Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) - Situated beside the building that houses the Jewish community center, the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Academy of Orlando lies a tiny, hidden gem of a Holocaust museum. Despite its small size - a mere 7,000 square feet - the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida has been a fixture in Central Florida for the last three decades. For Orlandoans who went to middle or high school during that time, there's a high chance they interacted with the museum or its programs...
(New York Jewish Week) - Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Consulate General of Israel in Manhattan on Wednesday in what was billed as an emergency rally to support Palestinian resistance and liberation "by any means necessary." As dozens of police officers lined up around the area, the protesters began calling to "globalize the intifada." Tensions are high in Israel, where Palestinian rioters have clashed with police on Jerusalem's Temple Mount and Israeli security forces have...
Sam Friedman spent four years as Hillel director at Stetson University and was ready for a change. He was inspired by the new vision of Shalom Orlando, a “guide to all things Jewish in Greater Orlando,” and with his own youthful perspective, applied for and was chosen as the chief development officer at Shalom Orlando. “My last day at Stetson is May 18, and my first day at Shalom Orlando is June 1. It’s been an incredible, impactful, four years at Stetson and I’m definitely going to miss my students and colleagues,” Friedman told Heritage vi...
In an interview with CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour about Israel's policies to control violent rioting on the Temple Mount and "settlements" - i.e. Jewish communities - in Judea and Samaria, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett didn't hold back. Pushing the narrative that stalled peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians are the reason for terror and that both sides are caught in a cycle of violence, Amanpour asked Bennett about his efforts on that front. "I object to the notion of 'both sides.'...
Last year, when Heritage requested nominations for a Human Service Award recipient, Marvin Friedman of Oviedo told the editor, Christine DeSouza, he wanted to nominate Rabbi Sholom Dubov. DeSouza thanked him for wanting to nominate Dubov, however, she explained a Human Service Award recipient must be someone who is not financially compensated for his/her work in the community. Friedman understood this, and still wrote his letter of recommendation of Dubov, saying, "To be clear, I understand...
Hadassah Orlando presents internationally recognized author and theatrical producer Yvonne David at its May 3 monthly in-person meeting at 11:30 a.m. at Congregation Ohev Shalom, 613 Concourse Parkway South, Maitland. Yvonne David was born in Nairobi, Kenya, raised there and in London, England. Passion for language and literature has long been at the center of David's life. Her qualifications from the Language Tuition Centre in London, England, include interpreter/translator in French and Englis...
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2021 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando this summer. “For more than 30 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award,” said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last year’s recipient was Hank Katzen. Former recipients have inclu...
(JNS) — The Jewish Federations of North America announced on Monday that it has surpassed its fundraising goal of $50 million for aid to Ukraine. According to a news release, the funds have been allocated to 35 NGOs operating on the ground in Ukraine and neighboring countries. Some of these groups include the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and World ORT, which the release called its core partner groups. The funds are being used to provide housing, clothing, cash assistance, medical attention, m...
(JNS) — About 14,000 Birthright Israel participants from nearly 900 universities and colleges in North America are expected to land in Israel in the coming months as part of Birthright’s summer season. The flights, which begin on May 1, mark Birthright Israel’s long-awaited return after a series of suspensions since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The trips are an opportunity for North American students to have a life-changing experience in Israel with their college friends and meet new people from their campus. They are usually timed...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The good news for Joe Biden is that a majority of U.S. Jews approve of the job he is doing. The bad news is that the number in a new poll, 63 percent, is a sharp double-digit drop from where he was last year. A poll released Wednesday by the Jewish Electorate Institute, a group led by prominent Jewish Democrats, showed Biden’s approval rating down from 80 percent in a poll by the same organization last July. His disapproval rating this year is at 37 percent, up from 20 percent last July. Both polls were carried out by GBA...
(JNS) — Mimi Reinhard, a secretary in Oskar Schindler’s office who typed up the list of Jewish men, women and children to be saved from death by Nazi Germany, died in Israel on April 8 at the age of 107. She was buried Sunday, April 10, in Herzliya, said her son, Sasha Weitman, as reported in the AP. Born Carmen Koppel in Vienna, Austria, in 1915, Reinhardt moved to Krakow, Poland, before the start of World War II and was forced into the Krakov ghetto when the Nazis invaded the country in 1939. In 1942, she was sent to the Plaszow con...
(JNS) — In February, the Anti-Defamation League announced that it had developed what it called an “online hate index” to monitor antisemitism on social-media platforms. The effort was conceived as a way to adequately measure the amount of hate speech being posted on sites like Twitter and Reddit, which the group thinks are not vigilant enough about detecting and removing such offensive material. ADL CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt conceded that Twitter had “made substantial strides” towards shutting down those posting vile cont...
(JNS) — One Tuesday night in February, a small group of Jewish students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where I serve as a shaliach (Israeli emissary) for the Jewish Agency for Israel, logged into the weekly Zoom meeting of the Student Union Assembly to support the adoption of a working definition of antisemitism. The resolution referenced the definition written by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which has been endorsed by countless governments and organizations. The IHRA definition maintains that, among other thi...
