Shabbat Shalom

This week’s Torah portion is Parshat is Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:6)

Links to the Parshat are available at the following sites:

Aish: http://www.aish.com/tp/

Partners in Torah: http://www.partnersintorah.org/parsha-partner/bo-5768

Torah.org:  http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha/summary/bo.html

Chabad:  www.chabad.org/parshah/default_cdo/jewish/Torah-Portion.htm

So -there you go!

http://www.jtnews.net/index.php?/news/item/8953

The Adamah Fellowship

Where else can you say a blessing while using recycled vegetable oil to fuel a truck that is filled with organic produce and naturally fermented kosher pickles?

Adamah connects people to their roots:
to the land, to community, to Judaism, and to themselves by providing educational programs and products in order to build a more sustainable world.Programs at Adamah integrate physical, social, spiritual, Jewish and ecological realms in order to inspire participants to a life of service – to the Jewish community and to the earth. We emphasize hands-on experience and peer leadership to empower participants with skills and confidence to make a difference, and we offer positive ways to connect to the core Jewish principles of awe and gratitude, which inspire participants well after they leave.

Now in its seventh successful year, the Adamah Fellowship is a three-month leadership training program for Jewish young adults in their 20s that integrates organic farming, sustainable living, Jewish learning, community building and contemplative spiritual practice. 2012 Applications are now available.

Have you been working on a project about Southern Judaism?

Have you?

Well, here is your chance for funding.

Southern Jewish Historical Society (SJHS) Grants & Applications

Taglit-Birthright Israel provides the gift of first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. Taglit-Birthright Israel’s founders created this program to send thousands of young Jewish adults from all over the world to Israel as a gift in order to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry; and to strengthen participants’ personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people.

The Taglit-Birthright Israel gift covers round trip airfare (from designated cities), hotel, transportation, most meals and other associated land costs for the approved 10-day trips to Israel offered by approved Trip Organizers. Gratuities, personal purchases, and travel medical insurance are not included.

Summer 2012 REGISTRATION
Registration for Summer 2012 trips opens on February 15, 2012 at 10:00 am ET. Visit http://www.birthrightisrael.com/site/PageServer?pagename=about_main for details

Subject: The Israel Action Network is coming to Seattle Feb. 12-13, 2012

The Israel Action Network (IAN) was conceived a year ago by the Jewish Council on Public Affairs and the Jewish Federations of North America as a critical entity in the fight against efforts to delegitimize Israel domestically and in the global community. The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle is bringing the IAN to Seattle for a series of workshops and consultations on how our community can combat the assault on Israels legitimacy.

Seattle knows all too well what this means for our community. We have seen sanction forces spearhead boycotts, attempt divestment, and pursue misleading and provocative advertising campaigns with the aim of undermining Israels legitimacy. Anti-Israel activists continue to mobilize at the Evergreen State College, subversive political groups plan advertising and media campaigns, and one of the oldest cathedrals in Seattle is a cauldron of anti-Israel activity. Without a strong effort geared toward stopping, preventing, and fighting these efforts the movement targeting Israel will only continue to grow.

The stated goals of the Israel Action Network are three-fold:

1. Build, strengthen and expand strong active support both within and outside the Jewish community for the existence of a democratic Jewish State of Israel and the two-state solution for peace in the Middle East.

2. Leverage the collective ability and unique infrastructure of hundreds of Jewish Federations and network communities.

3. Educate, organize, and mobilize these communities to effectively counter the assault on Israels legitimacy and foster affirmative campaigns supporting the legitimacy of the State of Israel.

One of the ways the Israel Action Network will achieve these goals is by working with local Jewish communities to develop strategies specific to each community. Because Seattle and the entire Pacific Northwest have become a hot-spot for delegitimization efforts, the IAN will be visiting Seattle February 12-13, 2012 to work with Jewish communal staff, pro-Israel activists, and key volunteers to develop a long-range, collective plan for combatting future delegitimization campaigns.

Because of your involvement and leadership in the pro-Israel community, I want to personally invite you to one of the sessions planned by the Israel Action Network for February 12.

