Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 31
The Rosen JCC and Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation are joining together to celebrate Israel's 68th birthday on Sunday, May 15 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. This exciting event will feature camel rides, a Shuk (open market), Israeli food from Zayde's Kosher Kitchen, and activities including a bounce house, rock wall, face painting, make-your-own hummus, and a bungee jump. Entertainment will be provided by Noa Carmel, an Israeli singer based in Orlando who has performed concerts all over the world....
Any fan of the Great American Songbook could hum a few bars of "Over the Rainbow," "Get Happy," "Stormy Weather," "It's Only a Paper Moon," "I've Got the World on a String," or "That Old Black Magic" without having to think too hard. And yet, the composer of those songs and many more remains known to very few. Harold Arlen wrote over 400 songs, had many major hits, won an Oscar, and was called "the most original of all of us" by none other than George Gershwin, but he never became a household na...
If you've always wanted to volunteer, but haven't been able to find the time, ask Carol Feuerman of Longwood how she does it. The active grandmother and mother of five adult children holds two jobs, and serves on three nonprofit boards, including the Jewish Pavilion, an organization she has devoted herself to since 2003. On May 15 the Pavilion is honoring Feuerman, past president of both its Executive and Friends Boards, at its fourth annual Pavilion Golf Society (PGS) at Longwood's Alaqua Count...
Iowa on Wednesday became the latest U.S. state to pass legislation designed to undermine the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In a 38-9 vote with three excused absences, the Iowa Senate passed one of the strongest anti-BDS bills in the country. While all nine "no" votes came from Democrats, that party controls the State Senate with a 26-24 majority. The prospective law would prohibit both investment and contracting by the so-called "Hawkeye State" with companies...
Over the past few years, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has been making headlines-but not only for academic or athletic achievement. Acts of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have been rampant among the school's press clippings, adding UCLA to the long list of American colleges that have made many Jewish students feel unwelcome and, at times, fearful to be on campus. For the past few weeks, anti-Israel forces have staged Israeli Apartheid Week, an annual global event on 150...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-The Israeli Supreme Court decision on Jewish conversion changes almost nothing. But down the line, it could change a lot. Under the March 31 ruling, the state of Israel must recognize Jewish conversions performed in private Orthodox conversion courts not run by its Chief Rabbinate. A network of such courts, called Giyur Kahalacha, or "conversion by Jewish law," began operating last year. The ruling concerned whether three people who had converted in non-Rabbinate courts could...
(JTA)-A British Parliament member who in a 2014 Facebook post called for relocating the entire State of Israel to the United States has been suspended from the Labour Party. Naz Shah, who is Muslim, was suspended Wednesday by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a day after she resigned from her post as private secretary to the Parliament's shadow chancellor. Pending an investigation, Shah is "unable to take part in any party activity," a Labour spokesman was quoted as saying in the Jewish News. Shah...
Using only the human voice as their instrument, the Maccabeats brought their eclectic array of vocal arrangements to Orlando on the afternoon of Sunday, April 10. Their sold-out performance at the Dr. Phillips High School Performing Arts Center marked the Jewish a cappella group's first appearance in Central Florida. The 650-seat auditorium was packed with members from synagogues as near as Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland and as far away as Temple Beth Sholom in Sarasota. The Southwest...
Two representatives of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando joined more than 200 participants from seven countries who gathered April 10-12 in Baltimore for the 8th Annual PJ Library Conference. Jennifer Cohen, JFGO's director of Outreach and Engagement, and Aleah Mathews, volunteer co-chair of JFGO's Shalom Families committee, represented Greater Orlando at the conference. PJ Library, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that is administered and subsidized locally by the Jewish...
On Sunday, May 15, Murray Toborowsky will give a lecture on Abraham Lincoln and the Jews. Toborowsky is an experienced history teacher whose passion is researching and teaching on the impact of Jews on American history. He has taught a four-part course on the subject at Temple Israel, CRJ and at his home synagogue in Louisville, Kentucky, and has recently lectured on “Jews in American History” at Rollins College. This will be Toborowsky’s first lecture in his new series. He will discuss Abraham Lincoln and his Jewish friends and acquaintances a...
A monthly update on current issues from the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando’s Jewish Community Relations Council Hello, and welcome to the first monthly column from the Jewish Community Relations Council! We look forward to sharing news, information, and action items on how you can make a difference in Central Florida and beyond. For our first column, we want to simply introduce ourselves and tell you what we do. As part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, the mission of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is to live our...
In the ongoing struggle between Islam and the West, one civilization has the will to triumph, but not the way; the other has the way to triumph, but not the will. Some who dread Islam do not seem to understand this. They think that Islam is an irresistible force to be reckoned with; they see Muslim migrants as hordes of violent men invading Europe; they call on Western men to make a stand, resist the onslaught, save their women and children. To be sure, this portrayal is historically valid: for one thousand years, Muslims repeatedly invaded and...
