Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 53
BOSTON (JTA)-In the despair of the Soviet Union's fierce World War II battles against the Nazis, a 42-year-old Jewish man from Odessa wrote a song in Yiddish poking fun at Hitler's failures to seize control of Ukraine's coal and oil resources. "On the High Mountain," written by Veli Shargorodskii about the war experience in 1943-44, ends with the words "Germany is in trouble, Hitler is kaput!" The satirical song was among hundreds collected during the war by Moisei Beregovsky (1892-1961), a...
CANTON, Mass. (JTA)-At a kickoff party Sunday night at the Orchard Cove senior home in this suburb about 25 miles from Boston, boisterous cheers erupted from a small ballroom. Dozens of residents had begun an evening-long tailgate-style gathering as their New England Patriots started yet another Super Bowl, this time against the Los Angeles Rams. Of course, the residents didn't know that at the final whistle their team would be hoisting its sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy hours later. "Everyone was...
(JTA)-Alfred Bader, a refugee who escaped Nazi-occupied Vienna as a young teen in 1938, and later became a chemist, businessman, philanthropist for Jewish and other causes, and an influential art collector, has died. Bader's charitable giving established a legacy for Jewish education in Milwaukee, including for its day schools. He died Dec. 23 at his home in the Wisconsin city. He was 94. Bader and his family foundation donated millions of dollars to social, medical and cultural institutions in...
(JTA)-Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie. The names of the five fictional sisters bring a smile to generations of Jewish Americans who grew up reading "All-of-a-Kind Family," the classic mid-century chapter book series by Sydney Taylor that followed the day-to-day doings and adventures of a Jewish-American immigrant family on New York's Lower East Side. The trailblazing series marked the first time that a children's book about a Jewish-American family found an audience in both Jewish and...
MEDFORD, Mass. (JTA)—Pro-Israel students at Tufts University say a new course on Palestine is one-sided and demonizes Israel, and violates the university’s own policies on taking political stances. The course, taught by Thomas Abowd, a faculty member in the American Studies program, was first reported by Jewish News Syndicate. The JNS story sparked a flurry of criticism and concern from the Anti-Defamation League and pro-Israel campus organizations. Titled “Colonizing Palestine,” the course is offered through the liberal arts school...
SOMERVILLE, Mass. (JTA)-On the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz led her congregation on a walk to the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse on the Mystic River for tashlich, a centuries-old ritual when Jews symbolically discard their sins from the past year into a moving body of water. But instead of the customary bits of stale bread, breadcrumbs or even bits of matzah saved from last Passover, congregants tossed small pebbles. Members of Temple B'nai Brith, a non-affiliated...
MARKOWA, Poland-Memorial plaques bearing the names of Poles killed for rescuing Jews line the pathway leading to a small, austere structure built into a hillside in this rural village in southeastern Poland. In the center courtyard, a large slab is inscribed to the memory of Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The quiet, reflective space sets the stage for the haunting story that unfolds within the walls of the building, a museum that memorializes Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, local farmers who...
BOSTON (JTA)-A century-old synagogue in Boston that now serves as a Jewish cultural center will receive $500,000 from the city for historic preservation. On the recommendation of Mayor Martin Walsh, the City Council last week unanimously approved the grant for the Vilna Shul, Boston's Center for Jewish Culture, under the Community Preservation Act. The funding for the multi-story building, once abandoned but now a landmark and tourist destination, will be used to help make it fully accessible...
(JTA)-From his birthplace in Boston to New York, Berlin, South Africa, China and Israel, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), the larger-than-life conductor, pianist, composer, educator and bon vivant, is being celebrated in a two-year bonanza of concerts, stage productions and programs marking the centennial of his birth. The American-born son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Bernstein's influence spanned the musical world, from classical music to Broadway. Thousands of events are featured as a part...
BOSTON (JTA)-When Deborah Bodin Cohen immersed herself in rabbinical school in the early 1990s, she expected to spend a year in Israel as part of her studies with Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. What she didn't know was that a decade later, the experience of living in Jerusalem would spark her inspiration for a children's book that has become a popular award-winning series. "Engineer Ari and the Passover Rush," Bodin Cohen's fourth book in Kar-Ben's "Engineer Ari" series, is...
BOSTON (JTA)-A synagogue, a Jewish summer camp and the wider Boston community are mourning two teenage best friends who died Feb. 10 after being struck by a car. Talia Newfield, 16, who is Jewish, and Adrienne Garrido, 17, were killed late Saturday afternoon while they were crossing a street near Needham High School, where the two were juniors, in the suburb about 20 miles southwest of Boston. Friends and family remembered the girls as energetic track athletes who were well liked by their wide...
(JTA)-When Maxim Shrayer traveled to Moscow for a five-day visit at the end of October 2016, his itinerary included a trip to the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. Shrayer, who emigrated from Russia to the U.S. with his refusenik activist parents 30 years ago, is an acclaimed scholar of Jewish-Russian literature and culture as well as an award-winning writer on the Jewish-Russian emigre experience. He took a cab to the museum, where he delivered a literary paper at the Moscow International...
BOSTON (JTA)-Emily Katz and Liora Hyman arrived early enough to snag front row seats for a concert with some of their favorite performers. But this show wasn't at one of Boston's storied nightclubs. Rather, it was the first-ever music lab at last week's biennial convention of the Union for Reform Judaism, where 6,000 delegates gathered at the Hynes Convention Center for the movement's largest ever gathering. When popular Jewish singer-songwriter Peri Smilow led off the set with her new song, "On...
