Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2076 - 2100 of 4419
(JTA)-This year hasn't been an easy one. From shootings that claimed many innocent lives, including at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, to political turmoil in the United States and abroad, there have been many moments of sorrow. But there were bright spots too. As 2018 comes to a close, JTA looked back at some of the heartwarming stories we reported on this year, from a group of German volunteers who are fixing Holocaust survivors' houses to an Iranian refugee who raised money for Pittsburgh's Tree... Full story
(JNS)-Here Next Year, in partnership with Nefesh B'Nefesh, hosted its fifth annual Israel Fair on Saturday night in the center of Jerusalem. The fair is designed to help young potential new immigrants (olim) who are currently in their gap year learn about their options for service in the Israel Defense Forces, Israel National Service (Sherut Leumi), ulpan and higher education in Israel. "We were so pleased to welcome nearly 500 people who attended this event and to have helped these students... Full story
(JNS)—Madonna, Cher, Michael Bublé and Kathleen Turner were among well-wishers for the annual bike ride dubbed “Wheels of Love,” which broke records for Israel’s leading pediatric rehabilitation hospital ALYN, raising more than $3.5 million. The five-day cycling tour, which offers a wide variety of routes for many riding levels, just finished up in Israel. The goal was to raise $3.2 million for children in ALYN Hospital in Jerusalem, a nonprofit medical center founded 85 years ago to rehabili... Full story
By Thane Rosenbaum (JTA)—The young nation of Israel has witnessed in recent years a dwindling of its founding generation—from the passing of statesmen like Shimon Peres to the death last week of novelist and political activist Amos Oz. Oz was 79; Israel is but 70. Oz was old enough to witness Israel’s fight for independence, and now his death turns the page on yet another chapter of its improbable resurrection—with an old language that became new again. Oz had a lot to do with that. He imbued Hebrew with a literary style and gave it a novelis... Full story
For a significant majority of Israeli Jews (78 percent), Dec. 31st is considered a “completely ordinary day.” Only 2 percent say that they conduct “soul searching” on the New Year, and only 6 percent say that Dec. 31st feels like their “real New Year’s Eve.” The Jewish People Policy Institute is releasing this data as part of its #IsraeliJudaism research project, based on an extensive survey of Israeli Jews. A new book based on the research: “#IsraeliJudaism, a Portrait of a Cultural Revolution,” was published a few weeks ago by Dvir Publishin... Full story
By Chaya Rappoport (The Nosher via JTA)-My bubbe is Swiss and one of the best bakers I know. My childhood memories are filled with visions of her glazed schnecken (Swiss buns like rugelach), her rich babkas and her waehes, which are seasonal Swiss fruit tarts. When I first started baking, I knew I wanted to re-create those recipes from my childhood. But no matter what I did, and how many times I called her for advice and instruction, they never came out quite the same. One year when she was... Full story
(JTA)-The young attorney seems unsure of herself. As a law professor, she is unaccustomed to appearing in court, so she hesitates at first, unable to begin her summation. But once she gets going, there is no stopping her. It is the climactic scene of "On the Basis of Sex" a biopic about Ruth Bader Ginsburg that debuted on Christmas. It focuses largely on Charles Moritz v. Internal Revenue Service, a major gender discrimination case that Ginsburg shepherded to trial years before she became a... Full story
"Ach Tung"... Oy Vay... Do you remember the phrase that accompanied "Sig Hail," the Nazi salute? (It haunts my dreams!) Anyway, I read this recently in the World Jewish Congress digest and pass it along to you: "The World Jewish Congress, United States, welcomed Germany's recent decision to admit the last known accused Nazi collaborator living on American Soil. JAKIW PALIJ, 95, served during World War II as an armed guard at the Trawniki death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1943. After a... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-Had she received a better Jewish education, Marianne Williamson says, she might have become a rabbi. Instead, Williamson has become one of the country's best-known New Age self-help gurus, reaching millions of people over more than three decades in the public eye. She counts Oprah and Deepak Chopra among her pals. Now Williamson, the author of a dozen books-four of them New York Times best-sellers-wants to extend her influence to the highest office in the land: She has announced... Full story
What a year—delis opened, delis closed, we talked about rainbow bagels, and reviewed the history of pickles in America. And now it’s time to look ahead to what will be happening in Jewish food for the coming year. Bread is Back For all of you who have scooped your bagel or who decided to go gluten-free for non-medical reasons, guess what: Facebook’s research on food trends confirms that bread is back and better than ever. Naturally-fermented breads like sourdough are considered good for your gut and overall health, especially those made with... Full story
What a year it was for Jews in pop culture. We can probably say that almost every year, but truly, in 2018, Jewish celebrities permeated the zeitgeist. “The Band’s Visit”—a musical set in Israel—swept the Tony Awards. Timothée Chamalet became the internet’s boyfriend. We found out Drake was a dad. Jewish actress Rashida Jones had a (secret) baby with Jewish musician Ezra Koenig. There were outstanding seasons of “Schitt’s Creek,” “Big Mouth,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Fauda” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” all which feature Jewish protagonists.... Full story
(JUF News via JTA)-Author A.J. Jacobs has encouraged his three sons to be grateful for all they have. He and his wife urge them to write thank-you notes, to thank the bus driver, even thank their household robot Alexa for weather forecasts. Jacobs, who is Jewish, sometimes says a prayer of thanksgiving with his family at the dinner table in appreciation of those who helped get food to their plates. But not too long ago, Jacobs' son Zane raised an observation to his dad. "You know these people ca... Full story
