Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 34 of 34
(JTA)-When Evgeny Afineevsky began filming his Oscar-nominated documentary about Ukraine's revolution, he thought he was in for a fun project full of song and dance, oddly enough. Afineevsky, a 43-year-old Russian-born director who served in the Israeli army, says his first days in Kiev in 2013 were "one big festival," with people singing and playing musical instruments in Maidan, the square that was the birthplace of the upheaval. Yet as the fighting intensified in the winter of 2013-14,... Full story
Share the Care (STC) is a non-profit organization specializing in adult day care and respite for frail, physically and cognitively impaired adults. One of its care giving sites is located at Temple Israel (TI) in Winter Springs. Beginning last month, Share the Care and Temple Israel began a partnership whereby Temple Israel congregants bring programming into the day care center clients on a monthly basis. Debra Markowitz, TI congregant and extraordinary baker, demonstrated how to mix, bake and,... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA)-My teenage years were pretty Jewy. Back in high school, I happily attended Jewish day school, spent summers at a Jewish camp, went on a group Israel trip and took part in a few youth group events. So it was a strange feeling I experienced over President's Day weekend when I found myself looking back and suddenly feeling Jewishly deprived. Sounds corny. But that was my gut reaction standing among 2,500 spirited teens from around the world at the energized opening ceremonies of... Full story
By Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA)-After a missile strike during the 1973 Yom Kippur War left Omer Zur's father paralyzed from the chest down, his dad vowed to continue life as normal. But there was one Israeli pastime he couldn't enjoy: hiking. "He'd say, 'I'll go in the car and meet you on the other side,'" said Zur, a certified Israeli tour guide. "I said, 'Why can't he do this with us?'" In 2008, Zur decided that he and his wheelchair-user father would complete a 300-mile trek in southern Turkey.... Full story
HULA VALLEY, Israel (JTA)-Thousands of cranes sit in pairs in a field here, their outlines approaching the horizon. Then, all at once, they take flight, a cloud of black-and-white feathers filling the sky. Shai Agmon isn't interested in most of these. All he cares about is one pair near the front, slightly shorter than the rest. Most of the birds are common cranes, but these two are demoiselle cranes-a rare find in these parts. "They can't sleep in the desert and can't stop in southern Israel,"... Full story
Trump disavows ex-KKK head David Duke for 2nd time following refusal (JTA)—Donald Trump disavowed, then refused to disavow, then disavowed again an endorsement by former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Trump disavowed Duke on Sunday afternoon, for the second time, after refusing to do so that morning in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination posted on Twitter video of his disavowal from two days earlier. “As I stated at the press conference on Friday re... Full story
AMSTERDAM (JTA)-Two months before they were deported from the Netherlands to Auschwitz, Louis Barzelay and Flora Snatager invited a few guests to their wedding in Amsterdam. Instead of the yellow star he was legally required to wear, Louis wore a white flower on his lapel as he posed with Flora in a doorway for their wedding photo. Flora is smiling faintly and looking slightly to the side while Louis stares straight at the camera, his lips pursed. It was May 31, 1942. For more than 70 years,... Full story
Andreas Boldt can't help but effuse praise and love for Israel almost any chance he gets-even with his kids. In some of his Facebook posts, the 37-year-old has his blonde-haired children (ages 5-13) passionately singing "Adon Olam" and "Hatikvah." Documenting a recent trip to Israel, he took particular pride in his meeting with IDF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Doron Almog, the first commando to land on the Entebbe runway in the famous 1976 hostage-rescue mission. With his bright blue eyes, carefully... Full story
(Jewniverse via JTA)—Saul Alinsky was a true-blue political disruptor. Born in Chicago to Russian Jewish emigres in 1909, Alinsky was so fed up with social injustice, inequality and racism that he invented modern community organizing. Initially focusing on uniting lower-class black communities in Chicago, Alinsky’s tactics were beyond unusual. In the 1960s, Alinsky threatened the city of Rochester, New York, with a “fart-in,” in which black Americans would attend the Rochester Philharmonic and disrupt the music with music of their own (suppli... Full story