Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 345
For 21 years The Roth Family JCC's Jewish Film Festival in partnership with Maitland's Enzian Theater has been entertaining the community with exceptional films. This year's crop of films continues this reputation as well as adding one more film. From intrigue to love-in-later-life to a documentary, the films cover the gamut of topics. The series kicks off on Nov. 9, at the Orlando Science Center (777 E. Princeton St.), 7:30 p.m., with the 15-minute film "How To Swim," which isn't really about... Full story
Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel is a young man who has accomplished quite a bit in his lifetime. A Sgt. Major in the IDF reserves, he is one of Israel's premier media personalities. He and Rabbi Ari Abramowitz are internationally acclaimed media personalities who have been fighting side-by-side to share the truth about Israel with the world for over a decade. On Sunday, Nov. 10, Gimpel will share his message of living in and transforming the hills of Judea with the Orlando Jewish and Christian communities... Full story
Two days shy of his 28-day time limit to establish a government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that he cannot form a coalition and that he is returning the mandate to do so to President Reuven Rivlin, paving the way for Benny Gantz, leader of Kahol Lavan (Blue and White party) to try to create a government. Gantz will have 28 days to try to form a coalition. What happens if the Gantz-led coalition talks also fail? Then any lawmaker backed by a majority of at least 61 Knes... Full story
IAC Orlando regional manager Idit Lotringer has a full calendar of events through next May for the Israeli-American Council in Orlando and she has a new program manager to assist her. Ziva Kurlansik came to Orlando five years ago with her husband, Aaron, and two children. She was born and raised in Northern Israel and completed her IDF service as a signals intelligent officer. She has been instrumental in creating the Tzofim (Israeli Scouts) Orlando chapter. "I'm excited to join the IAC team... Full story
RAISE, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's work and social skills training program for adults with special needs has unveiled two new logos. Both can be seen on RAISE's Facebook page. One logo will be used for the local ongoing program and the other, designated "RAISE on the Road," will be used as RAISE begins to market this unique and successful concept to other Jewish communities across the country. The new logo for the RAISE program was designed by the senior graphic designer of ASD... Full story
After the success of last year's tour of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, Fellowship Church will once again, present a replica of the Tabernacle that was built while the children of Israel were in the wilderness for 40 years. This year, members of Fellowship built a nearly full-size model of the tent, the furnishings inside, the altar in the outer court, and the fabric 'wall' surrounding the Tabernacle. Beginning the first day of Sukkot, Monday, Oct. 14, and running through Saturday, Oct. 19,... Full story
The third annual Men's Night Out, to be held Nov. 7 at Congregation Ohev Shalom, features not only great steak and a top-shelf cocktail hour, the comedic entertainment is top notch. The Orlando synagogue Men's Clubs, with support from the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, and key sponsors Alan Ginsburg and Aaron Gorovitz are bringing the men of the community one of the premier comedians in the country, Johnny Lampert. This event is a wonderful opportunity to unite Jewish men from all area... Full story
StandWithUs, an international, nonprofit Israel education organization founded in 2001, recently selected Samantha Gabbai, a senior at Winter Park High School, for the StandWithUs High School Internship program 2019-2020. Danielle Garsten was selected as SWU’s Emerson Fellow at UCF. The StandWithUs High School Internship Program is a high school leadership program that prepares students for the challenges they may face regarding Israel in college and in their communities. Students in both the HS Internship and Emerson Fellows attend two confere... Full story
According to a newsletter sent to all COS members via email, Congregation Ohev Shalom experienced a ransomware attack on its main server on Monday, Aug. 5. Ohev administration contacted the Maitland Police Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. Taking the lead in the investigation, the FBI does not believe the synagogue was targeted by an anti-Semitic group. “Nothing was ‘taken’ or ‘captured,’” clarified Steven Hornik, Ohev president. Certain data and files on the main server were encrypted and aren’t accessible. T... Full story
Many people in the Jewish community know Bethanne Weiss as an accomplished physical fitness guru and author of the book "Move Your Assets: From the Chair, Not the Bank," which garnered her the nickname the Asset Queen. Now she is moving her assets from the bank to take on the role of executive producer of the short film "Resemblance," which is in production in Oviedo and directed by writer, producer Kevin O'Neill. Last March, Heritage wrote about the upcoming movie, which is about Dachua... Full story
Do you remember the “most interesting man in the world” beer commercials? The creators of that ad got it all wrong because the most interesting man, at least in Central Florida, is Dick Weiner, the recipient of this year’s Heritage Human Service Award. A stately man, Weiner is unhurried, with a dignified appearance. In his humble opinion, he doesn’t think he deserves this award. “I’ve done so little over the last few years,” he told Heritage, then he rattled off names of others he thought were... Full story
On July 23, the House passed H. Res. 246-a bill that condemns the movement to boycott, divest and sanction Israel specifically. The vote was 398-17. This is such good news, and a slight reprieve from all the craziness going on in the world. Critics of the bill said that the resolution labels BDS supporters (against Israel) as anti-Semites. If the shoe fits... Anti-Israel BDS is anti-Semitic economic warfare to destroy the Jewish state and people-and is exactly what Nazi Germany did to the Jews... Full story
