Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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If you see something, say something? Gimme a break! I just saw someone waving a Confederate Flag outside of the White House. It was on television, no less! Why didn’t anyone protest that vile act? As a Jew, I realize that the same misguided people who revere the Confederate Flag probably dislike Jews as well as African Americans... which leads me to wonder... if someone waved a flag with a swastika emblem on it outside of the White House, would anyone protest? I had to get that off my chest. (... Full story
With the 2013-14 National Basketball Association season set to begin Oct. 29, this month also marks the 14th anniversary of the death of Wilt Chamberlain, one of the greatest players ever. Beyond his eye-popping statistics, a closer look at the 7-foot-1 center’s life reveals the giant influence of Jewish role models. Robert Cherry, who played basketball at Chamberlain’s alma mater, Philadelphia’s Overbrook High School, explains that “lots of Jewish kids” went to the school. After Chamberlain att... Full story
As of 2005, German gynecologist Dr. Frank Hoffmann was no longer allowed to send women under the age of 50 to get mammograms without first finding a breast abnormality during his routine examination. Since some breast lumps can be very small, Hoffmann wasn’t certain he could discover something during the few minutes he had to spend with each patient. That’s when he decided to launch an innovative program, Discovering Hands, hoping to give blind women an opportunity for a life-changing car... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—For months leading up to my wedding, I was a bundle of nerves. Sure, I was worried about whether or not my dress would fit and if the swing band would be able to pull off the hora, but that wasn’t it. I was petrified that my fiance would die. I pictured him being killed by a bus while crossing the street or being blown up on the train by a dirty bomb. I envisioned him in a hospital bed, slowly succumbing to a gruesome terminal illness, or being struck in the head by a fastball at Yankee Stadium. Every morning when he kissed me... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—For several months during the spring of his 10th grade year, Jack Millman had an unusual Saturday ritual: He and his mother would ride around metropolitan New York and buy up vast quantities of raw chicken. Millman and his mother, Ann Marks, didn’t cook the poultry. Instead they put it on ice and shipped it overnight to a lab in Arizona, which tested it for antibiotic-resistant strains of the E. coli bacteria. The study, which included 213 samples of raw chicken purchased at 15... Full story
This may be controversial... I don’t honestly know how I feel about this... but I must admit, I am somewhat alarmed. This comes directly from a Secure America Now bulletin: “In a speech to the United Nations last week, Israel’s prime minister once again urged the world to stand strong against Iran’s nuclear program. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU exposed Iran’s new president for what he is—A loyal soldier in the Jihadist army of a radical Islamic regime. Netanyahu pointed out that Iran’s charm offensi... Full story
The “Seeking Kin” column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA)—The official Israeli identification card in Herve Cohen’s hand is about the only evidence he has of his father’s existence. Cohen, who lives near Paris in Issy les Moulineaux, decided a few years ago to try to find his father, Yehuda. At 33, Cohen is a little young to remember meeting him, since his parents were divorced in 1982 and his father’s trail disappeared by 1990. A few years ago, Cohen began... Full story
‘NCIS’ farewell to Ziva David? HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)—Of all of the Jewish characters on TV these days, few can be described as tough. In fact, few can be described as nonkvetchy. So we are sad to report that after eight seasons, “NCIS” marked the seeming departure of Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), the show’s resident bad-ass Mossad agent. In the spirit of full disclosure, Ziva’s farewell was our first “NCIS” viewing experience, which seems sort of crazy considering it was the most-watched series last season—and that it features a bad-ass... Full story
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2013. 359 Pages. $29.95 This is the fascinating autobiography of a newspaper editor who played an important role in the Washington Post coverage of the Watergate story. Rosenfeld was born in Berlin in 1929 to Polish parents who had settled in Germany because his father worked as a furrier for a large Berlin fashion house. Alarmed by the rise of the Nazis and increasing anti-Semitism, the family—which consisted of Rosenfeld’s older sister, him... Full story
SAN FRANCISCO—Know a socially-conscious Jewish teen who is creating change locally or globally? The Helen Diller Family Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, an awards program that recognizes up to 10 Jewish teens with $36,000 each for exceptional leadership and visionary actions that are helping to repair the world. Up to five teens from California and five from other communities across the country will be acknowledged for their socially-minded volunteer service. Visit www.dillerteenawards.org t... Full story
We’re in the computer age... I recently read this in a World Jewish Congress Digest (WJC): “An independent computer lab reports that Israel was the target in the first quarter of 2013 of almost a million network attacks. In layman’s terms, that means that every third Israeli computer is attacked by malicious malware programs, according to Kaspersky Labs which recently presented the data. Globally regarded along with the United States as a leader in hi-tech web development, Israel is credi... Full story
Italians rip Gordon-Levitt NEW YORK (JTA)—Apparently lots and lots of sex isn’t the most potentially offensive thing about Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s latest film, “Don Jon.” The Italian American One Voice Coalition has accused the Jewish actor-director of promoting “racist stereotypes” in the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Here we go again with the same shop-worn, racist stereotypes of Italian Americans in movies,” said organization founder Emanuele “Manny” Alfano. “It never end... Full story
