Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3251 - 3275 of 4432
The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. (JTA)-Norm Sherry didn't go ashore in 1952 when the ship that was transporting his U.S. Army infantry division stopped in England, his mother's country of birth. Once in West Germany, Sherry led his division's baseball team to the championship of American military units there. Now 84, Sherry would go on to become a major league catcher, manager and coach. He's still never visited England. Sherry mentioned his... Full story
ORLANDO (JTA)-Last week was a big one for Daryl Messinger. A resident of Palo Alto, California, and an active board member of several organizations, Messinger was installed as chair of the Union for Reform Judaism, becoming the first woman to hold that post. And she chanted Torah for the first time-in front of 5,000 worshippers at Shabbat morning services. Following the movement's biennial here, Messinger answered a few questions via email. JTA: What are your thoughts on becoming the first woman... Full story
BBYO teens from North Florida Region, the BBYO region serving Jewish teens in Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Naples and Jacksonville, hosted over 50 members at Regional Kallah, which coincided with BBYO's Global Shabbat, themed A Shabbat to Remember, held Nov. 6-7. Among the participants was Gene Klein, a Holocaust survivor who shared his story of struggle and perseverance, just days before the 77th anniversary of Kristallnacht as the teens in attendance embraced the great responsibility of passing... Full story
During the 2014 Oscars, they celebrated the 75th anniversary of the release of the “Wizard of Oz” by having Pink sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” But what few people realized, while listening to that incredible performer singing that unforgettable song, is that the music is deeply embedded in the Jewish experience. It is no accident, for example, that the greatest Christmas songs of all time were written by Jews. For example, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was written by Johnny Marks and “White Christmas” was penned by a Jewish liturgic... Full story
Most Jewish students attending the University of Central Florida don't know him by face or by name. But real estate developer and Jewish philanthropist Hank Katzen is one of the masterminds behind Central Florida Hillel-a place that many consider to be their home away from home. The CFH center, located in the $60 million NorthView apartment complex, comprises 20,000 square feet of the 600,000-square-foot facility. In an attempt to create America's first self-sustaining Hillel, Katzen... Full story
“A museum like no other”... “The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was established to remember the victims of the Holocaust and to educate the nation and the world about one of the darkest chapters in human history.” (I received this brochure in the mail recently and will pass it along to you word for word. Now, perhaps more then ever we must be vigilant. A few years ago, my spouse and I visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. We were so very touched. Visit if you can... and support the museum if you are able.) It continu... Full story
How do you get a kindergartener excited about math? How about if he or she has to calculate voltage to determine battery strength for a light bulb? At the Orlando Jewish Day School (OJDS), an up-and-coming Jewish Day School in Dr. Phillips, kindergarten students build their own flashlights by soldering wires, connecting light bulbs, and adding batteries to create complete circuits. Some first graders have been drawing plans for an electric menorah in time for the Chanukah holiday, while other... Full story
Simchat Torah is one of the most joyous days in the Jewish year. On this day, synagogues and Jewish communities throughout the world study the closing words of Deuteronomy and immediately recite the opening words of Genesis. Acknowledging that the study of Torah is endless the last aliya with its theme of the death of Moses is followed immediately by the first aliya with its theme of Creation. The highest congregational honor one can receive is to be called to the Torah for the "last" aliya or... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Haj Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem prior to the establishment of Israel, for inspiring Hitler to exterminate the Jews of Europe, he meant to show the long history of Palestinian anti-Semitism. Regardless of his intent, Netanyahu was hit with a tsunami of backlash from historians and politicians who accused him of distorting history. Yad Vashem, the Anti-Defamation League and the German government have all criticized... Full story
Food innovation is the next course in the storied U.S.-Israel partnership. Rutgers University's Food Innovation Center and Tel-Hai College in Israel's northern Galilee region recently announced the New Jersey-Israel Healthy, Functional, and Medical Food Alliance, a venture that will create synergies between start-ups and more established food businesses in America's so-called "Garden State" and the Jewish state. The key players are Member of Knesset Erel Margalit (Labor), founder of the Jerusale... Full story
The Jewish Pavilion's answer to this year's dilemma of what to do instead of A Walk in the Park since Crane's Roost Park is undergoing reconstruction was a huge success. There were 150 vendors set up in the Maitland Civic Center showing their products that included makeup, artwork, food, books, banking tips, healthcare, food, long-term care facilities, and did we say food? From lox and bagels to edamame to pumpkin cheesecake to various kinds of chocolate concoctions, the food was just divine.... Full story
WASHINGTON—In honor of the start of the NBA season, PeacePlayers International (PPI), a nonprofit that uses basketball to build peace in areas of conflict around the world, is launching a new “Mitzvah Campaign” that helps young Jewish people around the United States use basketball to create peace and fulfill their tikkun olam projects as part of their bar/bat mitzvah preparations. Throughout the 2015/16 NBA season, thousands of Jewish youth around the country will have the opportunity to participate in 3 on 3 charity basketball tourn... Full story
