Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2001 - 2025 of 4383
NEW YORK (JTA)-Mandy Silverman remembers being scared of the kitchen as a child. "There was a constant joke in my house growing up that I would mess up instant iced tea," she recalled in a phone interview with JTA last month. But a quick glance at her Instagram feed reveals how things have changed. Her more than 15,000 followers have come to rely on her to post photos of mouthwatering and whimsical challah creations with flavors such as red velvet and marshmallow hot chocolate. Since starting Ma... Full story
In this advanced digital age sometimes it's still nice to receive a good book that can be held in your hands, flipped through, and used as a learning tool in your household. The following 14 English-language books, all from the last decade, are excellent representations of Israel in food, culture, history, technology and children's literature, written by leading authors, illustrators, and photographers from Israel and the English-speaking world. Each one would make a stellar gift for family or... Full story
BOSTON (JTA)-In the despair of the Soviet Union's fierce World War II battles against the Nazis, a 42-year-old Jewish man from Odessa wrote a song in Yiddish poking fun at Hitler's failures to seize control of Ukraine's coal and oil resources. "On the High Mountain," written by Veli Shargorodskii about the war experience in 1943-44, ends with the words "Germany is in trouble, Hitler is kaput!" The satirical song was among hundreds collected during the war by Moisei Beregovsky (1892-1961), a... Full story
(JTA)-A Hasidic cantor and a jaded community college biology teacher don't seem like two individuals who would be fast friends. In "To Dust," the debut film from director Shawn Snyder, they make a hilarious team. The odd couple plot is not all lighthearted though. For Snyder, 37, how to deal with the loss of a loved one is the core of the film. "I watched my mom lose her mom about five years before I lost my own mom," Snyder said in a telephone interview. He recalls seeing "the value she [his... Full story
(JTA)—“I was the hairy Jewish monkey in a sea of blond kids.” That’s not Seth Rogen or Jonah Hill—it’s Sarah Silverman talking about her upbringing in Bedford, New Hampshire, on an upcoming episode of “Finding Your Roots,” the celebrity genealogy show on PBS. Bedford, the comedian explains, was not exactly a very Jewish community. “My feeling of being Jewish came from my being the only Jew,” Silverman tells host Henry Louis Gates Jr. “We [her family] had no religion, but because I had this kind of intuition, when I went to any friend’s house I... Full story
Ruth Ort is passionate about hooking people up with a good match. A retired speech pathologist, she has been doing it for years in South Beach and since moving up to Central Florida, she has already found two people’s “soulmate.” In fact, she said she’s only had two “bombs” in all the matches she’s made—which are quite a few. “I think this whole idea is very much an idea that should have been done already,” she told Heritage. “In Orthodox Jewish circles it is a shidduch (arranged marriage) and I am the shadchan (professional matchmaker).” Ort’s... Full story
Jewish Disabilities Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month is a unified effort among Jewish organizations worldwide to raise awareness and foster inclusion of people with disabilities and those who love them. JDAIM is observed each February. But the truth is, while it brings the issues of disability inclusion to the forefront, inclusion is something we must focus on all year long. In our quest to include every member of our community, we would do well to pay attention to the following ancient examples of accommodation. The Torah begins by t... Full story
CANTON, Mass. (JTA)-At a kickoff party Sunday night at the Orchard Cove senior home in this suburb about 25 miles from Boston, boisterous cheers erupted from a small ballroom. Dozens of residents had begun an evening-long tailgate-style gathering as their New England Patriots started yet another Super Bowl, this time against the Los Angeles Rams. Of course, the residents didn't know that at the final whistle their team would be hoisting its sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy hours later. "Everyone was... Full story
Israeli special needs youth... I read this in the World Jewish Congress digest (WJC) and share it with you: "The WJC recently brought a first-of-its-kind delegation of special needs youth from across Israel to Poland for an educational mission to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. The mission was arranged by WJC President Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder at the initiative of WJC-Israel Chairman Gad Ariely, in cooperation with the Welfare Department of the Modin-Reut-Maccabim municipality, Akadem... Full story
(JTA)—It would be hard to defend the Super Bowl as a “Jewish” event. However, this year, the big game had an unusually Jewish pop culture feel: both the game’s Most Valuable Player and its main halftime performer were Jewish, and Jewish celebrities starred in some of the most talked about Super Bowl advertisements. We rounded up the most Jewish moments of Super Bowl LIII. 1. Julian Edelman becomes the first Jewish Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. The Patriots wide receiver had 10 catches for 141 yards on his way to the honor and Jewish sports... Full story
Anti-Semitism in sports... I read this in the current issue of the World Jewish Congress digest and pass it along: "The WJC and Chelsea Football Club recently held the final competitions of a global campaign to combat widespread racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia in sports. The Pitch for Hope competition called on young people ages 18-30 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel to propose creative ideas for an initiative to harness the spirit of comradery in sports and build... Full story
(JTA)-The day after the New England Patriots beat the favored Kansas City Chiefs to reach their third straight Super Bowl-their amazing ninth in less than 20 years-CBS Sports analyst Boomer Esiason made an intriguing statement: Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "Is Julian Edelman not a Hall of Famer?" Esiason, a former NFL quarterback, asked on a Boston radio show last week. "The guy is clutch in the biggest of games. I don't know what else to tell... Full story
