Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA)-Try to think of the most famous Israelis in history. Not necessarily the most consequential or "important" ones-like any number of Nobel Prize winners or behind-the-scenes Middle East peace deal negotiators-but those who are most universally recognizable. Most lists would likely include a pioneering role model (Golda Meir), a supermodel who once dated Leonardo DiCaprio (Bar Refaeli), its seeming prime minister for life (Benjamin Netanyahu), a politician with crazy hair (David Ben-Gurion),...
Many American Jews, who are at least 95 percent Ashkenazi by origin, also find it hard to relate to those Jews in Israel whose cultural background is so different. By origin, approximately 50 percent of the Israeli Jewish population identify themselves as "Edot HaMizrah" (The Eastern communities) and are generally distinguishable by the many factors that are attributable to a different cultural heritage and separation by many centuries from the Ashkenazim-in their genetic make-up (often but not...
(When you read this column I will still be in Chicago visiting with children and grandchildren.) Oh my aching back... I read this in the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along to you: One of the leading causes of back pain is poor posture...the slumping way we sit and walk" (My son always reminds me to straighten up before I leave the house. He feels it will make me look and feel younger.) One Israeli product, Upright, is trying to help us stand taller and, as a result, feel...
Throughout my life, I have traveled to New York to visit relatives or go to the theater, but there was a borough that I had always wanted to visit my parents or travels had never taken me. I had always heard about the Chasidic Jews and the Yeshivas in Brooklyn where the rabbis get their education, and all my life I wanted to visit these Jewish neighborhoods to see how they live. When my friends mentioned that they were going with The Chabad of North Orlando for a weekend in Crown Heights...
About cancer... I have written often about Israel's cancer cure breakthroughs. Here is another. I received this letter from the Weizmann Institute of Science and pass it on in part to you: "Each year, millions of lives are changed by a cancer diagnosis. Chances are this disease has dramatically affected you or someone you love. Since the past month of May was recognized as 'National Cancer Research Month,' we're pleased to share just a few of the highly promising cancer projects taking place...
WHIPPANY, N.J. (New Jersey Jewish News via JTA)-With a lifetime of loving and writing about sports, Ron Kaplan has many topics he can sink his teeth into. Add to that passion his time working for the American Jewish Congress and then for nearly a decade for the New Jersey Jewish News, and you can see why his publisher saw him as the perfect guy to tackle the subject of his new book. "Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War" (Sports Publishing, 2017) is about the Jewish...
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," wrote philosopher George Santayana in 1905. Today, Western civilization's impaired memory is only part of a bigger problem. From the United Nations to university campuses, when history conflicts with progressives' agenda, they simply change the past. Disparate leftist forces, banded together by "intersectionality," stake their legitimacy on a history they've revised to suit their purposes. No past is more under siege than the histo...
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-When movie star Kirk Douglas married Anne Buydens in Las Vegas, the justice of the peace asked Anne to raise her hand and repeat after him, "I take thee, Kirk, for my lawful husband." Anne, who had recently arrived in the United States from Europe, raised her hand and proudly proclaimed, "I take thee, Kirk, as my AWFUL husband." At the time, the mispronunciation was not too far off the mark. In Hollywood, the handsome, muscular actor was already notorious for his inflated ego...
No matter how financially blessed, we all need to call upon a higher power to help us make our lives a blessing. At age 32, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest of the world's ten richest people. His fortune presently hovers over the $60 billion mark. Financially there certainly isn't a thing that he lacks. What could someone like Zuckerberg possibly pray for? At the Harvard graduation ceremony last week we heard the answer. The university from which Zuckerberg never graduated, cutting his education...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Middle East peace may remain out of reach, but at least the Hebrew and Arabic languages have found a compromise. Israeli typography designer Liron Lavi Turkenich has created a stylized writing system that merges the two ancient alphabets, allowing Hebrew and Arabic speakers to read the same words. Her hope is that Aravrit will promote coexistence in Israel and beyond. "I believe Aravrit sends a message that we're both here, and we might as well acknowledge each other," Turkenich...
(JTA)-It's safe to call the Israeli film "The Women's Balcony" the opposite of a Hollywood blockbuster. The movie, directed by Emil Ben-Shimon, is a sensitive, slice-of-life story that focuses on the rift caused in a modern Orthodox community in Jerusalem when a Hasidic rabbi offers to fill in for the congregation's leader, who is traumatized when his wife is hurt in an accident. When the new rabbi urges the men in the congregation to embrace a more strictly religious lifestyle, they buy in and...
NEW YORK (JTA)-When Michael Twitty dressed in the outfit that slaves wore in the American South-wool stockings, waistcoat and kerchief tied around his neck-to cook meat in an open-hearth oven on a historic Virginia plantation, more than one memory of slavery flashed through his mind. One memory, of his African-American ancestors in the South, seems obvious The other, of Jews enslaved thousands of years ago in Egypt, perhaps less so. Cooking on the Virginia plantation as part of his research...
Here's a romantic, feel-good movie about a Jewish woman looking for love with a deadline of 30 days. The wedding is planned, but there is no groom. Will she find him? Will there be a groom on her wedding day? From American-Israeli writer and director Rama Burshtein ("Fill the Void") comes the "The Wedding Plan," a poignant and funny romantic comedy about love, marriage and faith in life's infinite possibilities. "The Wedding Plan" was filmed in Israel and is in Hebrew with English subtitles. It...
