Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2626 - 2650 of 4556
Seventy-eight years ago, a Torah scroll was sentenced to death along with the Jewish people. Now it will be in Orlando, as part of a whirlwind tour that will include hundreds of Jewish communities all across the globe. On Kristallnacht, the "night of broken glass" when more than 1,400 synagogues were torched and 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed across Germany, 14-year-old Isaac Schwartz of Hamburg knew he had to act. Seeing a pyre of Torah scrolls and other Jewish sacred items left... Full story
Of all the interesting facts and statistics you will learn at Kehillah: A History of Jewish Life in Greater Orlando exhibition, perhaps the most fascinating will be the people you will meet-their stories, their accomplishments, and their role in building the Central Florida community. Did you know... A Jew helped write the charter of the village of Orlando? After opening Florida stores in Bartow, Fort Meade and Fort Ogden in the 1860s, Jacob Raphael Cohen settled in Orlando in 1873. He bought... Full story
(The Nosher via JTA)-Growing up in Seattle, it's easy to fall in love with pho. Nearly as ubiquitous as coffee shops or teriyaki spots (yes, teriyaki), pho restaurants seem to be just around every corner of the city. They welcome you in from the cold and the rain with their steamy glass windows and equally steamy giant bowls of soup. Pho (pronounced fuh) is a traditional Vietnamese soup that was popularized around the world by Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Pho... Full story
Remembering Jewish and American history... We all remember the World Trade Center and the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City. (How could we ever forget?) DANIEL LEWIN, an American-Israeli entrepreneur and former Israeli commando, became the unofficial first casualty of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Born in Denver, Colorado, he moved as a teenager to Jerusalem where he enlisted in Israel's elite special forces commando unit-the Sayeret Matkai. (One of the... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-When it comes to women posing with firearms, the United States is fully loaded. Lithe models can be found showing off weapons at gun shows, in rifle magazines and on dedicated social media pages. Orin Julie may look like just another "gun bunny," as such models are sometimes called, but she is the industry's secret weapon. She is a former Israeli combat soldier who is trained to discharge the weapons she poses with. "I don't stand around in swimwear," she said in an interview at... Full story
COIMBRA, Portugal (JTA)-From its mountaintop perch, the University of Coimbra towers majestically over the downtown square that used to be the regional headquarters of the Portuguese Inquisition. It's a fitting location for the 737-year-old university, the seventh oldest in the world, which outsmarted and outlived the campaign of persecution against Jews and freethinkers unleashed by the Catholic Church and Portugal's rulers in 1536. "This place was almost literally an ivory tower of knowledge... Full story
(The Nosher via JTA)-For generations, Jewish grandmothers have spent hours and hours chained to their stoves perfecting their family chicken soup recipes. The prevailing thought was that the longer the soup simmered, the more flavorful the result. Fortunately for the current generation, technology has created new ways that we can achieve that slow-cooked flavor in a much shorter time frame. With the Instant Pot, or an electric pressure cooker, we've cut down the cook time without sacrificing... Full story
Congregation Ohev Shalom's Men's Club celebrated the holiday of Sukkot with fun, food, music and fellowship by holding an event titled "A Celebration and So Long in the Sukkah," held on Sunday, Oct. 8, at Congregation Ohev Shalom. The family-styled event was open to all congregation members and the community as a way to celebrate the holiday and to help everyone perform God's commandment to be joyous during Sukkot. It was also a great time to give best wishes to Howard Kaplan, COS Men's Club's... Full story
Jews and cancer... I received this information from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) and pass it along to you in part: "This is about the three cancers Jews need to worry about most, and how to reduce the risks." (As if Jews don't have enough to worry about.) "Specifically, Jews are at elevated risk for three types of the disease: melanoma, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The perils are particularly acute for Jewish women. The higher prevalence of these illnesses isn't spread evenly among a... Full story
"The Trust," By Ronald H. Balson, St. Martin's Press In 2013, Ronald H. Balson debuted his first novel, "Once We Were Brothers," an originally self-published title that reached great success and instantly became an international best seller. Over the course of just a few years, Balson would come to publish two more novels featuring the same compelling characters-lawyer Catherine Lockhart and private investigator Liam Taggart-and build a dedicated readership. Balson's fourth novel, "The Trust,"... Full story
BOSTON (JTA)-If New England Patriots star Julian Edelman retires from the NFL anytime soon, he clearly has a promising second career as a Jewish children's book writer. In front of about 400 children and their families Tuesday night at the Newton Centre flagship of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Boston, the 31-year-old wide receiver and Super Bowl hero read a special edition of a children's book he co-wrote last year. Unsurprisingly Edelman, who has Jewish ancestry on his father's side... Full story
CHICAGO (JTA)-Three days after a gunman killed 59 people in Las Vegas, a post in a Facebook group for Chicago Jews displayed a blurry photo of survivors fleeing the bullets. Next to it was a flier advertising ChiDefense Firearm Training with a Hebrew phrase underneath denoting that the company is closed for Shabbat. The post got a few "likes"-and plenty of hate. One commenter called it "vile and distasteful." Another wrote sarcastically that it displayed "impeccable logic." Another called for... Full story
