Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Eighth-grade students at the Jewish Academy of Orlando collected Halloween candy for the brave men and women serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. The candy will be distributed by UCF students this December as part of their Birthright trip through Central Florida Hillel. The 8th-grade students of the Jewish Academy of Orlando will be going to Israel in March 2015 as a culmination of their Jewish learning at the school....
Jewish Pavilion volunteers Norma Ball and Pam Ruben, as well as all Pavilion volunteers and members, will be honored at the Jewish Pavilion's annual JP Connections luncheon. As the two volunteers of the year, Ball and Ruben both understand how important it is to spend time with our senior citizens. Longtime Pavilion volunteer Norma Ball never imagined she would spend her retirement years visiting seniors. The Sanford resident spent most of her working life in Jewish education in Albany, New...
On Sunday, Dec. 7, Chabad Lubavitch of North Orlando will be hosting Sassy Reuven, a veteran of the Israel Defense Special Operation Forces. During the terror-filled years of 1973-1976 Reuven served in the IDF's elite "Red Beret" paratrooper unit. He participated in several covert operations in Israel's mighty struggle against Arab terrorism. In July of 1976, Reuven participated in the famed Entebbe counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission code named "Operation Thunderbolt," flying thousands of...
Sixty years ago, 1954, Temple Israel—with 89 charter members—was founded by a group of young Jews looking for a Conservative, yet progressive, way of practicing Judaism. The Central Christian Church building, located at Ridgewood Ave. and Cathcart Street, one block from Lake Eola, was the congregation’s first home—purchased for $40,000. Today, after having been housed in several buildings over the years, stands on property located at 50 S. Moss Road in Winter Springs. On Dec. 6, the congregation will celebrate two diamond anniversary events....
By Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA)-They all lived on the same street. They had all moved there from abroad. They were all rabbis. They all prayed at the same synagogue. And it was at that Jerusalem synagogue that they were all murdered on Tuesday morning. Mosheh Twersky, 59; Kalman Levine, 55; Aryeh Kupinsky, 43; and Avraham Goldberg, 68, were killed when two Palestinian cousins from eastern Jerusalem entered Bnei Torah Kehillat Yaakov, in the haredi Orthodox neighborhood of Har Nof, wielding a gun...
In the wake of a terrorist attack on the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue in Jerusalem's Har Nof neighborhood on Tuesday morning-which killed five people, including three American citizens, and wounded at least seven other Jewish worshippers-Western media organizations rushed to downplay the culpability of the Palestinian terrorists in the attack. The U.K.-based newspaper The Guardian published a Reuters story about the attack that was originally headlined "Palestinians kill four in Jerusalem...
North Orlando was rocking Sunday, Nov. 16, and it wasn't because boy band One Direction was headed into town. All the fuss and fanfare was for Lake Mary's newest celebrity, Chabad of North Orlando's new Sefer Torah, sponsored by Steve and Dawn Chamu family, and Paul Sebag. The torah was dedicated that morning at Lake Mary's Westin Hotel with all the festivity customary of a blessed and joyous event. The auspiciousness of the day was compared to "momentous, awe-inspiring, once-in-a-lifetime event...
Judaism is more than the sum of its parts. Judaism is hands-on, practical and detail-orientated faith. As Jews, we want to know what to do and how to do it. We love our history and rituals. Our culture and art are everywhere. However, this leads most us to learn our Judaism piecemeal. We learn about weddings before we have one. We learn about keeping kosher when we set up our kitchen. We read parts of the Torah each week, but rarely have the opportunity to take a step back to look at the big picture. To provide this big picture, Temple Israel...
The Kinneret Council on Aging has announced the honorees for their 2015 “8 over 80” event to be held on Sunday, March 1, 2015. “We were thrilled with the support we have had from the community and were truly inspired by the number of outstanding individuals over the age of 80, who continue to contribute to our community and promote the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam,” said Faye Novick, 8 over 80 chairwoman. “We hope the community will join in honoring our 8 over 80 with a traditional Jewish holiday meal. The honorees for the 2015 event are...
There are few subjects in Israel these days that arouse greater passion than prayer rights at the Temple Mount. The dramatic uptick in Palestinian terror attacks on Jews in Jerusalem in recent weeks, including Tuesday’s killing of four at a synagogue in Har Nof, has raised the temperature of the long-simmering debate over control of the holy site to a boiling point. Rabbi Yehudah Glick, a promoter of Jewish access to the Temple Mount, is still recovering from being shot by an Arab gunman on Oct. 29. Increased Muslim riots have prompted p...
I have known Dick Sharkansky since my first memory. Our families lived for a while in the same building on Belmont Street, and sometime during our second year, I’m pretty sure that he bit my finger. He may have a differ set of memories. We were in the same classes from about fifth grade through high school. Dick went the route of engineering and law, and we’ve drifted apart and gotten closer together over a half century or so. What prompts this note is Dick’s complaint about my using the word “goyim” in my notes. I replied that the word has...
The fact that the world has a double standard when it comes to Israel is no secret. Things that are either accepted or ignored in the wide world become big news when Israel is involved, allowing the public at large and the United Nations in particular to go through a session of Jew bashing. Five Jews died in an unbelievably dastardly attack on an Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem. The New York Times headlined the story “Four Killed in Jerusalem Synagogue Complex.” How stupidly insensitive, inaccurate and anti-Jewish. Second case in point: A bunch...
