Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1876 - 1900 of 4383
The Hebrew Bible indelibly molded the American founding, and its influence remains a part of its national story. The Continental Congress in Philadelphia approved the final text of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, but it wasn’t until July 8, 1776, that the historic document had been printed and could be publicly read. From the tower at Independence Hall the great bell rang out, summoning citizens to hear the new nation’s proclamation of sovereignty. What we know today as the Liberty Bell had not yet acquired its iconic cra...
Temple Israel's recent tour of Israel in June included 18 participants. The trip was carefully planned by Natan Brener, who defined the goal of the trip as providing a great opportunity for people to strengthen their Jewish identity and build a powerful connection to the land of Israel. "People could understand and study in depth key aspects of Israel's modern history, its political system, and current affairs in the Middle East. Part of the goal was to give participants the tools to become...
NEW YORK (JTA)-There are fans of Philip Roth who enjoy his books. Then there are the fans who want to own his typewriters. The latter have their shot: Some of the late Jewish author's typewriters are among the 129 items from his estate going up for auction via Litchfield County Auctions. Online bidding was held July 20, with the profits going to charity (the specific charities have not been disclosed by the Roth estate). The starting bids for most of the items are not high relative to other...
Bulgaria's Tolerance March... "The World Jewish Congress and its affiliate, the Organization of Jews in Bulgaria Shalom, recently drew more than 1,500 people from across Bulgarian society onto the streets of Sofia for the first-ever march of tolerance and unity, held in response to the neo-Nazi Lukov March that takes place each February despite strong government opposition. The march was initiated by WJC President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER, who traveled to Sofia to participate. 'Today in...
RÜSSELSHEIM, Germany (JTA)-Growing up on my small Indian reservation in Montana, I enjoyed a sense of security I wouldn't fully appreciate or understand until adulthood. Surrounded by friends and family, the outside world was inconsequential. Being fully aware of my heritage and Northern Cheyenne ancestry meant I was firmly rooted in my identity. It also meant I had extensive knowledge about my ancestors and the atrocities committed against them. I come from a family of avid readers, and when I...
Every Friday, the staff and campers at Camp Ramah Nyack gather for a ceremony called Shishi Al Hamigrash-Hebrew for "Friday on the field." The entire camp community, some 1,100 people in all, assembles on an enormous field in the center of the camp about 30 miles north of New York City for a spirited session of Israeli dancing. When it's over, the Israeli emissaries who serve as staffers each summer line up at the flagpole holding Israeli flags and singing "Hatikvah," the Israeli national...
By the end of the summer, I’m always looking for ways to use up all the summer squash that is inevitably overgrowing in my garden. Making a baba ganoush-like dip with zucchini is my favorite way to use up this versatile vegetable. Like eggplant, the traditional baba ganoush base, zucchini will easily blend up into a creamy dip. Unlike eggplant, it makes for a lighter, airier and softer textured baba ganoush. Whether you’re using eggplant or zucchini, the vegetables benefit from being blackened. You can achieve a smoky char by broiling the zucch...
(JTA)-It's Emmy season again and Jews in the TV industry have plenty of reason to celebrate. Out of all the nominees announced Tuesday, here's a roundup of the Jewish picks on the list. Winners will be announced on Sept. 22 at Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater. "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," which follows the life of feisty comedian Midge Maisel from the very Jewish 1950s Upper West Side, was nominated for outstanding comedy series. Rachel Brosnahan was nominated for best comedy actress for her role...
Museum of Jewish Heritage... This museum is a living memorial to the Holocaust. It is located at 36 Battery Place in lower Manhattan, New York City, N.Y. "Not long ago. Not far away" is the theme of this exhibit. The most significant site of the Holocaust, Auschwitz, was not a single entity but a complex of 48 concentration and extermination camps, at which 1 million Jews and tens of thousands of others, were murdered. The exhibition brings together more than 700 original objects and 400...
(JTA)-"Raising pigs in Israel? Couldn't you play golf like everyone else?" That's a quote that doubles well as the concept behind the movie "Holy Lands," which stars Hollywood veteran James Caan as a relatively secular American Jew turned Israeli pig farmer. The film, directed by the French filmmaker Amanda Sthers and adapted from her own novel, stars the now 79-year-old Jewish actor as Harry Rosenmerck, a retired cardiologist who chooses the unlikely late-in-life path of raising pigs in...
By Ethel G. Hofman (JNS)—Barbecuing is primal, even dangerous. It’s looked on as a guy thing—all that fire, smoke, sharp implements and mountains of meat. But hold on, folks! Women are drawn to that fire and smoke, too. Besides creating zesty marinades and scrumptious sides, complete with a dose of patience (think long, tenderizing brisket), women of all ages are influencing barbecue at home, opening popular restaurants and winning big on the professional circuit. To tap into this growing trend...
The Statue of Liberty... "Give us your tired, your poor, your humbled masses yearning to breath free." (What has become of us? I'm just saying.) Finally, some justice... "A Belgian criminal court has convicted Frenchman MEHDI NEMMOUCHE for the terror attack at a Brussels Jewish museum in 2014, which resulted in the deaths of four people. Nemmouche's accomplice, NACER BENDRER, was also found guilty of aiding the attacker. Over the course of the trial, Nemmouche's defense lawyers argued that he...
