Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 30
JERUSALEM (JTA)-"Yosef! Yosef!" wailed Rabbi Eliyahu Meirav, calling out the name of his stepson lying covered in a shroud on the marble slab before him. "You were righteous. I didn't want to believe it. Yoåu were all heart, completely pure, a holy and wonderful boy." As he broke down in tears, the grieving father was joined by the sobs of those in the crowd, which included a mix of Orthodox Jews-haredi and religious Zionist-as well as secular mourners. Many were in uniform, bearing the unit... Full story
Were the heavens and the earth created 6,000 years ago, as the Biblical Genesis Creation account suggests? Or, did the universe expand into existence nearly 14 billion years ago from a spontaneous "Big Bang" as modern science has described? Both dates cannot be right. Or can they? Imagine medieval manuscripts, written some 800 years ago, that could help us decipher Genesis chapter 1 and thereby pinpoint exactly when the universe began-an instant squaring, moreover, with our most up-to-date... Full story
On Wednesday, Dec. 12, supporters of Jewish Family Services Orlando received via email a letter from the executive director-only it wasn't from Executive Director Eric Geboff, it was from the "interim executive director" Mike McKee, the former president of the JFS Board of Directors,-stating that Eric Geboff formally resigned from his position. No explanation was given for the sudden resignation. McKee immediately accepted the executive director position pro bono, while still running his... Full story
Choices, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's largest annual women's philanthropy event, celebrates its 25th year on Thursday, Jan. 10, at Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland. The Presenting Sponsor for Choices 2019 is Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. Since 1994, Choices has been a showcase for women's philanthropy in the Central Florida Jewish community. It's a gala event where women gather to celebrate, socialize and inspire, all in support of the Federation.... Full story
Jewish Academy of Orlando hosted its annual gala with much fanfare. Attendees, dressed in 1920's attire, enjoyed the Roaring Twenties themed event at The Ballroom at Church Street. The event honored Nina and Dr. Ron Oppenheim with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Oppenheims are pillars of the community and longtime Jewish Academy of Orlando supporters. Nina and Ron's children and friends celebrated the honor and lifetime achievement award. "We would like to thank the Jewish Academy of Orlando... Full story
For Jewish seniors in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, it can be a challenge to keep up the Shabbat traditions of lighting candles and saying the blessings over challah and wine. But with Shabbat Boxes, the Jewish Pavilion is able to give Orlando Jewish seniors the gift of Shabbat. The boxes were the idea of Sarah Gittleson, who leads SPARK, the women's division of JOIN (Jewish Outreach Initiative) Orlando. She was baking challahs and preparing for Shabbat at home one Friday when... Full story
The Zionist Organization of America has condemned the failure of the United Nations to condemn the terrorist actions of Hamas, the Palestinian Arab terrorist organization that has not only murdered over 1,000 Israeli civilians in scores of suicide bombings and hundreds of other attacks, but also calls in its Covenant for the destruction of Israel and the global murder of Jews. A recent U.S.-sponsored resolution in the U.N. General Assembly mustered a clear majority in support of condemning the genocidally-inclined Hamas for “repeatedly f... Full story
(CAMERA via JNS)—CAMERA’s Israel office prompted correction on Monday of a National Geographic article on the preservation of biblical archeological texts that contained an historical reference to disputed West Bank land. As first noted yesterday on the Elder of Ziyon blog, an article in December print edition of National Geographic erroneously reported that the disputed territories had at one point prior to the Oslo Accords been under Palestinian control (“The search for sacred texts”): In 1993, after signing the Oslo Accords, which provided a... Full story
(JTA)—A Toledo, Ohio-area man was arrested for planning an attack on a local synagogue. Damon Joseph, of Holland, Ohio, was charged in federal court in Toledo on Monday with attempting to provide material support to ISIS. He told an undercover FBI agent that he was inspired by the shooting attack on a synagogue building in Pittsburgh that left 11 worshippers dead. “I admire what the guy did with the shooting actually,” Joseph said of the Pittsburgh shooting to an undercover agent, according to the Department of Justice. “I can see myself... Full story
‘Twas the month before Christmas And without so much as a flinch AirBNB joined the Israel boycott And became the new corporate Grinch. In recent weeks, it seems as if there have been an unprecedented number of anti-Semitic decisions and declarations that have been dismaying and worrying. Some are cloaked in the veil of being “only” anti-Israel. Make no mistake, these are bald-faced, anti-Semitic acts and need to be called out. While there are no shortage of anti-Semitic grinches this season, and in general, there may be a light at the end o... Full story
(JNS)—Back in January, the unlikely figure of Paddington Bear—the cuddly, bright-eyed cub much adored by young children through the years—ran afoul of the Russian government. As part of its policy of limiting the influence of foreign culture on Russia’s citizens, Vladimir Putin’s regime delayed the release of the movie “Paddington Bear 2” by two weeks to prevent it from competing with locally produced films that hit the screens at the same time. That decision was enabled by legislation from 2015 that also permits Russia’s rulers to, in t... Full story
(CAMERA via JNS)—Airbnb, the worldwide online lodging service, has been in the headlines recently for succumbing to pressure by anti-Israel NGOs, most prominently Human Rights Watch, to delist (that is, boycott) Jewish-owned properties in disputed Judea and Samaria. Some of the media coverage has been a pretext to repeat distortions about the territory and Israel, and far too few stories have shone a light on the deep bias of Human Rights Watch and its staffers. The company claims it is evaluating situations on a “case-by-case” basis, but so fa... Full story
