Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) - The dozens of Jews who escaped the Nazis by hiding in the sewers of Lviv became local and international lore almost immediately after World War II. "In the summer, when the rain seeped in, there was a lot of water everywhere," Krystyna Chiger recalled in testimony in 1947, when she was 11. "Then we had to lean very low on the stones right next to the wall so that the water would not flow on us." But the location of the underground hideouts remained unknown until recently, when a team of...
You've Got To Be Kidding ... Famous actor, SEAN PENN had a Jewish father, the son of emigrants from the Russian Empire. Sean's mom was not Jewish but he was raised in a secular home in Malibu, California. Another surprise ... Born in New York City, famous talk show host, stand up comic, political satirist and so much more, BILL MAHER's mom, Julie Berman Maher, was Jewish. Her parents were from Hungary. Do you remember ... Famous movie star, Lauren Bacall, was born back in 1924 and died in 2014....
I've read many great books, but it's rare that I have the urge to thank the author. In the case of "Hidden Heroes," I wanted to do so on two levels: to thank Pam Cohen for her outstanding recounting of details of the struggle to free Soviet Jews, and for her incredible role from the beginning in the outcome. One of the beautiful things about "Hidden Heroes" is that while recounting her experiences, Pam interweaves stories of the lives of many of the refuseniks on whose behalf she advocated. Far...
(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Imagine arriving at the Pastrami Queen but finding no pastrami, or showing up at Holy Schnitzel to find its signature breaded chicken cutlet off the menu. To quote Tevye, sounds crazy, no? But that is exactly what will happen if you visit Sherry Herring, the Israeli eatery that recently opened on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is the first branch of the renowned sandwich bar in the port of Tel Aviv famous for — you guessed it — its herring sandwiches. But for the moment, to quote Sherry Ansky, the drivi...
(JTA) — An 700-year-old Jewish prayerbook from Germany, offered for sale by a French Jewish organization to shore up its finances, sold at auction on Tuesday for $8.3 million. Known as the Luzzatto High Holiday Mahzor, the prayerbook easily beat the $4-6 million pre-sale estimate by Sotheby’s New York auction house as four bidders battled one another for five dramatic minutes. The item, which was sold to an unnamed private buyer, comes out of the collection of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, a 160-year-old French Jewish organization that...
Part II Sandi Solomon, three-term Casselberry city commissioner has found relatives who were thought to have perished in the Holocaust. Through a genealogy search that her daughter-in-law Sharon Fleitman of Atlanta had conducted while searching on the Facebook group's Jewish Genealogy portal, Fleitman discovered 31 pages of testimony that Henryk (Henry) Zyngier had given about his experience in the Holocaust when he lived in Tel Aviv in 1957. Solomon discovered her mother's first cousin, Henryk...
There have been several films surrounding the historical moment when Israel was established, most taking a nationalist stance, such as “Exodus” starring Paul Newman. As joyful of a moment as this was for many, even for the characters in the film we are about to look at, there was an underlying melancholy that crept its way into their subconscious. As bombs started to fall and wars were triggered, many realized that this was not the romantic dream that so many Jews had. For Israeli born actress Natalie Portman’s directorial debut, she decid...
Surprise! Surprise!... I never knew that GERALDO RIVERA was raised Jewish. Did you? This is a complete surprise to me! He is a well-known American journalist, attorney, author, political commentator and former television host. But a Jew???? Geraldo, was born at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City to Lillian Friedman and Cruz Allen Rivera. (His dad was Puerto Rican). Geraldo's mom's family was of Russian Jewish descent. Geraldo also had a bar mitzvah! He did some growing up in Brooklyn,...
(JTA) — Some of Netflix’s biggest international hits of the last few years — from “Fauda” to “Shtisel” — have been Israeli imports. Now, the streaming giant is spotlighting Palestinian entertainment, as well. Last week, Netflix released a “Palestinian Stories” collection consisting of what it said was 32 films, although only 27 films were listed under the category in the U.S. as of Monday. Of the available selections, which span the last couple of decades, 12 of them are short films. A mix...
(JNS) — Nearly 90 percent of the Palestinian films in a collection launched last week by Netflix are directed by BDS supporters, Israeli NGO Im Tirtzu reported on Monday. The collection, titled “Palestinian Stories,” is made of up 32 films, most of which had been uploaded to the streaming service by Monday. Of the 28 movies by and about Palestinians that are so far available on the Israeli version of Netflix, 25 (89 percent) are directed by BDS supporters, Im Tirtzu research revealed. According to the NGO’s findings, 12 of the directo...
(JTA) — In a recent opinion piece for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Rich Brownstein argued that “The Grey Zone” is the greatest Holocaust film ever made. Brownstein is no amateur critic. He is a lecturer for Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies and the author of “Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide.” After publishing these two stories, it quickly became clear that the topic of Holocaust films struck a chord with our readers. So, we asked: What is the one Holocaust film you th...
(JTA) - Jean Meltzer always knew how "The Matzah Ball," her first novel, would end. "The rule of romance is that there has to be a happy ending; the characters have to get together," Meltzer told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "If they don't get together, that's not a romance; that's literary fiction." So (not-really-a-spoiler alert) it was a foregone conclusion that protagonist Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt, a best-selling Christmas-themed romance writer who has kept her career from her...
