News and Information for the Spokane Jewish Community
Biblical Hebrew Class at Gonzaga University: Rabbi Elizabeth Goldstein will be teaching a Biblical Hebrew class at Gonzaga University beginning January 19th. The class will be taught Tues/Thurs from 10:50 - 12:05 p.m. Interested students should be able to read Hebrew. The class is free to anyone over the age of 62. Anyone interested in attending should contact Dr. Goldstein at goldstein@gonzaga.edu. Help support this new addition to Jewish life in Spokane!
PJ Library: There's a great new program for Jewish families starting up in the Inland Northwest. Spokane Area Jewish Family Services announces the opening of its newest program: Jewish Bedtime Stories & Music for Families. Offered in partnership with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, and with thanks to Gene and Gerry Huppin, the PJ Library provides FREE, high-quality Jewish books and music each month to any family raising Jewish children ages six months through eight years old in Spokane, Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. What could be better than free books and CDs for kids? Enroll your family today, or refer this program to someone you know!
Spokane Area Jewish Family Services: SAJFS provides ongoing programs and support services for all members of our community. For more information, see the webpage at www.sajfs.org.
News Article of Note: Congregation member Carla Peperzak was extensively interviewed in a story entitled "Dutch woman taught her children lessons in life to help prevent the Holocaust from being repeated" in the April 2011 Fig Tree. Follow the link to read the story online.
Camp Kesher: Camp Kesher is our state's Reform Jewish family camp. This fun and popular camp holds events every summer and would like to see more Eastern Washington participants. See the camp website at http://www.campkesher.org, or talk to Patti Barber for more information.
We stood at the sea Until the waters parted Midrash tells us why The first to step in Nachshon Ben Aminadav Then G-d split the sea Nachshon’s leap of faith Showed the courage leaders need Going first is hard
“Sure, we can afford to order pizza for the kids for dinner when I am feeling at my lowest from chemotherapy. We could call Domino’s and in no time there would be a pizza on the table. But my kids already know that Domino’s delivers! I am so grateful that the members of my congregation bring meals for our family. I want my kids to know that our congregation delivers and that they bring much more than food. When I am gone I want them to know for the rest of their lives they can turn to their Jewish community, to their tradition and to good friends for nurturing, support and caring.” This perceptive, brave and generous young mother living with advanced cancer was explaining why having a congregation which was truly a Caring Community meant so much to her. In fact, she was a member of that congregation’s caring [...]
by Paula Krone and Michael Faber Like most parents, from the time we gave birth to our son, we had many hopes and dreams for him. We wanted him to have a good education, have friends and grow up to live a happy and prosperous life. We also had dreams of our child being brought up in the Jewish religion, and we hoped our child would embrace all that Judaism has to offer. Of course, we had hoped that he would pass some part of ourselves, including our Jewish heritage, to his children. It wasn’t long after Benjamin Avi was born, however, that we knew that many of those dreams would never come to be. Benjamin Avi was born with a rare, genetic disease called mitochondrial myopathy. It is not one of the genetic diseases typically associated with the Jewish people. This one affects both Jews and non-Jews of all [...]
Today is the 1st day of the second year following the death of my son, Mitch. It is also the date upon which I had committed to beginning a Blog about my spiritual journey and contemplations. This morning, God provided one of those Invisible Lines of Connection of which Larry Kushner writes to prove that this is the right day. I was crossing from Penn Station to my Midtown office in NYC, picking out a different route, as I do each day. Rounding a corner, a young man caught my eye, and then my body in a tearful hug. He is the loving brother of a wonderful young woman, Amy, whose wedding I performed ten years ago, after connecting very deeply to her and her fiancé during preparation. One month later, I received a sobbing phone call from her husband, Brian, telling me Amy had died very suddenly. Post-mortem examination [...]
by A.G. Inclusion has always permeated my entire relationship with my temple, Congregation Kol Ami. My very first conversation with Rabbi Shira Milgrom was about inclusion. Twenty-one years ago, I was faced with a dilemma. How could my ten-year-old son become a bar mitzvah if as a single working parent I could barely pay the rent, no less pay dues? I posed the question to Rabbi Shira. Her reply was simple. “Just because you are poor, is not a reason that should prevent you from being part of a Jewish community.” And so it began. Jeff attended Hebrew school and I started to go to the “Spiritual Lift”, a Saturday morning Sabbath service held in the Chapel in the Woods. Years of social isolation began to fade, as I was welcomed into the congregation, a devoted group of fifty to one hundred Jews that eventually became an extended family. It [...]
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