Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(Jerusalem Israel) — Gilda Radner is doing flips in her grave. If she were alive, the former star of Saturday Night Live who died in 1989, would be crying, but not from laughter. Radner is one of many young comedians who got their start on SNL. She created and became famous for characters including Emily Litella, Roseanne Roseannadanna, Lisa Loopner, and Baba Wawa. Radner was also among a number of Jewish comics whose careers took off on and following SNL. Others include Billy Crystal, Jon Lovitz, Ben Stiller, and comedian-turned-Senator, Al Fr...
Purim, or the Feast of Lots, is a joyous holiday that recounts the saving of the Jews from a threatened massacre during the Persian period (539-330 BCE). It is celebrated this year beginning at sunset on Thursday, Feb. 25. The story of Purim is recounted in the Book of Esther, whose eponymous heroine plays the leading role in saving her people. The holiday is traditionally celebrated with wild abandon and with the giving of gifts to friends and the poor. History of Purim While the origins of...
"Go with the flow" has always been King William Halikman's philosophy on life and it has paid off for him. A telemetry engineer for RCA at the beginning of his career, he met an 18-year-old Brazilian beauty at a dance in Recife, Brazil. He was 25 and hadn't planned to be there. She was born in Brazil but hadn't planned to be there either (in that country, that is). Her grandparents came to South America in hopes of reaching their dream to come to America from Europe, not realizing there is a...
TEL AVIV - On Feb. 11, 1986, Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky - freed after enduring nine years in Russian prison on false charges of treason and espionage - stepped off a jet that had carried him straight from Germany and out into the Israeli sunshine. "It was a very dramatic day, starting in a Soviet prison, then meeting my wife in Berlin after 12 years, then finishing at Ben Gurion Airport, and finally visiting the Kotel" in Jerusalem, said Sharansky, recalling the events of 35 years ago as...
Wow! ... Remember recently I mentioned in my column that I would include more Jewish comedians and singers? Two of my favorites were Sid Caeser (now deceased) and WOODY ALLEN. Both were (and are) brilliant! Actually, Woody, who was born in the Bronx, was raised in Brooklyn and at one time we were neighbors. Woody went to Midwood High School and I attended Tilden High School. (And he was older than me!) Remember singer Tony Martin? Not only was he handsome, he had a great singing voice. He appear...
(JTA) - Director Steven Spielberg has won the 2021 Genesis Prize, the award nicknamed the "Jewish Nobel." The award, which "honors extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity, and commitment to Jewish values," was announced Wednesday. "Key Jewish themes are often woven into his narratives: importance of identity and belonging, maintaining humanity in a ruthless world, caring for the other, and honoring the moral obligation to do the right...
Eight schools from five countries will unite in song in the upcoming Boys Town Jerusalem International Virtual Choral Festival on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. EST. For the past 13 years, the annual Boys Town Jerusalem Choral Festival, in support of the Israeli school’s underprivileged students, has been held in London. This year, the pandemic has compelled the creation of a “virtual” festival, which now opens the event to participation by choirs from Jewish Day Schools across the world. The following schools will be participating in this landm...
Staying away from politics ... But, I can't help telling my readers that we should be proud about the Jewish Space Lazers! Brilliant! Simply brilliant! Anti-Semitic conspiracy myths ... (Sounds like it belongs with the first story ... but no.) I read this in the World Jewish Congress and pass it along: "Two new reports released by the WJC have found that harmful conspiracy myths targeting Jews have become increasingly widespread online, and that the once United States-centric QAnon movement has...
Content warning: disordered eating. I never knew what an impact an eighth-grade field trip to the local water park would have on me. I still remember the sinking feeling in my stomach once I saw all my classmates were wearing bikinis while I hid my belly rolls and cellulite underneath a one-piece, which suddenly seemed grandmotherly. The same shame still heats up my cheeks when I remember how my thick thighs stuck to the plastic inner tube. This field trip marked the beginning of several years of disordered eating, marked by obsessively...
(Jewish Journal via JNS) - Before World War II, there were about 50,000 Jews living in Salonica (or Thessaloniki), the largest Jewish community in Greece. Between March and August 1943, the Germans deported more than 45,000 Jews to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing camp. Most of the deportees were gassed on arrival. Because this represented the decimation of a community, it would go down as an especially dark moment in the darkest chapter of Jewish history. But a few Jews managed to survive the...
(JTA) - Rabbi Josh Feigelson remembers the moment that football lost its magic for him. It was Oct. 20, 2013, and Feigelson was eating dinner with his family at Ken's Diner, a kosher restaurant in Skokie, the Chicago suburb where they live. A TV was playing a football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns. Feigelson, who grew up in the football-crazed college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was a longtime fan of the sport, and his then preteen kids had taken up the mantle,...
As a child, visits to my maternal grandfather and grandmother (of Italian and Polish heritage, respectively) involved eating a lot pasta and pierogi. Dessert, in turn, was sometimes cannoli and poppyseed roll, but often a platter of Stella D'Oro cookies - assorted dainty corrugated rings and logs of buttery dough with almond undertones. My grandfather had developed a taste for them early in his youth as an immigrant from Genoa, and my grandparents' pantry was never without at least one package....