The “Seeking Kin” column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA)—Teenagers Mark Matsuki and Leon Feldman came to study in the Boston area this summer as strangers and left as friends, unintentionally regrafting family-like branches of a tree that first took root four generations ago. In Leningrad in 1932, Dora Belinsky, Julia Kritchevski and Natasha Gershovich met as first-graders and established what would become lifelong bonds. The parents of the girls becam... Full story
Chandler, Ariz.—Modern Jewish families that shy away from participating in the annual Passover Seder due to its typical two- to five-hour ceremony, will cheer Cass and Nellie Foster’s “Sixty-Minute Seder: Preserving the Essence of the Passover Haggadah.” “Cass and Nellie Foster have done an amazing job of sifting the essence of the Passover ritual from the embellishments of time. Each section is explained clearly, with the appropriate blessings in Hebrew and transliteration. The outstanding glossary of terms make it possible for a newcomer to u... Full story
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)—Some were psyched for the nostalgia of “The Goldbergs,” a new ABC sitcom about a boisterous, outspoken American family set in the 1980s. But Wednesday’s premiere was a little too loaded with references to that neon-colored, big-haired decade—think REO Speedwagon, Sam Goody, hair crimping and rabbit-tail key chains. Such period gags aside, early on it looks in many ways to be just another formulaic sitcom. There’s Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey), the clan’s overbearing m... Full story
(JTA)—At his office in London’s newly opened, $80 million Jewish community center, Raymond Simonson fumbles with a state-of-the-art telephone switchboard. “Sorry, I’m embarrassed, but we’ve only just moved into our offices,” says Simonson, the 40-year-old boss of London’s first American-style JCC, which opened Sunday. “Now the article will say ‘New CEO can’t even answer his own phone.’ “ With his credentials, Simonson can afford to be self-deprecating. The former director of the Jewish... Full story
A complete surprise... At least to me. I read the following in the World Jewish Congress Digest (WJC) recently: “This October, Israel once again plans to offer some 100 sacrificial animals to needy citizens in Dakar.” (What is meant by “sacrificial” animals? Is it what I think it is? For shame!) To continue: “Eli Ben-Tura, the Israeli ambassador posted in the capital, said ‘It registers very strongly with locals that Israelis give them sheep for a Muslim holiday while most Arab embassies d... Full story
Sarah Silverman’s cross NEW YORK (6NoBacon)—Sarah Silverman revealed in a recent appearance on W. Kamau Bell’s show “Totally Biased” that she was hurt by the jokes made about her age at the Comedy Central roast of James Franco. It was somewhat surprising—not because the jokes weren’t offensive, but because it isn’t like Silverman hasn’t dished it out herself over the course of her career. But far more shocking than her thin skin was the thing viewers noticed on her skin during the interview: th... Full story
When Jews feel connected to their community, money will flow—to Jewish causes and elsewhere. That, in short, is the main finding of a broad new nationwide study of American Jewish philanthropy. Led by Jumpstart, a Los Angeles-based think tank and incubator for innovative Jewish nonprofits, the study, titled “Connected to Give,” asked nearly 3,000 Jews across the United States about their giving habits. This central finding, published in a report released Sept. 3, may seem self-evident, but that doesn’t make it any less significant, according to... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA)—Dean Meminger sat in owner Irv Bader’s office at Camp Seneca Lake and talked of his girlfriend, her battle with lupus and their plans to marry. Meminger, known as “The Dream” as a star guard at Marquette University and a key reserve for the New York Knicks’ 1973 championship team, had just finished a four-day stint at a basketball camp at the Pocono Mountains’ Jewish facility. He had taught the players with enthusiasm and his demeanor bespoke an apparent contentment with life. Be... Full story
CHICAGO (JTA)—When I was 28 years old, I had just gotten out of a serious relationship, and to avoid the onslaught of “When are you getting married?” I left Chicago with two bags, my bike and my laptop and headed for Israel. Within a few months I found a job and met a guy, whom I later married. A few years later, trouble hit when I started trying to have children. With all the right drugs, my body could get pregnant, but I had three miscarriages —two at my job. It was devastating. During... Full story
The “Seeking Kin” column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA)—The photograph shows a lighthearted moment at the end of a war that four decades later still prompts analysis and evokes somber reflections. Snapped just after Israel and Egypt had signed an agreement ending the Yom Kippur War in February 1974, the photo shows two Israeli soldiers swimming in the Suez Canal. It was among several war-era photos from the Israel Defense Forces’ archives published recently by Yedioth Ahronoth as the 40th anniver... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA) – Needing a gift for retiring New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera, the Baltimore Orioles pitched their idea for a sculpture to the Israel-born artist Omri Amrany. No surprise there, even though Amrany knows nothing about baseball. The 59-year-old Amrany, now living in the Chicago area, has become the go-to guy for sculptures of athletic giants. A week after the Orioles put in their request, they had their gift for Rivera, who retired Sunday after a record-breaking career w... Full story
One of the bitter ironies of history is that Hitler and the Nazis loved music but it did nothing to soothe the savage breast of Nazi Germany. A second irony is that the high culture of Western Europe, including its heritage of classical music, featured the compositions and performances of a great many Jewish musicians. The irony suffuses the romantic tale that Carol Jean Delmar tells in “Serenade: A Memoir of Music and Love From Vienna and Prague to Los Angeles” (Willow Lane Press, $27.99). Her parents, Franz and Franziska, met and fell in lov... Full story
Tampa Bay Bucs offensive lineman Gabe Carimi usually fasts on Yom Kippur, but this year, the day before the team’s Sept. 15 home opener against the New Orleans Saints, he decided not to. In past seasons he has observed 25 hours of fasting for the holiday of Yom Kippur; even if it came during the day before a game, as it did this year — sundown tonight to sundown Saturday. But this year he decided to postpone it because he has been battling a cold. “I’ve fasted on the day before a game, but it wa... Full story