(JTA)—In Jewish communities around the world, there is a little known group of men and women dedicated to performing the mitzvah of preparing a body for burial, a ritual called tahara. The group is called the chevra kadisha, the holy society. The chevra kadisha isn’t a secret group, but it operates quietly. Tahara is considered an especially holy mitzvah because it is performed without the possibility that the person you perform it for will return the favor. Because we perform tahara without expectation of reward, I’m also writing this article...
(JTA)-In a few months, Simone Azoubel will realize a lifelong dream and move to Israel with her husband. A 56-year-old Jewish woman from Recife in northern Brazil, Azoubel is brushing up on her Israeli slang as she prepares for her aliyah, the Hebrew word for immigration by Jews to Israel. The preparations are hectic, but Azoubel finds time to reflect on how much of her identify and life trajectory she owes to her grandmother-namely, the older woman's deathbed revelation of her own Jewish...
Even though I haven’t technically been a camp counselor for a decade or so, the role has never fully left me. Camp counseloring is an unassuming yet all-powerful part of my identity. The skills I learned have helped with every job I’ve done, every degree I’ve earned, every relationship I’ve built. Yet this summer, my fellow Jewish summer camp colleagues across the country are facing hiring challenges with our college-age counselors. It seems that instead of loading up their fannypacks and heading off to wrangle young campers for the summer,...
(JTA)-An invitation to the 1928 wedding of the seventh and last Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was discovered at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. Schneerson popularized the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement and through aggressive outreach to non-affiliated Jews became one of the most influential forces in the Jewish world. The discovery of the invitation comes just days before the 25th anniversary of his death on June 12. Several versions of the invitation were...
(JTA)-Many are familiar with the names of the larger Nazi concentration camps like Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. But some estimate the Nazis had as many as 40,000 satellite camps around Europe. Several existed on the only British soil conquered by the Nazis: Alderney, one of the Channel Islands, where the Nazis imported thousands of slave laborers to build defenses in hopes of conquering more English land. Caroline Sturdy Colls, a British professor and forensic archaeologist perhaps best known...
It's hard to improve on the classic goodness of a good American barbecue (or cookout, depending on what part of the United States you might reside). Hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken drumsticks and corn all cooked on a grill are the height of summer perfection. But I am always thinking about carbs, specifically how to add delicious, homemade carbs to any meal. So on a recent Sunday when my kids were out of the house, I decided it was time to whip up some homemade pretzel challah rolls to go with som...
For nearly a decade, chef Avi Shemtov has been a pioneer on Boston’s food scene. In 2010, he rolled out The Chubby Chickpea, one of the first food trucks in the city, serving up Israeli-style street food from falafel and chicken shwarma to chickpea fries. Two years ago he launched Tapped Beer Trucks, the area’s first mobile local craft and wine fleet. But the 34-year-old Shemtov has long dreamed of opening a full-service restaurant to offer Boston-area diners a contemporary twist on Sephardic and Israeli dishes inspired by his Tur...
Okay! So I’m a senior citizen... Senior citizens are constantly being criticized for every conceivable deficiency of the modern world, real or imaginary. We know we take responsibility for all we have done and do not blame others. But, on reflection, I would like to point out that it was NOT the senior citizens who took: The melody out of the music! (Rap is spelled with a silent C). The Golden Rule from rulers. The learning out of education. The service out of patriotism. And we certainly are n...
The flowing robe, turban, and thick dark beard of Imam Mohamad Tawhidi recalls the ayatollahs he studied under in Iran, his birthplace. Although he immersed himself in Islamic studies in the Iranian Al-Mustafa International University, the similarity ends there. An Australian citizen since 1998, Tawhidi is known as the self-proclaimed Imam of Peace, the celebrated cleric turned Islamic reformer. As a Shia imam, Tawhidi is proud of his lineage of scholars and grand ayatollahs of Iraqi descent, which he says stretches back to the companion of...
Jewish identity has been the subject of many artists’ work. Chagall used color and light to illuminate the journey of the Jewish people. Nevelson’s sculpture paid tribute to the six million Holocaust victims. Today, artist Marc Bennett continues this tradition by asking the question, “What if the Star of David could speak?” Bennett created The History of the Star of David artwork to serve as a time capsule that invites us to discover the centuries-long evolution of Judaism’s iconic star, which bore witness to the depths and heights of Jewish...
(JNS)-A new project called "Brave" is bringing together veterans of the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. military with Jewish students to share stories, learn about the Jewish state, stand up against hatred and combat anti-Semitism on campus. The initiative, organized by Hillel at Baruch College in New York City and launched this past semester, is also organizing trips for America vets to visit Israel, as well as Shabbatons for Jews and non-Jews to interact with one another-all with the goal...
(JTA)—Women served as combat soldiers during Israel’s War of Independence, when the fledgling country needed all the fighters it could get. But following the 1948 war, it took half a century before they were allowed back in combat. Since the late 1990s, when some units started allowing female recruits, the number of women serving in combat has rapidly increased. Last summer saw a record 1,000 female combat soldiers inducted. Debbie Zimelman, a U.S.-born photographer who has lived in Israel for 30 years, spent five years with young women ser...
Here we go again... The German government revealed a 10 percent rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2018. (Surprise, surprise.) I recently read this headline and pass it along to you: "The World Jewish Congress stands with our affiliate, the Central Council of Jews in Germany, in calling for concrete action by the government, as well as by police and judicial authorities, in cracking down on anti-Semitic acts and rhetoric across the country. The German government, under the leadership of...
