Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The Jewish world has a longstanding aversion to tattoos. Even among largely secular Jews, the taboo against body ink remains powerful - a disinclination attributed both to the tattooing of concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust and the myth that tattooed Jews can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery. As tattooing has grown increasingly mainstream in recent years, some Jews have even embraced it as a way to honor ancestors tattooed by the Nazis. While some liberal Jews have taken a fresh look at the topic, across the range of Jewish...
(JTA) - Five years ago, Rabbi Guy Austrian made a small but powerful change at the synagogue he leads: He wrote down the language his community used to call non-binary members to the Torah. That language had been developed informally over time through a process that Austrian recalled as being "a little awkward" because it involved tweaking language on the fly for congregants whose gender did not fit into the male-female binary that's baked into Hebrew. Codifying the language meant changing only a few words of a formula in use in synagogues...
(JNS) - Being a Mossad operative in Iran isn't a job for the faint of heart. Viewers get a sense of such intensity watching "Tehran" on Apple TV+, a show that will keep them on the edge of their seats. In Season 1, Israeli actress Niv Sultan proved as Tamar Rabinyan, a young Jewish woman born in Iran but raised in Israel, that she was able to hack almost any computer system, shoot anyone and happily risk her life for Israel. In the first episode of Season 2, she has to save the life of an Israeli pilot, Barak, who is to be taken from Evin...
No one likes a dirty house, where stuff is chaotically piled on top of each other just like in a flea market. The situation isn’t helped by the fact that retirees can turn into ‘hoarders’, filling every free space of their home with old junk because ‘it might come in handy one day’. Many older folk tend to hold on to useless items that may become room obstacles, which increase their chance of tripping and falling. Dirt and dust buildup and other unsanitary living conditions may also have serious health consequences. Hoarding tends to get worse...
We can thank members of the tribe for many wacky, wonderful, important, life-changing inventions of the past 120 years. 1. The Teddy Bear Did you know that the teddy bear owes its existence to a Jewish couple? Morris Michtom, a Brooklyn candy shop owner, and his wife, Rose, created a stuffed toy bear in honor of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. It all began when Roosevelt went on a hunting trip in 1902 but failed to locate a single bear. His assistants reportedly cornered and tied a black bear to a tree for the American president to shoot. A big...
(The Nosher) — While cheesecake may seem as American as, well, apple pie — and as Jewish as the New York deli — the truth is that cheesecake has been around for nearly 3,000 years and has traveled the world in many different forms, from savory to sweet, pie and pancake to pastry, tart to mousse. Cheesecake’s roots are in the ancient world, where it was fed to athletes at the first Olympic games in 776 BCE to boost their energy for the competition. That might also explain why it became a wedding cake for the wealthy Greeks, who may have thought...
Blintz souffle is synonymous with easy, classic Ashkenazi-Jewish-American comfort food. The ingredient list isn't long, the steps are very simple but the result is pure, creamy indulgence. Plus, this dish calls for frozen blintzes for extra ease. Many American Jewish families serve this for Yom Kippur break fast, but I think its also a great dish for a meal train, brunch or even Passover, as there are several brands that sell kosher-for-Passover frozen blintzes. Ingredients 6 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup granulated...
What did you say? Oops, speak louder! ... Deaf since she was 18 months old, MARLEE MATLIN made her acting debut in the romantic drama, “Children of a Lesser God.” She won an Academy Award for best actress for her performance. She is the first deaf performer to win an Oscar! She also had many successful television roles and she also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for her outstanding work. Marlee was born in Illinois. She and her siblings were brought up in a reform Jewish household. Her family roots are the same as mine … Russia and Polan...
(New York Jewish Week) - After she finished her compulsory military service as a singer in an IDF performing arts troupe, Israeli folk singer Bat Ella wasn't sure how she would incorporate music into the rest of her life. That is, until she met Debbie Friedman, the American singer-songwriter who revolutionized Jewish prayer services by translating popular prayers and setting them to unforgettable melodies. "She wrote melodies that are simple, catchy and touch your heart right away," Bat Ella, 55, said of Friedman's impact. "She realized the...
(JTA) — The way author Michael Benson tells it, one day in 1938, New York judge and Jewish communal leader Nathan Perlman sat at a bar and thought, “How come these Nazis get to march down 86th Street, goose-stepping and ‘sieg heiling’ like it’s the Macy’s Parade? Why are they so brazen?” It was because they were not worried about the consequences. Too few people in then-isolationist America really cared about what was being said about the Jews or what was happening to them in Europe, Benson said. What was needed, then, were Jews who weren’t a...
For many Jews today, pets are beloved household members who are often considered part of the family. That is despite the commonly held perception that Jewish observance and pet ownership are incompatible. There is no Jewish prohibition against owning pets. And while we know of no studies on Jewish pet ownership, anecdotal evidence suggests that pet ownership is not uncommon among Jews, even in the Orthodox community. Today, some Jews have even created Jewish life cycle rituals and mourning rites for pets. In addition, numerous articles about...
They escaped destruction by the Nazis, survived communism, and found their ways to new homes. This is a story of three Torahs that all have their roots in long-gone Czechoslovakian synagogues. Up until World War II, Czechoslovakia had a thriving Jewish population rooted in hundreds of years of interaction with its Christian neighbors. With the rise of Hitler, however, came the rise of antisemitism and The Final Solution. Throughout Europe, synagogues were burned and Jews were deported to concentration camps. Almost all Jewish artifacts,...