In the middle of June, Heritage received an email from a French man named Jean-Frederic Voltz. The email stated that the writer had found a helmet that belonged to Private First Class George Braunstein. He explained that the soldier had been wounded on Nov. 26, 1944, in "Lalaye 15 Km near St Die in France." He even knew Braunstein's laundry number, which was in the helmet, and said Braunstein was a member of the 103rd US-409 Regiment-Compagnie [sic]. "Have you more information of this soldat... Full story
Driving to the Orlando International Airport the morning of July 9, the Star of David on the tail of an EL AL plane was visible above the building. It was thrilling to see, because this morning at 11:30 history was made as EL AL's inaugural flight from MCO to Tel Aviv took "to the skies," (EL AL literally means that). Prior to the flight, a media event, complete with ribbon and cake cutting ceremonies, was held to announce the new flights. Guest speakers included Gov. Ron DeSantis; Lior Haiat,... Full story
It only took Brigitte Gabriel 14 minutes to make her point as she gave a keynote speech addressing the rise of global anti-Semitism before the United Nations in September 2014. She received a standing ovation as she spoke out strongly for Israel. Spring forward almost five years, and Gabriel, through her organization ACT for America, is still speaking out strongly for Israel, democracy and Judeo-Christian values. She was recently in Orlando to promote her new book, "Rise: In Defense of... Full story
A recent Orlando Sentinel guest commentary by Zaina Alsous, a Palestinian-American organizer with the Dream Defenders in Miami and Donna Nevel, a community psychologist and educator and a Jewish social justice activist living in South Florida, pushed an anti-Israel agenda under the guise of criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to hold a Florida Cabinet meeting in Israel. The May 29 opinion piece was titled “DeSantis’ Israel meeting slap in the face to voters.” The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando quickly responded to the opinion piece.... Full story
The University of Central Florida's Shlichut Institute members participated in Israel's entry in this year's Eurovision Song Contest accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired population by producing a music video for singer Kobi Marimi's "Home" in American Sign Language. In the weeks leading up to Eurovision, which took place from May 14-18 in Tel Aviv, The Jewish Agency's Shlichim (emissaries) from around the world embarked on the "See the Sounds" initiative in order to help people with... Full story
Last July, then-governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in seven South Florida counties because of the algae bloom all across Florida's west coast. The pea-green, thick film covering the freshwater lakes, salt-water canals and waterways not only looked bad, but smelled awful. "It is like moldy bread," said one Lake Okeechobee resident. Not only did it look and smell bad, it could be toxic if consumed, and fatal for dogs that swim in or drink the scum, according to Richard P. Stumpf, an... Full story
Those who are planning to go to Israel this year, consider scheduling flights between July 2 and Aug. 27. This is when EL AL will have once-a-week flights out of Orlando International Airport. This is a trial run to see if there is enough interest in the Orlando community to generate more flights out of OIA in the future. "It's a great beginning!" said Vicki Jaramillo, senior director, marketing & air service development at OIA. Jaramillo, who is based in Orlando, has over 25 years experience... Full story
Being in his late 80s was not a deterrent for Longwood resident Bob Herpe to becoming an author of a fiction mystery novel. He'd worn many "hats" in his careers and enjoyed many experiences-good and bad-to equal a "full" life. A creative man, writing almost came second nature. He already had experience with writing commercials for Broadcast Radio (he has owned several radio stations across the U.S.), and he wrote kiddie television shows when he worked for CBS in Chicago. However, he never seriou... Full story
Last month a Jewish student who attends a charter school was given a reading assignment to prepare ninth graders for the Florida Reading FSA on inference of cultural experiences. Upon reading the excerpts, the student became extremely uncomfortable and fearful. He shared his experience with his parents, Eric and Wendy Nissan of Winter Park. When Wendy read the excerpts, she, too, was shaken by what her son was reading in the classroom. What concerned her was the content in the excerpts that... Full story
Because her positions on BDS, Israel, and the Jewish people have made Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib a controversial figure among the freshman congressmen and women in the U.S. government, Heritage wanted to take the opportunity to hear and possibly interview her at a recent Emgage Gala, held at the Crown Plaza in Orlando. Emgage is an organization that seeks to “engage, educate and empower Muslim, South Asian and Arab American communities through educational events, voter initiatives, and leadership development for the purpose of creating a c... Full story
The Israeli SpaceIL spacecraft Beresheet-Hebrew for Genesis-is on the moon, but not in the way that was hoped. Beresheet snapped its first "selfie," with the help of NASA, as it was landing, 22 kilometers (13.67 miles) from the surface. Then it was over. Apparently it crashed on the moon's surface after traveling 47 days and 6.5 million kilometers (4,038,912.75 miles) through space. In the last few moments before it was to land, communication was lost, then recovered. Then the main engine failed... Full story
The Israeli SpaceIL spacecraft Beresheet - Hebrew for Genesis - is on the moon, but not in the way that was hoped. Beresheet snapped its first "selfie," with the help of NASA, as it was landing, 22 kilometers (13.67 miles) from the surface. Then it was over. Apparently it crashed on the moon's surface after traveling 47 days and 6.5 million kilometers (4,038,912.75 miles) through space. In the last few moments before it was to land, communication was lost, then recovered. Then the main engine... Full story
Talented writer, director and producer Kevin O'Neill has written a short-film script about Dachua survivors of the Holocaust. The film, titled "Resemblance," has a different story line than most Holocaust movies. It takes place in a facility for patients with Alzheimer's Disease, most of whom are Jewish, where Dirk Kramer (played by Jordan Woods-Robinson) plays piano. A professional actor, Kramer sees a way that he can use his acting talents at the facility. Most of O'Neill's films are often... Full story
