Mahjong instructor Vicki Errigo Hunt has been playing the tile game for about 30 years. Six years ago she began teaching at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale. She teaches all levels of the game from beginners to intermediates – some people even take the same class twice. “Back when I…
Toward the end of her law studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, my younger daughter, Ruthie, 27, worked on legal matters for Mavoi Satum (mavoisatum.org). This organization tries to resolve the “dead end” faced by agunot (women whose husbands cannot be located) and mesoravot get (women denied a get, the Jewish writ of divorce)….
We all know how to play the game. You go to a party and the woman next to you mentions that she just moved from Detroit and for the next few minutes, the conversation goes something like this. “Really? I have a cousin in Detroit, or maybe it’s West Bloomfield,” you say with an immediate…
Each October Oregon Jewish Life focuses on women. This year our “All About Women” special section features profiles of remarkable women using their skills and passions to change their world. From Ovarian Cancer Superhero Phyllis Lang to Principal of the Year Deanne Froehlich, women are making a difference. This section also features useful information on…
This year, Frances Smith Cohen will be celebrating 29 years at the helm of Center Dance Ensemble and 31 years teaching Modern Dance and Creative Ballet with partner Susan Silverman at Dance Theater West. But her beginnings with dance started as a child in Tucson. “I started as a tap dancer and ballet, of course,…
Many people have heard of and benefited from Rabbi Avigdor Miller’s “Ten Commandments of Marriage.” Rabbi Miller’s commandments focused on loyalty to one’s spouse and making every effort to avoid cycles of hurt and resentment. Dating, however is a different story. After all, why be loyal to someone who you may not marry? Isn’t it…
When Melissa Fink was pregnant with her first son, Miles, eight years ago, she was the model of a healthy pregnancy. “I worked out the whole pregnancy, everything was great – no blood pressures issues, nothing,” she explains. And then the unthinkable happened. Days after Miles birth, Melissa got very ill. “I woke up with…
Sefitu Ezra was only 7 years old when her family arrived in Israel in 2004. Up until that point, she had only known life in the small Ethiopian village of Sekota. When Sefitu and her family (her mother, father, sister and three brothers) arrived in Israel, they were placed in the Absorption Center in Beer-Sheva,…
When you ask Dr. Hannah Sivak what brought her to Arizona, her answer is as endearing as it is honest. “My son fell in love with a girl from Arizona. I am a Jewish mother, so I followed. My daughter is a Jewish daughter, so she followed me. So all the family is here.” She…
Forget that “fat-burning” setting on the treadmill. According to a new weight loss study published on HMHB.org, strength training is better at helping people lose belly fat compared with cardio. While aerobic exercise burns both fat and muscle, weight lifting burns almost exclusively fat. And don’t worry about turning into a bulky, bodybuilding champion if…
