Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3351 - 3375 of 4432
I'm really getting nervous... According to a new report from the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest, "Violent anti-Semitism in Europe rose dramatically in 2014." This is very disturbing to me and most of you, I'm guessing. Not only for myself, but for my children and grandchildren and... Here is the report: "A newly released annual report on global anti-Semitism, issued by Tel-Aviv University, found the situation of Jews in Europe more dangerous and precarious than ever before. The report... Full story
(JTA)-Jewish violin virtuoso Roman Totenberg enjoyed a long life, making it to the ripe old age of 101. But that wasn't quite long enough to be reunited with the prized instrument that was stolen from him in 1980. The FBI officially announced Thursday that it had recovered Totenberg's almost 300-year-old Stradivarius, which he purchased in 1943. With just a few hundred of its type in the world, it's now worth millions of dollars, according to The Associated Press. The Polish-born Totenberg, who... Full story
By Suzanne Pollak (Washington Jewish Week via JTA)-Jennifer Weiner wasn't funny during our telephone interview, and she never once asked me about my weight. Could the author of a dozen very popular-pardon the phrase-"chick lit" novels not be the embodiment of the characters in her clearly autobiographical work? Weiner leaped out of the literary gate in 2001 with her first novel, "Good in Bed," about a plus-size woman's right to love and be loved; she has enjoyed a huge following ever since. Her... Full story
DEAUVILLE, France (JTA)-This seaside community situated 125 miles west of Paris boasts windswept beaches, turquoise-water marinas, a grand casino, a race track and an Olympic-size swimming pool. Deauville, spanning 2.2 square miles, also has five kosher restaurants, three main synagogues and more than 20 smaller Jewish congregations. The picturesque Lower Normandy township emerged decades ago as a favorite holiday destination among affluent Paris Jews for its littoral beauty, plentiful... Full story
Orlando magician, Kostya Kimlat, will appear on the Monday, Aug. 17 episode of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" on the CW at 8 p.m. "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" is a one-hour competition series celebrating magic and featuring the legendary duo Penn & Teller. On each episode, aspiring magicians are invited to perform their best trick to try and fool one of magic's most famous pairs. A resident of Orlando, Kimlat founded See Magic Live, which trains and books magicians for events across the country. His... Full story
By Jacob Kaplan (Jewniverse via JTA)—Jews from Denmark first arrived on the white beaches of what is now St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands—a tiny speck off the coast of Puerto Rico—in the mid-17th century. These were descendants of a Jewish population that had fled Spain for other parts of Europe during the Inquisition. St. Thomas afforded them a certain religious autonomy that wasn’t always available on the mainland. In the ensuing centuries, a Jewish community flourished in the capital city of Charlotte Amalie, which now boasts the St. Thomas... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-It may be America's most iconic kosher brand, famous for its hot dogs that in the words of its unforgettable ad slogan, "answer to a higher authority." So consumers might be confused to find videos on Hebrew National's homepage suggesting they grill up their kosher franks with some bacon or halloumi cheese. Hebrew National's "Simple Summer Skewers" video serves up several unusual kebab combos, including Sweet & Spicy Halloumi (halloumi cheese, Hebrew National franks, pineapple,... Full story
(JTA)-The Los Angeles Dodgers may never achieve the lore of their brethren in Brooklyn, but now at least they've brought a bit of Brooklyn to the West Coast-in the form of hot dogs. Earlier this week, Dodger Stadium opened its first kosher hot dog stand, Jeff's Gourmet Sausage Factory. The stand, which is open for the season's remaining home games-except for those on the Jewish Sabbath and holidays-is serving up three versions of its titular tube steak: regular and jalapeno, both $9, and sweet... Full story
Simply outrageous... I received this update from the Simon Wiesenthal Center recently... and it literally made me feel sick. Read on: "You may not have heard about the outrageous sermon delivered at Al-Aqsa Mosque just a few weeks ago by Sheik KHALAD AL-MUGHRABI. Now Al-Mughrabi is no ordinary preacher, but a preacher at one of the holiest sites in Islam, just a stones's throw away from the Western Wall. And his sermon was so outrageous, so full of hate, that it should have made the front pages... Full story
For those who try to get in better touch with their Ashkenazi Jewish heritage by studying Yiddish at the college level, there are challenges-but those can be outweighed by the nakhes (pride or pleasure) of rediscovering the nearly lost language. "The most exciting thing about learning Yiddish is that it opens the door to the fascinating world of Yiddish culture that has flourished for over a thousand years and awaits explorers, researchers, translators and educators," Agi Legutko-director of... Full story
(JTA)-The world of reality TV is vast and scary, and I know because I watch way too much of it. But there are surprising gems to be found, and Game Show Network's "Skin Wars" is one of them. Currently in its second season, the reality competition show is modeled after "Project Runway," but instead of fashion-design hopefuls creating a new look for models to don each week, the contestants on "Skin Wars" bring their art directly to the model's naked skin (save for some pasties and nude... Full story
"Both Jews and Muslims have a lot in common. What are we fighting over? Jews and Muslims don't eat pork, we don't celebrate Christmas, we both use 'ch' in our pronunciation, and we are both hairy creatures of God," says comedian Ahmed Ahmed. "The only real difference between Jews and Muslims is that Jews never like to spend any money and Muslims never have any money to spend." So goes one of the dozens of jokes featured in the "Laugh in Peace" comedy routine of Ahmed and Rabbi Bob Alper. It's... Full story
