Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) - Frank Saraceno has worked for ESPN since 1994 and has produced hour-long documentaries on some of the biggest stars in sports for the cable channel's Emmy Award-winning "E:60" series. But he thinks working on the episode airing Tuesday night might have been the most powerful experience with the show he has had since its inception in 2007. "I don't think I've ever been more gratified in terms of the story that I pitched coming to fruition than I am with Shaul Ladany," Saraceno told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "And it's because of him....
As we approach Rosh Hashanah and the Jewish High Holy Days, the staff and board members at the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida wish you and your family a healthy 5783. We also want to extend our deep thanks for the warm welcome this community has shown to our new CEO Talli Dippold. Dippold, who recently relocated from Charlotte, North Carolina, is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and is dedicated to keeping alive the legacy of survivors by telling their powerful stories of resilience and resistance, lessons...
The month leading up to Rosh Hashanah is the month of Elul. In Hebrew, the letters that spell Elul are Alef, Lamed, Vav and Lamed. Those same letters are the first letters of the binding of a couple on their wedding day. Ani Ledodi V'dodi Li – I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. This mystical reading is more than a mere coincidence as it also sums up the relationship that Jews around the world will be reviewing as we enter the High Holidays. As the "Jewish New Year," Rosh Hashanah is a time when Jews review not only their relationships w...
As we enter this special time of reflection and renewal, we at Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando would like to thank all who have supported us this past year as we continue to grow in our commitment to our community. JFS Orlando delivers hope to our community through our FAMILY of services, not just during the holidays but EVERY day. One in seven people, among them one in five children, in Central Florida cannot afford basic food staples. To keep up with the increasing demand for food assistance, JFS Orlando has nearly completed the...
With Rosh Hashanah approaching, the Rosen JCC is excited to update the community on what we believe will be a very busy year ahead. The Hebrew word "shanah" means "year," but is also the root for the Hebrew word for "change." As we look internally to what changes are we willing to consider in our words and actions, the Rosen JCC is excited to launch a new initiative to change the perspective of Jewish families not yet connected to the community. Called "Makom" (Hebrew for "home"), we want the JCC to be a Jewish home - a destination - for those...
The Israeli American Council of Central Florida wishes you happy Jewish New Year, Shana Tova Umetuka! May the year 5783 bring joy, light, health, love, and growth to our community. May we continue to be united and love one another endlessly. Idit Lotringer IAC of Central Florida...
Kudos to the Jewish Pavilion management team - our board, staff, sponsors, supporters and volunteers. The Jewish Pavilion has been a pillar in the community for over 20 years, and we intend to remain an anchor for years to come. We are fiscally strong and secure, thanks to community-wide support. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the Jewish Pavilion was able to carry out most of its Shabbat and holiday festivities for our beloved seniors. All of our fundraising and friend-raising efforts were enormously successful. All six events had over 100...
Jewish Academy of Orlando welcomed 34 new students into the 2022-2023 school year. Our motto this year is "Every Child Counts," and we have prepared a rich curriculum in both Hebrew/Judaic and Secular education that will help each child succeed in their own way. We will also be rolling out our Mini Mensch program that will help preschoolers transition into our kindergarten classes and JAO Connections which will help previous students of JAO connect with each other, be a welcoming face at their new schools or even connect them to alumni who can...
Why didn’t the United States do more to help Europe’s Jews during the Holocaust? This question haunts the history of the United States and the Holocaust, and lurks behind practically every storyline in the new film on the subject from Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, to be aired for three consecutive nights on PBS beginning Sept. 18. The question, of course, isn’t just about the Holocaust, but about the years before the war, when the Nazi vise tightened around the Jews of Germany and more than half of them sought to obtain visas...
When visiting a doctor or hospital bring along a notebook or tablet and take notes. It is important to ask question of your healthcare provider about the benefits and side effects of medications or procedures. I suggest that you, or a loved one, research the same information on line so that you feel well informed. There are times when a second opinion should be sought, especially preceding a surgery. I recommend you bring along an advocate. Sometimes, it is hard to process so much new information. When a family member or friend comes to an...
Do you have the feeling that someone you know or care about isn’t behaving as they normally would? Perhaps they seem a bit off, unsettled, or solitary? Try to engage them in conversation. But remember that before you can look out for others, you need to look out for yourself. And that’s OK. If you’re not in the right mindset or you don’t think you’re the right person to have the conversation, try to think of someone else in their support network who could talk to them. And if you need help starting the conversation, JFS counselors are here...
September 2021 Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation started the year off with a new student rabbi, Rabbi David Chapman. Before he became a rabbi, he had a successful year in the theatre. His first Broadway show was “The Addams Family” musical with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. Jewish Family Services of Orlando formed a partnership with Central Florida Hillel. A JFS mental health therapist became available for open hours in Hillel’s Wellness Lounge, which was funded by a grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. Theresa Evans becam...
(JNS) - The Israel Antiquities Authority has successfully repatriated a rare First Temple-period document from the United States, the IAA announced on Wednesday. The papyrus document is written in ancient Hebrew script and is believed to have been found in a cave in the Judean Desert, according to the IAA. The item consists of four torn lines that begin with the words, "To Ishmael send," suggesting the fragment is part of a letter containing instructions to the recipient. It therefore likely dates back to the sixth or seventh centuries BCE,...