During this year, The Heritage will run a half page insertion in every issue featuring an organization that has partnered with the Jewish Capital Alliance of Central Florida to attain its chartered goals. Over the coming year, The Heritage will pen four articles highlighting this relatively unrecognized organization. The first article appeared in July and described how JCA came into being. Today's article will discuss JCA's goals and directives. At the initial community introductory meeting on O...
How thrilled I am ... Sure, sure, at my age anything would thrill me, right? WRONG! It has to be something very special ... and it was! The other evening on the KELLY CLARKSON television show, her first guest was BARRY ALAN PINCUS! WHAT? You don't know who that is? How about if I say BARRY MANILOW? AHA! Now you know. Is there any better entertainer? Not if you ask me. "Mandy," "I write the songs," "Can't smile without you," "Copacabana," to name but a few of his fabulous hits. What a thrill to...
Sandi Solomon, three-term Casselberry city commissioner has found relatives who were thought to have perished in the Holocaust. Through a genealogy search that her daughter-in-law Sharon Fleitman of Atlanta had conducted while searching Yad Vashem's database, Fleitman discovered 31 pages of testimony that Henryk (Henry) Zyngier had given about his experience in the Holocaust when he lived in Tel Aviv in 1957. Fleitman reached out to a Facebook Group, a genealogy portal, for help. Within eight...
(JTA) — In April, the language-learning app Duolingo added its 40th language to its program arsenal: Yiddish. A couple of decades ago, it would have been unthinkable for a mainstream non-Jewish language program to offer an expansive, comprehensive course in Yiddish. But Duolingo’s Yiddish addition only serves to reflect the increased global interest in learning a language that once had as many as 12 million speakers. Ladino, a Romance language of Sephardic Jews still spoken by hundreds of thousands worldwide, has also garnered much int...
(JTA) — The bestselling author Sally Rooney said she decided not to publish her latest novel with an Israeli publishing house because she supports a boycott of Israel, but added that a non-Israeli press could still publish the book in Hebrew. Rooney’s statement, made on Tuesday, confirms a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz last month that Rooney declined to sell Hebrew publishing rights for her new book, “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” to Modan Publishing House, an Israeli press that published her first two novels in Hebrew. The Jewish...
(JTA) - A 2700-year-old toilet from the days of the First Temple in Jerusalem has been discovered by Israel's Antiquities Authority. Built as a private toilet stall at a time when few could afford such a luxury, the toilet is set to be unveiled to the public tomorrow at an archaeology conference, though for viewing only. Carved from limestone, the toilet appears much like the modern-day fixture with a hole at the center leading to a septic tank. At the time the ancient toilet was in use,...
Joan Micklin Silver, the pivotal female Jewish American filmmaker, always worked with a wit and wisdom that made her stories feel both timeless and personal. Best known for the rom-com "Crossing Delancey," Micklin Silver passed away last year while working on the restoration of her 1975 film "Hester Street" with the Cohen Film Collection. That 4K restoration - which essentially involves repairing breakdowns in the original physical film - is now playing in select theaters, and recently screened...
MADRID (JTA) - In an unprecedented effort to find their relatives and raise awareness about their stories, Spanish authorities are releasing a list of the Hungarian Jews protected from the Nazis by a diplomat nicknamed the "Spanish Schindler." Ángel Sanz Briz was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial and museum, in 1966 for using an ingenious legal maneuver to save more than 5,200 Jews from being deported to Auschwitz in 1944. But even though h...
Jewish Pavilion staff and volunteers were thrilled to provide in person high holiday celebrations in over 30 senior communities this year. Pictured is a resident at Allegro Inspired Living in Winter Park enjoying high holiday services with Program Director Susan Bernstein. In addition to providing meaningful services, the Jewish Pavilion staff delivered 400 high holiday gift bags to seniors in over 50 elder-care communities. Special thanks to the Guzman- Glassman family for sponsoring the Rosh...
My past is catching up ... Okay. This is a test. I will be able to tell how old you are by the fact that you remember this entertainer ... David Daniel Kaminsky. (You knew him as Danny Kaye, beloved comedian, singer, dancer, musician, actor, etc.) I used to love him (and still do) and was reminded about him, although he is deceased many years, by a television program about Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary, as he was part of the EPCOT celebration. Danny was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., (like me)...
(JTA) - After a hiatus of more than six years that followed his departure from "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart returned to regular series TV on Thursday night with "The Problem with Jon Stewart." Debuting on Apple TV+, it's a new talk show that will feature in-depth discussion of different political issues, with new episodes debuting every two weeks. The 58-year-old Stewart, of course, is Jewish, and has frequently referenced Judaism throughout his comedy career, including before, during and after...
(JTA) — The familiar Jewish narrative of outsiders struggling to assimilate to their new homeland gets turned on its head in the charming Israeli comedy “Golden Voices.” Here, the strange, unwelcoming new land the Jews face is Israel itself. The year is 1990, and married middle-aged couple Raya and Victor are new immigrants from the Soviet Union, which has just collapsed. With Israel suddenly playing host to an influx of new Russian-speaking migrants, Raya and Victor are our eyes and ears to this culture clash — and in a literal sense, our voi...
(JTA) - Move over, Tevye the dairyman. Make room for Moshkele the thief, the rough and tumble rogue hero from the wrong side of the shtetl in a newly rediscovered work of fiction by Sholom Aleichem. The recent publication of "Moshkele the Thief: A Rediscovered Novel" (Jewish Publication Society/University of Nebraska Press), translated from the original Yiddish and with an introduction by Curt Leviant, marks the first ever English-language translation of the novella by perhaps the most popular a...
