Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The new George Clooney film, "The Monuments Men," tells the thrilling story of U.S. military personnel who during World War II risked their lives to rescue paintings by the likes of Rembrandt, Picasso, and Chagall that the Nazis had stolen. But for Connecticut civil rights attorney Bill Bingham, the story is one of tragic irony. His father, Hiram Bingham IV, was a dissident U.S. diplomat who helped rescue Marc Chagall after the Roosevelt administration abandoned the painter-the same... Full story
How sad I feel... With the news that my very favorite comedian of all-time, Sid Caesar, has passed, I am truly devastated. As I get older I am more aware of my mortality and of my loved ones around me. I felt grief when Frank Sinatra passed... and Mel Torme, Milton Berle... and most entertainers that I admired. But losing Sid Caesar really hit home. And just a few days ago, Shirley Temple died. I must admit, I cried. I owned a Shirley Temple doll as a child... I can still picture it with its cur... Full story
Rogen in Christmas flick HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)-What are a couple of nice Jewish actors like Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing in a movie about Christmas? We don't know, but after watching these guys together in "50/50," we're looking forward to finding out. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jonathan Levine, director of the 2011 cancer dramedy, is bringing its stars together again for the film that for the time is being called "Untitled Xmas Comedy." Rogen and Gordon-Levitt will play... Full story
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)-At the Urban Rustic Cafe in a strip mall in this city located between Miami to the south and the Palm Beach retirement communities to the north, the line for a table stretches out the door and into the parking lot. Inside the kosher establishment, the volume is loud. An elderly Orthodox man sitting near the window leans across a table to hear what his wife is saying. At the dessert counter, a gaggle of boys with tzitzis fringes hanging from their shirts have their noses... Full story
(ISRAELI21c) What do you get when you combine Israel’s talents in high-tech with its child-centered society? Terrific mobile applications for children. We chose just 10 to feature, but you can find tons more if you poke around the app marketplace. 1. TinyTap Selected by Mashable as a top-five “digital distraction” for kids and their parents, TinyTap is a free, intuitive game-creation platform for iPad and iPhone. Parents, teachers and children can design their own educational games or choose one from the TinyTap Social Market. On January 8 of t... Full story
(Israel21c)-An Israeli plastic surgeon and his brother, a biomedical engineer, have invented what they claim is the world's first lightweight breast implant called B-Lite. It is heading to the European market and Israel is to follow soon. Breast augmentation and reconstruction are the most common procedures in plastic surgery, with more than 1.5 million implant operations performed worldwide every year. Dr. Jacky Govrin was addressing a problem that hadn't been solved since implants were first... Full story
NEW YORK-Days before Super Bowl XLVIII in northern New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, a New York City room filled with players, coaches, and supporters of the Israel Football League (IFL)-a group spanning several generations of Israeli sportsmen-looked forward to an upcoming signature event for American-style football in the Jewish state. The Jan. 29 event marked the announcement that Jerusalem will host the 2014 International Federation of American Football Flag Football World Championships from Aug... Full story
Choices 2014, the yearly fundraiser for the Women's Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando (JFGO), celebrated its 20th anniversary on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Rosen Plaza in Orlando. More than 600 women were treated to an evening of note, which honored both Women of Choice and the Jewish community with a Broadway-style revue. A video timeline documented changes, progress and historical events in the Central Florida Jewish community, spanning from Orlando's first Jewish settlement t... Full story
(Israel21c)-The Jewish National Fund isn't only about planting forests. Some of its newest water-tech projects were recently showcased in Israel. Exciting fact about Israel's land use, as the world experiences massive deforestation: Israel is the only country in the world to have a net gain of trees in the last 100 years. This is thanks to a non-profit and visionary non-governmental organization, the Jewish National Fund (JNF)-or Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-set up in 1901 in Israel to develop the... Full story
(JTA)—On Valentine’s Day, I’d like to sing the praises of American Jewish men. I’m aware it’s a rather large group, but that’s the point: The United States is a sea of plenty for Jewish men. Whereas in Britain, where I grew up, there are only about 300,000 Jews. If you remove married men, women and children, you’re left with enough eligible Jewish bachelors to inhabit a synagogue or two. There are, however, millions of men in the U.K. who look like Benedict Cumberbatch or Hugh Grant. Lovely chaps, all of them, but none embodied the stocky, d... Full story
Portman helping Syrians HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)-We didn't think it was possible, but Natalie Portman has gone and inspired us yet again. This time, The Times of Israel reports, the actress, director and adorable mom has donated money and clothing to Syrian refugees via Operation Human Warmth. The initiative is the result of several Israeli organizations-the youth group Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, the social and education organization Dror-Israel, and Israeli Flying Aid, a global humanitarian... Full story
Stayin' alive'... Stayin' alive'... No... I'm not referring to the famous movie "Saturday Night Fever" with actor, JOHN TRAVOLTA, strutting down the street. Rather, this article is about the new Yiddish language website. (Yes... you read right!) This comes directly from the World Jewish Congress Digest: "Reports on the death of Yiddish seem to be greatly exaggerated, particularly since a 115-year old Yiddish newspaper is taking to the web. The New York-based Forvets (The Forward) can now be... Full story