Feeling burned out at work and need to take a day off for your mental health? Well, that break will deliver few benefits if you spend it in bed binge-watching your favorite shows or "doom-scrolling" online. Such activities are like "eating junk food" - it tastes good in the moment, but it's not good for you long-term. Instead, pepper your day with activities that are restorative but not stressful, such as taking a long walk outdoors or calling a friend or family member if you feel you've been prioritizing work over social contact. Above all,...
Seniors living at home may forgo exercise. They may have limited access to the proper equipment and fitness programs and lack motivation. Senor communities offer a full range of gym equipment. They also offer a wide variety of classes such as chair exercise, yoga, weight lifting, dance etc. Daily on-site opportunities to improve mobility, strength and overall wellness make a world of difference. In a senior community, the support of friends may be a motivator as well. We all know that regular exercise is good for your heart and for weight...
Season four of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" was just as Jewy as the ones that came before it - with bar mitzvah scenes, lots of Yiddishisms, Jewish foods and contemplations about the existence of God. The Amazon Prime show about a Jewish standup comedian played by Rachel Brosnahan has consistently been one of the most Jewish shows on TV, despite the controversy about the fact that its star isn't a Jew. In almost every season, protagonist Midge Maisel visits a very Jewish location. In season two, it was the Catskills and the Jewish resort area...
American Jewish food is most typically defined as pastrami sandwiches, chocolate babka, or bagels and lox. But I am here to argue that the greatest American Jewish food may actually be the humble hot dog. No dish better embodies the totality of the American Jewish experience. What’s that you say? You didn’t know that hot dogs were a Jewish food? Well, that’s part of the story, too. Sausages of many varieties have existed since antiquity. The closest relatives of the hot dog are the frankfurter and the wiener, both American terms based on their...
From the editor: Last week’s Heritage ran a Scene Around column from May 27, 2016. We do not understand how this happened, and we sincerely apologize to Gloria Yousha and our readers for any confusion about events that were posted in the column. The following is the column that should have appeared. What a surprise!... I’m referring to Frances Rose Shore … okay, you guessed it. “Dinah, is there anyone finer, in the state of Carolina” Dinah Shore, the fabulous singer! I never would have believed that Dinah Shore was Jewish, not in a million year...
MONTREAL (JTA) - In her 96 years on earth, Lilly Toth didn't get much of a formal education. Born in Budapest in 1925, the self-proclaimed spoiled brat often misbehaved and was frequently suspended from school. But instead of attending university in her late teens, the Holocaust survivor was literally running for her life - hiding with neighbors, surviving an attempted execution on the shores of the Danube, then working for the very fascist organization that attempted to take her life. Despite these huge upheavals and larger losses, Toth...
JERUSALEM (JTA) — I was on a short visit to Israel last week, and spent time with a friend with whom I have been engaged in a 30-year argument. Elli Wohlgelernter and I met when he was the managing editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and I was a staff reporter. We would argue about the future of Jewish life in the Diaspora, which even then he considered in unstoppable decline. We continued the argument after he moved to Israel not soon after. Over the years we’ve both dug in our heels: I am convinced, even after living for a time in Isr...
(JTA) - "The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem" has made headlines as one of the Israeli TV industry's most elaborate and expensive productions ever. The series, which follows a family of Spanish Sephardic Jews living in Jerusalem through different decades of the early 20th century, also features Ladino - the centuries-old language sometimes referred to as Judeo-Spanish that combines medieval Spanish, Hebrew, Aramaic, Turkish, Greek, Arabic and other influences. Ladino, spoken by Jewish communities throughout the Ottoman Empire and North Africa who...
Along with Passover and Sukkot, Shavuot is one of the three major Jewish pilgrimage festivals. It falls out precisely 49 days after the second day of Passover, a period of time known as the Omer, and marks the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. Here are nine things you might not know about this springtime holiday. Shavuot is the holiday of Jewish paper-cutting Shavuot is a springtime festival, a period when the earth is coming into full bloom (in the northern hemisphere anyway). One Jewish legend recounts that Mount Sinai...
In preparation for God's appearance on Mount Sinai, Moses and the Israelite people "stood at the foot of the mountain" (Exodus 19:17) waiting to see and to hear what transpires. The unusual preposition - be-tachtit ("at the foot of") - is understood in the Midrash to mean that the Jewish people were literally standing under the mountain. That is, at the moment God speaks the Ten Commandments, God also uproots Mount Sinai from the ground and holds it over the people, as if to say, "If you accept the Torah, fine; if not, here shall be your...
(JNS) - When Michael Aloni's agent told him about "The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem," he was a bit confused. "Since when is there a beauty pageant in Jerusalem?" Aloni recalled asking at the time, at an event last week at Temple Emanu-El's Streicker Center in New York City. He'd just finished filming the third season of "Shtisel" and had shaved off his beard. He said he read the best-selling novel by Sarit Yishai Levi, on which the show is based, in less than two days and cried while reading it. "There was such an intense shift of everything...
(JNS) - The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, in association with the National Library of Israel, announces Menachem Kaiser, author of "Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure" as the winner of its 2022 award for nonfiction. Heritage editor, Christine DeSouza, wrote a book review about Kaiser's book in the June 4, 2021 issue of the paper. The story recounts the author's Holocaust-survivor grandfather's battle to reclaim the family's apartment building in Sosnowiec, Poland and the treasure that could possibly have been...
(JNS) - Remnants of an ancient city, mysterious inscriptions, caves and catacombs, gorgeous scenery - all are to be found in Bet She'arim, one of Israel's most impressive UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Located in the rolling hills of the Lower Galilee between Haifa and Nazareth, Bet She'arim makes a great day out for families, nature lovers and history buffs. The site has been recently updated, and a stop at the well-equipped Visitor Center to pick up a free map will orient visitors to the best pedestrian route around the large area. Before you e...