If there was ever proof that Israel is not an apartheid state actively discriminating against its Arab minority, all one needs to do is look at the recent statement of Israeli Arab Knesset member Ayman Odeh. Not only does this reflect the reality that Israeli Arabs are equal parts of Israel’s democracy, that he can make statements that go against the interest and security of the state shows what a hyper-democracy Israel in fact is. As all this has unfolded, the thought I cannot shake is how much Israel’s Arabs deserve better. Odeh used the occ...
(JNS) — Sadly, it is again time to mourn for more murdered innocent Jews and pray for the wounded in Israel. On April 7, a Palestinian Arab gunman from Samaria slipped through a hole in the security fence, traveled to Tel Aviv, murdered three Israeli Jews and injured another 11 people, several of whom are fighting for their lives. The three who diedwere were Barak Lufan, 35, a father of three, Olympic kayaker, Paralympics coach and head Olympic kayaking team coach; Tomer Morad, 27, a recently graduated mechanical engineer; and Tomer’s rec...
(JNS) — According to the February annual Gallup poll of country favorability, 71 percent of Americans accord Israel a “very favorable” and “mostly favorable” rating. This matches Israel’s average favorability since 2013, compared to 58 percent in 2002, 71 percent in 2012, 69 percent in 2019 and 75 percent in February 2021. Israel’s all-time high favorability was in February 1991 (79 percent) in the aftermath of the January-February Iraqi Scud missiles striking Tel Aviv. Israel is ranked seventh among countries rated by Gallup, trailing Cana...
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) Chabad of North Orlando and Chabad of Altamonte Springs are holding in-person minyans. 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. Congr...
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) - Koby Geduld clocks into work at 7 p.m. most nights. He's a project coordinator for Tile, the San Mateo–based maker of Bluetooth-enabled tracking devices. He boots up his laptop from his home, responding to messages and having meetings until 3 a.m. No, Geduld isn't nocturnal (at least not naturally). He's working overnight hours because he no longer lives in the Bay Area. Instead, he's 10 hours ahead, in Jerusalem - where he and his wife m...
(JTA) – That's one way to "never forget." A peculiar item of clothing went viral this week after a comedian tweeted about a pair of leggings emblazoned with artwork inspired by "Schindler's List," Steven Spielberg's 1993 Holocaust drama. The pants show an artist-made poster with characters from the film. The symbolic "girl in the red dress" is featured most prominently, standing on train tracks overlooking the Auschwitz death camp. Beside her float the heads of Liam Neeson, as German factory o...
(JTA) – The online design marketplace Redbubble said it had “restricted” sales of a “Schindler’s List”-inspired design on its site after the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on a pair of leggings featuring characters from the movie that lit up the Internet this week. “The artwork referenced in this article has been restricted and we are adding additional monitoring measures as a result,” Redbubble spokesperson Marissa Hermo told JTA in a statement. The leggings in question, which were first spotted at a Los Angeles thrift store, sported...
(JTA) — Just days before Jews around the world gathered with their families and friends to read the Haggadah as part the Passover holiday, one family of reunited Holocaust survivors filed a lawsuit to reclaim a 700-year-old haggadah that they say was lost to them during the rise of Nazi Germany. Since 1946, the Birds’ Head Haggadah has been in the possession of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem where it has been examined by countless scholars and displayed prominently for millions of visitors who have passed it by. The medieval manuscript fea...
At the Orlando Senior Help Desk of the Jewish Pavilion, we are frequently asked to recommend a home care company. There are a few things to consider such as years of experience. Ideally, the caregiver you hire has worked with other individuals with similar medical condones. You want a home companion who has had good training and continuing education. There are many personal attributes that are imperative such as warmth and compassion, attentiveness, patience, good communication skills etc. Agencies should be checking the references and...
What a surprise! ... If I only knew that this "heart throb" was Jewish, I would have been shocked! I'm talking about actor HARRISON FORD, a longtime favorite of mine. I would also add that he seems to be a favorite of many, seeing that his films have grossed more than $5.4 Billion in North America and more than $9.3 Billion worldwide. He is the seventh highest grossing actor in North America. Harrison was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Catholic father and an Ashkenazi Jewish mother. His...
Leave it to Sephardic Jews to make even a pedestrian dish - the ubiquitous matzah brei, a mash-up of fried matzah and egg - into something sublime. In his landmark book, "The Sephardic Kitchen," published in 1996, Rabbi Robert Sternberg introduced many of us to the flavors and pleasures of Sephardic Jewish cuisine. Masa Tiganitas is a Passover recipe of the Greek Jews - tiganites is the Greek word for pancakes, and, according to Sephardic cook and author Jennifer Abadi, tiganitas is related to...
(JTA) - A few years ago, Rachel Picado attended a Utah Jazz game in Salt Lake City with Israeli diplomat Eitan Na'eh, who was visiting from Los Angeles. During the closing seconds of the game, which the Jazz won, the two heard a familiar song coming from the speakers in Vivint Arena. "We were both looking at each other like, why on earth are they playing 'Hava Nagila'?" Picado recalled. She asked the Jazz employees who were hosting her group about the musical choice, and "they were confused...