The "Seeking Kin" column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA)-For Rich Lindemon III, the brunch for six that Benita Schwartzman hosted in her Baltimore townhouse was a reintroduction to long-lost family and a chance to fill in some gaps. Lindemon, a mechanical engineer from nearby York, Pa., had long known of the Schwartzmans and remembered them fondly. His late mother, Susan, was Benita's niece, but except for a brief period in 1981, the families had little... Full story
On a chilly Thursday night while most of Orlando residents were at home keeping warm, Wallace Bruschweiler was connecting the dots on terrorist cell operations from the 1970s to today. Seventy people packed Doc's Grill on Orange Avenue to hear from a man who was fighting terrorism long before America's collective consciousness knew there was a problem. Bruschweiler, vice president of Associates of Former Intelligence Officers Fla. Suncoast Chapter, spoke on behalf of Act For America, an... Full story
photos by Exulting Images The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's Women's Division gave community supporters a night they will never forget. Replete with singing, dancing and acrobats, the Broadway-style showcase of Jewish life in Central Florida was a smash hit. Here are just a few glimpses of the evening.... Full story
There is something special about Taglit-Birthright Israel: Mayanot trips to Israel https://mayanotisrael.com After many months of anticipation, we were finally on our way on our trip to Israel through Taglit-Birthright Israel: Mayanot. When word spread that our flight to Israel was delayed about 10 hours, a wave of frustration spread through our group. Israel was having its worst snowstorm in decades-at the very same time as our scheduled flight. There was talk that we'd be stuck at Kennedy... Full story
If someone were to say "Have you been doin' the 'Hubbly Bubbly'?" Locals near Edgewater and Par would know this is referring to the newest healthy-fast-food shop in the area. Owners Mark and Heather Unger and her father, George Joubran, opened Hubbly Bubbly last September and they have not slowed down since the doors opened. The concept is not new-a falafel shop. But the unique way the food is prepared and served makes it decidedly different-and the constant flow of customers proves it. The... Full story
This is a big month for Jeff Berger. He will be celebrating his 15th anniversary as a general contractor and owner of Petretti Group, a Winter Park-based company that builds and renovates private residences, commercial buildings, restaurants and coffee shops. He has built more than $15 million in custom and spec homes in Orlando, Longwood and the Orlando area in addition to major renovations on Winter Park’s Chain of Lakes. Among many popular restaurants his company has built or renovated are Winter Park’s Cocina 214, a 350-seat Mexican res... Full story
Raymond James recently recruited veteran financial advisers S. Benjamin Weiner, CFP®, CIMA®, who will be operating as the Winter Park Wealth Group, an independent firm, in Winter Park. "We are delighted to welcome yet another accomplished team of advisers to Raymond James," the company said. "Ben and his partners have demonstrated a history of providing excellent client service, consistent with the culture and values at Raymond James. Their decision to affiliate with us reflects their... Full story
Barbara Friedman with Fannie Hillman + Associates has been awarded the Certified Negotiation Expert (CNE®) designation by the Real Estate Negotiation Institute (RENI). The CNE® is earned by real estate professionals after successfully completing formal negotiation training from the Real Estate Negotiation Institute. Agents who receive this certification are in the top one percent of all agents nationally.... Full story
Children of the Temple Israel Religious School ended Shabbat on a relaxing note as they came to the sanctuary in January for a Havdalah service wearing their pajamas. Following the service, the children made beeswax Havdalah candles and spice boxes with the Hadas (myrtle) from the lulav. After making crafts and having snacks, each child was ready to go home and hop into bed! For more information about the Temple Israel Religious School, please visit www.tiflorida.org or contact Cathy Swerdlow... Full story
A true story... Finally, Hollywood got it right! There is a new movie coming out... or is it already out? It is produced by Columbia Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox. I refer to "The Monuments Men" starring GEORGE CLOONEY, among other noted actors. This happens to be a true story... one I never knew about. (I think many others will not have known about it as well.) The reason I am writing about it is this article, taken directly from the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. calendar: "Nineteen-ye... Full story
AMSTERDAM (JTA)-She speaks only Japanese and is not entirely sure what country she's in, but 18-year-old Haruna Matsui is happy to stand in the rain for an hour with two friends to see the home of a person she has never met yet nonetheless considers her soul mate. "We visited Paris and Brussels, so I just had to come here to see Anne's home," an excited Matsui told JTA last week outside Amsterdam's Anne Frank House. Matsui has read Japanese manga comic book adaptations of Frank's diary several t... Full story
What started out as being a "chauffer" for his son turned Stewart Bloom into an entertainer. Several years ago, Bloom would drive his son Andrew, who at the time was preparing for his bar mitzvah, to the monthly musicals at Horizon Bay on Boston Avenue. Andrew would make brownies and was always anxious to serve them to the residents. As time went on, Bloom continued to deliver the brownies every month, even after Andrew no longer made the brownies. Bloom not only has become a regular and... Full story
Two new fruit trees were planted in the Spring Hills Lake Mary Assisted Living courtyard on Thursday Jan. 16, in conjunction with the Jewish annual celebration of Tu B'Shevat, observed as the "Jewish New Year for Trees." Residents of the community, assisted by the Jewish Pavilion, participated in adding one banana tree and one lime tree to the kitchen garden already established in the community. This year's trees join the avocado and lemon trees planted during their Tu B'Shevat celebration in... Full story