(JTA)—Former Major League Baseball center fielder Lenny Dykstra ran car washes, wrote a book, went to drug rehab and spent time in prison. Now he is studying Torah. Dykstra, 55, a three-time All-Star who played for the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies and retired from the game in 1996, attends Torah study every Wednesday afternoon in the basement of the Ambassador Wines shop on New York’s East Side, with Rabbi Shmuel Metzger, who runs the Chabad at Beekman-Sutton, the New York Pos... Full story
Were the heavens and the earth created 6,000 years ago, as the Biblical Genesis Creation account suggests? Or, did the universe expand into existence nearly 14 billion years ago from a spontaneous "Big Bang" as modern science has described? Both dates cannot be right. Or can they? Imagine medieval manuscripts, written some 800 years ago, that could help us decipher Genesis chapter 1 and thereby pinpoint exactly when the universe began-an instant squaring, moreover, with our most up-to-date... Full story
(JNS) Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce chose Christians United for Israel's Israel Collective as his cause for the National Football League's "My Cause, My Cleats" campaign, featuring customized cleats. The shoes consist of the Israeli flag at the cut length, the initials "IC" at the back" and a skyline of Jerusalem on the sidewalls. Pierce has traveled to the Holy Land with the CUFI initiative to learn about Israel's past and customs in furthering the relationship between the... Full story
(JTA)-Just like any other Santa Claus, Santa Rick will spend much of the next couple of weeks sitting children on his knee, asking whether they've been good and listening to their Christmas wishes. If it's a Saturday, he may have slept overnight in the building. And he'll only accept payment after nightfall. For Santa Rick's last name is Rosenthal, and he's an Orthodox Jew who does not drive or handle money on Shabbat. But that doesn't stop him from doing his job. "I don't know anyone who... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-In the span of just a couple days, Chaim Raice went from never having been on a bobsled to being a contender to represent Israel in the 2022 Winter Olympics. And it all started with a Facebook post. Raice, a house builder based in Pomona, New York, was browsing the social media site in November when he saw a post saying that the Israeli bobsled team was in need of another athlete to compete in the North American Cup beginning that month. He thought it was a joke, but he still... Full story
Ancestry, ancestry... My mother was born in Montreal, Canada. Her family-her mother, father, brother and sister-were all immigrants from Ukraine. Her mother (my maternal grandma) died in Montreal at a young age, and her brother and sister came to the U.S. (Brooklyn), to live. My mom and her father followed soon after to join them in Brooklyn, where my mom eventually met my dad, they married and my older sister and I were born. So Ukraine is part of my ancestry and that brings us to the next... Full story
(JTA)-Three years ago, Don Was walked into a Jewish service in Los Angeles without high expectations. Was, born Don Fagenson in Detroit, is a producer who has worked with musicians like John Mayer, Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt. Since 2012, he has also been the president of Blue Note Records, the historic and acclaimed jazz record label. Since his bar mitzvah in 1965, he has rarely stepped into a synagogue. But his aging father, who was getting remarried, was set to be honored by his beloved... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-Liana Finck is in the eating area of a grocery store in Southampton, New York, and I've interrupted her beach excursion. Once a week, the Brooklyn-based illustrator rides a train to the east end of Long Island to channel her creative energy. She wakes up at 6:30 in the morning to catch that train and stays until the afternoon. Each year she picks a different beach. "I think of the big picture of what I'm working on, and it's for some reason the only time in the week when I get to... Full story
JERUSALEM-When Asael Lubotzky led his soldiers into battle against Hezbollah 12 years ago during the Second Lebanon War, he knew he might be wounded or even killed. What the infantry platoon commander never could have imagined was that a crippling injury would catapult him into becoming a best-selling author-and, eventually, a physician. Despite suffering wounds in Lebanon that nearly cost him his life, Lubotzky is now one of Israel's most promising young cancer researchers. His work focuses on... Full story
(JTA)-"If Beale Street Could Talk," the new film from "Moonlight" director Barry Jenkins, is at heart a film about African-American love during a time of rampant racism. It's an adaption of James Baldwin's heartbreaking 1974 novel of the same name, which depicts a young African-American couple in 1970s New York whose love story is unjustly derailed. But one of the film's most powerful-and most talked about-scenes begins with a close-up of the back of the head of a yarmulke-wearing man as he... Full story
By Brian Blum (Israel21c via JNS)-Some 14 percent of American adults suffer from migraines or severe headaches. Among women aged 18 to 44, the number soars to 23 percent. Currently, no cure for migraines exists, and over-the-counter pain relief medicines do not always work. One of the most promising treatments is occipital nerve stimulation, where a small pulse generator is implanted at the base of the skull to send pain-relieving electrical impulses to the brain. What if the same effect could... Full story
(JTA)-"The Kominsky Method" is the wisest and saddest new comedy on television. That might be its biggest problem. The protagonist of the eight-episode Netflix series that debuts Friday is Sandy Kominsky (played by Michael Douglas), a Jewish Tony Award-winning actor who landed with a thud in Hollywood. He no longer acts for a living but teaches the craft to students using the titular "method." Norman Newlander (Alan Arkin), whose wife, Eileen (Susan Sullivan), is dying from cancer, is Kominsky's... Full story
By E.J. Kessler When Eva Gelernt was a child, she suffered from mysterious medical ailments: severe bone pain in her legs and knees. Unexplained bruising. Low blood platelet counts. Eva, now 24, visited doctor after doctor near her home in the Philadelphia suburb of Moorestown, New Jersey, but her problems were dismissed repeatedly as growing pains. By the time she reached high school, Eva was being tested by oncologists. "They thought I had cancer," she said. The tests, however, never showed... Full story