(JTA)—PBS’ celebrity genealogy show “Finding Your Roots” has had plenty of Jewish guests—Bernie Sanders, Larry David, Paul Rudd and Scarlett Johansson—and the occasional guest, like Paul Ryan, who learn they have a Jewish ancestor on their family tree. But the season five premiere, which airs Jan. 8, contains the most dramatic Jewish story the show has unearthed so far: “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin discovers he’s nearly a quarter Jewish. Martin, 70, grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey. His mother was part Irish, and his father was ha... Full story
Last weekend, 10 representatives from Orlando joined more than 3,000 women leaders from all 50 U.S. states and 100 countries, hailing from as far away as Laos and Angola, Ghana and Uzbekistan, at the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchos) in Brooklyn, N.Y. The annual event was aimed at reviving Jewish awareness and practice around the world. Preconceived notions about the insular role of women in Hasidism were shattered as thousands of women from around... Full story
Another great loss to our Jewish community... I'm referring to Max Mogul, a longtime member of our Jewish community... for more than half a century at least. I wrote recently about the unfortunate passing of his beloved wife, Ruth. People who knew Max, knew how generous a man he was, especially to orphaned children. At his memorial service, people spoke so highly of him (which didn't surprise me) with much admiration, love and respect. Many also spoke of how he made them laugh! His daughter, Lyn... Full story
BERLIN (JTA)-For Sigmount Koenigsberg, the most searing scene in the U.S.-made "Holocaust" miniseries broadcast here 40 years ago was when a German child throws photos of a Jewish family into a fireplace. The pictures curl up and melt in the flames. The moment "somehow burned into me," recalls Koenigsberg, 58, a Jew who lives in Berlin. In fact, the four-part series starring a young Meryl Streep and James Woods-first shown in the United States in 1978-burned itself into the consciences of many... Full story
PHILADELPHIA (JTA)-There's something uniquely American about an event that combines secular ritual with actual religion. In six states and the District of Columbia, but especially in Pennsylvania, shopping at Wawa is very much a ritual. It's the convenience store where you grab your morning coffee, your lunchtime hoagie and your overall feeling of regional pride. Performance artist Brian Feldman had the idea to combine this secular religion with his real one, Judaism. The result was Wawa... Full story
Almost every year during Passover, Rafi Layish's family would watch "The Prince of Egypt," an animated movie about the Exodus. He loved it. "It was a really cool movie all around for animation, soundtrack," said Layish. It was also the inspiration for what he wanted to do with his future. He loved the newspaper comics, too. "Pearls Before Swine" was one of his favorites. When he was a child, he and friends would spend hours drawing pages and pages of comics. And even today if he thinks of a funn... Full story
(JTA)—J.B. Pritzker’s great-grandfather slept in a train station on his first night in Chicago. Now his billionaire descendant is about to become the governor of Illinois. Pritzker, a Jewish venture capitalist and Democrat, defeated the Republican incumbent, Bruce Rauner, in the November election. Pritzker was sworn in on Jan. 14. He has an estimated net worth of more than $3 billion, but his family wasn’t always rich. Appearing on David Axelrod’s podcast, “The Axe Files,” Pritzker said that his family fled pogroms in Ukraine in 1881 with t... Full story
What if a dismembered corpse was discovered underneath your treasured family vacation home? How would you react? For one woman, this really happened to her family. Deborah Vadas Levison, an award-winning journalist, tells the extraordinary account of her parents' ordeals, both in one of the darkest times in world history and their present-day lives. The multi award-winning book "THE CRATE: A Story of War, a Murder, and Justice," which launched last summer, is the true story about Levison's... Full story
Bigotry at its worst... I read this recently and pass it along: "Following outrage from the World Jewish Congress and other leading Jewish groups, the online streaming giant Netflix cancelled the release of a documentary that celebrates the life of Nation of Islam leader and prominent anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan, who has had a long history of bigotry and anti-Semitism, recently delivered vile remarks referring to the 'Satanic Jew and the Synagogue of Satan.' He continues... 'Whenever... Full story
By Moshe Phillips Are you or a family member planning to go on Birthright in 2019? Are you looking for something more than the average “Israel Experience?” Here are some ideas on what to see if you chose to extend your trip and your mind. Don’t give in to the critics of Israel who want you to leave Birthright and see the Palestinian point of view when you know almost nothing about the Jewish struggle to free Israel from British control in the first place. Birthright may take you to the Kotel (Western Wall), the Sea of Galilee, the Yad Vashe... Full story
In 2005 a miracle happened in Israel, albeit with a technological assist. Sisters Hana Katz and Klara Bleier were reunited 61 years after being separated in the Budapest ghetto, each having survived the war thinking herself the only one. Decades later they both deposited testimony with Yad Vashem and, with the help of a new computerized database, realized that they were in fact not alone. As fate would have it, Hana and Klara had both settled in Israel and raised families a mere 45 miles apart.... Full story
By Lisa Levine If you are an American Jew, chances are good that you have encountered many non-Jews who know little or have misconceptions about Jewish religion or culture. So if you or a loved one were moving into a senior care facility, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to find that it did not occur to the non-Jewish caregiving staff to wish you a happy new year on Rosh Hashanah or offer you matzoh instead of a dinner roll on Passover. But in greater Orlando, most of the facilities have s... Full story
What a loss... The World Jewish Congress and its affiliated community in Lithuania recently marked the 75th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto, alongside Pope Francis and other notable personalities. "Seventy-five years ago, the Germans and local Lithuanian accessories nearly obliterated one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in Europe, a hub of cultural and intellectual Jewish life for thousands of years," WJC President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER said. "But they did not... Full story
