Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3676 - 3700 of 4470
NEW YORK (JTA)-A Swiss museum's pledge this week to conduct a full search into the provenance of some 1,600 works of art it plans to accept from the estate of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of one of Hitler's main art dealers, once again has thrust the issue of Holocaust art restitution into the headlines. The announcement by the Kunstmuseum Bern underscores the ongoing quest for the transparent restitution of Holocaust art, but we should remember that the problem is not Europe's alone. Here in the... Full story
ALGEMEINER-Birthright Israel, the American organization that organizes visits to Israel for participants from 66 different countries, has terminated a partnership with the controversial New Israel Fund (NIF,) resulting in the cancellation of a December visit to the Jewish state assembled by the two groups. In an email to trip participants, Stephanie Ives, the New York director for the NIF, said that "we have been cut from the trip for three reasons that have been communicated to us: (1)... Full story
Orlando Torah Academy second graders are forming yet another link in the chain of their Jewish heritage all the way back to Moses. On Friday, Nov. 7, these children reached a joyous milestone when they learned from inside the Chumash for the very first time. They began with the third parsha/portion in the book of Bereishis/Genesis, Parshas Lech-Lecha, where it talks about our forefather Abraham passing G-d-given tests. Their journey began in preschool where they learned the letters of the Aleph... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-Henry Koster had a long and successful career in Hollywood, directing a string of hits from the 1930s through the 1960s, including "Harvey," the comedy classic that paired Jimmy Stewart with a 6-foot invisible rabbit. But perhaps the most important film Koster ever made was also his least famous. Koster's "From Europe to Hollywood I," a home movie he shot in 1936, followed his journey from Hegyeshalom, Hungary, to Los Angeles. For Koster the trip -across Europe, the Atlantic... Full story
NEW YORK—Applications for the 2015-2016 Masa Israel Teaching Fellows are officially open. For the program’s fifth cohort, Masa Israel Journey will select 200 outstanding Jewish college graduates to teach English in Israel’s periphery and, for the first time ever, in Israeli youth villages for immigrant and at-risk youth. Masa Israel Teaching Fellows is a joint initiative of Israel’s Ministry of Education, Masa Israel Journey, and the Jewish Agency for Israel. The 10-month service-learning fellowship was created to address the achieve... Full story
I love... I love a lot of things... my spouse of course; our three sons; our grandchildren; all family; dear friends; the United States... and Brig. General Dr. DANNY GOLD. (Oy vay! Relax Irving, and read on before you get crazy!) Actually, I love Dr. Gold because his "brainchild" is Israel's Iron Dome. The following article comes directly from the World Jewish Congress Digest (WJC). I pass it along to you with asides in parenthesis by me: "It's more than just the logo on Israeli apparel or the... Full story
From Tevye the dairyman to Maroon 5's Adam Levine to "Let It Go" singer Idina Menzel, Jews have always been at the forefront of the music scene. Burt Sugarman and Mark Goodman are no different. As on of the pre-eminent television and film producers in history, Sugarman's rolodex of connections would make any A-lister blush. Goodman, one of the first on-air personalities for the MTV network, had his finger on the pulse of pop music for years. The two industry icons spoke to JNS.org about the... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA) – If Rabbi Steven Pruzansky of Teaneck, N.J., had his way, Arab rioters and stone throwers would be shot with live ammunition. Arabs would be barred from the Temple Mount for six months. Any village from which two or more terrorists originated would be razed and its residents deported. Arab terrorists would be executed, their bodies cremated and buried with dead pigs, their families deported and their homes destroyed or given to Jews. "There is a war for the land of Israel that i... Full story
Eighth-grade students at the Jewish Academy of Orlando collected Halloween candy for the brave men and women serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. The candy will be distributed by UCF students this December as part of their Birthright trip through Central Florida Hillel. The 8th-grade students of the Jewish Academy of Orlando will be going to Israel in March 2015 as a culmination of their Jewish learning at the school.... Full story
Over 300 parents, grandparents and friends of the Jewish Academy of Orlando attended this year's annual gala on Nov. 1. This year's gala, titled "Jeans, Jewels and Jazz" honored the Bierman and Moreno families for two generations of commitment and leadership to the success and development of the school. Jewish Academy parents Nathalie Toledano Steinberg and Amanda Jacobson Nappi chaired the gala, which was held at the Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs. The gala featured silent and live auctions,... Full story
On Friday, Nov. 12, Shalom Families gathered in the park for a picnic Shabbat. Fifteen young families including many mommies, daddies, and several grandparents, came to enjoy the crisp fall evening. The group lit candles, said hamotzi, blessed the children, and sang songs to welcome Shabbat. Each family brought a dessert to share and the children were just tickled with the mountain of cookies and brownies to choose from. All families who attended were given a 'How-to Shabbat' kit to take home... Full story
This is upbeat... Why are you wasting time reading this column? It's "Black Friday"! The day after Thanksgiving! Bargains await! Go! Spend money! Be happy! This is definitely NOT upbeat... Five people were murdered and seven people wounded in Israel recently, after two Arab terrorists entered the Kehillat Bnai Torah Yeshiva Synagogue on Agassi Street during Shacharit (morning) prayers in Jerusalem's religious Har Nof neighborhood bearing guns, axes, and knives. The terrorists, shouting "Allahu... Full story
What message is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) sending to the Jewish community through its recent selection of White House aide and social entrepreneur Jonathan Greenblatt to succeed longtime National Director Abraham Foxman? While some are praising ADL for thinking outside the box with its hire and trying to appeal to a younger demographic, others are concerned that Greenblatt is too visibly partisan and that his past experience may signal ADL’s de-emphasis of the fight against anti-Semitism in favor of civil rights work. But most agree t... Full story
JNF CEO Russell Robinson (far left) met the staff and student leaders of Central Florida Hillel. Robinson came to Orlando as the guest speaker for the Orlando JNF's annual gala. Central Florida Hillel and the JNF work closely together on the college campus through Birthright trips, alternative spring breaks and speaker programs in order to create the Jewish community's next generation of leaders for Israel.... Full story
Two-hundred guests attended the Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando's "Party After Dark" on Nov. 8, benefiting its Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center and honoring Shayna's Village founders, Es Cohen, Justin Presser, and Matt Presser. Co-chaired by Michelle Kutschinski and Heidi Zissman, the evening raised $17,500 and featured the band Crash Reality, delicious food by Brio Tuscan Grille, the recently renovated Courtyard Playground (lit by Lightbulbs Unlimited), flowers...
