Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3801 - 3825 of 4470
"Some of My Best Friends, A Journey Through Twenty-First Century Antisemitism," by Ben Cohen. Edition Critic (May 2014). 230 pages. JNS.org columnist Ben Cohen's new book, "Some of My Best Friends, A Journey Through Twenty-First Century Anti-Semitism," is a collection and analysis of previously published essays, reporting, and commentary that meticulously capture the current climate of anti-Semitism around the world. Throughout a turbulent, modern decade dominated by war and economic... Full story
A Jewish upbringing taught Paul Shaffer, David Letterman's musical director and sidekick for 32 years, the value of giving back. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Shaffer served as musical director for "The Concert for New York City," and in 2012 he accompanied Adam Sandler in "12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief," a fundraiser for people affected by Hurricane Sandy. He was also the national spokesman for Epilepsy Canada. "My mother taught by example," Shaffer said in an interview with... Full story
Happy Fourth of July!... How lucky we are to live in this glorious country, the United States of America. As a second generation American (I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.; My mom was born in Montreal, Canada, but came here as a child; My dad was born in Brooklyn, New York) I realize what my ancestors suffered, coming from Ukraine, Russia and Poland. Because they fled when they did, I and my offspring enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) a life of freedom and happiness! Unfortunately, not everyone can feel this way. Friendly neighbors?... Here are some... Full story
NEW YORK—“Pew-ish,” an unusual new project to expand the conversation about Jewish identity, especially among unaffiliated Jews, launched with a special dramatic production of 10 new plays on June 26 at the Loft at Judson Memorial Church in New York. Participating playwrights include Bekah Brunsetter (ABC’s Switched at Birth, upcoming “Cutie and Bear” at Roundabout Theatre), Jonathan Caren (“The Recommendation” at the Flea) and Anna Ziegler (“Photograph 51” at Theatre J). Additional playwrights include Matthew-Lee Erlbach (“Eager to Lose” at Ar... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-It's Friday night, and patrons are sitting and chatting over plates of tajine and hummus waiting for the evening's main event, a stand-up comedy show. It could be any nightspot in this city. But a closer look reveals a bolder agenda than just good food and entertainment. The comedy show, part of a long-running series called "The Sultans of Satire," features Muslim and Jewish comedians with roots in Iran, Afghanistan and Morocco. The room's walls, meanwhile, display an art... Full story
By Joseph Telushkin NEW YORK (JTA) — Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, was inarguably the most well-known rabbi since Moses Maimonides. Hundreds of prominent rabbinic figures have lived in the intervening 800 years since Maimonides died. But how many can be named before an audience of Jews from the United States, Israel, France or the former Soviet Union — the four largest Jewish communities in the world today — and be so widely recognized, without the speaker needing to add several sentences explaining who the p... Full story
WESTFIELD, N.J. (N.J. Jewish News) — Over the years, Temple Emanu-El of Westfield, the largest Reform synagogue in New Jersey, has been on the receiving end of public criticism for a variety of reasons. As a newly arrived rabbi in the late-1960s, I learned how our temple was upbraided because our members were supporting fair housing practices in the Westfield area. Then we opposed a church-like Christmas pageant in the public high school. (A federal judge upheld our cause.) In the 1970s, the national media reported that prior to a visit of V... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Handing out sandwiches to the homeless in a Washington, D.C. park proved to be a seminal moment for Joe Goldberg. "It was a turning point and opened my eyes to what the world is like," Goldberg, 18, said of his 10th-grade confirmation trip two years ago to the nation's capital. The St. Louis native is currently serving as the international social action/tikkun olam vice president for United Synagogue Youth (USY), the Conservative youth group. Goldberg assumed his... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA) - Robots can hold a conversation, but should they count in a minyan? A chatbot at Britain's University of Reading was heralded this week as passing the Turing test, showing a conversational ability that managed to fool people into thinking it was human. Using the fictional identity of a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy with the name Eugene Goostman, the robot convinced a third of a panel's members that they were interacting with a fellow human being. While some have expressed skepticism... Full story
"Ole', Ole', Ole', Ole'"... As an entertainer, I've been to Brazil (Brasilians spell it with an S) a few times to record and perform. I love the country, the people... everything! My agent, ROBERTO DRATCU, is a Brasilairo, born and raised in Sao Paulo, but has visited here in Central Florida to work with me and others. He is also Jewish. As you probably know, soccer is major in Brazil. Every time a Brazilian team wins a match somewhere in the world, the entire cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Jane... Full story
The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA) – Judith Mertz still recalls plenty of the Indian words she learned from her friend Miriam El-Chai when they were high school friends in Israel and embarking on teaching careers together. And when Mertz next makes one of her frequent trips to Israel, she expects to see El-Chai for the first time in a half-century. "I always tell my family about my Indian friend," she said. "I remember lots of words s... Full story
When most people think of the shtetl, images reminiscent of “Fiddler in the Roof” pop into their heads: small villages filled with poor Jews, struggling to make a living in an almost exclusively Jewish world. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth in the heyday of the shtetl. At one point, these thriving areas – whose size ranged from 2,000 to 20,000 people – were not only populated by Jews, but by a variety of ethnicities and religions. In “The Golden Age Shtetl: A New History of Jewish Life in East Europe” (Princeton University Press),... Full story
