Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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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
It's about time... I read this recently in the October issue of the World Jewish Congress digest under the heading "New Amnesty International Report Details Hamas Crimes Against Palestinians In Gaza." I pass it along to you: "Amnesty International, not known for its pro-Israel views, recently released a report in which the human rights group turned its attention to the abuses of Hamas. This report found that under the cover of the Israeli military action during Operation Protective Edge last... Full story
(JTA)-This post is safe for work. All those who claim to read Playboy "for the articles" might now actually mean it. Last Tuesday, Playboy announced that starting in March, its magazine will no longer feature nude models. It will, however, still have "sexy, seductive pictorials of the world's most beautiful women," according to a news release. But for the publication that changed the way sexuality was viewed in America, it certainly is the end of an era. In reporting on the shift, The New York... Full story
NEW YORK-Emmy award-winning filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum was driven to make her deeply personal documentary, "Look at Us Now, Mother!" (that premieres in downtown Orlando October 22nd at the Cobb Plaza Cinema Cafe as a part of the Orlando Film Festival) due to the overwhelming response and rave reviews of her humorous short "My Nose". The film chronicles her own highly charged relationship with her mother and asks: what happens to a girl when she is born into a family that was expecting a boy?... Full story
Thanks to the young teens of Congregation Ohev Shalom, the residents at Brookdale Island Lake community enjoyed a joyous and meaningful Rosh Hashanah service. For many seniors with limited transportation or patience to sit (and stand) for a traditional Yom Tov service, the prayers, singing and readings with the young teens was just perfect. For one of the residents who was once a USY adviser himself 'back in the day,' the presence and enthusiasm of the children brought him pure joy and... Full story
When Michael Oren was 15 years old, he shook the hand of Yitzhak Rabin, who at the time was the Israeli ambassador to the United States. Oren vowed in that moment this was what he would be. Fast forward 40 years later, and Oren fulfilled his goal to become the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Of course he didn't just wish it into being. He worked hard aiming at his goal. In his recently published book, "Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide," Oren shares in this partly... Full story
A great movie. A great actress... I refer to Academy Award winning actress, HELEN MIRREN. I just received this information in a World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest: "Academy Award winning actress Helen Mirren was honored by the WJC for helping to publicize the issue of Nazi-looted art through her portrayal of Maria Altman in the acclaimed film 'Woman In Gold.' The movie tells the story of the Austrian-American woman who made headlines in 2006 for her winning legal battle against the Austrian... Full story
It is hard to believe that in a small Jewish community like Orlando, our elders in long –term care were able to celebrate Sukkot with the Jewish Pavilion. Some celebrated the holiday around a dining room table in an Activities Room. Others were outside enjoying the holiday in a real sukkah. Special thanks to Winter Park Care and Rehab and Atria Senior Living for choosing to erect a sukkah again this year. Visit Jewish Pavilion's Face Book page and see Zelda Klaiman celebrating the holiday b... Full story
That's what visitors to Jerusalem's Old City asked last week. The wedding gown, created by leading Israeli artist Motti Mizrachi, is part of the second Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art, an event that blew into town as the Sukkot holiday got underway. Mizrachi, who lives and works in Tel Aviv, created the dress that floats majestically over the Tower of David, the main exhibition site of the Jerusalem Biennale, as part of an installation called "Betrothal." It's just one of many... Full story
(JTA)-In Israel, American stores dot shopping malls and McDonald's branches proliferate. But one chain you won't see is Starbucks. Starbucks has franchises around the world, but its brief experiment with Israeli stores lasted just two years, from 2001 to 2003. Maybe, as some have suggested, Starbucks pulled out of Tel Aviv to appease an anti-Israel market in the Arab world. Or maybe pumpkin spice lattes didn't catch on in a country with no discernible fall season. Or maybe Starbucks just... Full story
(JTA)-Is the glass one-third empty or two-thirds full? A poll commissioned by distributors of the Holocaust film "Return to the Hiding Place" asked 1,000 Americans a question many Jews have pondered: "If you were living during World War II, would you have risked the imprisonment and death of yourself and your family to hide Jews?" The results, as reported in The Hollywood Reporter (and other publications that cited the Hollywood Reporter), were presented in a remarkably negative way:... Full story