"Make new friends and keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." Not only is that a quote very similar to us but can be very relatable as well. The Jewish Pavilion has solidified so many silver- and gold-type relationships. Volunteers spend many hours with seniors, many who are considered true friends. Whether it be at a Shabbat, a holiday, a one-on-one room visit, or even playing a few games of mahjong, the time spent is invaluable to all. Spending time at the communities also forges frie...
(JTA) — Several Jewish stars are among the nominees for the 2021 NAACP Image Awards, which celebrate Black achievement in movies, television, music and literature. The list announced Tuesday features a mix of familiar Jewish names, such as the often-awarded rapper Drake and TV star Tracee Ellis Ross, along with rising artists like actress Jurnee Smollett and rapper Doja Cat. The ceremony will air virtually on March 27. Here are the Jews to know. The stars Jurnee Smollett received a nomination for her breakout role as Leti in “Lovecraft Cou...
(JTA) - "Schitt's Creek" is trying to pick up in the Golden Globes where it left off in the fall with its historic Emmys sweep. The show about a wealthy interfaith Jewish family was nominated Wednesday for five awards, including four for the main actors and one for best series. There are plenty of other Jewish nominations, too, notably "Mank," the acclaimed film on the story of Jewish screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, with six. The Golden Globes, taking place virtually in the new pandemic normal,...
(Jewish Journal via JNS) - More than 170 entertainment industry leaders released a unity statement on Feb. 1 after launching the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance (BJEA), a joint initiative by black and Jewish entertainment industry professionals devoted to countering racism and anti-Semitism. In the face of institutional racism and rising anti-Semitism, members of the alliance feel it is critical to stand together and support one another. Signatories of the statement include Billy Porter,...
First, a somber memory ... Jan. 27 was "Holocaust Remembrance Day." That brings to mind the late former Congressman from California, Tom Lantos, who passed some years ago from cancer. For those of you who aren't familiar with him, I will try to fill you in: Tamas (Thomas) Peter Lantos was born in Bupapest, Hungary, to a Jewish family that was very educated with teachers, professors, etc. Of course, during World War II, they were sent to concentration camps. When Tom was 16 years old he was...
NEW YORK (JTA) - On a frosty Tuesday in January, Mark Becker strode into Max and Mina's ice cream shop holding a netted green bag filled with fresh oranges. "Maybe he's making orange ice cream," his brother Bruce said from behind the counter. Max and Mina's flavors tend to change with the seasons, the Jewish holidays and the Becker brothers' moods. Winter doesn't stop the experimentation. "I'm using all of it, even the peel," Mark Becker said firmly, swinging the bag over his shoulder and...
"We are the world"... "We are the children." (I'm using this wonderful song, written by Michael Jackson and LIONEL RICHIE, and applying it to the Jewish people because it seems to fit!) The more I look up things about my favorites, the more I find out that they are (or were) Jewish! For instance, who knew Larry King, super-famous radio and television personality, was a member of the clan? (I didn't.) His real name was Lawrence Zeiger. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. (like me) and his parents were...
The Squadron, the only air force simulator program with Israeli fighter pilots as instructors, announced the launch of their live, online center of excellence. The center, which is designed for both organizations and individuals, incorporates lessons from the Israel Air Force to promote the ideals and principles it has developed. “Our online courses capture the spirit and heritage of the Israeli Air Force, combining a thrilling flight simulator experience with an actual IAF pilot navigating t...
The Council of American Jewish Museums and George Mason University’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media are launching two new collecting initiatives with support from a group of Jewish funders, the Chronicling Funder Collaborative, to document diverse Jewish experiences of the pandemic. The Rosenzweig Center received a grant to create a web portal that will serve as a digital content hub reflecting Jewish life during this time. The grant to CAJM enables it to partner with 18 member institutions to lead a broad-based oral history c...
(JTA) - The final book published by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks before he died in November is the Jewish Book Council's top book for 2020. "Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times," published in the United States in September, was awarded the Everett Family Foundation Book of the Year when the Jewish Book Council announced its 2020 National Jewish Book Awards on Wednesday. Sacks shared his vision for a moral future - one that he said would include an end to "cancel culture," changes in...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Gene Scheer had a deadline looming. He was getting ready for the CD release of one of his Holocaust-related works, timed for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, one week away. But on Jan. 20, Scheer, a Jewish librettist whose works include the operas "Therese Raquin" and "Moby-Dick" and an adaptation of the Christmas classic "It's A Wonderful Life," took time out to watch Joe Biden's inauguration as president. The relief he felt as he watched Biden, who had been his...
It's hard to believe, but Saturday marks 10 years since the passing of Jewish musical icon Debbie Friedman, who died of pneumonia on Jan. 9, 2011, at age 59. If you grew up in the Reform movement - especially if you ever attended a Shabbat song session at a Reform Jewish camp - you are undoubtedly familiar with the singer-songwriter's vast and gorgeous musical repertoire. Influenced by folk artists like Peter, Paul and Mary, Friedman's music is modern, moving and wide ranging, from the soothing...
One-third of early pregnancies end in miscarriage. It is emotionally wrenching for the anticipating parents and there are support groups, and many resources to help them deal with the loss. But what about young children? How does one help a young child who also was expecting a new brother or sister to play with? A Johns Hopkins-trained, board certified OB/GYN, and an associate professor at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Dr. I. Cori Baill often wished that she had a...
