Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Here are some late night thoughts as I approach my 89th year. God knows (he or she, assuming of course...) that I am not a theologian, or for that matter—in the eyes of many who are—a religious person. A Jew? Oh yes—first and foremost and for at le... Full story

My dad was not a big believer in religion. I found some of the reason when I studied the life of my grandfather, Abraham Shiplacoff. Abe was a devout Socialist of the “Old School.” And, while he believed passionately in his Judaism—he was skept... Full story

Some years ago, the French actor Robert Clary appeared on a television interview. He was famous for another television program—Hogan’s Heroes, a comical take on a prison camp in Germany during the Second World War. In the interview, Clary, for the... Full story

The Jewish Community is divided. Oh my, what a shock. There was a time that we were one Tribe. As the Community grew, the kids moved on, just like today. And so, as each family grew we became 12 tribes –The tribes split—and not harmoniously. Sup... Full story

I wrote a column about the extreme left and the extreme right. I did that before Charlottesville, the chants of “Jews will not replace us” and the murder of a 32-year-old woman. Still there is some validity to the following: The late Eric Hof... Full story

There is an interesting documentary on YouTube about a recent archeological expedition in Iraq and Iran—what was ancient Persia and before that Babylonia. In ancient texts and evidence in excavations there are stories about Sodom, Gomorrah and the b... Full story

In the fabulous opening of “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye engages in a uniquely Jewish argument: taking two dissenting opinions and agreeing that they are both right. This is possible because of Talmudic study; an exercise in which only Jews can engage... Full story

A disagreement between Jews? Whoda thought? That three Jews in a room could not agree on much—except that they disagree. It is part of our DNA. Look to any Orthodox Study Group and you will see the same arguments dealing with Torah interpretation tha... Full story

YouTube is one of the marvels of the Electronic age. You can play eight hours of the singers and jazz artists of the 1940s. You can take a Friday and play Yiddish and Israeli music all the way up to Shabbat. And then there are the other sites.... Full story

You would think by this point in the 21st century we would have learned. But we delude ourselves into thinking it doesn’t exist. It does. Anti-Semitism is alive and well and growing—right here in the good old U.S. of A. There was a wave of positive e... Full story

In 1950, my family moved to Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a lovely, leafy area with stately homes and a storied history. Once my parents bought their home we were shocked to find that just shortly before we moved, a law was... Full story

Well, what happens if they don’t? This month, a bunch of Europeans and others walked into a room in Paris to decide what actually had already been decided in 1947 and discussed continually since then: That the best solution for the Holy Land of I... Full story

While as Jews we celebrate our own New Year with a religious flourish for 10 days, usually in the fall, tell me you won’t do at least a little family and friends this weekend. What a year, right? It looks mightily like we will, in this country of o... Full story

I have begun re-reading Menachem Begin’s book “The Revolt—The Story of the Irgun.” It still makes fascinating reading some 60 to 70 years after its original publication. The book opens with Begin having a spirited discussion with his Soviet interroga... Full story

I wrote some thoughts down, posted them on my Facebook page and wrote a truncated version to the Orlando Sentinel, which was printed as a letter to the editor. So, here are some further ramblings. 9/11 was a tragedy. We have had a few in our... Full story

When he was younger, our son Adam (now in his 50s) asked me “Dad, what will happen when the last old Jewish guy dies?” What he meant, metaphorically, was what do he and his generation do when they no longer have access to the stories, the culture and... Full story

There is an old Jewish joke (are there any new Jewish jokes?) about a young man rushing in to his grandmother’s kitchen in 1969 and exclaiming “Bubbe! We just landed a man on the moon!” The grandmother stopped chopping liver and looked up. She asked... Full story

There is a war going on in the United States. It is being fought on college campuses across the nation. This battle is not about Affirmative Action or the ridiculous costs of a college education. Not even about Bernie and Hillary—that’s a dif... Full story

Bernie Sanders drew a reported 28,000 people to a rally in Brooklyn. That’s a lot of folks for a 74-year-old man to draw to a speech. But, it doesn’t seem to translate into wins in primaries. Bernie has struck a chord with unhappy Democrats (and Soc... Full story

Joe Biden visited Israel in the past few weeks. He had a little better dinner with Bibi—last time he left before dinner was served because the Shas Housing minister decided to stick his thumb in the eye of Israel’s number one ally by announcing new... Full story

Why are we involved in a 12-centuries-old war? Shiites and Sunnis have been at it since the death of Mohamed. I have written before about “Sykes-Picot” the agreement that whacked up the Middle East between England and France during WWI and how the... Full story

Usually, most people don’t take a real interest in politics until at least spring of an election year. Admittedly this year is different. The rise of The Donald continues to amaze. Obviously Bernie Sanders has touched a nerve. Jews have been a... Full story

In 1948 I was in high school. Okay, now you have a pretty good idea of how long I’ve been around. Point is—I was in a high school of 1500 kids, of whom about 12 were Jews. When the State of Israel declared its independence, let’s just say there was n... Full story

In 1967, shortly after the Six Day War, Yigal Allon, a respected Israeli archeologist and at the time, Minister of Immigration, offered a plan for creating the borders of the Third Jewish Commonwealth. He drew a convoluted map, dividing the Jewish... Full story

The High Holy days are designed as a time for reflection, repairing and making ready. A new year, a new set of ideas and a determination to do better than last year. Really? One day leads to another, time goes on. I hit a BIG birthday a couple of... Full story