Fifteen years ago, without any idea where his work would be exhibited, painter Archie Rand began transforming each of the 613 Jewish mitzvahs, or commandments, into its own painting, a series that took five years to complete. Now, in his new book "The 613" (Blue Rider Press, Hardcover, 9780399173769, $45, on sale Nov. 10, 2015), Rand collects all of these panels-beautiful, shocking, insightful, funny, and at times transgressive-into a single book, with one painting per page accompanied by the... Full story
It was a brave-some may argue foolhardy-lot who recently braved the August heat of the Negev desert to walk a short segment of the Israel National Trail (INT) at around noontime. But the nearly 100 young men in blue Israel Defense Forces t-shirts didn't appear to mind the blazing white heat. They were on the INT (Shvil Yisra'el in Hebrew, though to most Israelis it's just "the Shvil") to train. "We get lots of practice on different altitudes," says Aaron Lion, 20. "The Shvil is a really good... Full story
I have a dear friend... Because a dear family friend of mine (who will remain nameless), is facing chemotherapy due to a positive diagnosis of breast cancer, I found this letter I recently received from JOAN COLEN to be extremely interesting. (Incidentally, my friend lives in Winter Park.) And the fact that it praises the great accomplishments of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, makes it a subject I choose to write about. Here is Joan's letter in part: "I am a two-time cance... Full story
MOSCOW (JTA)-At Russia's largest kosher food factory, owner Pinhas Slobodnik welcomes his Muslim workers with a greeting in Arabic that he pronounces in a thick Russian accent. Some 120 workers, most from the predominantly Muslim republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, are employed at the factory-a sprawling complex built in 2009 in the basement of the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Russia. When it comes to kosher food for Russia's 250,000 Jews, he hasn't only cornered the market, he... Full story
(JTA)-In the wake of the never-ending email scandal and Bernie Sanders' rise in the polls, Hillary Clinton is feeling some serious heat in the 2016 presidential race. In an attempt to connect with younger voters, the Democratic front-runner agreed to be interviewed by Lena Dunham, the Jewish creator of HBO's hit show "Girls." The full interview will be available on Tuesday to subscribers of Dunham's new Lenny newsletter, whose name is a portmanteau of Lena and Jenny (as in Dunham's "Girls"... Full story
(JTA)—As Hurricane Joaquin gains steam off the southeastern coast of the United States, the question has begun to circulate online: Are Jews allowed to take down their sukkahs in the case of a storm? Sukkot, which began Sunday, runs through this Sunday evening. Hurricane Joaquin, the first large tropical storm of the hurricane season (the name means “raised by God” in Hebrew), could hit parts of the East Coast this weekend—just before the end of the holiday. Regardless of whether the Category 3 hurricane makes landfall, it is expected to brin... Full story
By Hillel Kuttler The “Seeking Kin” column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. (JTA)—When Fabio Rosenfeld asked his paternal grandfather, Miklos, about the latter’s relatives, the response always was the same: They’d been killed in the Holocaust. But Rosenfeld, a resident of the southern Brazil city of Curitiba, learned this summer that Miklos’ sister, Aranka, survived the Shoah. Now he hopes to find any children and grandchildren she may have had—or even locate Aranka, who would be in her mid-90s. Rosenfeld, 43, knows not... Full story
(The Nosher via JTA)-Anyone who has visited Israel knows that a stroll through the shuk (Israeli market) is a multi-sense experience: the bright colors, the sweet and spicy smells, the mix of loud voices and, of course, the endless flavors. This magical experience is heightened before Jewish and Israeli festivities, and especially around the High Holidays. The apples and honey, the red pomegranates, round challah bread and many other traditional foods can be found in every corner. On many... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-When the German film "Labyrinth of Lies" opens, Hitler's Third Reich was defeated only 13 years earlier. Germany is rising from the ruins, but in 1958 its people are largely in a state of forgetfulness and denial about the recent past. Ask the man in the street about millions of Jews exterminated in SS concentration camps and he'll tell you that's "Greuelpropaganda," horror propaganda, invented by the enemy. Auschwitz? What's that? What about the Nuremberg Trials of war... Full story
Students of the Orot Etzion school decorating their sukkah in the Gush Etzion bloc of Judea and Samaria, Sept. 24, 2015.... Full story
I love Canada... Probably because my late mom, Sally Golub, was born in Montreal. Also, because I had the privilege of performing at the Calgary Stampede years ago when I was vocalist with the legendary Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. I've never been to eastern Canada, but Montreal is on my "Bucket List." However, Calgary, Banff and Lake Louise in western Canada were beautiful places to be and I have great memories. I read about Canada recently in a World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest. I pass it along... Full story