Loud voices of “fair but not biased” countries, members of the UN, and “well informed but not at all anti-Semitic” private citizens can be heard almost daily demanding the establishment of a Palestinian state. Why is it not established yet? Of course the answer of those who hate the Jewish people and Israel is: “It’s Israel’s fault.” Really? What prevented Palestinian Arabs from accepting the UN partition plan of November 1947, which allocated to Jews a miserably small portion of the historic Jewish land (lately conveniently called Palestin...
I returned to the UK for Passover having been out of the country for about six months. Living in Florida had shielded me from the anti-Semitic goings on in the mother country, that is, until I landed. It is not uncommon for the far right or far left in politics to heap scorn on the State of Israel or indeed for moderates to criticize its policies; the opposition party in the democratically elected country is very good at leading the charge. I have no issue with people expressing opinions with which I may not agree on the state of the...
Every group of people has its betrayers. And if Jews needed a reminder of that adage, 11 Jewish law students and alumni at Harvard Law School just might have provided it. Indeed, the surprise was that it was only 11. These students and alumni became witting apologists for Husam El-Qoulaq, the Harvard law student and Palestinian activist who invoked the anti-Semitic stereotype of the smelly Jew, when he hurled a question at former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni as to why she was so “smelly.” Livni was a panelist at a law sch...
As recently as the 1940s, anti-Semitism was so common in the United States that even the president privately told offensive jokes about Jewish immigrants in a faux New York Jewish accent. Yet in the past few months, a candidate who is the son of Jewish immigrants and has a pronounced New York Jewish accent has won 18 presidential primaries and caucuses, and more than 6 million votes. He has received donations from more than 4 million Americans—the largest number of individual contributors to any political campaign in U.S. history. Have A...
Dear Editor: The other day I was having a conversation with some friends. During the discussion I was asked if I had ever heard of Sidney Blumenthal and his son Max. I responded, “No, should I have heard of them ?” It was suggested to me that I go on line and do a search for my own benefit. Later that day, I did. Well, what an eye opener that was! According to the information I found, the father, Sidney Blumenthal has been a close adviser to both former President Bill Clinton and also to former Secretary of State and presidential candidate, Hil...
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 I...
(JTA)-The story of Chiune Sugihara-the Japanese consul in Kovno, Lithuania, who disobeyed his government's orders in 1940 and issued transit visas through Japan to thousands of Jews seeking to flee war-torn Europe-wasn't widely known until 1985, when Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial authority, honored him as one of the Righteous Among the Nations. But I grew up hearing Sugihara's story because he saved my father's life. My father, the attorney Nathan Lewin, is a Sugihara survivor. I also...
By Hillel Kuttler The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. (JTA)-"If only," it's the most common regret expressed by "Seeking Kin" interviewees, and by genealogists generally. David Harel has dug into his family's history impressively, but second-guesses himself for never asking his late father, Yaakov Halberstadt, key questions before Halberstadt died at 96 in 2010, or for not pressing to address other mysteries. Harel, 74, who lives on Kibbutz Yavne, near...
(Kveller via JTA)—Every year it happens in just about the same way: I pledge to stick to it. I create reminders and support systems. I beg my husband to join me in the daily routine. And then at some point, I fail. No, I’m not talking about a fad diet; I’m talking about the ancient Jewish ritual of counting the omer. Every night, starting from the second night of Passover (at the seder), Jews count an “omer”—a measurement of grain that was brought to the ancient Temple in Jerusalem as an offering. Of course, now the counting is only symbolic: W...
From mystery to mystery, We are the Phoenix Firebird Garuda Bennu Choi. They tried to destroy us, Shot Beheaded Crucified, and Threw us in ovens. From the alter of ashes We arose Stronger Smarter More powerful. Don’t they know? Our destruction is—Impossible. From mystery to mystery, We are Jews....
I know what's wrong... I was recently visited by my dear cousin Ben, a retired psychologist. One of my sons is also a psychologist. His wife is a psychologist. My machatunim (her mom) is a retired psychologist... THEY NOW CONFIRM THAT I AM NUTS! (But I kind of knew that already.) Not a surprise... With all the anti-Semitism in the world these days, this report I recently received from the World Jewish Congress (WJC) under the heading "Immigration to Israel Highest Since 2003," doesn't surprise...
Passover can be a sad time for senior citizens in facilities where Jewish residents are in the minority and holidays such as Passover are not "on the schedule." Renee and Joe Aaronson at Westminster Towers Independent Living in Downtown Orlando were again planning their own private seder, but after a friend in the Towers asked them what Passover was all about, they went to Activities Director Sue Ambrosini for help. Ambrosini, in turn, called The Jewish Pavilion, and in short order had an abbrev...
While many Jews were shopping, cleaning, preparing a guest list and shopping list, several senior living communities in town were doing just the same for their Jewish community. Early in April, Jewish Pavilion volunteer Cathy Swerdlow led a Lunch 'n Learn at Oakmonte Village discussing the history of Pesach and its true meaning. Residents adore Swerdlow for her passion for Judaism and warm kindness. Bagels and Lox were served at this bi-monthly luncheon co-sponsored by Jewish Pavilion and...
