Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The Board of Directors of the Kinneret Apartments announced on Friday, April 23, that it has approved a plan to sell the Kinneret Apartments located in downtown Orlando to a qualified buyer. The proceeds from the potential sale will be invested in programs and services for older adults at the Kinneret Apartments and the central Florida community to continue Kinneret's mission of "Caring for Those Who Cared for Us" for generations to come. This difficult decision is the result of two years of...
Maitland resident Pearl Metz celebrated her 90th birthday in a very unique way. As a birthday present, Maitland Mayor John Lowndes presented her with a proclamation declaring April 22, 2021, “Pearl Metz Day” in the city of Maitland. Not only did she receive a certificate, a “yard card” was placed in her front yard. Born in New York, New York, she met her husband, Bill, in February 1954 on a blind double date — only he wasn’t her date! They were married five months later on July 4, and celebrated...
A $13,000,000.00 lawsuit has been filed against Jetblue Airways by a Jetblue flight attendant and former Orange County, Florida firefighter/paramedic for economic and emotional injuries plus attorneys’ fees, costs and disbursements. The complaint also asks the court to declare that Jetblue violated state and anti-discrimination laws. The plaintiff, Clay Kallman, 62, a nine-year flight attendant with Jetblue Airways contends that he was discriminated against on the basis of his type-2 diabetes, religion/ethnicity, heterosexual orientation and a...
A Syrian surface-to-air missile fired at an Israeli Air Force fighter jet that had been involved in airstrikes on targets in Syria exploded in Israel’s southern Negev region early on Thursday. Warning sirens went off in the region of the Bedouin village of Abu Qrenat, in the northwest Negev, the Israel Defense Forces said. Residents in the south and in Jerusalem reported hearing a loud blast, according to a report by Mako. Iran could have been targeting Israel’s nuclear facility in Dimona, which is close to the site of the explosion. Soon after...
From December 1999 until early 2020, the Congregation Ohev Shalom Men's Club has sponsored three blood drives a year. Due to restrictions because of Covid-19, no blood drives were held in 2020. Mark Stone, the Blood Drive chairperson for COS since 1999, is pleased to announce that on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 9, the blood drives at COS will resume. From 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., the Big Red Bus will be on the parking lot of COS for people wanting to donate blood. COS is located at 613 Concourse Pa...
Join the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center for a live virtual conversation with Judith Rapp Hara, who will discuss her short book, "Journey: The Story of Ernest and Sylvia Rapp." This inspiring virtual event will be held May 12 from noon to 1 p.m. Hara is the second daughter of Holocaust survivors, Ernest and Sylvia Rapp. Her book was written during the pandemic, honoring a promise made to her father. The prologue tells about a life-altering meeting with a man from her father's...
Temple Israel is proud to host a Zoom talk from Rabbi Mikie Goldstein, titled "Halachic Challenges and Responses for LGBT People in the 21st Century" on Sunday, May 2, at 10 a.m. The Zoom meeting ID is 830 4261 6327, and the passcode is B8ieDz. Rabbi Mikie Goldstein is originally from Liverpool, UK, and made aliyah in 1989. He received his rabbinic ordination in 2014 from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, returning immediately to Israel to fill the position of rabbi at Adat...
Thanks to all who “stepped up to the challenge” by donating to JFS Orlando’s Restock + Restore Challenge, which raised more than $23,000. That means, with every $1 matched $0.50 by The Weiner Family and The Winter Park Wealth Group (up to $10,000), JFS surpassed their match goal and raised a grand total of more than $33,000. The community’s support is helping JFS restock their Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry, and also restore the Greater Orlando community through its other programs, like counseling and medical transportation for seniors and dis...
(JTA) - Walter Mondale, the former vice president who represented a time in American history when being pro-Israel and progressive were often synonymous, has died at 93. He passed away Monday at his home in Minneapolis, multiple sources reported. From the launch of his national political career, Mondale was close to the national Jewish and pro-Israel communities. He found in those organizations willing partners in his endeavors to expand civil rights, and they found in him an avid advocate of...
(JNS) — Jewish groups reacted to the verdict on Tuesday of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, touched off massive worldwide protests, violence and an examination of U.S. race relations and police conduct in the last year. The Jewish community—active in civil rights and with a long history of black-Jewish ties—reacted with outrage over Floyd’s death, one of a number of high-profile cases nationwide. Some groups, however,...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — The Shas Party is pushing for a vote to reform Israel’s electoral system to enable a special election for prime minister, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Sunday. The plan was the result of a meeting between Shas leader Aryeh Deri and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, according to the report. The idea behind the initiative is that the special vote would give Israel a way out of the political stalemate that resulted from the March 23 elections — Israel’s fourth general elections in two years. According to the Channel 12 repo...