(JNS)—New York Times op-ed columnist Michelle Goldberg has stirred quite a hornet’s nest with her recent article declaring that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitic. Others will wrestle with the anti-Zionism/anti-Semitism debate. I prefer to focus on one particular sentence that really goes to the heart of the issue—and which also reveals Goldberg’s gross ignorance of the basic history of the issue she is addressing. According to Goldberg, Palestinian demands are reasonable, and it’s Israel that is being unfair because “the de facto policy of t... Full story
(JNS)—International Human Rights Day was marked on Dec. 10, with special attention made to honoring the 70-year anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Over the last 70 years, technological innovations have radically changed how human-rights groups engage with the public at large. With the advent of social media, they can amplify their voice at minimal cost. A well-crafted tweet or an eye-catching infographic can enable an organization to reach millions of people in seconds. And while advancing human rights o... Full story
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... Full story
(JNS) Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce chose Christians United for Israel's Israel Collective as his cause for the National Football League's "My Cause, My Cleats" campaign, featuring customized cleats. The shoes consist of the Israeli flag at the cut length, the initials "IC" at the back" and a skyline of Jerusalem on the sidewalls. Pierce has traveled to the Holy Land with the CUFI initiative to learn about Israel's past and customs in furthering the relationship between the... Full story
The phrase, “tip of the iceberg“ references the fact that there’s much more beneath the surface of the water where an iceberg exists that is greater a threat than what is visible above the water. Today in the Middle East we need to coin a new phrase that references the exact opposite: that which is beneath the surface is just a small representation of a much more dangerous threat above the surface. This week, Israel revealed the presence of terror tunnels coming across the border from Lebanon in... Full story
(JTA)-Just like any other Santa Claus, Santa Rick will spend much of the next couple of weeks sitting children on his knee, asking whether they've been good and listening to their Christmas wishes. If it's a Saturday, he may have slept overnight in the building. And he'll only accept payment after nightfall. For Santa Rick's last name is Rosenthal, and he's an Orthodox Jew who does not drive or handle money on Shabbat. But that doesn't stop him from doing his job. "I don't know anyone who... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-In the span of just a couple days, Chaim Raice went from never having been on a bobsled to being a contender to represent Israel in the 2022 Winter Olympics. And it all started with a Facebook post. Raice, a house builder based in Pomona, New York, was browsing the social media site in November when he saw a post saying that the Israeli bobsled team was in need of another athlete to compete in the North American Cup beginning that month. He thought it was a joke, but he still... Full story
Ancestry, ancestry... My mother was born in Montreal, Canada. Her family-her mother, father, brother and sister-were all immigrants from Ukraine. Her mother (my maternal grandma) died in Montreal at a young age, and her brother and sister came to the U.S. (Brooklyn), to live. My mom and her father followed soon after to join them in Brooklyn, where my mom eventually met my dad, they married and my older sister and I were born. So Ukraine is part of my ancestry and that brings us to the next... Full story
When Michaela Weinstein first encountered racist and anti-Semitic slurs at her California high school, she felt sick to her stomach. Students at Albany High School, in the San Francisco Bay Area, were drawing swastikas on schoolbooks and posting photos on Instagram comparing black women to gorillas. Even two years later, anti-Semitism has remained a problem at the school: This fall, the outside walls of Weinstein's school gym were spray-painted with hate-filled graffiti. "There were different... Full story
AMSTERDAM (JTA)—The last time that a stranger directed an anti-Semitic insult at me, I was carrying supplies for my son’s birthday party. It was on a Sunday afternoon on Dam Square. Carrying Star of David party decorations in a see-through bag, I paused to snap some pictures on my cellphone of an anti-Israel rally. I was busy sending them to a friend who had inquired about such events in the Netherlands when a bearded man sporting a Moroccan accent said loudly in my direction: “Cancer Jew. You’re all made up, you’re fake. You’re fake dogs.... Full story
(JTA)-Three years ago, Don Was walked into a Jewish service in Los Angeles without high expectations. Was, born Don Fagenson in Detroit, is a producer who has worked with musicians like John Mayer, Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt. Since 2012, he has also been the president of Blue Note Records, the historic and acclaimed jazz record label. Since his bar mitzvah in 1965, he has rarely stepped into a synagogue. But his aging father, who was getting remarried, was set to be honored by his beloved... Full story
Carol Englander, age 84, of Greenlawn, New York (formerly of Orlando), passed away on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. A Bronx native, she was born on Sept. 12, 1934, to the late Phillip and Dora Grossman Nord. During her working career, Carol worked as a bookkeeper. In Orlando, she worked for the Dolphin Hotel at Disney. She and her late husband, Arnold, who passed away in August 2007, relocated to the Orlando area from New York in 1984. Carol is survived by her sons, Scott (Michelle) and Robert of New York; and her grandchildren—Daniel, Erica and J... Full story
Geraldine "Geri" Shirley Hiller Maslanik, 89, died on Nov. 29, 2018. She was born March 7, 1929, in the Bronx, New York City. Geri graduated from NYU, where she was inducted into the Hall of Fame. She later received an MBA from Rollins College and taught accounting and other subjects at Jones Business College and Valencia Community College in Orlando for over 20 years, where she was a beloved and inspirational teacher. Geri was predeceased by her husband of 60 years, Ted Maslanik, who she met... Full story
