Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA)-A challah-baking Jewish giant, a young baseball champ and an endearing boy in a pumpkin patch are among the stars of five delightful new books for kids published just in time for the High Holidays. This year's crop includes new stories by two of the country's most prominent children's book writers, David A. Adler and Eric A. Kimmel, who have entertained and informed decades of young readers. Three of the books are set during the holidays-Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; Yom Kippur, the...
Like most Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah brings to mind certain traditional food customs-the most well-known being the dipping of apples in honey. And while a classic apple pie or cake is a lovely way to commemorate our hopes for a "sweet new year," I thought it would be fun to change things up a bit. These apple and honey pie "pops" are a cinch to make-and even more fun to eat! They can be assembled (and frozen) in advance, and are especially nice to serve for a crowd-no cutting or forks needed...
By Shannon Sarna (The Nosher via JTA)-I think we can all agree that shakshuka is probably one of the greatest dishes ever created. It's easy, simple and you can usually make it from stuff you already have in the house: canned tomatoes, spices and eggs. You can add vegetables like roasted eggplant, fresh (or frozen) spinach or cheese like feta or goat cheese. It's also versatile in terms of size: You can make a small portion or a much larger one. Shakshuka for a crowd is ideal for brunch...
October 2016 The new year started off late (according to our Gregorian calendar). Tishrei 1, 5777 was on Oct. 3, 2016. New enterprises began, such as Zayde’s Kosher Catering, an extension of Zayde’s Kosher Kitchen, which was already established in the Rosen Plaza Hotel—the only hotel in town with a kosher kitchen to serve all its hotel guests. Now the kosher service is available for anyone who wants any event catered by a completely kosher service. And what a way to enter the new year! Florida’s 550,000-strong Jewish community braced for the...
NEW YORK (JTA)-Latif Jiji looks over this year's crop at Chateau Latif with an expression of satisfaction. If you've never heard of Chateau Latif, you're not alone. In fact, your favorite sommelier probably hasn't heard of it, either. It's not from the south of France, nor is it from Napa Valley. Rather, it's terroir is the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As far as he knows, Jiji is the only winemaker in Manhattan who grows his own grapes on the island. The "chateau" is the brownstone that Jiji,...
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-For Rosh Hashanah, many of us eat an apple dipped in honey as an auspicious sign for a sweet new year. The symbolism is clear, and the ritual as easy to pull off as squeezing a bear-shaped plastic bottle of honey. But what kind of a year could you expect from eating leeks, spinach and a fish head? A year of being a contestant on "Chopped"? Many Sephardic Jews practice a custom at Rosh Hashanah dinner called "yehi ratzones"-"may it be God's will"-which calls for a kind of...
By Debra Kamin TEL AVIV (JTA)—Rabbi Talia Avnon-Benvinste grew up secular. Her family felt deeply and culturally Jewish, but beyond the regular Israeli rhythms of holidays and shared history, didn’t observe religious customs. But when, in the 1980s, Avnon-Benvinste turned 12, she shocked her family by telling them she wanted a religious ceremony to celebrate her bat mitzvah. Avnon-Benvinste’s family was on a kibbutz in Israel—not in the United States, where Reform Jewish congregations offer religious coming-of-age ceremonies to girls as well as...
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippor are just a few weeks away and Chanukah is fast approaching. There will not be a new Chanukah stamp this year. This means local post offices will not be getting Chanukah stamps automatically. They will have to order them. If you want to buy Chanukah stamps this year, now is the time for you to go to your local post office and ask to speak to the person who orders stamp supplies. Tell him/her to order Chanukah stamps now so they will have them in time for the...
A worldwide registry of Sukkahs has been set up, and is listed online at www.localsukkah.org. The directory has been designed for Jews to locate a Sukkah near to them, so that they can go there to eat. The idea of this service is not to list every Sukkah, but to try and have a Sukkah listed for every area in which Jewish people may find themselves during Sukkos. The main focus of this service is to enable people who work on Chol-Hamoed to eat lunch in a Sukkah, which is close to their place of work. As all listings are confirmed annually prior...
(JTA)-Ahead of the 120th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress that Theodor Herzl organized in Switzerland, 120 men and women named for him gathered in Herzliya to celebrate his legacy. On Aug. 29, 1897, Herzl, a journalist who was born in what today is Hungary, convened in the city of Basel some 200 participants from 17 countries, including 69 delegates from various Zionist societies. The gathering, the first of its kind in terms of scale, is widely regarded as a watershed in the effort to...
Something to think about... I read this on Facebook. It was posted by our own ALAN ROCK: This was a line from the mouth of Thomas Jefferson: "When the speech condemns a free press, you are hearing the words of a tyrant." (Nuff said!) From Ben-Gurion University of the Negev... "Sometimes it's easy to forget what a miracle today's Israel is. Everywhere you look, you see a modern, vibrant, thriving nation with more promise than imagination could have conceived a few decades ago. And Israel's...
(JTA)-The Nazi punching debate (is it OK to punch a Nazi?) went viral in January after a liberal protester slugged white supremacist Richard Spencer in the face during President Donald Trump's inauguration. But whether it's OK to confront hatred with violence is not a new topic of conversation. The question was debated in the 1930s among American Jews, who were faced with both the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany and Nazi sympathizers at home. One hotbed for the debate was Newark, New Jersey,...