The strict dedication it takes to become an Olympic-caliber athlete is astounding: years of practice and discipline, rising with the sun each day and putting in grueling effort. But athletes are human beings as well as national heroes, and they also like to have a little fun from time to time. Professional Israeli swimmer Guy Barnea, 30, an Israeli record-holder and 2008 Olympian, is out to do just that. And he wants to take you along for the ride. It all started with a nude swimming photo... Full story
BUCHAREST, Romania (JTA)-When the roof of the Jewish State Theater collapsed during a 2014 snowstorm, its director reluctantly knew it was finally time to abandon the century-old building in this capital city. Maia Morgenstern did not take the decision lightly. Following years of neglect by authorities, the Bucharest Jewish community had fought for decades to keep the storied theater afloat. The Jewish State Theater had been a major cultural institution for Central European Jews prior to the... Full story
I am emotional... Before I even start this column, I must mention the Monday, Sept. 25th, showing of the tape, Broadway from 1893 to 1927, a JCC 39ers program presented by SHELDON BROOK. Although I am living in Central Florida for more than 53 years, New York City will always be "home" to me, but, of course the last time I was there was with my dear departed spouse, Irv. Just seeing Times Square created much emotion. That was followed by the stories of legends Irving Berlin, Fanny Brice, Jerome... Full story
The following are excerpts from the U.S. Congressional Record of 1922 that demonstrates the powerful sense of the members of Congress in favor of reestablishing a Jewish national home in Palestine: “Palestine of today [1922], the land we now know as Palestine, was peopled by the Jews from the dawn of history until the Roman era. It is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. They were driven from it by force by the relentless Roman military machine and for centuries prevented from returning. “At different periods various alien people suc... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-In the summer of 1947, when the British turned away the SS Exodus from the shores of Palestine, the world was watching. Before the eyes of the international media, British troops violently forced the ship's passengers, most of them Holocaust survivors, onto ships back to Europe. The resulting reports helped turn public opinion in favor of the Zionist movement and against the pro-Arab British policy of limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine. But much else was happening in the... Full story
ISRAEL21c—That’s one of the findings of groundbreaking experiments performed at Israel’s Benjamin Triwaks Bee Research Center at Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot. The center also has discovered that, like humans, bees consuming an unhealthy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids develop cognitive deficiencies. They cannot simply choose pollen from flowers high in omega-3 because increasing urbanization has decimated many kinds of wildflowers. The resulting nutritional imbalance is a major reason why hon... Full story
(JTA)-When Dr. Avi Rivkind landed in Las Vegas three years ago to lecture as a trauma care expert, he saw something that troubled him. The airport, McCarran International, felt too open, almost exposed. He felt no less comfortable on the city's Strip while watching crowds flow from hotels to casinos to shops to the street-with little security in sight. "I felt there was a lack of presence, from the ease of getting around there, from the casinos, from how easy it is to enter all the malls," he... Full story
(JTA)-After 70 years of studying the Holocaust, historians still don't know the exact circumstances of the tragic fate that befell two of the best-known victims of the Holocaust era: Anne Frank and Raoul Wallenberg. Frank, the teenager whose journal of her days in hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam has sensitized millions to the suffering of 6 million victims, died in 1945 in Bergen-Belsen after the Nazis caught her. But nobody knows who, if anyone, betrayed her and her family to the Nazis.... Full story
This sukkah, created by Andy "Eliyahu" Alpern, has a panoramic view of the Western Wall. It's a way "of sharing Eretz yisrael with people all over the world who can't be here," he told JTA.... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-When it comes to Sukkot, the weeklong festival in which Jews live and eat in temporary huts known as sukkahs, no place does it better than Jerusalem. City schools and plenty of workplaces close, and a festive spirit permeates the air. Many Jews around the world make a tradition of visiting Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday, which is also known as the Feast of Booths. Can't make it to the Holy City? Fear not. Your sukkah can now transport you and your loved ones here. Well, sort... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)-I know something about most Jewish holidays. I can tell you that Chanukah is about miracles, Passover is about slavery and freedom, and Shavuot is about cheesecake. (I have no idea why, but when it comes to matters of cheesecake, it is not mine to question.) The one holiday that has baffled me for years is Shemini Atzeret. I can't remember the first time I became aware of it, and to be honest, I didn't care much about it until last year when my older daughter started attending... Full story
A salute to the righteous... "They risked their lives to save Jews"... according to The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, "Now they need our help." This is just one example of a righteous family: "Presov, Slovakia, Fall 1941, Elena Maradikova lived with her brother and parents in Presov. Elana's father, Ondrej, worked as a detective for the Presov police. Prior to the outbreak of WWII, two young Jewish men, Martin Weil and Jan Kohl, had rented a room from the Maradik family. When the war... Full story
What could be the reason behind a 'slumber party' with guests ranging from ages 77 to 19? Hurricane Irma, of course. When Hurricane Irma came storming through, she created 'strange bedfellows' all over town, with the mixed generations offering shelter, comfort, and whatever was needed from one another. In our family's case, my 22-year-old daughter's one bedroom apartment became the most valuable real estate in town. As my eldest only lost power for a brief time, she opened her air-conditioned an... Full story
