Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3526 - 3550 of 4470
(ISRAEL21c)While medical cannabis is often used to ease pain or nausea, an Israeli-American biopharmaceutical company is developing medicines containing cannabinoids—chemical compounds from cannabis plants—to treat conditions including diabetes, inflammatory diseases (like arthritis, atherosclerosis and ulcerative colitis) and cardiovascular disorders. ISA Scientific recently signed an exclusive worldwide licensing and collaboration agreement to establish therapies containing a specific cannabinoid called cannabidiol (CBD), with Yissum, the... Full story
(ISRAEL21c)—New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science could point to ways of renewing heart cells and eventually lead to new treatments for cardiovascular diseases. As opposed to blood, hair or skin cells that can renew themselves throughout life, our heart cells cease to divide shortly after birth, and there is very little renewal in adulthood. New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science provides insight into the question of why the mammalian heart fails to regenerate, and demonstrated, in adult mice, the possibility of turning b... Full story
(ISRAEL21c)—The NaNose technology, first used in detecting lung cancer, has now been shown as an effective tool in detecting early-stage gastric (stomach) cancer as well. According to a study in the medical journal, Gut, the diagnostic tool developed by Dr. Hossam Haick, professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the Technion Institute of Technology, matched the results picked up by the standard method of gastric cancer detection, called gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS). ...
Thousands of people walked from the Auschwitz to Birkenau in Poland on Thursday, April 16, as part of the annual March of the Living on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Each year, marchers commemorate more than a million people-the vast majority of them Jewish men, women, and children-who were murdered in the death camp. This year, the program included some 10,000 students and adults, Jews and non-Jews, from more than 40 countries. "On this march we insist that never again shall we be silent when... Full story
"Depressed" isn't a strong enough word... With the increase in anti-Semitism in Europe and yes, even here in the United States, I am feeling extremely down and frankly scared. I keep remembering the words of Holocaust survivor ROMAN KENT at the recent Auschwitz tribute. He said "We do not want our past to be our children's future." Even if my time on earth isn't much longer, what about my children and their children and their children's children? I repeat, "depressed isn't a strong enough... Full story
One would have thought she was entering Churchill Downs on the evening of April 14 as several hundred women donned colorful, flowery hats for Choices 2015. It was an evening for the women who are shaping the future of the Orlando Jewish community under the auspices of the Greater Orlando Jewish Federation. For more than 21 years, the Women's Philanthrophy has nurtured this community from generation to generation.... Full story
The Seeking Kin column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA)-The pain of losing close relatives in the Holocaust is so acute that it has afflicted multiple generations of Audrey Greenberg's clan. Greenberg, of Los Angeles, has a suitcase filled with photographs showing her late mother, Ruth, as a girl. The pictures also include other family members of Ruth's parents, Yerachmiel and Sarah Leibenbaum. Starting in 1922, one or two at a time, five of Ruth's sisters... Full story
(Jewniverse via JTA)—What happened to the classic songs of the 1930s and ’40s? The standards of the Great American Songbook crooned by Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee or Ella Fitzgerald (and later made unforgettable by Data of “Star Trek”)? “The B-Side” by Ben Yagoda, which was published this year, reads like a detective story sniffing out a homicide, and the deceased is Tin Pan Alley, New York’s epicenter of songwriting and music publishing for decades. A surprising number of its authors and composers— George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-As the Streit's matzah factory on the Lower East Side gets set to close, Jews in New York City and beyond are feeling the nostalgia. The last family-owned matzah company in the United States has still not set an official closing date (latest reports indicate that the Rivington Street factory may remain open until May or early summer), but its plans remain the same: Streit's matzah-making operations will be consolidated to a Moonachie, N.J., factory very soon. Brooklyn-based... Full story
Not as famous as director Steven Spielberg is his sister Nancy, the filmmaker. Lesser known than the Israelis who fought for their country's independence were the American pilots who secretly joined that fight. Ahead of Israel's 67th Independence Day, the new documentary "Above and Beyond" is fusing those two unsung elements. AIPAC is bringing this film to Orlando on May 11, 7 p.m. at the Orlando Science Center. In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of... Full story
(JTA)—It’s no secret that non-Jews are into Jewish names. Sarah Palin named her dog Hadassah. Gwyneth Paltrow (that perennially “almost” Jewish actress) and Chris Martin named their son Moses. In recent years, the name Cohen has become a popular first name amongst non-Jews. So it might not come as a surprise to some that Jill Duggar, one of the 19 kids from “19 Kids and Counting” fame, and her husband Derick Dillard have named their first child Israel David. “Love this sweet baby Israel!” the Duggar family exclaimed on its official Facebook pag... Full story
(JTA)-When mainstream French media report about Jewish schools, it's usually not good news. Sometimes, the reports are about controversies surrounding public funding of such institutions in a country with a strong separation between religion and state. More often, the news is in the context of security around Jewish schools, which are under heavy protection by police and the army from Islamist fanatics like Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four Jews at a kosher supermarket on Jan. 9; apparently a... Full story
On Friday night, for the seventh year in a row, President and Mrs. Obama hosted the annual White House seder. The seder provides an opportunity for the First Family to join in retelling the story of the Israelites' arduous journey through the desert from slavery in Egypt to liberation in the Promised Land. In recounting the story, they joined their guests in performing the seder rituals and followed the Haggadah's command that we see ourselves as though we personally were liberated from Egypt.... Full story
