Leadership through the lens of Torah

By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
Debbie Plawner was looking to plan something special for her sister Kim Rosenberg’s birthday. The special something became a celebration for the whole community.
Plawner has been taking classes with Jewish educator, mentor and scholar Yiscah Smith online; wh…

JNF, Wadi Attir making Negev desert bloom

By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
At the founding of the State of Israel, David Ben Gurion spoke of making the desert bloom. Today, Jewish National Fund is doing exactly that.
The organization hosted representatives from Wadi Attir for a pair of speaking engagements in Portland at Rose Schnit…

A Center that's everywhere

By JENN DIRECTOR KNUDSEN
For The Jewish Review
It’s really a very Jewish story: 3,019 miles from Portland there is a building dedicated to rescued Yiddish books. It exists because of one man’s unquenchable passion. And its board chair is a Portland resident. 
The Yiddish Book Center in …

New classes, new grants, new ideas

By JESSICA ANDERSON
It’s been almost three years since I joined you as your Community Security Director. I love meaningful work, and this certainly fits the bill. There have been some changes to the program since I started – most significantly, I now officially cover the entire state of …

Comedy for Peace performances bring joy across divides

By ROCKNE ROLL The Jewish Review Few things can cross divides like comedy. “I grew up in Israel with two million Muslims and Arab Christians that I never really met,” Dotan Malach said. “We were supposed to be enemies, but I think we were all curious about each other.” That…