0490www.roofMex.coM

RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL REMODELING ADDITIONS DECKS

Call Zev Oved 425-283-3456

[email protected]

No Job Is Too Small!

Seniors Helping Seniors® in-home care matches seniors with other seniors who are looking for help. A huge difference in the kind of care you can receive from someone who really understands. We offer all the services you need to remain in your home.

• Companion Care • Transp./Errands• Personal Care • Homemaker Services• 12/24 Hour Shifts • Doctor Appts.

We charge hourly (2 Hr minimum)

206-971-6616 www.seniorshelpingseniors.com

caregiver/housekeeper position wanted

taste the best gefilte fish, crepes, blintzes and schnitzel in the world! educated individual

dedicated to making your life easier.

Woman with positive energy & extraordinary culinary skill seeking

position as caregiver for the elderly or household manager. Blessed with a loving attitude and a lot of patience. Highly organized with attention to

cleanliness and follow-through. Will keep your house sparkling and fresh.

15 years’ experience caring for elderly with parkinson’s, diabetes,

dementia and alzheimer’s, etc.

For more information and references, please call

sofia 425-417-9994

Maple leaf aDult faMily hoMe

assisted living24 Hour Memory Care

Experienced with Parkinson’s Disease, dementia and stroke.

All caregivers are well trained and screened. Offering devoted care.

Northend Seattle home licensed for 6 beds. Excellent references. Managed by Jewish

physician. Affordable rates versus

nursing homes/assisted living.

Call Dr. Lev Drachenko at 206-852-6464

[email protected]

Gala DinnerMarilyn Leibert at 206-722-8289 or [email protected] gala for the Seattle Kollel. At Marriott Waterfront, 1200 Alaskan Way, Seattle.

Monday 173:30 p.m. – Israeli Secret Services and the n

Struggle Against Terrorwww.jsis.washington.edu/jewishAn expert on terror and political extremism, Prof. Ami Pedahzur of the University of Texas, Austin, argues in his talk “Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle Against Terrorism” that Israel’s strict reliance on the elite units of the intelligence community is fundamentally flawed. At 120

SUNDAy, MAy 2, 5–8 P.M.RashanimMusic and Lag B’omer CelebrationRashanim, a fusion of mellifluous jazz, grungy Mediterranean, and light rock will perform at Chabad at the UW’s annual Lag B’Omer picnic. Additional performances by local student artists Philharmonic and Edison Trait. The day will start at 2 p.m. for a children’s haircut celebration, with Rashanim coming on stage at 5 p.m. Students free/non-students $20. At Rohr Jewish Student Center, 5200 21st Ave. NE, Seattle.

MAy 7 – MAy 12Breath Made VisibleFilmwww.nwfilmforum.orgBreath Made Visible follows the life and career of dancer Anna Halprin. The daughter of Lithuanian immigrants, Halprin was obsessed with dancing from the time she was a small child. She spent her life spreading a gospel of healing and wholeness through self-expression. Her story is told with the help of interviews and archival performance footage as a tribute to one of Northern California’s most beloved artists. At the Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle.

Arts Calendar t Page 15 Community Calendar t Page 17 Communications, University of Washington.7:30 p.m. – The Way to Pray n

[email protected] Rabbi Kornfeld explains the structure of Shavuot davening, including when to do what and why. Free. At Northwest Yeshiva High School, 5017 90th Ave. SE, Seattle.

tueSday 188 p.m. – Shavuot Leil Tikkun and Dairy n

DinnerCarol Benedick at 206-524-0075, ext. 4 or [email protected] Dairy dinner and a night of learning in honor of Shavuot. $20/adult, $10/child 4-12 yrs. Member discount available. At Congregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave. NE, Seattle.

held in a new “learn-in” format, which was reserved for educators, and UW fac-ulty and students. All future series will feature this new format. Organizers hope this more intensive option, which came in response to past series attendees who said they wanted more time with the lecturer and the material, will allow for additional interactivity and questions.

“Three lectures in this day and age are

too much,” said Jennifer Cohen, assis-tant director for the Samuel & Althea Stroum Jewish Studies Program. “We want people to feel that they are part of a learning community — that’s what we’re trying to create.”

A Web site set up by the UW’s Stroum Jewish Studies Program, www.stroumlectures.org, has further information and audio recordings of Pardes’ lectures.

Ilana Pardes t Page 5

Page 23: JTNews | April 30, 2010

23friday, april 30, 2010 n jtnewscommunity neWs

caring for aging parentsAs part of their Caring for Our Aging Parents series, Congrega-tions Bikur Cholim-Machzikay

Hadath, Sephardic Bikur Holim, Ezra Bessaroth and the Seattle Kollel, in con-junction with Jewish Family Service, will present “Difficult Behaviors: Respond-ing to Depression, Mental Illness & Sub-stance Abuse.” This discussion, which addresses new behaviors among parents as they age, will help participants learn to recognize warning signs and where to help them obtain the support they need. Mon., May 3, from 7–9 p.m. at the Seat-tle Kollel, 5305 52nd Ave. S, Seattle. $10/person. Advance registration encour-aged. Contact Emily Harris-Shears at

206-861-8784 or [email protected] for information.

