Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Jewish groups expressed their condolences over the passing of former U.K. Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who died early Saturday morning at the age of 72 after recently being diagnosed with cancer. “Rabbi Sacks was a towering figure of great intellect, principle and moral clarity, whose legacy will forever live on as an inspiration to future generations,” tweeted the American Jewish Committee on Saturday. Jewish and other leaders from around the world, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s President Reuven R...
(JTA) - Before I met him, I saw Benjamin McDowell's name in the news. Inspired by Dylann Roof, the notorious shooter responsible for the Charleston church massacre, he planned an attack on a synagogue that was thwarted by FBI agents. No lives were lost. No lasting physical harm was done, though the synagogue members certainly felt threatened and terrified. I read the news item online and, though I didn't yet know the word, doomscrolled onward. I probably wouldn't have thought much about...
Oy Gevalt! ... I recently read this, got upset, and pass it along to you: "The Jewish Confederation of Ukraine voiced outrage following an attack on the Mariupol synagogue by an axe-wielding vandal. The incident occurred on the eve of one of the Jewish calendar's holiest days, Tisha B'Av, which marks the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem. The synagogue's security guard is being hailed as a hero after he successfully fought off the armed attacker. Media reports indicated that the...
One side of Charlene Neely's family settled in New Mexico in 1590. The other side settled there in 1680. "Both grandparents were Roman Catholic and although we were Hispanic, we didn't have the physical characteristics of what was common in the Southwest. We spoke Spanish, but I had cousins who had blue eyes and blonde hair, or green eyes with auburn hair," said Neely, mother of Rabbi Joshua Neely. Her grandmother, Mary Teresa Gallegos, was a practicing Roman Catholic, who went to church...
This article originally appeared in Alma. A woman I quarantined with inadvertently shamed me on a regular basis. As strange March rolled into tragic April which rolled into tragic and strange May, she found ways of keeping herself occupied that were both maddeningly self-enriching and deeply sophisticated. Though we are related, our approach to quarantine was different. As she watched the French film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and the French series “The Bureau,” both sans subtitles, there was no limit to how depraved a show on Bravo might be...
(JTA) — Americans are in desperate need of some common ground. That’s why, this year, Thanksgiving isn’t coming a day too soon. No matter our political views, our religious beliefs, or if we hail from the reddest rural regions or bluest urban areas, on the fourth Thursday of November, Americans will step outside their daily routines to partake in this beloved national holiday. True, we mark Thanksgiving in many different ways. For some, expressions of gratitude to God take center stage, while others celebrate more secularly. Some watch footb...
On a visit home to Fort Lauderdale back in 2013, Jeffrey Kaplan and his then-girlfriend watched as Kaplan's mother pulled out her computer to show them the fake JDate profile she'd put together in a stealth effort to help Kaplan's brother find love. "She was worried about him not finding a Jewish girl to marry," Kaplan said. At the time, he was a graduate student in entrepreneurship at the University of Florida. "I remember the drive back to Gainesville, thinking to myself: When you see a person...
Wow! Once again I'm "wowed"! ... What great talent our people have. I just watched the old movie "Billy Rose's Dumbo" on TV. It made me smile and feel good after so much staying at home for the past many months. I knew Billy Rose was Jewish but the movie featured many beautiful songs, some of them by two of our most talented songwriters, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, both Jewish, of course! And on the same subject ... I watch a lot of television now that I'm stuck in the house, (mostly Dr....
When we think of pizza, most of us think of a combination of marinara sauce, melty cheese and crispy crust. But not all pies need to include these ingredients. Enter: hummus pizza. Yes, it exists, and it's kind of awesome. This innovation often includes the usual trappings of a Mediterranean veggie pizza, like olives, a rainbow of vegetables and doughy crust. But instead of adding cheese and sauce, you use hummus as a substitute. In other words, hummus pizza may look less like a traditional...
Memories ... Did you know that former New York City Mayor, Ed Koch, (who was Jewish) once came to Orlando and visited us at Congregation Ohev Shalom? Well he did, and I had the pleasure of meeting him in person! And speaking of famous people ... The other night on JIMMY FALLON's "Tonight Show," the guests were two prominent Jewish people, comedian CHELSEA HANDLER and Senator BERNIE SANDERS. Actually, Bernie went to a rival high school, Madison, in Brooklyn when I attended Tilden High School and...
The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of new beginnings and births for our family and Disney World, a mix of pain and euphoria. In the summer of 1970, my husband, Howard, and our two young sons, Lee and David, left behind the smog and gridlock of Los Angeles. We had lived there for a year while Howard, hired as Hotel Division manager for Walt Disney World, participated in Disney's intensive orientation training for new executives. He looked forward to assisting in the construction and...
(JTA) - Sacha Baron Cohen's latest appearance in character as Borat was heavy on the bathroom humor - and on satirizing conspiracy theories that target Jews. On "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Monday night, Cohen showed up as Borat - the anti-Semitic, misogynist journalist from Kazakhstan who starred in a blockbuster 2006 film and is set to star in a sequel out this week. Right away, Borat said the coronavirus comes from "a place called Wuhan, which is in Israel." "It is no surprise, they are spreading...