LEAWOOD, Kan. (JTA)—Mendel Segal wears two particular titles that each reflect a devotion to tradition, imply an unending pursuit of precision and command immediate respect. One is rabbi. The other is pitmaster. The 33-year-old Orthodox rabbi (and follower of the late Lubavitcher rebbe) is readying to oversee the fourth annual Kansas City Kosher BBQ Festival on Sunday, an event that is expected to attract as many as 4,000 attendees. Segal—known as “RaBBi-Q” to his fans and fellow competitors on the circuit—is a kosher barbecue champion... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)-For many Jewish parents, the challenges they face raising their children include choosing between Jewish and public schools, planning bar and bat mitzvahs, and staying sane while planning big Shabbat dinners. But for parents raising Jewish children in rural areas like me, without a cohesive community around them, just having our identity recognized and honored by neighbors is often the first challenge. Maine thinks of itself as a homogenous state. Despite increasing... Full story
Shown here are Temple Israel's Meitin Religious School students standing inside the sukkah they built last year. Read about what many of the Central Florida religious schools and day schools have to offer the children of this community to prepare them to take their stand in this community and this world in the Back to School supplement in this week's Heritage.... Full story
By Maayan Jaffe JNS.org According to the model of Western philosophy, a successful Jewish student would be one who masters the Talmud, the laws of Shabbat and kashrut, and the tales of the Midrash, says Rabbi Dovid Abenson. “Every institution craves the box child,” Abenson, founder and director of the Shaar Hatalmud online Jewish learning program, tells JNS.org. “The box child is a child that fits the mold.” Yet Abenson asks, if a student has not internalized a love and appreciation for knowledge, nor a faith and security in Judaism, “can we, a... Full story
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society will mark the 450th anniversary of the arrival of the descendants of Crypto-Jews to territories later to become the United States, 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8 at the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, 11 Magnolia Ave, St. Augustine, Florida 32084. The program is open to the public and will include a tour of relevant excavations of oldest successful European settlement in the United States led by St. Augustine Archaeological Association Board Member, Carl Lindenfeld. Discussion over lunch follows the... Full story
Three girls who survived their survival Such Good Girls: The Journey of the Holocaust's Hidden Child Survivors By R. D. Rosen On sale Oct. 1, 2015 A five-year-old girl who slipped out of the Lvov, Poland, ghetto with her mother, who, thanks to her fluency in German, found work as a bookkeeper for a Nazi. A six-year-old schoolgirl who somehow knew not to raise her hand when her schoolteacher in Southern France suddenly asked which students were Jewish. A family that barely made a noise for more... Full story
BERLIN (JTA)-Seventy-nine summers after Marty Glickman's Olympics uniform was rendered as useless as a jilted bride's wedding dress, his daughter Nancy wore the same uniform to light the cauldron that officially opened the European Maccabi Games here. Her late father's removal from the U.S. track team hours before the 4x100 meter relay in the still-standing stadium across from where the opening ceremony took place Tuesday made Nancy Glickman's act the dramatic climax of a night replete with... Full story
By Shannon Sarna (The Nosher via JTA)-I have never made rugelach. Well, actually that's not entirely true. I made rugelach once recently, and they were a disaster. The dough wasn't moist enough, I didn't roll them properly and I ended up with a bit of a mess. Thankfully one of our contributors is a rugelach master. Samantha Ferraro of The Little Ferraro Kitchen doesn't just make delicious rugelach-she makes rugelach in varieties such as cheese and herb, cherry pistachio and pumpkin candied... Full story
The times they are a changin' (or are they?)... I just read the following in the new World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest for this month: "Addressing the rise of anti-Semitism around the world and the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa, WJC President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER noted that the merging today of anti-Semitism and the persecution of Christians is not unique. 'We've both been targeted before, often by the same enemy. But today's rampage against both religions at... Full story
(JTA)-Jeff Lieberman was en route to a South Carolina screening of his first feature, "Re-emerging: The Jews of Nigeria," when he realized how close he'd be to the tiny Blue Ridge Mountain town of Tryon, North Carolina. The New York-based filmmaker couldn't pass up a side trip to the birthplace of Eunice Kathleen Waymon-better known to the masses as Nina Simone. "I'd been a fan of hers since I was in high school, but always felt like I didn't quite understand her," said Lieberman, whose first... Full story
(JTA)—Actor Jason Segel—best known as the star of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “How I Met Your Mother”—opened up on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast this week about growing up with one Jewish parent and as a complete outsider. Segel sat down for the Monday podcast ahead of the release of his film “The End of the Tour,” in which he plays the tortured writer David Foster Wallace—a career U-turn away from the comedic work that made him famous. On Maron’s podcast (on which President Barack Obama was recently a guest), Segel said he long felt uns... Full story
By Curt Schleier (JTA)—“Homage” is a French word that frequently and unfortunately translates into English as I don’t have a good idea of my own, so I will borrow one of yours and call it a tribute. Fans of Alfred Hitchcock will be delighted, however, with “Phoenix,” German director Christian Petzold’s suspenseful take on “Vertigo.” He offers a fresh twist on mistaken identity that ultimately leads to a denouement that’s as dramatically, emotionally and intellectually satisfying as the master’s. Not that Petzold is a slouch in the master... Full story
By Gabe Friedman (JTA)-James Franco may be 37, but he isn't yet a man in the Jewish tradition: The popular actor never had a bar mitzvah. With the help of fellow Jewish actor Seth Rogen, that's about to change. Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, will throw Franco a bar mitzvah during their annual Hilarity for Charity variety show at the Hollywood Palladium on Oct. 17. "Ever since I've known James, he's been talking about wanting a bar mitzvah," Rogen told Variety in a statement. The... Full story