The University of Central Florida is the second largest university in the nation with the largest Jewish student population. So how is a clueless Jewish boy like myself supposed to find his way around the High Holidays? The answer is quite simple, and that is Chabad. Chabad is, as many students say, "a home away from home," and that stands to be very true during the Jewish holidays, where they offer accommodation for any student who wants to observe the holiday. Sure enough, Chabad saw approxima... Full story
Haven't they suffered enough?... I read this in last month's World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest. It upset me but it is something we must be aware of. I pass it along to you: "World Jewish Congress Holocaust Memory Commissioner CHARLOTTE KNOBLOCH has called it 'intolerable' that so many Holocaust survivors today have to live in poverty and urged the world to take action. Speaking at the Wannsee Ville in Berlin, where in 1941 the Nazis decided to implement the 'final solution of the Jewish... Full story
"Tonight we are celebrating for so many reasons," shared Devorah Leah Dubov, co-director of Chabad of Greater Orlando, at the Chabad community's second annual Mega-Challah Bake, which took place on Oct. 22, and more than lived up to its prodigious name. "We are celebrating that tonight we made it to 400 women, between our two locations, over 200 here in Maitland at the Civic Center, and another 200 in South Orlando at the Rosen JCC. We are here, together, celebrating the power of women and we... Full story
Dr. Norman Berdichevsky will be speaking on the topic of Hebrew vs. Yiddish on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation at 6:30 p.m., and at Temple Israel in Winter Springs on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. The community is invited to these events. Visitors to Israel can scarcely appreciate the enormous difficulties that were involved in the restoration of Hebrew as a living language. The Hebrew-Yiddish conflict in Palestine took three generations to resolve. One hundred and... Full story
RA'ANANA, Israel-Israel Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel visited Leket Israel's new, state-of-the-art logistics center Oct. 15th. Ariel got a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of one of Israel's largest food collection and redistribution facilities and addressed the organization's staff on the importance of their work in food recovery. Leket Israel is a non-profit organization that leads the safe and effective collection and distribution of surplus nutritional food in Israel. In... Full story
BRCA. It's the gene mutation that gives Ashkenazi Jews a higher risk of breast cancer than the general population. But the women's Zionist organization Hadassah is using three of BRCA's letters-b, r, a-as a platform to help American women lead healthier lives and become more educated about breast cancer. Through Hadassah's The Uplift Project, participants-among them breast cancer survivors and celebrities-decorate bras to draw attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is marked annually... Full story
(JTA)-"What's the deal with emails, anyway?" Sounds like a line on a "Seinfeld" episode (or Modern Seinfeld, anyway). But last night we heard it on the "Saturday Night Live" spoof of the first Democratic debate. The speaker was Bernie Sanders' doppelganger, "Seinfeld" creator Larry David. David is a Jewish curmudgeon who also plays a Jewish curmudgeon on his HBO show, "Curb Your Enthusiasm." So when Sanders, another Jewish curmudgeon, decided to run for president, it was clearly the role David... Full story
Three cheers for good sense... I read this in the current World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest. I was pleased and I am sure you will be too. I pass it along: "The World Jewish Congress hailed a recent decision by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States to reject a motion endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. WJC thanked the Episcopal Church Convention for lending its support to Israel on this issue and for taking a moral stand, expressing the... Full story
By Dini Druk Remember your own preschool days? Colored posters covering the walls, brightly painted classrooms and circle time with alphabet flashcards as part of the morning routine? If you plan on sending your preschooler to any of today's award winning preschools, you're highly unlikely to find any of that. The overall themes in today's progressive preschools are nature, open spaces, and child-directed learning experiences. Educational movements such as Montessori, Bank Street, Waldorf, and... Full story
MANCHESTER CENTER, Vt. (JTA)-Bernie Sanders reads from the Passover Haggadah in Hebrew and jokes with his seder hosts about finding hametz, traces of leavening, after they have thoroughly cleaned the house in preparation for the holiday. The presidential candidate, a socialist competing for the Democratic nomination, also follows Israeli politics close enough to understand the influence of the haredi Orthodox parties in government. And like many Jews of his generation, Sanders, 74, chafes at... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-I first met Leon Klinghoffer's daughters in 2004, shortly after my father and stepmother were murdered in a robbery. Back then I was a TMI (too much information) machine, telling my story not only to friends but also to anyone in my line of vision. One Shabbat, after going to the Village Temple in New York to say Kaddish, I approached the rabbi, Chava Koster, and told her, too. Unlike the sales clerk at Staples or the dinnertime telemarketer I had forced off script, Koster... Full story
(JTA)-It's been a busy couple of weeks for breast cancer. Of course, breast cancer is always busy, exerting its sneaky destruction through abnormal cell growth. But now it's October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the scary fact is everywhere again: One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime. This time around, the talk about breast cancer feels more urgent, more ubiquitous and definitely more confusing. Recent headlines have screamed "What If Everything... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israelis seeking an escape from last week’s daily terror attacks couldn’t fly to the moon, but they had a chance to hear from someone who did—Buzz Aldrin. In Israel’s terror-riven capital, the Israel Space Agency—the country’s version of NASA—is hosting this year’s International Astronautical Conference, the premier confab for all things space. An exhibition hall shows off a range of gadgets and robotics, and talks fill the schedule this week with titles like “The State of Space Situational Awareness, Conjunction Warning... Full story
