Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) — A best-selling children’s novel that the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum has said “should be avoided by anyone who studies or teaches about the history of the Holocaust” is getting a sequel. John Boyne, the Irish author of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” announced Wednesday that he would be publishing a follow-up to the 2006 blockbuster about a 9-year-old German boy’s friendship with a Jewish child imprisoned at Auschwitz. The new book, he said, would be told from the perspective of the German boy’s sister, Gretel. The announcement co...
(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — In Brighton Beach, New York, a community in Brooklyn known to many as “Little Odessa,” named after the port city in Ukraine, many Jews are struggling to navigate the fear and uncertainty that has wracked the community as Russia wages an unprovoked war on their former country. In the weeks of saber-rattling by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and with Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, many have become distraught and terrified thinking about what might happen to the towns they grew up in and to their familie...
With costumes, spiels and lots of drinking, Purim, which in 2021 starts at sundown on Thursday, February 25th, is one of Judaism's most raucous holidays. You might know about beautiful Esther thwarting evil Haman's plans, the custom of getting drunk and what hamantaschen are. But we're guessing there's a few things about this holiday that might surprise you. 1. Esther was a vegetarian (or at least a flexitarian). According to midrash, while Queen Esther lived in the court of King Ahasuerus, she...
Bittersweet chocolate and nutty tahini are a perfect flavor pairing in many different treats. These hamantaschen crank up the volume on that combo with a chocolate chip and tahini dough, chocolate-tahini filling and a smooth sesame-chocolate ganache. I like to decorate these with toasted sesame seeds and flaky sea salt, which provide a satisfying crunchy pop with each bite. Note: You can use any leftover ganache to dip dried fruit like apricots and dates for a little bonus treat that's perfect...
Stop the negative self-talk. When we mess up or something goes wrong, we can sometimes be a bit too hard on ourselves. Switch the script to something more constructive and kind. Imagine you're talking to your friend or loved one and remember that compassion is not just for others! Adding empathy and kindness to our internal dialogue can go a long way. Our counselors are available to help you build out a wellness plan with other healthy habits like this one. Call 407-644-7671 or visit...
According to many modern Bible scholars, the festival of Purim did not have its source in the story told in the Book of Esther. According to Hayyim Schauss, Purim originally appeared among the Persian Jews and was adopted by them from their non-Jewish neighbors. The Jews of Persia observed, along with their neighbors, an annual festival that was celebrated in the middle of the last of the winter months. From the beginning, it had the characteristics of a spring masquerade and was a festival of...
I'm heartsick... My prayers are for Ukraine and its people, many of them Jewish. According to Russian President (dictator) PUTIN, Ukraine is under Nazi control. (If anyone fits the description of Nazis, it's Putin!). A former actor and comedian, President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY of Ukraine was elected president in 2019. He is brave and devoted to his country and its people. By the way, he is Jewish. My ancestry on my mother's side is Ukraine ... Odesa, Kiev, etc. My maternal grandparents fled...
Gragger - Pronounced GRAH-gur. Yiddish for "noisemaker." Graggers are used during the reading of the megillah (see below). When the reader speaks the name of Haman the congregation tries to drown out the evil name using noisemakers and booing. Hamantaschen - Pronounced HAH-mun-TAHSCH-un. Yiddish for "Haman's pockets," known in Hebrew as "oznay Haman" meaning "Haman's ears." A triangular cookie with a filling (typically jam or poppyseed) inside, traditionally eaten on Purim . Matanot l'evyonim -...
Long a trusted resource for Jewish families in more than 35 countries around the world who receive their free books each month, PJ Library offers fresh reading, audio stories, and tasty treats for families celebrating Passover this year, April 15 to 23. In the United States alone, more than 280,000 children are receiving new books this month, each providing a carefully curated selection of age-appropriate reading related to Passover. New this year, families will also receive a colorful illustrated “Matzah Mania” fold-out which includes rec...
(JTA) — Prayers for peace are an integral part of Jewish worship. Now, they are also a central part of the communal Jewish response as fighting is underway in Ukraine where Russian troops invaded Thursday morning. Here are excerpts from the responses we’ve seen so far from Jewish groups. Know of something we’ve missed? Please send it our way. The Conservative/Masorti movement of Judaism and its affiliated organizations hosted a global prayer gathering over Zoom Thursday “for the well-being and safety of our brothers and sisters and all those i...
NBC's "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" (Season 23, Episode 10, "Silent Night, Hateful Night,") began 2022 with a troubling episode about religious hate crimes. But just as troubling as the hate crimes catalogued here was the very existence of the episode itself. Principal series writers/producers Julie Martin, Kathy Dobie and Warren Leight concocted this discombobulated fare about a wave of anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh attacks on houses of worship and businesses, all on Christmas...
So much talent! Even I'm surprised! ... Get ready for this one. It's not to be missed! I'm referring to the BILLY JOEL concert that's coming to Camping World Stadium here in town on Saturday evening, 8 p.m. on March 12. Surely tickets are selling out. Hurry or you will miss it! Phone 407-440-5700 and press 1 for more information. William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his first major hit and signat...
