Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Within weeks of closing the doors to the Holocaust Center because of COVID, we hosted our first virtual event - our Yom HaShoah commemoration for an audience of over 500 people. Professional development programs, including our annual Norman Wall Summer Teachers Institute followed, allowing us to virtually reach teachers, students and so many others well beyond our Central Florida community. Our world had already been turned upside down by the pandemic when the killing of George Floyd triggered...
We miss our moms and dads! This has been an especially challenging year for everyone, but even more so for our seniors in elder-care communities who have not received any physical contact in months. For staff and volunteers at the Jewish Pavilion, touch is our secret ingredient. While our seniors adore their visits from volunteers, their Shabbat services, and holiday festivities, the thing that binds us together is the warm relationships we form. Hugs deepen that bond. Our staff and volunteers...
A scary, uneasy time ... I received the following from the World Jewish Congress and I pass it along to you: "There is no doubt that we are living through a tumultuous time of profound unrest and uncertainty across the nation and around the world. We continue to struggle against the consequences of COVID-19 and the resulting fight against new forms and new waves of antisemitism and discrimination of any kind. At the same time, there are glimmers of real hope and progress on the horizon. The WJC...
As we enter the new year of 5781, The Roth Family JCC has many new programs and opportunities for people to take advantage of. As a community center in the era of Covid, things look very different however our goal of providing a community environment has not changed. A few of our highlights include: • Shayna’s Village moving virtual with Earthly Treasures, a 7-week online journey starting Oct. 6. Participants will get their creative juices flowing as they decorate and fill their child’s own uniq...
As we enter 5781, the Federation is excited about what our community has been doing and is excited to bring even more to Central Florida during the coming year. Our Jerome J Bornstein Leadership Development program is preparing to graduate an incredible class of 15 leaders. Many have already taken positions on community organization boards and others are in the process of deciding how they will best serve our Jewish community. I'm excited to see these leaders in action and how they will impact o...
(My Jewish Learning via JTA) - Invited to someone's house for a Rosh Hashanah meal and looking for an appropriate gift? In addition to the always appreciated flowers or bottle of wine, here are some other must-have (or must-give) items for the Jewish New Year. If you're drawn to the edible items on this list, we recommend you check ahead of time whether your host keeps kosher or has other dietary restrictions. Jewish calendars Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year after all, and every year needs...
By Christine DeSouza What a year of surprises 5780 was — and that is stating it in a good light. Everything was going along sort of smoothly. There was an Israeli presidential election that made half of the country very happy and half of it very upset. So, what’s new with that? The Jewish Film Festival was held in November at the Enzian to rave reviews thanks to the JCC committee that shuffled through a multitude of videos to select just seven for our entertainment. Dedications, openings and galas were held, awards were given … and then suddenl...
What a year 5780 has been. Who would have thought that a year ago, as we were gearing up for the holidays, that we would soon be faced with one of the strangest periods that any of us have ever experienced? It has been a time of triumphs and challenges, great joys and great pains. Through it all the power of community has remained. At Rollins Hillel, our student leaders have quickly shifted gears to provide meaningful Jewish experiences to their peers virtually. From Zoom trivia nights, to...
It is the last day of Moses' life. He has one final opportunity to speak to the Children of Israel. He gathers everyone and says, "You are all standing today before your G-d: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers - all people of Israel." If this sounds like a lot of detail instead of just saying "everyone," you are not alone. According to one of our most important rabbinic sages, the phraseology here is on purpose. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchai, also known as Rashi, wrote that Moses i...
The Simon Wiesenthal Center ... I received a letter recently from Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the SWC. It started off like this: In 1977, I made a sacred vow to Simon Wiesenthal that the Center that carries his name would uphold his legacy of combating anti-Semitism, defending the Jewish nation and standing up for justice and human dignity. Forty-three years later, that struggle is very urgent and very real. The last few months have been an unprecedented time in our country. Like...
Drunk History, the beloved Comedy Central show where comedians get drunk and tell a story from history, was just canceled after six seasons. In honor of the show's fantastic run, we decided to highlight 10 of our favorite Jewish histories to grace the screen. 1. Rachel Bloom on the capture of Adolf Eichmann What's so great about Rachel Bloom's re-telling in Drunk History is, honestly, everything. A Jewish comedian telling the story of the capture of Eichmann? We can't get enough. As Bloom...
Scrolling through all the open Safari windows on my phone is like a virtual tour through the months of this pandemic. It starts in the early spring with online gardening tips, funny memes about the shift to virtual schooling, and recipes for banana bread, cookies, and Marzipan bakery's legendary rugelach (though I still haven't tackled that one). Then there are long-form reads about grief and loss, data-driven pieces about decision making, and funny memes about doomscrolling. And now, as we...
Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic and for the first time in its history, Birthright-Israel has postponed all trips since mid-March. “While tens of thousands of Jewish young adults were planning to visit Israel this summer, the organization quickly turned to online high-quality engagement with its alumni and prospective participants. Since mid-March we reached 4.4 million people around the world,” said Noa Bauer, vice president of Global Marketing at Birthright. “Today we invite the thousands of Birthright applicants whose trips were cance...