Snohomish torah dedication

Chabad of Washington State and the Chabad Jew ish Center of Snohomish County will hold a

Torah dedication and Lag B’Omer cele-bration, including the completion of the last letters of the center’s Torah, music, dancing, and a festive meal. Open to all. Sun., May 2 at 4 p.m. at the Edmonds Conference Center, 201 4th Ave. N, Edmonds. For more information contact r a b b i @ j e w i s h s n o h o m i s h . c o m o r 425-967-3036, or [email protected] or 206-527-1411.

israel to haiti: across the World in 48 hours

Daniel Biran, administrat ive ambassador to the Israel Con-sulate of New York, will share his

experience as a first responder to Haiti following the January earthquake that devasted much of the country in “Israel to Haiti: Across the World in 48 Hours.” Biran will focus on the Israeli Defense Force’s efforts in aiding Haiti.

Hosted by the Maimonides Society of Washington State. Thurs., May 6 at 7 p.m. at the Top of the Market in Pike Place Market. $18 per person. Space limited. RSVP at [email protected] or 206-774-2272.

Making Marriage WorkBestselling author and renowned marriage expert Dr. John Gott-man will appear in Seattle as a

part of ParentMap’s annual lecture series for parents. Gottman is founder of The Gottman Institute for Marriage Research and the author of more than 40 books. He will offer tools and insights to couples who want to take their marriage to the next level. Tickets $20 in advance/$25 at the door. For information and tickets, visit parentmap.com/pathways or call 1-800-838-3006. Tues., May 4 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave.

Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein elaborates on this teaching: Death is the antithesis to birth. In mourning, therefore, we mourn not only a specific person but also the loss of “demut deyukani” — the image of God, now defeated with death. We mourn the loss of the human-Divine image, and therefore we must conceal it and overturn the place where it is seen: The mirror.

Rabbi Maurice Lamm, in his book Consolation, The Spiritual Journey Beyond Grief, suggests that covering mirrors addresses a primitive fear — the fear of

becoming invisible. As we mourn, we inevitably begin to think about ourselves. Funny thing about we humans, it seems to always be about: Me!

This drama of vanishing calls our very existence into question. And well it should. We are not here forever; one gen-eration comes and another passes. The covered mirror tells the tale.

“Covering the mirror helps us con-front our fears in both directions: that it is real in a sense that life will go on with-out us and that it is unreal that each of us does make a difference.”

On one hand, we are not here forever; on

the other, a life well-lived is remembered.One personal reflection: After a week of

not seeing myself I pulled down the paper and took a good hard look. “Hmmm,” I thought, “I am still here. There I am. I have survived this deeply sad experience of losing my father.”

But there is more. There is my little grand-son, Ilan, plunked in front of the mirror. The challenge for each of us after the passing of a parent is to figure out the puzzle, of “What now?” Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst theorist of the “mirror stage,” had noticed babies first become cognizant of themselves and their own image at about the age of 6

months, when they recognize themselves in the mirror. This mirror stage is a decisive turning point in the mental development of the child. It’s no accident we cover our mir-rors as we face death. This Jewish mourning practice of giving ourselves a break in look-ing at the mirror demands of each of us to look anew at our own image, to ask ourselves, who are we now that a generation is past?

Rivy Poupko Kletenik is an internationally renowned educator and Head of School at the Seattle Hebrew Academy. If you have a question that’s been tickling your brain, send Rivy an e-mail to [email protected].

What’s Your JQ? t Page 9

Professional Directoryto Jewish Washington

Networking Our Local Jewish Community

In Print June 25. Online right now.www.professionalwashington.com

save $36!

Bigger and better and handy as ever.Be part of the second annual print edition of the Professional Directory to Jewish Washington, the only directory networking professionals around the Sound with our vibrant local Jewish community.

It’s everywhere, and everyone wants it.In addition to sending the Directory to all JTNews subscribers, we and our community partners distribute free copies of the Directory throughout the community at businesses and organization, special events, in waiting rooms, and as part of welcome packets all year long, at every opportunity.

Reserve space today!

Early Reservation Special Offer: Log on today to reserve either full-year listing & use coupon code OFFER2Chai at check-out to receive your $36 discount. Plus, receive a free basic print listing with your online order.

Eastside & South:Lynn ____ [email protected] 774-2264

North & Urban Seattle:Stacy ____ [email protected] 774-2292

Classified:Becky [email protected] 774-2238

Not sure who to talk to? General questions? Karen __ [email protected] 774-2267

Thank you to Professional Directory Presenting Partner

Page 24: JTNews | April 30, 2010

Help rescue and resettle Jews worldwide at www.JewishInSeattle.org/Overseas