So much has been written about the Holocaust. But have we really learned from the past? Millions of words later, we are facing a terrifying upswing in anti-Semitism. What can we do? We can keep writing, keep recording, keep remembering. And we can make sure that the voices of those who perished and those who survived are preserved. As we commemorate the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, here is one more for the record: The story of my husband's cousin, a Holocaust survivor. Albert Leon...
"I live in California and my mother lives in Orlando. I need to help her find independent or assisted living. What senior community do you recommend where my mother can be with other Jewish people?" This is one of the most common questions we receive at the Orlando Senior Help desk says Nancy Ludin, CEO of the Jewish Pavilion. In fact, it is this question that led to the formation of the Orlando Senior Help Desk. Sometime before 2012, Lee Cutler called the Jewish Pavilion to inquire about a...
Some upsetting news from Canada ... I read this in the current issue of the World Jewish Congress digest and pass it along to you: "The WJC-affiliated Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs released the following statement in response to a string of anti-Semitic incidents across Toronto, Canada: The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is disgusted by a recent series of disturbing anti-Semitic incidents across the Greater Toronto area. An anti-Israel protest took place at Celebration Square in...
Cantor Nina Fine is connecting elementary school students with our seniors through an "adopt a grandparent" program for The Jewish Pavilion. Children can specify either a "grandfather" or "grandmother" and will be matched with a senior in a facility served by The Jewish Pavilion. Each child agrees to a minimum of once-monthly contact with their "grandparent" through a phone call, zoom call, letter, a special drawing or art project or a care package. We have kids who can't wait to get their...
Joanne Fink grew up on the Main Line in Philadelphia, Pa., the daughter of first-generation Polish/Austrian and Russian immigrants. Fink found her passion for art in high school. Her parents were the ones who inspired her by exposing her to their love for the visual arts and music. "Both of my parents went to Temple University. My mother studied to be an English teacher and my father a pathologist. However, they both had creative passions - my mother for art history, my father, for the cello,"...
(Israel21C via JNS) Atop a soaring Tel Aviv skyscraper, an orchestra of Jewish, Muslim, Druze and Christian musicians from across Israel performed the Emirati song "Ahebak" ("I Love You") in tribute to the historic Israel-UAE peace treaty. Posted on Sept. 15 to coincide with the Abraham Accords signing ceremony in Washington, the clip now has a quarter-million YouTube views. "It has made a lot of noise," says Firqat Alnoor Orchestra co-founder and manager Hana Ftaya. "The reactions are...
(JTA) - Plans are under way to find a home for a huge trove of works by a nearly forgotten Jewish artist that was uncovered 78 years after her death in a Nazi concentration camp. The works of Czech artist Gertrud Kauders (1883-1942) were found during the demolition of an old house near Prague in 2018, when 30 paintings tumbled onto the head of a worker. Hundreds more canvases were found in the walls and under floorboards of the home where the artist had stashed them to keep them out of Nazi...
(Tel Aviv) - The Israel Start-Up Nation cycling team made history, recording its first ever stage victory in a Grand Tour race, just five years after the team's establishment. Alex Dowsett finished first on Stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia. The Giro is one of professional cycling's three prestigious Grand Tour races, alongside the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana. Dowsett was part of a breakaway group of six riders, alongside ISN team-mate Matthias Brändle, during the 200km stage from Giovinaz...
She is NOT wearing an underwire. And so are many other women. Yes, we have expunged our Exquisite Forms, ousted our Olgas and wiped out our Warners. Instead, we have traded our confining, pokey attire for the comfort of sports bras, bralettes, or maybe even nothing! Not since the 60s, when we were burning our Balis have women felt so liberated! I conducted a very scientific research study by posting the following question to my women friends on FaceBook: "Have you liberated your 'girls' since...
In his own words, Laurence Morrell is the "last of the Jewish Red Necks." This coming Oct. 30, 2020, will be not only his 78 birthday, but also the 65th anniversary of his bar mitzvah at Temple Israel where it was celebrated originally....
The Jews of Color Career Development Program announced its first cohort members today — on Indigenous People’s Day — who will work in Jewish ventures and institutions across the country, developing their skills as entrepreneurial leaders working toward system-level change in the Jewish community. A partnership between UpStart and the Jews of Color Initiative, the six-week part-time paid program will nurture the growth of emerging JOC leaders, increase access to talent, and deepen investment within the Jewish innovation ecosystem to develop a th...
(JTA) - A social media storm has erupted after the announcement that Israeli actress Gal Gadot will portray the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra in a blockbuster film. Critics complained that Gadot is neither Egyptian nor Arab, while others are pointing out that Cleopatra wasn't Arab. Pakistani journalist Sameera Khan blasted the casting, which was reported Sunday, in a tweet that has stirred widespread discussion on the platform. "Which Hollywood dumbass thought it would be a good idea to cast an...
(JTA) - After Israeli actress Gal Gadot announced this weekend that she would play the legendary Egyptian queen in a blockbuster movie, it didn't take long for the calls of cultural appropriation to start on social media. One tweet in particular, which said Gadot is "stealing" the role from Arab actresses, started a robust debate. Some users pointed out that Cleopatra wasn't Egyptian - as a Ptolemaic ruler, she was descended from a Macedonian father, and historians don't know the ethnicity of...