This past December, Linda Kost, president of Congregation Beth Sholom in Leesburg, received a telephone call from a man named Norman Siegel, who, with his wife, Frankie, were ex-pats in Costa Rica for about five years and were now looking to return to the United States. They knew that they wanted to go to Florida but were unsure as to where-just that there be a good number of Jewish families and synagogues. Finding our website on Google, he telephoned Linda. Linda knew that I often travelled to...
I became involved with the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) for several reasons. As a second generation American, I heard my father's Polish accent and wondered what happened to all his relatives. I also wanted to know more about my father's forebears. Who was my great-grandfather and where was he from? My grandfather, Morris Kerszenblat, already middle-aged, immigrated to the U.S. with his wife, Manya, and four sons including my father, Abe, (an adult-age 24). They made...
This Tibetan proverb should be shared... "The secret to living well and longer is: Eat half, Walk double, Laugh triple and love without measure." This was told to me by my friend ELIZABETH TAYLOR. (No. Not the famous actress! Rather a friend from my Grief Support Group with the same name and who is also a beautiful woman.) Here we go again... I read this disturbing report in last month's World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and, in part, pass it along: "The latest report on anti-Semitism in...
JERUSALEM-There's something delicious afoot in Jerusalem, a city long known not only for its interwoven layers of history and religion, but winding souks perfumed by fragrant spices, sun-ripened fruit and sizzling oil. Now more than ever, Jerusalem is attracting flavor-seeking innovators who see it at a culinary crossroads jockeying to secure a place alongside modern food world powerhouses like New York, London and Paris. Seeing potential for growth-and Israelis' fast-expanding appetite for...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Shavuot is the “Rodney Dangerfield of Jewish holidays,” says Rabbi Shira Stutman of Washington, D.C.’s Sixth and I synagogue. Meaning: It gets no respect. Considered by Jewish tradition to be on par with the fall and spring festivals of Sukkot and Passover, Shavuot is sometimes ignored because it is six days shorter—the holiday celebrating the biblical giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai is one day in Israel and two outside of it. Shavuot, which this year starts on the evening of May 30, also lacks iconic, family-ce...
NEW YORK & JERUSALEM—Birthright Israel, the world’s largest provider of free cultural experience trips, today announces that a record 33,000 participants will arrive in Israel this summer. The program currently has a waiting list due to overwhelming demand and the organization will surpass the 600,000 participant mark this summer. “We are proud to have drastically increased the number of Jewish young adults visiting Israel every year—from a mere 1,500 prior to the founding of Birthright Israel,” Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark said. “We remain...
Dani Shipley, granddaughter of Jim and Rachel Shipley and daughter of Tom and Pam Corey Shipley, went on the March of the Living. The following is her diary of her first week in Poland. April 24, 2017: Day 2-March of the Living No words. Today was a day like no other. Eleven-thousand strong, from all over the world. There's nothing like walking from a concentration camp (Auschwitz) to a death camp (Birkenau). Walking with Japanese flags on both our sides from their delegation, next to the...
Israelis celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem's reunification May 23-24. Leading up to the holy city's semi-centennial milestone, here are 50 facts highlighting the rich tapestry of Israel's capital: Reunification 1. Jerusalem Day is an Israeli national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. 2. During the Jordanian occupation of Jerusalem, Jews were not allowed to access their holy sites, including the Western Wall. History 3. Jerusalem has been...
How great are those who invented the Internet and Facebook! I was born in Leningrad, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia) and lived there until moving to the U.S. in 1990. Before World War II, the family home was in the small town Zapadnaia Dvina where my grandfather, Josef Gessel (born 1898), lived with his wife and two sons: Isaak (my father, born 1926) and his brother, Michael (born 1928). The town is located in the middle between the Latvian border and the big city Tver. During World War II,...
How often do you "give" to another person without expecting anything in return? And, how do you feel when you give freely and with an open heart? When you give... You receive! It's quite simple. Whether you give monetarily, physically or emotionally, you are feeling the "good vibrations" of your actions. Try your best to give something to everyone you meet as you go about your day. It could be a smile, a compliment, food, money, or some simple gesture or loving act of kindness. The Jewish...
Here we go again... The following are two sayings sent to me by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). As disturbing as they are, we have to be aware of the hate: "Wherever you see an Israeli, slit their throat." This was said by Sultan Abu Alainin, Palestinian Authority Central Committee, top adviser to PA head Mahmoud Abbas. If "filthy" Jews and Christians "don't convert to Islam, their life and property are halal (free for the taking) for the Muslims." This was said by American Imam...
(The Nosher via JTA)-Mac and cheese is one of those comfort food dishes that is sure to bring a smile to anyone's face. So when my co-workers suggested I try a mac and cheese made with Israeli couscous instead of traditionally larger pasta like elbows or shells or cavatappi, I happily accepted the challenge and decided to combine a more American-style pasta dish with some Israeli flavors, like cottage cheese and feta. This baked dish is cheesy and familiar enough to feed the kids, but just...