The story I am about to tell is real, happened to me, and I am glad to share both as a way to praise God for His mercy and grace, and to share a uniquely Israeli and Jewish perspective on a story that may not be so unique in general. It is in every way a Shabbat miracle for which I will forever be profoundly grateful. Shabbat, complete day of rest. The Torah lists 39 forms of work that were used to build the Tabernacle. Observance of Shabbat means a full avoidance of all these, and the modern...
Taylor Swift’s newest, record-breaking single “Look What You Made Me Do” is eliciting both shock and questions from her fans and her critics. What do the dark lyrics mean? What is she trying to say? Many critics of Swift’s vengeful-laced song are surprised by her rage and hatred of others, but Taylor’s deepest hatred is directed at herself. In one of the saddest lines of the song she writes: “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh ‘cause she’s dead.” In some ways her new release is oddly timely. With a few we...
NEW YORK (JTA)—There’s a small music room in the basement of cellist Maya Beiser’s large, kempt house in the leafy Riverdale section of the Bronx. It’s pretty spare—a few cellos, some basic recording equipment and posters from past concerts. Against one wall, though, rests a cherry red Gibson SG guitar, the kind made famous by AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. Beiser—a tall, auburn-haired and beautiful Israeli-American—smiles when asked about it. “I play around with it sometimes,” she said. She also owns several foot pedals, which alter and distort...
The mystical meaning of the next eclipse which is only seven years away. Amazingly enough, the “totality eclipse” which took place this past Monday across the continental United States was not the end of the story. While eclipses of this magnitude are fairly rare occurrences—scientists tell us that if you stood in one place on earth you would have to wait on average another 360 years until you again saw another total eclipse—this time round is going to be different. A sequel is due a mere seven years later, on April 8, 2024. This proximi...
NEW YORK (JTA)—On the night of Rosh Hashanah, thousands of people will leave work, gather in congregations across the globe and worship God, the ruler of the world. Ten days later they will begin a fast and gather again to pray, this time atoning for their sins. On both occasions they will praise Jesus Christ and pray for his return. They are not Jews, nor are they Jews for Jesus. Rather, these congregants are members of an evangelical Christian movement called the Living Church of God. On the days Jews know as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, t...
A beginner in the Jewish genealogy search, Jane Edelstein recently attended the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies conference held in Orlando. This is the second article about her experience finding her roots. If you're building your family tree online, you may be tired of reviewing old historical documents that aren't even in English. It's one thing to focus on relatives that you or your parents had once met, but once you've gone back two or more generations, how do you...
Oh No!... My favorite comedian of all, maybe the funniest comic of all time, has passed on. I'm talking about Jerry Lewis. Jerry Lewis was an American actor, comedian, singer, film producer, film director, screenwriter, and humanitarian. He was known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He died at the age of 91 on Aug. 20th. He will be remembered for all of his movies, his years as half of the team of Martin and Lewis (with Dean Martin) and mostly, for the joy he...
Like many back-to-schoolers, Ed April is preparing to return to classes. An eager student, he has already read through his required text on the Spanish American War. In just a few weeks, Ed will join with the thousands of students on the campus of Northwestern University, as he heads into his ninth year at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Northwestern University (OLLI). Though Ed is more than 55 years older than the average college student, he shares that returning to campus each year for...
TENAFLY, N.J. (JTA)—Ayala Hodak usually cooks the way her mother taught her: adding a pinch of spice here or relying on her eyes—never a measuring cup!—to judge how much liquid to add. But on a recent Tuesday, she was being much more precise. At her spacious home in this suburban town less than 15 miles from New York City, Hodak, 52, who grew up in an Iranian family in Israel, measured the amount of salt and pepper she added to a stew. She also paused to demonstrate how thickly to cut a piece of beef. Her reason for the accuracy: Hodak...
Jerry Lewis, who has died at the age of 91, was a consummate entertainer, one of the 20th century's great comic geniuses and a great philanthropist. Beloved on screen, his personal life was often tumultuous. Suffering through decades where his work languished, he nonetheless continued to challenge himself with new projects well into his late 80s. Lewis was born in 1926 in Newark, New Jersey. Most sources give his original name as Joseph Levitch. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia...
Showing now at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU is the exhibit Evil: A Matter of Intent. This timely exhibition features the work of over 30 contemporary and modern artists addressing the many faces of inhumanity. This pertinent group show features artists hailing from around the world with diverse backgrounds, including Helene Aylon, Judith Glickman Lauder, Grace Graupe-Pillard, William Sharp, Tamar Hirschl, John Lawson, Paul Margolis, Mark Podwal, Trix Rosen, and Arthur Szyk. The exhibition is...
At the NAACP's annual convention in 1981, former President Ronald Reagan stated in response to racist violence: "A few isolated groups in the backwater of American life still hold perverted notions of what America is all about. Recently in some places in the nation there's been a disturbing reoccurrence of bigotry and violence." To those "who still adhere to senseless racism and religious prejudice," Reagan said this: "You are the ones who are out of step with our society. You are the ones who...
Israel Experts, an Israel-based tour operator with an in-house logistics team made up of highly professional experienced tour guides, has been running Birthright trips for over 16 years. The organization is currently recruiting for its winter trips. The following is a first person article from one of Israel Experts' past participants. Israel Experts asked a young man who had recently traveled through Israel on a Birthright trip, "What was you favorite part of Israel?" It's been the nonstop...