(JNS) — Over the weekend, President Joe Biden finally conceded that what was happening at America’s southern border is a “crisis,” a word that his administration had consistently refused to use when referring to the situation there which appears to be worsening every day. By Monday, White House flacks were trying to walk back the admission as just another Biden gaffe to be ignored or reinterpreted, but no one is being fooled. Except that is, blind partisans or donors to HIAS—the agency that once played an essential role in aiding Jewish im...
I have been writing my Everywhere column for the Heritage Florida Jewish News for almost 20 years. It began in the early 1980s and continued until just after the High Holidays of 1997, when I suspended writing the column in favor of devoting more time to a growing family and law practice. I resumed writing the column in February 2018 after the kids were grown and well on their way to following their own dreams; and I entered the ambiguous state of semi-retirement. One of the great pleasures of writing this column is the feedback I get from read...
Jews and Blacks or Jews and African-Americans or Jews and voting. Plenty of causes. And Jews have been there. Time and time again. Are we ready for another rally to another cause? This one is right down our alley — but … are we up for it? This past summer the United States and the world for that matter became aware of the Black Lives Matter movement. It had been around for a while, but it took this year’s Black death count and the “Death by Cop” phenomenon to make all the headlines, the marches, yet another call to action. George Floyd, 13...
(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — For more than a year now, synagogues around the world have managed to continue their activities during the COVID pandemic with Zoom and similar services. There is, however, a problem. Zoom Judaism is not working. What Zoom provides is not real community. At the end of the day, digital fellowship is pyrite, also known as fool’s gold. Zoom meetings and rooms do not fulfill the fundamental needs of Jewish community, which are very much physical in nature. Judaism is a sensual religion, one that is based on our fiv...
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...
(JNS) — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) urged the Biden administration to consider conditioning military aid to Israel in order to help the Jewish state “adjust course.” “We should talk about the elephant in the room—America’s military assistance to Israel,” she said. The senator went on to say that she is committed to Israel’s security, “but if we’re serious about arresting settlement expansion and helping move the parties toward a two-state solution, then it would be irresponsible not to consider all of the tools we have at our disp...
(JNS) - When Rosalyn Gold-Onwude was a college student at Stanford University, she participated on Birthright Israel. Several years later, she went on her second trip-this time, as a staff member on her younger sister's Birthright experience. While participating in the program is not so unusual - more than 600,000 Jewish young people have gone on the free, 10-day trips since the program's founding in 1999 - Gold-Onwude's story is a bit different. She is the only Birthright participant to play...
Part 2 of 2 Laurence Morrell's father passed away right after he graduated from Emory University in Atlanta. "I came back home immediately and had to take over the running of my father's business. My brother was working for Martin-Marietta, so he and my mother would show me where the groves were. Together, we took over the management of 550 acres of citrus. It was mid-summer, the weeds were crotch high, and the heat/humidity was intense that summer," Morrell recalled. Morrell learned about the g...
(JNS) — Buckingham Palace announced on Friday the death of Prince Philip, 99, the Duke of Edinburgh — husband to Queen Elizabeth and father to Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Leaders of the United Kingdom’s Jewish community reacted to his death, praising him for his public service and his “affection for the Jewish community.” Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom Ephraim Mirvis called Philip a “selfless and loyal public figure” who offered his “steadfast support to the Queen” and “exceptional service to our nati...
"It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world"... Yes! That's the name of a movie I watched on television recently. It starred many, many, many, many (I got carried away) Jewish comedians. To name but a few, Leonard Hacker was one. (You may have known him as Buddy Hackett. Brooklyn born (like me), he died in 2003. Also, Milton Berle, Sid Caeser, Carl Reiner and Phil Silvers (to name a few more) ... all from either Manhattan, Brooklyn or the Bronx. (of course!) (What talent! What great comedy minds! Will...
“The Lost Key,” the first and only film ever to explore bedroom intimacy endorsed by leading rabbis worldwide, invites everyone seeking closeness amid our currently disconnected society to screen the film for free beginning on May 22, and then join its ‘Intimacy After the Pandemic’ live virtual panel discussion on May 23, 7 p.m. The panel will discuss marriage, sex, and achieving the highest form of intimacy based on ancient wisdom that was hidden for centuries. RSVP is required and registered guests will be allowed to ask questions anonymo...
The bitter and sweet of life's experiences is felt through the celebrations and commemorations that occur during the period between Passover and Shavuot. The deeply somber days that mark Holocaust Day and Memorial Day for the fallen of Israel's soldiers is balanced with joy as we mark 73 years of Independence and the Liberation of Jerusalem in 1967. The Jewish Pavilion is once again able to present programs in person to senior living facilities now that most seniors have received their double...
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...
JFS Orlando gives a warm welcome to their new Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry Assistant, Cameron Saldate. As JFS Orlando's Pantry assistant, Saldate comes in three times a week to assist with the day-to-day operations of the Pantry, including maintaining inventory, processing food orders and donations, stocking the Pantry, and serving clients. When asked about how his time at JFS Orlando has been so far, he said, "It's been great! Everyone is very welcoming, and it definitely feels like a family...
