15 women receive Song of Miriam Award: Marni Glick, Eliana Temkin, Sam Perrin, Hannah Berkowitz, Joni Plotkin, Kathleen Doctor, Robin Ellison, Carol Ray Richmond, Shari Raider, Liza Milliner, Diana Lindemann, Sheryl Chomak, Leora Troper, Toinette Menashe and Kara Orvieto.

For 27 years, the Je...

PHOTO: Israeli Folk Dancers are happy to return to in-person dancing on wood floors. Café Shalom, above, is just one of several returning options in Portland.

With the world in flux, many organizations and businesses are moving forward into our new world in fresh ways. How have the pandemic’s...

The High Holidays start “early” on our Gregorian calendar this year; the Hebrew month of Elul begins Aug. 9, Selichot is Aug. 28 and Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown Sept. 6. The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland hosts the online community calendar for community members to easily access in...

Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin (1916-2009) is renowned for his iconic projects in the United States: the Portland Fountains, Freeway Park, Ghirardelli Square, Sea Ranch and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Yet he also made crucial contributions to the landscape of Israel, which playe...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Michael Jeser, z"l, passed away peacefully from esophageal cancer on Shabbat, July 24, 2021. He was 45. The funeral will be 12:30 pm, Wednesday, July 28, near Los Angeles at Mount Sinai in Simi Valley. It will be livestreamed (link posted Tuesday) at https://mountsinaiparks.org/obi...

PHOTO: Young campers enjoy B’nai B’rith Camp’s first eastside day camp July 12-16. The new Eastside Jewish Commons will be home for many community programs, including two more weeks of BB Day Camp Eastside Aug. 2-6 and Aug. 9-13.

BY DEBORAH MOON

Jewish options are multiplying on Portland�...

A bilingual, multicultural school in Israel cofounded by a Portland native has become a model of coexistence in a time when that approach is in short supply.

PHOTO: The lobby at ther Mittleman Jewish Community Center is starting to feel like the community's living room once again.

BY DEBORAH MOON
The Mittleman Jewish Community Center is poised to reclaim its title as the “living room of the Jewish community” as the lobby reopens, in-person classe...

PHOTO: Nirit Takele was only 6 years old when she was one of 14,300 Ethiopian Jews who were airlifted on 35 aircrafts from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia’s capital) to Israel in less than 36 hours. Steve "Rosy" Rosenberg, who was board president of Portland's Jewish Federation at the time, recently purc...

Portlander Glen Coblens has been named head coach of the Team USA Men’s Over 45 Basketball Team for the 21st Maccabiah Games in Israel in July 2022. The Maccabiah Games, also known as the Jewish Olympics, are the third-largest international multi-sport event in the world.
“My first Macca...

BY DEBORAH MOON
Maimonides Jewish Day School Principal Rabbi Shneur Wilhelm leaves Portland this summer to serve as vice principal of the Desert Torah Academy in Las Vegas, Nev., a school with more than 250 students.
Karen DeNardo will take the reins of Maimonides as principal this summer. (See r...

PHOTO: Oregonian Josh Foster spent five months volunteering at this day care center in Yafo, Israel, while on the Young Judaea Year Course. Here Josh and Israeli counselor Ophir are shown with three youth he worked closely with, Adisu, Adisu and Adam. “This day was really special, because we ce...

PHOTO: Oregon Board of Rabbis (now former) Chair Eve Posen, left, bids a fond farewell to Portland Kollel founders Esther and Rabbi Tzvi Fischer at a June 13 going away event that drew about 225 people. The Fischers move to Detroit this month.

By Jenn Director Knudsen

Rabbi Tzvi and Esther Fisc...

Thirty years ago, Amy Shapiro blanched when she had to teach her Portland Jewish Academy choir the lyrics “blood of martyrs” and “land of empire builders” when they were invited to sing the state song at the Capitol.
She returned last February to sing the new lyrics she wrote featuring mo...

Portland-based Race Talks, which hosts difficult conversations to inform people and build relationships, presented “How David Became Goliath: Israel’s 100 Year War on Palestine” on June 17.
“When I heard the title … I was hesitant about participating,” said Sharon Erez-Shai, who was b...

BY DEBORAH MOON

Adult Day Services resume at Cedar Sinai Park July 1.
Before COVID restrictions closed the program in March 2020, about 18 seniors a day enjoyed socialization, activities, games and good food. Thanks to support from the state and CSP, the adult day staff are poised to relaunch th...

Sima Wilhelm, a ninth-grader at Portland’s Maimonides Jewish Day School, won first prize in the Better Together Cohort V: National High School contest with her essay “One Full Year.”
Better Together, a school-based Jewish intergenerational program, launched the contest in recognition that s...

BY DEBORAH MOON
The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s 101st annual meeting, held on Zoom June 14, 2021, looked at lessons of the difficult past year and shared plans for moving strongly into its second century to enhance local Jewish life.
JFGP Chair Lauren Goldstein shared how Federation...