(JNS) — Archaeologists are describing as “extraordinary” the discovery of a collection of ivory plaques from the First Temple period recently unearthed in Jerusalem. They are among only a few ever found and the first to be unearthed in the city. The plaques, approximately 2,700 years old, were discovered during the excavations being conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University at the Givati Parking Lot in the City of David archaeological and tourism site, which is part of the Jerusalem Walls National Park. Decor...
For the second year in a row, RAISE has been named a top-rated program by GreatNonprofits, the leading platform for community-sourced stories about nonprofits. Being named by this organization means that RAISE is really making a difference in the lives of its participants and the community. RAISE is also in partnership with Amazon in Orlando. This is a great opportunity for RAISE alumni, as any raise graduate who would like to work at Amazon will have a guaranteed job....
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, six in 10 people with Alzheimer’s disease will wander. Wandering is best described as a tendency to roam or walk around without a clear destination or purpose. For those with Alzheimer’s disease, the destination or purpose of the walk is often forgotten, causing them to become confused or lost. As a caregiver, you are must be concerned about the safety of someone who wanders. There may be no harm in wandering a contained space, but for someone with dementia who gets lost outside, the risk of injur...
(JTA) - Eugene Ginter was 12 days shy of his sixth birthday when he was liberated from Auschwitz in January 1945. Emaciated and alone, Ginter landed first in a hospital and then in an orphanage in Krakow, the Polish city where he was born. Several months later, miraculously, he was reunited with his mother. Her first order of business was to help him regain weight and health, but he had no interest in food after being deprived of it for so long. So she created a rich sandwich made of things she knew he liked: black bread thickly coated with...
Asking for help can be intimidating, but trying to do it all yourself will put you at a higher risk of stress and other health concerns. Very few of us can navigate this world alone. When you feel overwhelmed, try reaching out to your trusted support system. Even journaling can be a great starting point to prioritize emotions and help recognize when you might need a hand. And when you're ready for guidance through life's turbulent times...we're here for you. JFS Orlando is here to help with our family of services and trusted programs designed...
(JTA) - For nearly a millennium, 17 Jewish children and adults lost to history at the bottom of a well kept a secret about the genetic markers that distinguish Ashkenazi Jews. In 1190, in Norwich, a riverside city perched near England's eastern coast, crusaders on their way to the Holy Land massacred 17 Jews and threw them down a well. The town was already a locus for antisemitic fervor: In 1144, its people originated the first known blood libel, blaming Jews for the ritual murder of a child. In 2004, construction workers in the town, one of...
(JTA) – Riding a wave of tabloid notoriety after winning his highly publicized defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp is planning to direct a biopic about a different troubled figure: the Jewish Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star is partnering with Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino to produce the film, which will be adapted from the 1979 play "Modigliani" by Dennis McIntyre. It will chronicle the life of the artist whose portraits and sculptures of Parisian women (often in the nude, with e...
(JTA) — Bobby Jones headed to bed on Sept. 4, 1972, expecting a grueling practice schedule the next day. After a standout sophomore season at the University of North Carolina, the future NBA Hall of Famer was in Munich as a member of the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team, which had just advanced to the medal round. Jones didn’t get the night of sleep he was expecting. “We heard gunfire at night and the village had turned into an armed camp by morning,” Jones told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. A little after 4 in the morning on Sept. 5, eight...
By Andrew Lapin (JTA) — One of the first people introduced in Ken Burns’ new documentary series about the Holocaust is Otto, a Jewish man seen in the series’ first episode who tries to secure passage to America for his family but gets stymied by the country’s fierce anti-immigration legislation. It isn’t until the third episode that viewers learn that Otto’s daughter is nicknamed Anne, and the pieces fall into place: He’s the father of Anne Frank, the Holocaust’s most famous victim. Burns calls the delayed detail a “hidden ball trick,” hopi...
(JNS) - A 1,200-year-old luxurious rural estate-the first of its kind in the Negev-was exposed in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the government through the Authority for the Development and Settlement of the Bedouin, prior to the expansion of the Bedouin town of Rahat. A surprise awaited the archaeologists in the estate's courtyard: a unique vaulted complex overlying a three-meter-deep, rock-hewn water cistern. Dating to the Early Islamic period (eighth to ninth centuries C.E.), the...
(JTA) — The James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Twitty released a book of recipes and essays that fuses Jewish and African-American culinary histories this week. Twitty, 45, won acclaim for his 2018 book “The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African-American Culinary History in the Old South,” which also drew parallels between African-American and Jewish history. Twitty grew up in Washington, D.C., in a Christian household but around Jewish food, with a mother who regularly made challah; he converted to Judaism in his early 20s and now keeps...
(JNS) — It’s been a scorcher of a summer, so when a friend suggested a trip to the Berkshire Mountains, this Northeasterner was ready for some cooler weather. Not quite a “staycation” (it was about a five-hour drive during less trafficked hours), it was far less expensive than flying right now. The Berkshires in Western Massachusetts is rustic and rural, offering the feeling of really getting away from it all. Little towns and villages are nestled in the mountains, a skier’s attraction come wintertime. In July, verdant greenery and clean air—co...