NEW YORK (JTA)-Janna Gur's "The Book of New Israeli Food" has sat on my kitchen counter with my other favorite cookbooks for years, and I frequently pull it out for friends and family who are unfamiliar with Israeli cuisine, saying, "This is the book you need to buy to understand food in Israel." Gur's newly published sequel, "Jewish Soul Food: From Minsk to Marrakesh" (Random House), is even more beautiful than its predecessor and more accessible to an American audience. While in New York on a... Full story
(ISRAEL21c)—A first-in-class pocket-sized metered-dose cannabis inhaler helps patients and doctors control, monitor and fine-tune dosages. As medical marijuana debates heat up across the globe, a government-backed Israeli startup has developed the first device of its kind to administer cannabis as a pharmaceutical. Unlike the current methods—smoking joints, imbibing oil, rubbing in a salve or eating laced brownies—this medical device enables the patient to inhale metered doses of vaporized cannabis granules. The Syqe Inhaler is the brain... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-As the Jewish Federations of North America holds its annual General Assembly this week, newly emerging evidence from the Pew Research Center's 2013 "Portrait of American Jewry" points to enormous challenges facing federations, Jewish philanthropy and organized Jewish life, more generally. Virtually every Jewish institution is contending with a sharply diminishing base of people who give, join or even care. Though the Orthodox are expanding numerically and growing in strength, the... Full story
There is nothing like a General Assembly of the Jewish Federations for running into long-time friends and colleagues, for unexpected and exciting encounters, and for making new and promising connections. For Rhonda Forest, Loren London, Rabbi Maurice Kaprow, and myself this GA was rich with these experiences. Today, I would like to mention just a few of them. Saying hello and thank you to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, a former chief rabbi of the UK, and one of the greatest modern spiritual leaders of the Jewish people, is akin to coming close to... Full story
OXON HILL, Md. (JTA)-There was the vice president of the United States, two Supreme Court justices and an Academy Award-winning actress with a compelling Jewish story. There were Jewish professionals, lay leaders, clergy and recent college graduates. The West Point cadets' Jewish choir performed. The Israeli prime minister appeared via satellite from Jerusalem. Part pep rally, part training and part family reunion, this week's annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America... Full story
Chanshy Majesky was overcome with great sadness following the Hebrew month of Adar (March) that even the joyous effects of Purim could not lift. Two of her colleagues from the Chabad community, Rashi Minkowitz of Fulton County, Georgia, and Rivky Barber of Melbourne, Australia, passed unexpectedly, leaving behind motherless children and grieving communities. Majesky and her fellow schluchot (emissaries of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe who are sent out to spread Judaism to Jews around the globe)... Full story
Laurence Morrell wasn't looking for fame or shiny trophies. He signed up for the Golden Age Games in Sanford for "one last hurrah," as he put it, after a 12-year hiatus, and he got more than he bargained for. Not only was he pleased with how he did in the 500 gm javelin throw, 1K discus and 4K shot put throws, but he also won three medals-two bronze for javelin and discus, and a silver for his shot put throw. The Golden Games, held in Sanford, provide anyone 50 years of age or older who wants... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-As we prepare for our Thanksgiving feasts, a 90-year-old Jewish man named Arnold Abbott is stirring the pot in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., about hunger and homelessness in America. Or is it that Abbott, who in defiance of a controversial new city ordinance has been cited several times for feeding the homeless outdoors, is just asking us to pay more than lip service to our Jewish ideals? The ordinance limits where outdoor feeding sites can be located and requires permits. Groups... Full story
If I told you once... I told you a million times... I write this column well in advance of the publication date, so although Veterans Day is past when you read this, it has not yet occurred when I wrote this. I am NOT a veteran. I am the wife of a Korean War Army veteran; the mother of three sons, one a Lt. Commander in the Navy; also I am the mother of a psychologist who helped Navy recruits at Great Lakes Naval Base, Illinois; and the mother of my third son, a former sailor who served on a... Full story
Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A., the largest law firm in Central Florida according to the Orlando Business Journal, is pleased to announce that it is celebrating 45 years in business. John Lowndes, who founded the firm in 1969, attributes much of the firm's success to its attorneys and staff, many of whom have been with the firm their entire career. The list of clients who have been with the firm since its inception is also long. "Our clients are our proverbial partners," said... Full story