BOSTON (JTA)-Move over, potato latkes. Make room for dosas. The savory fried Indian lentil and rice pancakes take center stage in "Queen of the Dosas," a gem of a new Chanukah book by the award-winning children's writer Pamela Ehrenberg. It's among eight new Chanukah books for kids-one for each night of the holiday-sure to kindle the flames of imagination in young readers. The bounty of this season's books travel the globe, from city life to wooded forests, with engaging-and many humorous-storie...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (JTA)-When Henry Rosovsky first arrived at Harvard University in 1949, a newly minted graduate of the College of William and Mary, the young Jewish refugee could hardly have imagined that a building associated with the Harvard Jewish community would be named in his honor more than four decades later. Born in 1927 in what is now Gdansk, Poland, Rosovsky had immigrated with his parents to the United States when he was 13. Harvard's quota capping the number of Jewish students was d...
BOSTON (JTA)-If New England Patriots star Julian Edelman retires from the NFL anytime soon, he clearly has a promising second career as a Jewish children's book writer. In front of about 400 children and their families Tuesday night at the Newton Centre flagship of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Boston, the 31-year-old wide receiver and Super Bowl hero read a special edition of a children's book he co-wrote last year. Unsurprisingly Edelman, who has Jewish ancestry on his father's side...
BOSTON (JTA)-A 9-year-old school project to commemorate Holocaust victims surpassed its unlikely goal to collect 11 million stamps, representing the lives of 6 million Jews and 5 million other victims of intolerance who perished. On Friday, the eve of Yom Kippur, a community volunteer for the Holocaust Stamp Project at the Foxborough Regional Charter School delivered some 7,000 canceled stamps to the K-12 charter school, bringing the total of stamps collected to 11,011,979, according to Jamie...
(JTA)-A challah-baking Jewish giant, a young baseball champ and an endearing boy in a pumpkin patch are among the stars of five delightful new books for kids published just in time for the High Holidays. This year's crop includes new stories by two of the country's most prominent children's book writers, David A. Adler and Eric A. Kimmel, who have entertained and informed decades of young readers. Three of the books are set during the holidays-Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; Yom Kippur, the...
BOSTON (JTA)-After 32 years at Middlebury College, the last 11 as its president, Ron Liebowitz is calling Brandeis University his new academic home. On July 1, the 59-year-old New York native took the reins as the ninth president of Brandeis, a Jewish-sponsored, nonsectarian research university in suburban Boston with an enrollment of 3,600 undergraduates and more than 2,000 graduate students. Liebowitz was appointed to the position last December. "Yeah, I'm nervous in some ways," Liebowitz ackn...
(JTA)-Afikomen hunts, a rambunctious pup and the catchy classic "Dayenu." All are featured in a half-dozen new Passover books for children that will inform and entertain even the littlest kid-or a whole herd of 'em. The eight-day holiday kicks off this year on the evening of April 22. Why not pick up a new tome for the tyke in your life? Prices are about two zuzim and up. Passover is Coming Tracy Newman, illustrated by Viviana Garofoli Kar-Ben; ages 1-4; $5.99 This colorful board book is the...
(JTA)-From Antarctica to Shanghai and farms to cities, this year's crop of High Holidays books for children offers a globe-trotting exploration. Friendship and family are the themes that run through five new titles that entertain and inform young ones and older readers. Turning the pages of a new book is the perfect way to usher in the holidays. Penguin Rosh Hashanah (CreateSpace Independent Publishing; ages 3-6) Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod Celebrating Rosh Hashanah can be tough for a young penguin...
BOSTON (JTA)-Most days, a little-known 19th-century portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Solomon Nunes Carvalho (1815-1895) is tucked away in archival storage at Brandeis University's Rose Art Museum. But on April 28, the deeply allegorical portrait, painted in 1865 by the American-Jewish artist, made a rare public appearance, the first in a decade. The painting is the only known portrait of Lincoln by a Jewish contemporary. The occasion was a home-turf book launch for Brandeis professor Jonathan...
BOSTON (JTA)-Back in 1984, when Eric Kimmel was an up-and-coming children's book author, he tried his hand at a Chanukah story, one featuring goblins. Overly cautious Jewish editors rejected the manuscript, not knowing what to make of it, Kimmel recalled. "It was strange. It didn't look like any other Chanukah books and didn't fit into any neat category. It wasn't a folk tale and it was kind of creepy," he told JTA with his signature sense of humor and tell-it-like-it-is manner. Kimmel tucked...
BOSTON (JTA)-A gift-giving, angst-ridden purple gorilla is among the characters who help enliven the Chanukah celebrations in eight new holiday books for children, families and young adults. One, "With a Mighty Hand," is not about Chanukah but will be a treasured gift to add to a family's bookshelves. Tilda Balsley, the author of many children's books, including four Jewish-themed "Sesame Street" titles about Grover, Big Bird and friends, brings two new offerings, "Eight is Great" and "ABC...
BOSTON (JTA)—Shofars, apples and honey, make room for pomegranates, couscous and pumpkins. The new crop of children’s books for the High Holidays opens a world beyond the beloved traditional symbols of the New Year (Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown Sept. 4). From ancient times to today, the savory, engaging reads presented here will take families from the kitchen to the bedroom to the sukkah. Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook Tales Retold by Jane Yolen; recipes by Heidi E.Y. Ste...
