Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Seated at a wide, long table in a room at Jewish Family Services in Central Florida are seven young adults (over the age of 18) with special needs, each accompanied by one parent who has agreed to participate as required, for this experience is a family matter. Most of the young people live at home with their parents and are not employed. It is 12:30 p.m., on the last Monday of the month, and the Lunch and Learn hour-long session organized by Recognizing Abilities and Inclusion of Special...
As we are in the midst of the Jewish High Holidays, I can't help but remember where my husband and I were last year at this time. We had embarked on a Gate 1 Travel guided tour of Central and Eastern Europe visiting four countries. This trip began in Budapest, Hungary, then we traveled by bus to Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czech Republic; and ended in Berlin, Germany. From there we added a week on our own in Paris. In my usual fashion, I made it a point to visit the Jewish communities, former...
Repair the World, the largest Jewish service organization, invited young adults to Act Now for a Different Kind of Service with the 2017 Jewish High Holidays chapter of its service and education campaign. Repair the World also announced that the year-long campaign, “Act Now,” will mobilize people to address immediate issues and engage in critical conversations at many other meaningful times throughout the Jewish year, including the upcoming holidays of Thanksgiving, MLK Day, and Purim, culminating with Passover in 2018. “Jewish young adult...
Please join Jewish Pavilion program directors and volunteers for a high holiday service at any of these locations. The services are open to all. If you are looking for an address, please visit The Jewish Pavilion website, www.jewishpavilion.org and click on facilities. Sept. 1 noon-1pm Brookdale Lake Orienta Sept. 1 1:30-2:30pm Brookdale lake Mary Sept. 1 2-3pm Life Care Altamonte Sept. 6 noon-1pm Brookdale Altamonte Sept. 7 10:30-11:30am Brookdale Dr. Phillips II Sept. 8 11-noon Encore at Avalon Park Sept. 8 11-noon Island Lake HC Sept. 8...
Joseph and Lynn Goldovitz, the multi-talented spiritual leaders of Congregation Sinai Minneola will blow the shofar and play the harp as well as conduct the upcoming High Holidays. All holiday events are celebrated and commemorated for 2 days. Jewish people all over the world will usher in the Jewish New Year 5778, a time of new beginnings and of reflection on one’s life, beginning with Selichot services on Saturday, Sept. 16. A dairy dinner will be served at 6:15, followed by services at 7:30 and a lively discussion of issues pertaining to t...
In the wake of the awful events in Charlottesville, Billy Joel’s fans got an inspiring surprise toward the end of his recent concert in Madison Square Garden. The singer, who does not wear his Jewish upbringing on his sleeve, came out for his encore in a black jacket with a yellow Star of David sewn on the front and back. Deservedly, Joel has received kudos in many quarters for spurning silence. By boldly wearing the startling image of the star that Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust, he was decrying anti-Semitism in particular and,...
(Rabbis Without Borders via JTA)—As the High Holidays tides approach and soon over-wash with their poignant waters of joy, awe, solemnity and introspection, it’s tempting to imagine that this season is only for emotional and spiritual internals. This season of teshuvah (returning, repairing, forgiving) is for thinking and feeling teshuvah—but mainly as springboards for action. It’s good to think teshuvah in our minds and feel teshuvah in our hearts. It’s healthy to commit to change behaviors that don’t serve us, others or the world. It’s...
(JTA)—I used to joke that I am not a self-hating Jew: It’s all those other Jews I can’t stand. Like I said, I used to tell that joke. In the current political climate, self-hatred is no laughing matter. Calling another Jew “self-hating” is pervasive and toxic—so toxic, in fact, that some observers can’t distinguish it from actual anti-Semitism. A lot of liberal Jews label Breitbart News anti-Semitic in part because of an article by right-wing activist David Horowitz that essentially called William Kristol a self-hating Jew. (Horowitz’s actual t...
(Rabbis Without Borders via JTA)—Fear and trembling make a triumphant return to the Jewish calendar with the month of Elul and the initiation of the holiday countdown that leads to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. As a rabbinical colleague wrote, Elul itself carries spiritual significance as a time to begin soul-searching and stock-taking of our individual behaviors over the past year. Elul carries with it a particular sense of urgency, if not dread, for those officiating at High Holidays services. Summer vacation is now officially over. The l...
(Rabbis Without Borders via JTA)—The month of Elul is the season of repentance and forgiveness that culminates with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. In the rabbinic imagination, Elul is an acronym for “Ani L’Dodi V’dodi Li”—“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” This verse from Song of Songs is understood in regards to this season as reminding us that when we reach out to God, God in love takes us back. This culminates in the holiday of Sukkot, in which the fragile hut with the open roof symbolizes the marital home and the trust in it...
The Southern Poverty Law Center admitted its fault and removed a town from its “Hate Map” this week. That map irresponsibly mixes religious organizations with violent hate groups, and this time it included the town of Amana because an unknown source alleged some people who might have been associated with The Daily Stormer met one time in a restaurant for coffee. This is one of many inaccuracies and gross over-characterizations that can be found on SPLC’s map. Amana, an innocent town, was then blacklisted by the SPLC. People living there were...
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 Israel...