While watching television ... (What else is there to do during this pandemic quarantine? Well. If I wasn't a widow I would figure it out!) Anyway, I saw some great movies in the last few days. "First Wives Club" was one of them. BETTE MIDLER and GOLDIE HAWN were two of the stars and both are Jewish. Also, SARAH JESSICA PARKER is featured in that movie, (Another Jew.) Next, I saw "Foul Play," again with Goldie Hawn as one of the stars. The movie featured the music of Barry Alan Pincus throughout....
(JTA) — There was already some buzz around “An American Pickle,” the biggest Jewish movie of the year, before the movie’s star Seth Rogen made comments about Israel that seemed to set the Jewish internet on fire. In the new movie, Seth Rogen plays Herschel Greenbaum, a Jewish immigrant who is preserved in pickle brine for 100 years and emerges to meet his app developer great-grandson Ben, also played by Rogen, in modern hipster Brooklyn. The movie seems to exist in a world where Israel doesn’t exist — Herschel Greenbaum fell into the pickle...
If you think chicken kebabs sound boring, I don't blame you. Usually they are. And dry. But not this recipe. This recipe pays homage to one of the earliest forms of cooking: roasting meat on a spit over a fire. Roasting smaller cuts, like kebabs, became popular in areas like the Middle East, where firewood was scarce, as they proved more practical to cook over small fires. According to food historian Gil Marks, the word is derived from the ancient Persian "kabab," which most likely stemmed from...
(JTA) — One of the six men with the power to substantially change the direction of the United States Postal Service is a Jewish businessman who says his support for organized labor was heavily influenced by his socialist Zionist summer camp. Ron Bloom, who steered the nation’s automobile industry through its own crisis a decade ago and now works in private equity, was appointed to the mail service’s board of governors last year. One of two Democrats on the board, his term ends in December. Bloom told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2009 after...
"I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the only child of Rosalind and Irving Dorsky. My grandparents came from Belarus and Ukraine to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. My paternal grandfather was a tailor and my maternal grandfather had a pet store and was a part-time cantor. I have warm memories of my grandfather teaching me how to sew," Debbie Meitin said. Meitin's parents met at a dance held by a Jewish organization. "My father was an attorney, but he worked with his brother in a...
A proud Navy mom ... While watching television the other night (what else is there to do during the "pandemic"?), I watched one Navy musical movie after another. The first one was titled "Hit The Deck," starring Alvin Morris, a nice Jewish boy! You probably knew him as Tony Martin. The second movie musical about the Navy is titled "On The Town." The talents behind it were Basia Cohen (Betty Comden), Adolph Green and Leonard Bernstein, among others. They, of course, were all Russian Jews. Who...
(JTA) - It was only a matter of time: A Jewish Netflix has arrived. That moniker is probably the best description of ChaiFlicks, a film and TV streaming platform focused on Jewish-themed movies that launched Wednesday, Aug. 12. It helps that its creators were once in business with the real Netflix. Neil Friedman, founder of the Jewish-focused distribution company Menemsha Films, said he sold two films to Netflix: the 2015 bakery-set drama "Dough" and the 2016 Israeli film "The Women's Balcony."...
(JTA) - Though much about the 2020 Emmy Awards ceremony is not yet known, one thing is clear: Jewish TV stars are well positioned to clean up. Dozens of Jewish actors and creators were on the list when this year's nominations were announced Tuesday. Read through to see who could take home prizes when the awards show airs in September. One notable show that was shut out: "The Plot Against America," the HBO miniseries that depicts an alternate history in which isolationist Charles Lindbergh wins...
Maybe it's the home comfort it exudes, maybe it's how easy it is to make, but for a variety of, mostly inexplicable, reasons, banana bread has become everyone's quarantine darling. There were a couple of weeks where I couldn't scroll through Instagram without seeing at least three loaves on my feed. Google confirmed it: Banana bread searches are way up compared to other baked goods. I'll be honest: I didn't get on board until recently. Besides for having a serious aversion to all things banana,...
How will I celebrate a milestone birthday during the pandemic? That hoped-for week away with my family is out. A party at my home is out. Heck, my husband, Larry, and I can't even head to my favorite restaurant and indulge in a filet mignon and my free birthday brownie sundae. But there is a silver lining. An Abbotts frozen custard stand is less than 33 miles away from our Florida home. The history of one of my culinary favorites began in 1902 when a young and enthusiastic Arthur Abbott...
Recently I came across photos taken 30 years ago this summer. During that time, I was privileged to greet several planeloads of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union landing in Israel, welcoming them on the tarmac as they began their new lives in their ancient home. Even though some didn’t know it, they were fulfilling dreams of generations of the Jewish people yearning to come home. Having worked for years to help free Jews from the USSR, and dreaming to live in Israel myself, each p...
(Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle via JTA) - Sandy Greenberg recalls walking along Amsterdam Avenue in New York City with his best friend Arthur back in 1959 after they had just completed a humanities class at Columbia University. During the trek, his friend stopped to point out something that caught his eye. "'Sanford, I'd like to show you this patch of grass and I'd like you to really look at it,'" Greenberg recalled Arthur saying. "At first I was stunned, then he was pointing out how the light...
