Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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On Tuesday, May 27 the 13 members of the Jerome J. Bornstein Leadership Program participated in a graduation ceremony at the home of Judy Kahan. The members of the class brought family members to celebrate their graduation from this prestigious leadership program. The evening began with Roz Fuchs giving a history of the program she helped create 22 years ago. Fuchs was pleased to see the program continuing to thrive and produce leadership for the Jewish community. The group nominated two...
ALGEMEINER-A day after Pope Francis was pictured praying at Israel's security barrier on Sunday, beneath a slogan that compared Palestinians with Jews under the Nazi regime, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu explained to him in no uncertain terms why the wall was erected in the first place. At a Jerusalem memorial for terror victims, Netanyahu told the pope, "When my son was 10 years old, his best friend was a girl, a beautiful Ethiopian girl, who sat next to him in class. One day she didn't...
At its May meeting, Senior Rabbi Aaron D. Rubinger advised the full Board of Trustees of Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland, of his decision—in consultation with the other clergy and lay leadership—to authorize same-sex Jewish unions at the synagogue, and Torah honors for same-sex Jewish couples. The state of Florida does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions. However, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards—the body which interprets Jewish religious law for Conservative Judaism, Ohev Shalom’s denomination—adopted a ruling in...
An Israeli team hopes to send a Torah scroll to the moon’s surface in an effort to preserve a part of Jewish culture in case of an apocalypse, Britain’s Daily Mail reported on Friday. The scroll would travel outside Earth’s atmosphere with other Earth artifacts as part of the Google Lunar XPrize mission, a competition among private companies to send vehicles to the moon with the goal of maintaining Earth’s relics beyond a world-ending event, such as a nuclear war. The sacred text would be transported in a capsule enabling it to survive on the...
(JTA)—“What is being done to silence this man?” an American rabbi asked in a 1963 letter to the Anti-Defamation League. He was talking about the novelist Philip Roth, whose early novels and short stories cast his fellow American Jews in what some considered a none-too-flattering light. Fast-forward half a century. On Thursday, the writer whose works were once denounced as profane was honored by one of American Jewry’s sacred citadels: The Jewish Theological Seminary, Conservative Judaism’s flagship educational institution, awarded Roth an honor...
After two intense days of religious ceremonies in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials, unscheduled photo opportunities, and debilitating traffic arrangements, Israelis and interfaith relations experts are trying to attach the appropriate symbolism to Pope Francis’s visit to the region. Nearly every stop made by the pontiff was subjected to simultaneous scrutiny and praise. While long-term tensions between the Jewish people and the Catholic Church were made apparent by the trip, some experts are a...
TEL AVIV—Miriam and Emmanuel Riva were “the cream of the crop,” grieving family and friends said of the 50-year-old couple, slain in May 24’s shooting attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, Belgium. Two employees of the center were also killed, Israel Radio said. The couple, who lived in Tel Aviv and leave behind a 15- and a 17-year-old daughter, were Israeli Foreign Ministry employees for the last four years, and were due to return to Israel on May 29, friends said. “Up until two years ago, Emmanuel was the vice-consul in Berlin; they were...
The children of the Gan Rishonim Four's class at the Roth Jewish Community Center's Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center in Maitland recently performed a big mitzvah, by collecting money to purchase items for sick children. In total, the children raised $287.15 for the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. The gift was accepted by hospital representative, Whitney Pitsch (far left). The teachers of the class are Allison Brown (beside Pitsch) and Orna Jaffe (far...
From acclaimed director Pawel Pawlikowski ("Last Resort," "My Summer of Love") comes "Ida," a moving and intimate drama about a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland who, on the verge of taking her vows, discovers a dark family secret dating from the terrible years of the Nazi occupation. Eighteen-year-old Anna (stunning newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska), a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative....
The Jewish Community of Marion County was fortunate to complete a new Torah on Sunday, June 1. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, the community joined together to welcome a brand new Sefer Torah with a completion and dedication ceremony. Participants filled in a letter of the Torah, alongside the scribe during the completion ceremony, which was held at On Top Of The World Communities, in the Live Oak & Cypress Halls, 8413 SW 80th Street, Ocala. Celebrations continued with a parade around Circle Square Commons, followed by a lunch buffet....
Congregation Beth Sholom of Leesburg invites the public to join Rabbi Karen Allen for its Friday evening service on Friday, June 13 at 7 p.m. Following the service, please join the congregation for coffee and refreshments at the Oneg Shabbat. Guests are encouraged to stay and enjoy the warmth and friendship of “The Synagogue That Feels like Family.” The synagogue is located at 315 North 13th Street in Leesburg, with the entrance on Center Street. For more information see the website at bethsholomflorida.org or call congregation President Lin...
When I last wrote about the archive of Jewish treasures from Iraq rescued by U.S. forces in Baghdad in 2003, I noted that the prevalent opinion among Iraqi Jews—a community from which I hail on my father’s side—was that the books, photographs, scrolls, writings, and communal documents in this extraordinary collection should remain in America, rather than being returned to Iraq. I then argued that while this view couldn’t be faulted on legal or moral grounds, I nonetheless wished that the situation were different, and that Iraq could celebra...