Bernice "Rusty" Sulman was the only child of Ceila and William Frost of Brooklyn, New York. She became a model at the prestigious John Powers Modeling Agency in N.Y. at an early age where she earned her nickname Rusty due to her flaming red hair. She was an excellent student at Brooklyn College until she met Sam Sulman, a southern doctor from Chattanooga, Tenn. After a storybook romantic courtship they married in 1947 and moved to Orlando where Sam opened a medical office and Rusty finished...
B'nai Mitzvah Chloe Nicole Cayado Samuel James Cooper Alexa Coultoff Robert Lewin Dorman Rachel Marie Hart Marc Homburger Jacobs Daniel Bernard Kaprow Caleb Yosef Oxborough Benjamin Joseph Perreault Jacob Warren Robinson Delaney Jill Rosenblatt Danielle Faith Shenkman Nathan Jack Waldbaum Engagements Lindsay Williams and Dr. Adam Siegel Weddings Jamie Morton and Jordan Shroyer Obituaries Tessie Abramson Dora Ackerman Fred Becker Judith Becker Aileen E. Berk Marylin Berman Ellen Bitton Arlene Black Ann Bosak Estelle Braun Michael Brener Stanley...
It is a convenient occurrence (philosophically at least) that the Jewish New Year comes each year so close to the start of a new year on campus. Each year we get prepared to greet the New Year filled with possibilities, opportunities and chances to do better for ourselves and the world. At virtually the same time, we are greeted by thousands of new faces on campus who themselves are the very epitome of new possibilities, opportunities and chances for us to do better for them, while helping them...
Shalom, friends, The staff and Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando wish you and your family a sweet New Year 5778! We enter a new year filled with great promise and great expectations. Fittingly, your Federation is simultaneously embarking on a promising new journey, guided by an updated strategic vision that we believe will enrich the lives of all Jews in Central Florida. In the months ahead, JFGO will focus on functions that are essential to the community and can be...
As we prepare to enter our 40th year of serving those in need in Central Florida and the Jewish New Year, Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando reflects on the lives we changed and the impact we have in our community. The delivery and relevance of our programs have allowed us to grow our services, thereby allowing us to serve more lives. However, the need is still great. We are lead by the words in our mission To Provide Vital, High Quality and Innovative Social Service to People in Need. We...
Transitioning to an independent, assisted or skilled nursing facility can be challenging for many seniors, as it is never easy to lose a lifetime of independence. However, Jewish elders face a host of additional challenges. Like their neighbors, they lose their independence, their homes, and access to friends, but they also lose ties to their cultural heritage, their community, and their faith, just when they need them the most. Imagine a lifetime of Jewish living heritage erased in a "home"...
I am so proud... I really am very proud of all the strides in medicine made by scientists at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev Center of Medical Innovation. That's why I write about it so often. I know that (heaven forbid) if a loved one or I was diagnosed with an illness, I would probably turn to them or have them consulted in some way. I received this information recently and pass it along to you: There is an urgent need for new therapies to target challenging, difficult-to-treat cancer...
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year and the start of new things. With the turn of the seasons from summer to fall, it's a great time for thoughts and introspection. This time of year also happens to mark my one-year anniversary leading The Roth Family JCC community. It's been a rollercoaster of a year for all of us-from the lows of three fake bomb threats phoned in within two weeks-to the highs of seeing our community rally around the JCC family in support. We saw members dressing themselves...
The number 40 has great significance in the Torah and throughout rabbinic literature. The number 40 usually designates a time of radical transition or transformation. Consider the following: It rained for 40 days and 40 nights during the Flood (Genesis 7). Exodus records that Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai with God. Forty is the number of years the Israelites were required to wander in the wilderness until they were allowed to enter Canaan. Corporeal punishment in the Torah involved 40...
Few books in the last decade have aroused the controversy and public debate, at least in Europe, as Michel Houellebecq's "Submission." Still at the top of the charts in France, the novel, "Soumission" in its original French, has now conquered Germany, shooting to the top of the charts in its first week in shops, with more than a quarter of a million copies now in print in German. The novel, which drew controversy over its topic even before publication, was released in France on Jan. 7, the day...
(JTA)-A challah-baking Jewish giant, a young baseball champ and an endearing boy in a pumpkin patch are among the stars of five delightful new books for kids published just in time for the High Holidays. This year's crop includes new stories by two of the country's most prominent children's book writers, David A. Adler and Eric A. Kimmel, who have entertained and informed decades of young readers. Three of the books are set during the holidays-Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; Yom Kippur, the...
Like most Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah brings to mind certain traditional food customs-the most well-known being the dipping of apples in honey. And while a classic apple pie or cake is a lovely way to commemorate our hopes for a "sweet new year," I thought it would be fun to change things up a bit. These apple and honey pie "pops" are a cinch to make-and even more fun to eat! They can be assembled (and frozen) in advance, and are especially nice to serve for a crowd-no cutting or forks needed...
By Shannon Sarna (The Nosher via JTA)-I think we can all agree that shakshuka is probably one of the greatest dishes ever created. It's easy, simple and you can usually make it from stuff you already have in the house: canned tomatoes, spices and eggs. You can add vegetables like roasted eggplant, fresh (or frozen) spinach or cheese like feta or goat cheese. It's also versatile in terms of size: You can make a small portion or a much larger one. Shakshuka for a crowd is ideal for brunch...
