Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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JERUSALEM (JTA)-David Rubinger, the Israeli photographer who took the iconic photo of Israeli paratroopers standing in front of the Western Wall after its capture in the Six-Day War, has died. Rubinger, whose photos chronicled much of the history of the Jewish state, died Thursday, March 2, 2017. He was 92. Rubinger was awarded the Israel Prize for his body of work in 1997, the first photographer to receive the award. He reportedly took 500,000 photos of Israeli people and events during his...
Hello... Anybody else out there? For us here on earth it is certainly one of the most intriguing and far-reaching questions imaginable. Are we alone in the cosmos or are there others-perhaps like us or perhaps totally different-somewhere in the universe? And for those of us who believe the account of creation as recorded in the Torah, are the opening words-"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"-meant as full disclosure of the creation of life by the Almighty or is this merely...
Federal authorities arrested Juan M. Thompson, a 31-year-old former reporter from St. Louis, Friday in connection with eight bomb threats called into several Jewish institutions over the last month, including the Anti-Defamation (ADL) League, officials said. Thompson, who was fired as a reporter for The Intercept, allegedly made threats to exact revenge against a woman who had ended a romantic relationship with him, according to law enforcement officials. Thompson has also been charged with cybe...
"Jihadist Deception through Language" is the program Dr. Jonathan Matusitz will present to the Central Florida community on Thursday, March 23, at 7 p.m. at the Eastmonte Civic Center, 830 Magnolia Drive, Altamonte Springs. This event is sponsored by the Zionistas. Included in his program, in addition to Jihadist Deception through Language, are Speech Code Theory, and Propaganda and Linguistic Deception. Jonathan Matusitz received his Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma in 2006 and is currently...
NEW YORK (JTA)-Thanking the FBI and police for the arrest of Juan Thompson, who allegedly made eight bomb threats to Jewish institutions, the Anti-Defamation League called the current wave of anti-Semitic acts "unprecedented." "Law enforcement at all levels is a close friend to the Jewish people in America," Evan Bernstein, ADL's New York regional director, said at a news conference Friday. "Just because there's been an arrest today around our bomb threats does not mean that the threats have...
Nashville, Tennessee—PJTN has launched a national campaign to define and outlaw anti-Semitism, in light of the recent wave of threats and attacks against American Jewish institutions. The “Anti-Semitism Awareness Act” will fortify the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism into law, including the demonization, delegitimization and double standards applied to Israel, declaring them as a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. This new legal campaign comes after PJTN watchmen nationwide encouraged the passing of state legisla...
NEW YORK (JTA)-A Jewish cemetery in Rochester, New York, was vandalized, the third such incident in the United States in less than two weeks. Five headstones were found toppled Thursday morning at the Waad Hakolel Cemetery, also known as the Stone Road Cemetery, in the city in western New York, according to News 10 NBC WHEC. The president of the nonprofit managing the cemetery said he did not want to call the incident a hate crime or anti-Semitism. "I don't want to label it a hate crime. I...
Rena Ferber Finder was born in Krakow, Poland in 1929. She was the youngest of Schindler's List survivors. She is committed to sharing her story in the hope of keeping the lessons of the Holocaust alive. "In this world of bullying and hate crimes, it's important to teach children not to stand by-you have to go and get help. Don't stand by and do nothing," she said. Finder will be here at Chabad of North Orlando on Sunday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. to share her story and give encouragement to everyo...
The Roth Family JCC's popular shabbat-dinner-and-a-show program, Shabbat Shabbang Junior, returns on Friday, March 31, with repeat performer, Jester Jim. The evening, which runs from 6-8 p.m. at the JCC's Maitland location, features a catered Shabbat dinner by Arthur's, followed by the hilarious antics of the juggling Jester Jim. The photo above features Jester Jim juggling on-stage with Ben Grodin, as Grodin's children and parents looked on. To sign up, visit orlandojcc.org/calendar...
Sisterhood of Temple Israel will hold its annual Chai Tea event at Oakmonte Village Lake Mary on Sunday, March 19, at 3 p.m. The community is invited to join Sisterhood members and residents of Oakmonte Village for a delightful tea and interesting conversation. This year's discussion will be led by Rabbi Joshua Neely who will talk about "Prophet and Housewife-Deborah and Yael, Warrior Women in a Man's World." The theme will focus on soft and high power, the expected role of women in societies...
The Tampa Orlando Pinellas Jewish Foundation will hold a training session on gaining expertise and embracing legacy giving within the culture of your organization and the community as a whole. The session is open to all Jewish organizations in the Orlando area, and will be held on Thursday morning, March 23, at The Roth Family JCC of Greater Orlando, 851 North Maitland Avenue, Maitland. This training is part of the curriculum of the “Life & Legacy” program, a program that represents a shared commitment by area agencies, synagogues, and day sch...
For those of us who spent much of 2016, based upon then-candidate Donald Trump’s own bombastic declarations, worrying about the thrust of the foreign policy of a future Trump administration, President Trump’s address to Congress Feb. 28 provided welcome relief. As ever, precise details were scarce and important shifts of direction went unacknowledged, but the underlying message was clear—and notably more centrist in orientation. Trump correctly identified “radical Islamic terror” as America’s prime enemy, but he also spoke of the importance...
