Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Chinese food is the choice of many during the holiday season. The following is a twist on the standby fried rice, created by local resident Myrna Ossin. Cauliflower Fried Rice Ingredients 1 medium head cauliflower, leaves removed and florets separated. Discard the core. In a bullet or food processor, process in batches until pieces are small like rice. 6 multi-colored mini sweet peppers, seeded and minced 2-inch fresh ginger peeled and minced 4 garlic cloves minced 4 T. fresh parsley leaves and...
I am sooo proud ... I know I've said this before, many times: "Much of the American Songbook (no rap) was composed by Jews. The greatest songs of all time, in my opinion!" The other night while watching television (what else is there to do since the start of this pandemic?) I watched the movie "Holiday Inn" on television. All the songs were written by Israel Bellin. (You know him as Irving Berlin.) This was the Broadway version of the 1942 movie of the same name. It had many funny moments,...
It didn't take long for Susie Stone to get involved with the Jewish Pavilion. She and her husband, Mark, first came to Orlando in 1974 for a brief visit for few years. They eventually moved back for good in 1984 and the Jewish community has been all the more fortunate for that move. Stone started her work with the Jewish community as a pre-K teacher at the Jewish Community Center preschool. It wasn't until her in-laws moved to town in 2011 that her interest in Jewish senior living began since...
Not every commandment is given a rabbinical justification as clear as that of the mitzvah (commandment) of lighting the Chanukah lights (whether they are candles or oil, which are both acceptable). The rabbis explain that we light them in order to publicize the miracle of the holiday (pirsumei nisa in Aramaic, the language of the Talmud). This symbolic act shifted during the time of the rabbis from the lighting of a solitary candle each night of the holiday to the lighting of an increasing...
When Disney first announced that it would be airing a Chanukah episode of its popular series "Elena of Avalor" featuring a Latina Jewish princess, the Jewish internet was abuzz with anticipation. I was excited, too. Finally my two daughters, ages 4 and 6, would be able to see Judaism celebrated on television, and with a character that had some ethnic flair. The episode, "Festival of Lights," which first aired on Dec. 6, follows a new character, Princess Rebeca, as her royal ship runs into dicey...
These beet pancakes are great for using up a variety of other root vegetables. Using a food processor will make quick work of the shredding aspect of the preparation. With a nice browned crust, the latkes are delicious served with applesauce or sour cream and chives, and offer a good alternative to hash browns at breakfast or brunch. This recipe is reprinted with permission from “The Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook,” by Elisa Spungen Bildner and Rob Bildner, Countryman Press. Ingredients • 1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (abou...
The Jewish Pavilion has many volunteers who go into the facilities and visit with our seniors but those volunteers are just the tip of the iceberg. The Jewish Pavilion's volunteers aren't just those seen at the facilities. There are a lot of them working hard behind the scenes to help our operations run smoothly. Marlene Adler is one of those volunteers working hard for the Jewish Pavilion. Marlene is a Brooklyn native who at 22 got married and moved to New Jersey. A move that she has never...
What a loss ... I loved watching the television show, "Jeopardy." Although I rarely knew the answers to the questions, I enjoyed watching the game hosted by Alex Trebek. Maybe its because I felt such warmth from him, such tenderness. Also, although he was not raised Jewish, I believe he had Jewish ancestry on his father's side. Alex was from Canada, his ancestry is Ukrainian, like mine on my mother's side. (My mom was born in Canada but her parents and siblings were born in Ukraine.) I will...
(ISRAEL21c) - Thursday, Nov. 19, was World Toilet Day, established by the United Nations to raise awareness of sanitation challenges across the globe. To mark the special event, we looked at the sanitary situation in the Land of Israel these past couple of millennia and learned more about the best ancient toilets uncovered by archaeologists. What can we say - it certainly left us feeling flushed. City of David, Jerusalem (Iron Age) Magnificent remains of toilets were found in the archaeological...
(JTA) - Deni Avdija, the 19-year-old Israeli basketball phenom, was taken by the Washington Wizards with the ninth overall pick of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night – the earliest an Israeli has been picked in league history. Avdija, a lanky 6-9 forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel's top professional league, becomes the second player from the Jewish state to go in the first round. Omri Casspi, also a standout forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv, went 23rd to the Sacramento Kings in the 2009 draft a...
(JTA) - Alex Trebek, the beloved baritone host of "Jeopardy!," died of pancreatic cancer Sunday at 80. In his 36 years as host of the immensely popular game show, Trebek encountered his share of Jewish moments. We've rounded up a few especially notable ones from the last decade here. 2011: A rabbi appears on her ordination anniversary Rabbi Joyce Newmark, a Conservative rabbi from Teaneck, New Jersey, won $29,200 during her appearance on the show, which aired on the 20th anniversary of her...
(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...
