Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 76 - 82 of 82
On Jan. 31, Jews will celebrate Tu B'Shevat, the day in which it is believed "trees come of age." For those of us who live in Central Florida, there is no more fitting a place to honor the Jewish "Earth Day" than at Bok Tower Gardens. The 60-acre sanctuary in nearby Lake Wales was the gift of Edward Bok. This son of impoverished Dutch immigrants became a highly successful publisher, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a respected humanitarian and an advocate of world peace and the environment.... Full story
On Dec. 23, Larry and I traveled 400 miles to spend time with our friends, Chris and Bernie Grossman, in their new home in Tallahassee. And on Dec. 25, the Shapiros and Grossmans upheld a tradition as steeped in Jewish culinary ritual as eating brisket on Rosh Hashanah, potato latkes on Chanukah, and matzo ball soup on Passover. We ate Chinese food on Christmas Day. Growing up in a small town in Upstate New York, my family didn't eat Chinese food on Christmas Day, or most other days of the... Full story
Larry and I have many "pets" in our home. A butterfly rests outside our front door, and two larger ones fly on our lanai wall. A two-foot bear clutching his "Bear Feet Only" sign greets visitors on the front porch. Pedro the Parrot hangs on a curtain rod. And various bulldogs-stuffed, ceramic, and metal, are stationed around the house in honor of the nickname my boss gave me when I moved from the classroom to an administrative office. However, I would have to say my favorite animals in our... Full story
A body of an American solider lying peacefully in the snow in a battlefield in Belgium. A Jewish boy in Brooklyn orphaned twice by World War II. And the world-renown photographer who connected the two. This is their story. Samuel Tannenbaum was born on July 10, 1942, in Washington, D.C. to Henry and Bertha Fiedel Tannenbaum. Less than two years later, Henry was drafted into the United States Army, Bertha and Sam moved to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to be closer to their families. After... Full story
"That doesn't belong here." Peter Gutensohn stared at the large tarnished sterling silver piece almost hidden in a dusty corner of Lanier's Historic Downtown Marketplace. Peter had come in to the antiques mall in Kissimmee, Florida, on an early spring day in 2016 to look for a silver serving platter for his wife, Kelly. He was a frequent visitor, often successful in his search for a specific old, beautiful object. And sometimes he bought interesting items "just because." A few years earlier,... Full story
This year, for the first time in 60 years, Harry Lowenstein will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah without his beloved wife Carol. It will be a bittersweet occasion, only a few short weeks after what would have been their sixtieth anniversary. But Harry is a survivor-as well as a mensch-a person with integrity and honor. Harry Lowenstein was born in Fuerstrau, Germany, in 1931, the younger of two children. When he was seven years old, Harry was expelled from school for being a Jew. In 1940, he and... Full story
He drew a circle that shut me out—Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! —Edwin Markham According to the Bipartisanship Policy Center, our country’s history of working across the aisle can be traced back to as early as 1787. Our founding fathers, struggling with congressional representation regarding the populations of the colonies, reached what later was know as the Great Compromise. It was decided that our new government would exist with a proportional House of Repre... Full story