Dozens of bomb threats have been called into Jewish institutions since early January, and scores of headstones at two Jewish cemeteries—one near St. Louis, the other in Philadelphia—were desecrated in February. But is there actually a rising tide of anti-Semitism in America? Despite the threats and attacks, positive feelings between different American religious groups are on the rise, as measured in mid-to-late January by the well-respected and non-partisan Pew Foundation. Additionally, far more damaging anti-Semitic incidents took place thr...
The most prominent problem currently facing Israel in international politics is one of our own making. Not the work of us all, but the work of some. It’s the so-called settlement law, which aspires to solve the problem of some 4,000 homes built on land that individual Palestinians are likely to convince Israeli courts that they are the owners of the land, and did not agree to the construction. The enactment makes an effort to be fair. It offers compensation to the Palestinians having a valid claim. Its supporters assert that no property c...
A Palestinian terrorist who murdered two Hebrew University of Jerusalem students has found a new ally, the far-left Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) group. How mainstream Jewish liberal groups respond will be telling. The killer, Rasmea Odeh, is locked in a battle, initiated by the Obama administration, to deport her for lying about her terrorist past. It all began in February 1969, when the 20-year-old Odeh, together with a fellow member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), set off a bomb in a Jerusalem supermarket. Two...
Speaking to his ministers on Sunday about his visit to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heralded a new era in U.S.-Israel relations. To a degree, he was correct. When U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greeted Netanyahu and his wife Sara as they alighted from their car at the southern entrance to the White House, Trump demonstrated that the eight years of hostile treatment Israel suffered at the hands of his predecessor Barack Obama were no more. But unfortunately, Obama wasn’t the only thing that was wrong wi...
(Kveller via JTA)—My mother swims at the JCC. These days, she packs a “go bag” with all of her stuff to bring to the pool in case she is evacuated in her bathing suit by a bomb threat. It doesn’t seem unlikely. This is not what America should be. “Well, what can I do?” people ask me. They feel powerless. Let me tell you this: You are not powerless. Here are five things you can do to stand up against hate today. 1. Join your local Jewish community center. Today, I am joining my local JCC. I am not a member, but I think it is time I became one...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) Chabad of South Orlando—Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. and 10 minutes before sunset; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael—Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona—Monday, 8 a.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m., 904-672-9300. Congregation Ohev Shalom—Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community Minyan at Jewish Academy of Orlando—Monday—Friday, 7:45 a.m.—8:30 a.m. Temple Isr...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Every week, thousands of women across Israel gather to play a sport almost no one outside the country has heard of. For that matter, few Israelis knew about catchball, or "cadur-reshet" in Hebrew, a decade ago. But in recent years it has become the most popular sport among adult women in the country, with nearly all the players over 30 years old. "It's like a disease among middle-aged women here," said Naor Galili, the director-general of the Maccabi sports association in Israel....
(Nosher via JTA)-If you've never made compost cookies, but you love desserts that are a little salty and a little sweet, this cookie (and hamantaschen) are for you. Do a quick Google search for "compost cookie" and you will come up with dozens of recipes. But the original compost cookie was born out of the genius dessert brain of Christina Tosi of Milk Bar, one of my baking heroes. The recipe for her famous cookie (and cakes and crazy desserts) can be found in her cookbook, which I adore and...
On Sunday, Feb. 12, the religious school of Congregation Sinai celebrated Tu B'Shevat, the New Year of the Trees with a Seder. The children, their parents and grandparents joined teachers and the spiritual leaders as they drank grape juice (in place of wine) from white to pink to red. This ritual signifies the growing season of the important species of fruits and wheat, which grow during the seasons in Israel. They ate almonds (fruit with a hard outer shell and soft inside), dates (fruit with a...
Last month, the students at the Jewish Academy of Orlando celebrated Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish New Year for the trees. Tu B'Shevat is often referred to as "Jewish Arbor Day" and the students at the Jewish Academy used this holiday to integrate their learning about Jewish traditions, Israel as well as the environment. As part of their celebrations, the 4th grade students performed a musical production in Hebrew explaining the holiday, and the students planted saplings to make their own connection...
Finally, getting down to work... Being a recent widow, I kept putting off looking over things and donating or throwing away things. It took me more time than it should have because parting with "things" can be very painful under such circumstances. I started with boxes that held much paperwork, etc., and found the following clever piece that I decided to share with you. It's titled "Inner Strength." I don't know the writer: "If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills, If you can be...
The seventh in the series of 10 monthly JGSGO (Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando) Workshops was held at the UCF Hillel on March 2. The guest speaker was Crista Cowan, also known as "The Barefoot Genealogist." Cowan is a professional genealogist who has been employed at Ancestry.com since 2004. Her topic was "Using Ancestry.com for Jewish Research." With over 20 billion records indexed and 80 million family trees, Ancestry.com is an invaluable resource for finding historical family...
Every year on Purim children and as well as adults suffer from a variety of injuries relating to their costumes, makeup and improvised gunpowder explosives such as caps and cap guns. The most common injuries include burns on the hands, faces, necks and legs. In order to avoid such injuries we have compiled a list of health tips that will help you and your loved ones enjoy a safe and injury free holiday. Tips relating to toys and their uses Every authorized toy must have a legal marking demarcati...