A Chinese girl forced me to confront what it means to be Jewish. “What are we waiting for?” my Chinese girlfriend asked, somewhat confused, as we sat facing each other in the privacy of my apartment. For weeks we’d been talking about the prospect of getting married. I held back. I was not supposed to marry a Gentile, I thought. It would be a betrayal of my family, my ancestors, my tradition. Yet it would sound racist if I told her that. Then I realized: It would sound racist to me as well. I was raised with a lox-and-bagels Judaism, reple... Full story
Last Friday, Eagle Scout Max A. Waldor of Orlando Troop 996 was honored at the Boy Scouts of America Central Florida Council's annual Recognition Banquet for Eagle Scouts, held at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel and Spa, as the recipient of three distinguished awards. And because he dreamed the creation of the Holocaust Memorial at SOJC, and did it, Waldor became a Disney Dreamer and Doer. Waldor received the Chester M. Vernon Memorial Eagle Scout Scholarship in May 2014. He received this award by... Full story
(JNS.org) In a section of Hillary Clinton's new memoir that was published by U.S. media over the weekend, the former secretary of state writes that the Obama administration made a tactical mistake by demanding an Israeli construction freeze that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implemented between 2009 and 2010. Clinton in "Hard Choices" writes, "In retrospect, our early, hard line on settlements didn't work." She explains that the American stance on the settlements hardened Palestinian... Full story
The Rolling Stones played in Israel. And that’s awesome. The Stones are the world’s greatest band. They are also the world’s oldest. I am surprised that a band that’s been around as long as the Stones—and that’s toured for as long as the Stones—never made it to Israel. But that’s what 50th anniversary tours are for. The Stones aren’t just musicians. They’re insightful social commentators. Infused in their lyrics are messages of hope, despair, and a commentary on contemporary life. And if you look carefully, important Jewish lessons can be foun... Full story
Absolutely no surprise... The following comes directly from the World Jewish Congress Digest (WJC) and is very worth repeating (but no surprise). The headline read “Israel Ranked 3rd Largest Sci-tech Partner to U.S.” Here is the story that followed: “The U.S.-Israel Science & Technology Foundation (USISTF) says that Israel last year placed third out of 16 nations deemed the world’s heavyweight partners in science and technology with the United States. The foundation’s ‘innovation index’ for... Full story
Many questions surrounded the future of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidism after the death of its seventh and final leader-"the Rebbe," Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson-on June 12, 1994. Schneerson had no children, and no successor was named. But 20 years later, Chabad is not only alive and well, but increasingly receiving the so-called highest form of flattery: imitation. Against the backdrop of last fall's much-discussed Pew Research Center survey of American Jews, many Jewish leaders... Full story
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (JTA)-The Bais Menachem Youth Development program in this northeastern Pennsylvania city is no typical Chabad yeshiva. The students wear flip-flops and T-shirts, not the typical black-and-white of Hasidic seminaries. In addition to Jewish law and Bible study, the curriculum includes improv nights, poetry slams and screenings of National Geographic nature shows. The students take taekwondo classes, skiing lessons and canoe trips down the Delaware River. There's even a house... Full story
A mother will do just about anything to protect her child. Nothing could illustrate that more than the story of Arlene Feinberg, a mother who led the charge to find a bone marrow donor for her son Jay, who had been diagnosed with leukemia. She was a pioneer recruiting volunteer donors at a time when the worldwide bone marrow registry was in its infancy, finding matches for countless patients in similar circumstances as her son. Seventy percent of patients do not have a family member who is a... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA) – While visiting Israel in 2009 to watch his son Bruce coach the U.S. basketball team to the gold medal at the Maccabiah Games, Bernie Pearl perused local phone books. He spent an hour calling people with the last name Showstack but came up empty. Unable to locate his relative during his stay, he gave up. In March, Pearl mentioned the search to "Seeking Kin." A retiree living with his wife, Barbara, in Boynton Beach, Fla., Pearl, 80, still hoped to find his third cousin, Gerry S... Full story
Take heart, anything can be overcome... To prove it, this blurb is from NBC news: FRANKFURT, Germany-"At first glance, the afternoon gathering of nearly 30 elderly people in the cozy wood-paneled room of an apartment complex could be perceived as an ordinary 'coffee klatch.' But, the women and men that gather here in Frankfurt over coffee and cake once a week all share one common experience: the horrors of the Holocaust. For many of the estimated 40,000 Jewish survivors still living in Germany,... Full story
(JNS.org) National Basketball Association (NBA) star Pau Gasol met with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Sunday along with a group of Jewish and Arab basketball players. The 33-year-old Los Angeles Lakers forward/center was making his first trip to Israel, for a basketball workshop meant to promote peace and coexistence. "I am extremely happy to be here," the Spanish-born Gasol said, Reuters reported. "I believe sport is an amazing tool for bringing people together." Gasol is a... Full story
The history of the knish represents more than just the lineage of a fried, dumpling-like food. It demonstrates the often-central role of food in communities and cultural legacies. Laura Silver knows that all too well. She has consumed knishes on three different continents, and her exhaustive research on the iconic potato treat has resulted in her new book, "Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food," which was released in early May. When she started her knish book project, Silver had no plans... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-With their bar mitzvahs soon approaching, Sam Goldberg and Joshua Levine, embarked on a melodic act of chesed. Over the winter, Goldberg and Levine, both 13 and seventh-graders at The Moriah School in Englewood, N.J., met with their music teacher and spent a collective 75 hours in a local studio to record an album they titled "Tikun Olam." The goal of the album, they said, was to raise money for Leket Israel, an organization that serves as Israel's national food bank and food... Full story
