Spokane Faith & Values

Contributors » Neal Schindler

A native of Detroit, Neal Schindler has lived in the Pacific Northwest for more than 10 years. He has held staff positions at Seattle Weekly and The Seattle Times and has been a freelance writer for Jew-ish.com since 2007.

Schindler was raised in a Reconstructionist Jewish congregation and is currently a member of Spokane's Reform congregation, Emanu-El.

He is a graduate student in mental health counseling at Eastern Washington University and continues to work as a freelancer.

His interests include movies, tennis, yoga and Scrabble.

He is engaged to be married and has a kitten.

Most Recent

Planning an interfaith wedding

| Apr 4, 2013

At times, planning an interfaith wedding feels like owning an obscure make of car. You go all around town trying to find parts for it, only to discover that no one has them. As it turns out, you need to make them yourself, in your garage.
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Being Jewish at Christmastime

| Dec 19, 2012

A recent discussion at my shul, Congregation Emanu-El, introduced me to Sue Fishkoff’s essay “My Family Tree is Loaded with Tinsel.” In this short but insightful piece, Fishkoff cracks open a quiet taboo of American Jewish life: what some Jews do at Christmastime.
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“Jew” as a noun: offensive or merely descriptive?

| Sep 19, 2012

Most of my friends agreed that the intention behind the use of “Jew” is what matters most. (They also shared the opinion that “jew” as a verb is always pejorative.) A friend who is especially knowledgeable about Judaism made the key distinction between “Jew” as a noun and the same word as an adjective. The latter is plainly offensive.
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“Surviving Progress” asks if we can change our ways

| Aug 27, 2012

The Book Parlor, the West Central bookstore operated by Salem Lutheran Church, recently screened the documentary Surviving Progress. The film does not take a markedly theological approach to its subject matter; its first language is science.
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Religious charity: uniter or divider?

| Aug 17, 2012

The image I most closely associate with the Jewish concept of tzedakah (charity) comes from my childhood. I remember little boxes, emblazoned with the Israeli flag, at my Hebrew school. Each had a small slot for coins on top — a kind of Zionist-looking piggybank.
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Being Jewish in Spokane

| Aug 3, 2012

Back when I lived in Seattle, I wrote for a blog called Jew-ish.com. My editor there, Leyna Krow, moved to Spokane in the fall of 2010 for graduate school. A few months later, she posted a brief essay titled “Feeling way too Jewish in Spokane."
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