Today (Nov. 18, 2014) is my 69th birthday so why am I so sad and so mad? I’m sad for the three obvious reasons: The death of five Israelis at the hands of terrorists; the ongoing world-wide attacks against Jews; and the belief that things will probably never get better but keep on getting worse. I’m mad for many reasons: That so many people, including Jews who should know better, believe Israel’s so-called settlements are the problem. That, if Israel would retreat to the 1967 borders things will be ok—there will be peace. That so many people, i...
A woman holds a sign during a demonstration against a deadly attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, across the street from the Palestine Mission to the United Nations in New York, Nov. 18, 2014. Two Palestinian men, armed with meat cleavers and a gun, entered the synagogue in a quiet, ultra-Orthodox neighborhood during morning prayers on Tuesday and attacked around 25 worshippers, killing four and wounding eight, several seriously. Three of the victims held dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) As I read the news of the terrible...
Israel must stop acting and thinking as if “Peace Concessions” buy Israel an ounce of legitimacy. The reality is that Israel’s “Peace Concessions” only prove to the Muslims, and to the average American viewer, that Israel has no right to exist at all. Take for instance, a recent speech Israel’s by UN Ambassador Ron Prosor at the UN Security Council. Ambassador Prosor gave what was an otherwise truly great speech except for one sentence that is directly related to Israel’s Temple Mount-Prayer Ban: “Following Israel’s victory in 1967, Israel reun...
Dear Editor: I read with interest David Bornstein’s column regarding Jewish continuity, regeneration or dissolution. I offer a few suggestions in summary form to promote regeneration. The first example is promoting Torah study for families, as study is the foundation of Judaism. Study needs to again become part of our culture. There is no reason for Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and even agnostic Jews to cede Torah study to the Orthodox and Chabad. Our community should focus on convincing Jews that Torah study, and teaching their c...
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, NOVEMBER 28 Lig...
Over 300 parents, grandparents and friends of the Jewish Academy of Orlando attended this year's annual gala on Nov. 1. This year's gala, titled "Jeans, Jewels and Jazz" honored the Bierman and Moreno families for two generations of commitment and leadership to the success and development of the school. Jewish Academy parents Nathalie Toledano Steinberg and Amanda Jacobson Nappi chaired the gala, which was held at the Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs. The gala featured silent and live auctions,...
On Friday, Nov. 12, Shalom Families gathered in the park for a picnic Shabbat. Fifteen young families including many mommies, daddies, and several grandparents, came to enjoy the crisp fall evening. The group lit candles, said hamotzi, blessed the children, and sang songs to welcome Shabbat. Each family brought a dessert to share and the children were just tickled with the mountain of cookies and brownies to choose from. All families who attended were given a 'How-to Shabbat' kit to take home...
Twenty-one seniors at Brookdale Dr. Phillips Senior Living were entertained today by David Green of Winter Garden, formerly of Metromedia Radio. David took the packed room of seniors back in time from Heinrich Hertz and the invention of radio, through the early days of radio with Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, and the golden days of broadcast music. The talk was sponsored by The Jewish Pavilion. For information on volunteering for The Jewish Pavilion, call 407-678-9363 or www.jewishpavilion.org...
The entire community is welcome to participate in the Chanukah services provided by the Jewish Pavilion. Dec. 5th @ 11:30 am at Lake Mary Health & Rehab Dec. 5th @2:30 pm at Southland Suites Dec. 7th @ 10:30 am at Springhills Dec. 7th @ 2:00 pm at Chambrel Dec. 9th @ 2:00 pm at Grand Villa Dec. 10th @ 2:30 pm at Health Center of Windermere Dec. 12th @ 11:00 am at Island Lake Dec. 12th @ 12:00 pm at Grand Villa Dec. 12th @ 2:00 pm at Horizon Bay Montgomery Dec. 12th @ 2:30 pm at Plantation Oaks Dec. 12th @ 3:00 pm at Village on the Green Dec....
(JTA)-Even amid the unceasing horrors of Sierra Leone's Ebola epidemic, it was a case that stood out. A 5-year-old boy had been found in his home in a remote village, the lone survivor in a house riddled with the corpses of family members. He needed to be extracted; the bodies needed to be buried. The operator who took the call at the Freetown hotline that coordinates the dispatch of ambulances, police and burial teams was shaken. Enter IsraAid. The lone Israeli or Jewish disaster relief organiz...
Sarah Myers, daughter of Ernie and Theresa Myers of Windermere, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, at Congregation Beth Am in Longwood. Sarah is in the seventh grade at Gotha Middle School where she plays viola in the Gotha Middle School Chamber Orchestra. Her hobbies and interests include music, art, drama, dance and television production. She has also been named to the Orange All-County Middle School Chamber Orchestra. Sharing in the family's simcha will...
This is upbeat... Why are you wasting time reading this column? It's "Black Friday"! The day after Thanksgiving! Bargains await! Go! Spend money! Be happy! This is definitely NOT upbeat... Five people were murdered and seven people wounded in Israel recently, after two Arab terrorists entered the Kehillat Bnai Torah Yeshiva Synagogue on Agassi Street during Shacharit (morning) prayers in Jerusalem's religious Har Nof neighborhood bearing guns, axes, and knives. The terrorists, shouting "Allahu...
Congregation Beth Israel of Ocala will hold a Shabbat morning service on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m. at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, located at 7171 State Highway 200 in Ocala. The service will be led by Rabbi Karen Allen and will include traditional prayers and Torah reading by Rabbi Allen. After the service, all are invited to the congregational Chanukah party, which will be held at the Arbor Conference Center room E at On Top of the World Retirement Communities. The party will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will feature a...