This session will take place at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle (2031 3rd Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121) and will be hosted and run by Geri Palast (Managing Director of the Israel Action Network), Ethan Felson (Vice President and General Counsel of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs) and Julie Bernstein (Associate Managing Director of the Israel Action Network).

If you are able to join the Israel Action Network for this unique and important opportunity, please RSVP to Annie Jacobson at anniej by February 8, 2012.I urge you to attend for the opportunity to interact directly with key staff from the Israel Action Network and join the collective effort to resist the local effort to delegitimize Israel. If you have any questions about the IAN, the Seattle program, or presenters, do not hesitate to contact me directly.I look forward to seeing you in February.

Sincerely

Ron Leibsohn, Chair, Community Relations Committee

Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle

Zach Carstensen

Director of Government Relations and Public Affairs

206-774-2248 (direct line) zachc@jewishinseattle.org

This week’s Torah portion is

Parashat Va’era (Exodus 6:2-9:35)

Versions of this week’s Parsha can be found at the following sites:

Partners in Torah- http://www.partnersintorah.org/posts/parsha-partner/vayeira

AISH- http://www.aish.com/tp/

Torah.org- http://torah.org/learning/torahportion.php3

Washington State Jewish Historical Society’s cookbook Yesterday’s Mavens, Today’s Foodies:Traditions in Northwest Jewish Kitchen is on sale now and the initial reviews have been positive.

The cookbook contains two recipes by community member Miriam Coates, including  one to make your own handmade matzah for Passover ( if you have been to a WIJC Seder you may have tasted this recipe).

Read what the reviewers have to say:

Nancy Leson, Seattle Times food and restaurant columnist says “If there’s anything that binds a community, it’s the foods we eat and the stories we tell as we share them…Now, with Yesterday’s Mavens, Today’s Foodies to broaden my palate and my repertoire, I feel an even greater sense of family: my Northwest family.”

Nancy Pearl, Author of Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason says, “ I’m too busy to cook, but I love history and the accompanying stories are worth the price of the book by itself.”

Michael Natkin, Author of Herbivoracious.com “ Jewish families in the Pacific Northwest keep food traditions alive with great pride and recipes that are delicious and an integral part of a vibrant culture. Yesterday’s Mavens offers a nearly definitive collection of these dishes together with delightful family stories from many of the cooks that contributed.”

Gil Marks, Author of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Jewish Food and Olive Trees and Honey, “One of America’s great contributions to cuisine is the cookbook consisting of collections of recipes from individuals of an organization or community, which provides a trove of not only contemporary dishes but also insight into a time and place. As someone who is always searching for rare and exotic recipes as well as interesting variations of more familiar ones, Yesterday’s Mavens, Today’s Foodies provides an incredible collection garnered from both Ashkenazic and Sephardic heritages. The book contains essential Sephardic “Bs”— borekas, boyos, burmuelos, and biscochos — as well as Ashkenazic — bagels, blintzes, borscht, and brisket. It will prove invaluable not only for the residents of Washington State, but anyone interested in Jewish and American dishes and a better understanding of the mosaic of cultures that make up the Jewish community.”

WSJHS, “Food is history, culture, connection, community, ritual, nourishment, sustenance, survival, memory. Food tells stories. Cookbooks tell stories. Cookbook includes recipes, stories and photographs. Through the lens of your kitchen, your grandmother’s kitchen, your children’s kitchen, we will see a slice of our unique history – a history that illuminates our Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions and combines them with the pioneer spirit of the Pacific Northwest, its bounty of food products, fresh produce and growing foodie culture.”

Think this may be a good addition to your cookbook collection? Copies of the first edition can be purchased for $36.00 from the WSJHS website.

Photo: William (Snowflake) Bentley

Original Word: שָׁ֫לֶג
Transliteration: sheleg
Phonetic Spelling: (sheh’-leg)
Short Definition: snow

To view and read the article, please on the picture above to be forwarded to a pdf. link

Montessori Life, Volume 23-4, Winter 2011