The Seeking Kin column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. TEL AVIV (JTA)-A few blocks from Sylvia Selvas' home here near the Mediterranean Sea is the apartment where she last saw her friend Sarah Haim. That was 59 years ago, when Haim stopped by to tell Selvas that she was moving to the United States. Selvas recently welcomed a visitor to her second-floor residence on Yirmiyahu Street in the hope of finding her friend. Two weeks after the interview, "Seeking Kin" learned that... Full story
Okay, you talked me into it... I'm running for president! Is it any more ridiculous than Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Donald Trump? (Never mind. I'm not going to write about politics.) What I will write about is the concern I have with growing anti-Semitism, not only in the Middle East and certain European countries like Belgium or Austria. Read about our "allies." These facts come from the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest. I pass them along: "According to a recent poll commissioned by... Full story
May 11, 2014 was a special Mother's Day for Ann Gobey of Altamonte Springs. The resident of Life Care Center celebrated the national holiday and her 99th birthday all on the same day. This year Mother's Day will fall one day short of Gobey's birthday, so her 100th birthday will have a special day of its own. On Saturday, March 29, Gobey's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and members of the Jewish Pavilion gathered together for an early celebration of the momentous occasion. Though... Full story
BOULDER, Colorado (JTA)-Omer Mei-Dan has jumped off more cliffs than he can count-not to mention helicopters, skyscrapers and bridges. Just don't call him a skydiver. An orthopedic surgeon and extreme sports athlete, Mei-Dan, 42, is a BASE jumper-one of an estimated 1,500 to 3,000 worldwide who jump from the fixed platforms for which the sport is named: buildings, antennas, spans and earth. Skydiving is a cakewalk by comparison. Because BASE jumpers leap from much lower altitudes, they often... Full story
MIAMI (JTA)-For Joel Mael, the Shabbat-observing vice chairman of the Miami Marlins, the team's free spending in the offseason was wise from a financial perspective. Signing Giancarlo Stanton, 25, to a record 13-year, $325 million contract and fellow outfielder Christian Yelich, 23, to a seven-year, nearly $50 million deal were parts of a plan to retain the club's budding talent and vault the club into playoff contention while saving money down the line. But this was the Marlins, who had a... Full story
Jorma Kaukonen, who played guitar in classic rock bands Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, has just released "Ain't In No Hurry," his first solo album since 2009. While Kaukonen's guitar skills are legendary, few people know that he bought his first electric guitar by cashing Israel Bonds he received from his Jewish grandmother. On the eve of Jefferson Airplane's 50th anniversary, the 74-year-old Kaukonen, who lives in Athens, Ohio, with his wife, a Jew-by-choice, talked to JTA about his Jewish... Full story
(JTA)—On April 1, Naomi Firestone-Teeter became executive director of the Jewish Book Council, which promotes the reading, writing, publishing and distribution of English-language Jewish books. Firestone-Teeter, whose predecessor Carolyn Hessel has been called “the Jewish Oprah” for her success at promoting books, has been working her way up in the organization since graduating from Emory University in 2006, serving most recently as its associate director. JTA recently caught up by email with the 31-year-old exec. The interview has been conde...
On Feb. 18, Sally Salamy (in blue top), celebrated her 103rd birthday with her husband, Maurice, (who turned 92 on April 4 and is standing to the right of Sally) and many younger friends shown here (l-r) Gayle and Steven Stein, Karen Bogart and Viviane Flax. Sally and Maurice also celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary on April 1. The couple joined Congregation Ohev Shalom in 1963 and in 2012, they renewed their vows at the synagogue, when Sally was a mere 100. Up until six months ago, Sally... Full story
Jewish National Fund's Women for Israel (WFI) hosted a Wines of Israel Tasting on Tuesday, March 24 at a private home in Longwood. Over 35 women enjoyed an evening that featured wines from vineyards in the Negev desert, Galilee, and the Golan Heights. Along with the wine tasting, guests also learned about the regions the vineyards are located in as well as JNF's work in those areas including the booming city of Be'er Sheva and JNF's Go North initiative, which aims to attract new residents to... Full story
On the evening of Wednesday, April 15—the 27th of Nisan—candles will be lit around the world to honor the memory of the millions of Jews who perished during the Holocaust. On Yom HaShoah, we also remember the courage and defiance Jews showed during the war. That defiance could have taken the form of physical confrontation but often it was seen as psychological resistance—such as the use of humor against their Nazi oppressors. Today, how Jews used humor during the Shoah. Does this topic unsettle you? John Morreall is not surprised if it does.... Full story
Holocaust remembrance... Acknowledging that officially, Thursday, April 16th is Holocaust Remembrance Day, this story in the current World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest caught my eye. I pass it on to you and add my personal comment in parenthesis at the end: "WJC President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER, speaking on Jan. 27 next to the gate and railroad tracks that marked the last journey for more than a million people murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau, sounded a warning that the rise in anti-Semitism... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA) – In 20 years, there will be more Muslims in North America than Jews, according to a new Pew Research Center report. The report, which was released Thursday, also found that more American Jews are leaving Judaism than non-Jews are joining the Jewish people. According to "The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050," Muslims will overtake Christians in the last quarter of the 21st century as the globe's largest religious group. In the United States, Musl... Full story