(JTA) - Most film debuts don't include licking a taser while dressed as a mime, or having a scorpion crawl on one's face. But when it comes to the "Jackass" TV and movie franchise, that's par for the course. That doesn't mean Rachel Wolfson's Jewish parents weren't a little worried about her joining the stunt comedy group for its latest movie, "Jackass: Forever." "When I first told them, they were like, have you told your therapist?" Wolfson told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Through three seas...
(New York Jewish Week via JTA) - The Crown Heights riots, which roiled the Brooklyn neighborhood over four days in 1991, were some of the most thoroughly documented events in New York City history: Covered in real time by local, national and global media, the violence was recounted by witnesses in numerous civil and criminal trials. The riots were also the subject of countless books, essays, documentaries and a one-person play. Add to that canon now, six months after the 30th anniversary of the...
(JTA) - Roblox, a collaborative computer gaming platform for children as young as 7, has faced serious criticism over the years for failing to properly moderate its content - with antisemitism and racism rife, according to multiple reports. Now the platform says it has removed a virtual Nazi concentration camp featuring gas chambers that users could operate. In a report published Saturday, the Daily Mail revealed the existence of the concentration camp game, which included tall watchtowers, gas...
(JTA) - Eight days after I was born, I had a brit. I was a Jew, and that's what Jews do. Well, many do it anyway; Jews who are not observant may not, but that wasn't my family. We kept Shabbat. We had the best meals and wine during Passover. And on Yom Kippur, at a young age there was no excuse for me not to afflict my soul, my mom said. There I was, on the Day of Atonement, a little young boy starving and crying in the shul, like everyone else. When I told my rabbi I wanted to make aliyah, to...
(JTA) - Felice Jacobs and Alan Feldstein could have tied the knot in Phoenix, where they met and where his mother worked at the local Reform synagogue. Or they could have held their wedding on the U.S. Army base in Austria where Alan was stationed at the time. Instead, they chose the Eagle's Nest, the Nazis' former mountain retreat in the Bavarian Alps - a location that, as far as anyone knew, had never before hosted a Jewish wedding. "We got married there because my husband wanted to thumb his...
A New Jersey evangelical minister and Orthodox Jew walk into Congress …. It sounds like the beginning of a quirky joke, but in fact it’s how we developed a close, warm friendship. Years ago, for a number of years in a row, we participated together in the annual Christians United for Israel Washington Summit. Shawn Hyland of Bayville, N.J., served as the CUFI New Jersey state coordinator. As such, he coordinated an annual day of meetings to lobby New Jersey’s congressional and senatorial representatives on issues related to and in support of Is...
A Poem For You (from me)... "I'm elderly (?) a senior gal, a name that used to pain, Instead of young and beautiful, being old makes me insane, But then I think of all the songs, the music of my time, How beautiful and meaningful, not rap (pure crap) a crime! And stars like Benny, Berle and Brooks, And even Baby Snooks! The Broadway shows, the acts, the movies of my day, Were absolutely brilliant, great in every way! SO WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?? Okay. So we look and sound alike ... Of course you...
(New York Jewish Week via JTA) – Steadfast listeners of "Borscht Beat" - a weekly FM radio show featuring Jewish music, old and new - will be thrilled to hear of host Aaron Bendich's latest project: a new Jewish record label of the same name. On his hour-long radio program, the 27-year-old plays a wide variety of Jewish recordings - songs from the heyday of Yiddish theater, as well as a mix of contemporary klezmer, Yiddish and Jewish music from around the world. On Friday, Bendich's label a...
(JTA) - Steven Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story" drew seven Oscar nominations Tuesday, including best picture and best director. Spielberg's best-director nomination makes the Jewish Hollywood legend one of only four filmmakers in history to ever be nominated at least eight times for best director. (Two of the others are also Jewish; the third is Martin Scorsese.) He has won the award twice before, for "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan." With this nomination, Spielberg also...
(New York Jewish Week via JTA) - Jessica Seinfeld's parents were true children of the '60s. They did yoga before it was cool and served their three daughters brown rice, tofu and wholesome cereal purchased in their local food co-op in Burlington, Vermont. The young Jessica, embarrassed by their focus on healthy eating, "always wanted regular cereal that you could buy on the shelves of typical supermarkets." These days Seinfeld, 50 - the wife of comedian Jerry, of course, and a mother of three -...
(JNS) — After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the annual Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Mission to Israel kicks off Sunday in Jerusalem. The umbrella group, which represents more than 50 Jewish communal groups spanning from the right to left flanks of American Jewish life, gets unprecedented access to Israel’s top leaders. Scheduled to speak at this year’s conference are Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett; President Isaac Herzog; Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid...
(JTA) - Spoiler alert: This story contains details from "Seeing the Light," the season finale of HBO's "And Just Like That," which first aired Feb. 3, 2022. The previews for the season finale of "And Just Like That," the "Sex and the City" reboot airing on HBO, suggested that viewers would get to see a "they mitzvah." And for most of the episode, which began streaming Thursday, that's exactly what seemed like was happening. Charlotte (Kristin Davis), who converted to Judaism in the original...
(JTA) — Emma Saltzberg knew she might invite criticism by competing on “Jeopardy!” From her years of experience in progressive Jewish groups, including IfNotNow, a group founded in 2014 to galvanize American Jews to oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, she knew that her appearance on one of the most popular TV shows in the United States would likely generate negative comments from those who believe criticizing the occupation is antisemitic. So when those comments started to appear on social media, especially after IfNotNo...