When I offer to share information I have gathered over the past seven years with some people about what the Islamic fanatics are doing here in America. I frequently hear “I do not see Islamic trouble around here” and “it’s no big deal” and “I have a very nice Muslim friend” and “there are only a few fanatics.” To me, responses such as these simply say they are ill-informed because the majority of the media do a very poor job of reporting Islamic actions. You have heard about major attacks, World Trade Center suicide bombings, the Boston Maratho...
The attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, resulting in four deaths including those of a visiting Israeli couple, has elevated once again the issue of anti-Semitism. It comes against the background of recent studies of the subject, including one based on questions about attitudes toward Jews in various countries, another on Jews’ sense of threat, and yet another that examined actual attacks attributed to anti-Semitism. The findings support those who would emphasize the continued threat against Jews, as well as those who argue that the f...
The thin line dividing criticism of Israel from anti-Semitism just got a little thinner. BBC journalist Chris Rogers this week was revealed to have amused himself by giving the Nazi salute and strutting about in a Hitler-style goose-step while filming a documentary—on, of all things, anti-Semitic soccer fans in eastern Europe. The British Daily Mail newspaper first reported on Rogers’ vile actions on their website on May 19. Rogers’ “defense” was that his behavior was “intended as a joke.” Humor can be very revealing. Is it just a coincidence...
When Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah/Palestinian Authority (PA) signed a reconciliation agreement with Hamas, a recognized terrorist group that calls in its Charter for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews, the State Department’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, observed, “It’s hard to see how Israel can be expected to negotiate with a government that does not believe in its right to exist.” Despite the obvious truth of this statement, Secretary of State John Kerry blamed Israel. As he told the Congress, “700 settlement units were announced i...
During the wedding scene in Fiddler on the Roof, Perchik, the student revolutionary, breaks with tradition by crossing from the men’s side to the women’s side to dance with Tevye’s daughter Hodel. On stage it plays like a breakthrough; even the rabbi joins in the mixed dancing. So each time I see the film, why do I want to yell, “Don’t do it, Perchik!” I should explain. I am not an Orthodox Jew. I am a committed egalitarian. I belong to a synagogue where men and women have the same opportunities on the bima, in the pews, and in the study hall....
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) Chabad of South Orlando—Monday and Thursday, 8 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 Israel—Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3055. FRIDAY, JUNE 6 Light Sh...
TEL AVIV (JTA)—One small step by Israelis could become a giant leap for the State of Israel. At a Tel Aviv University laboratory, a team of 20 Israelis is building a spacecraft they believe will make Israel only the fourth country—after the United States, Russia and China—to touch down on the moon. The project, known as SpaceIL, looks like a long shot. The three-legged hexagonal craft appears too puny for interstellar travel, measuring just 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Of the initiative’s three founders, only one holds an academic degree...
The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA)-On a recent visit to Manhattan, Michael Herman brought his wife and two daughters to a stone building at the corner of Canal and Orchard streets. A chiseled ribbon running across the 12-story structure's facade reads S. Jarmulowsky's Bank Est. 1873. Alexander "Sender" Jarmulowsky was Herman's great-great-grandfather and the bank's founder. The building the Hermans visited was constructed in 1912,...
By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) – A month before her foreign policy autobiography, "Hard Choices," hits the bookstores, Hillary Rodham Clinton made an easy choice: She pitched her diplomatic credentials to a friendly Jewish audience. Clinton's speech to the American Jewish Committee on May 14 was meant to send a signal to the pro-Israel community, insiders say, that a Clinton presidency would smooth over tensions ruffled by the Obama White House. So while she broadly defended Obama a...
After 52 years, the “World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” tuned up for a fervently anticipated June 4 gig in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park. And the impetus for the Rolling Stones’ historic arrival during their 14 On Fire European tour came from none other than Bob Dylan, according to Israel’s Channel 2 news. “Bob Dylan was coming off stage,” guitarist Ronnie Wood replied in a video interview to reporters’ questions, “and I asked him, ‘where you going?’ and he said, ‘Israel! We’re going to Tel Aviv!’ “He had a big smile on his face, because he l...
For more than 15 years, Boy Scout Troop 641 has had a tradition of honoring our Veterans. This Memorial Day, Scouts lined up for the annual salute to our War Veterans at Woodlawn Cemetery in Gotha. The Scouts marched behind the Orange County Sheriffs Honor Guard and an ROTC Honor Guard. The Scouts also assisted by passing out cold water to those in attendance. Boy Scout Troop 641 and Cub Scout Pack 641 are chartered by the Children of Abraham Foundation and meet in Maitland on Sundays. For more...
Flying safely home (I hope)... As you read this column (written the day before I am flying to Chicago), I will have already returned to Central Florida, expecting the high heat, although I was told that Chicagoans are feeling 80 plus degree weather these days. (And I am needing to cool off a bit!) I am also trying to recover from the heart-wrenching Memorial Day weekend that just passed. This year (actually for the first time in my life) I felt the true meaning of the holiday... and I realized...
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2014 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented in August at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. “For more than 25 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 Nina Oppenheim. Former recipients have...
