Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 4226 - 4250 of 4470
In Memoriam… This tribute comes directly from the World Jewish Congress Digest: “The World lost a lovely lady… and a wonderful leader of the Jewish Community Council of Cairo, Egypt.” (With Egypt in the news every night, I thought it would be appropriate to write about her.) “Carmen Weinstein, 82, president of the Jewish Community Council of Cairo, passed away this past April. “In the face of a dwindling population of Jews…from over 80,000 60 years ago to a few dozen senior citizens toda... Full story
‘Princesses’ rile 9/11 families NEW YORK—So remember that thing in our most recent “Princesses: Long Island” recap about Amanda Bertoncini’s ridiculous Drink Hanky photo shoot? You know, the one in which a model, toting a beer bottle clad in one of Amanda’s high-fashion signature Drink Hankies, poses with a statue of a firefighter? Well, it turns out we missed something. This wasn’t just any statue of a firefighter but a memorial statue of a fallen 9/11 firefighter from Great Neck named Jonathon... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA)—In May, Tel Aviv resident Baruch Axelrod sent a letter to his first cousin, who lives in New Jersey. The letter returned unopened to Axelrod’s home because the cousin, Gary Hyman, had moved, his new address unknown. The branches of their families had not been in contact for more than 20 years, when Axelrod’s sister Chana Pavlowitz visited the United States. Axelrod had never even met Hyman, but he well remembered Hyman’s parents, Aaron and Bela. Aaron was the sister of Axelrod... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Movie mavens may have to come up with a new genre to classify “Hannah Arendt,” the biopic of the German-Jewish philosopher. New York Times critic A.O. Scott suggests it is an action film—albeit one in which the weapons are ideas and theories are volleyed on a battlefield where a questionable hypothesis can turn lifelong friends into bitter enemies. Director Margarethe von Trotta, who has dealt previously with complex Jewish women (“Rosa Luxemburg”) and the Nazi era (“Rosenstra... Full story
Snapping pictures of people practicing centuries-old faith traditions in her native Jerusalem makes award-winning Israeli photojournalist Gali Tibbon feel like a time traveler. “Every stone you step on has so much history, and if you have imagination your brain can fly,” Tibbon tells ISRAEL21c after returning from London with the title of Sony World Photography Awards Travel Photographer of the Year. Her winning series, “Journey to Jerusalem of Africa—Lalibela, Ethiopia,” resulted from conv... Full story
Most of us have moments when we could really use a hug—when we’re sad, lonely, scared or stressed. The therapeutic value of a good squeeze for emotional wellbeing is well documented. For people affected by autism, post-traumatic stress and anxiety or attention disorders, research has shown that hugging is an especially effective soother. That is the scientific fact behind the development of the BioHug Vest by Haifa-based BioHug Technologies. Already in use and soon to roll out to a wider mar... Full story
This is the first installment of Teen Heroes, JTA’s biweekly column profiling teens involved in interesting and important social action. See below for information about our sponsor and how to nominate someone for coverage. (JTA)—When Ben Hirschfeld first heard that students in developing African countries lacked electricity and must endure noxious fumes from smoky kerosene lamps while reading and doing their schoolwork, the teenager from Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., knew he had to find a way to hel... Full story
What’s the best way to find the right person for a job opening: placing a want ad, contacting a headhunter, posting within the company, or asking current employees to recommend a friend? In the social networking era, the last option increasingly makes sense, says Tal Moran, CEO of Tomigo, an Israeli startup offering a customized recruitment platform to leverage the social-media connections of employees. Moran points out that leading companies realize every staff member has access to a database of personal connections, and many offer rewards f... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Of all the compelling stories of athletic achievement and challenges overcome that could be told by the 9,000 participants gathering in Israel for the 19th Maccabiah Games, it might be hard to find one to top Jacques Demers. He’s a coaching legend, having led the iconic Montreal Canadiens to the National Hockey League championship in 1993. He’s also a member of the Canadian Parliament. And until about a decade ago, he would have been unable to read the words in this artic... Full story
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (JTA)—Anita Batt’s weekly grocery shopping goes something like this: First, she checks several online coupon blogs, which offer guidance about the best sales and coupon combinations in stores such as CVS, Kroger and Target. Next, Batt prints the several dozen coupons she will use and places them in her organizer sorted by store. Then she visits about six stores, sometimes performing multiple transactions at the same location to maximize savings. Her purchases are stored in her... Full story
This year marks the Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando’s 40th year of building community, strengthening family life and promoting Jewish values. To help celebrate the occasion, the JCC embarked upon a social media retrospective of “Three O’Clock Throwbacks.” Everyday for two months this spring, the JCC posted a “throwback” photo from sometime in the last 40 years at 3 p.m. on its Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando Facebook page. “Our goal with posting the Three O’Clock Throwbacks... Full story
When Jewish Holocaust survivor Helen Garfinkel Greenspun first returned to her hometown of Chmielnik, Poland, in 1992, the synagogue was riddled with swastikas and other graffiti. The gray and crumbling building had been boarded up since World War II, so she could not enter. The townspeople were guarded and unfriendly, and a few individuals even chastised her driver for bringing Greenspun to Chmielnik. The reception was the opposite in 2008 and 2009 when Greenspun visited again. Chmielnik’s m... Full story
On a Friday afternoon in late June, 25 seniors walk, amble and/or glide into the familiar surroundings of the common room at Chambrel Assisted Living Facility in Longwood. For the next 45 minutes this gathering place will serve as “Congregation Chambrel,” where a weekly Shabbat service hosted by the Jewish Pavilion provides Jewish seniors with a sense of community, as well as a place for prayer. Although the average Pavilion “congregant” is well over 85 years old, Chambrel seniors are active... Full story
Dr. Moshe Pelli, Abe and Tess Wise Endowed Professor of Judaic Studies and Director of the Interdisciplinary Program of Judaic Studies at UCF, published a new book on the journals of the Hebrew Haskalah (Enlightenment) in the first half of the 19th century. Titled “The Journals of the Haskalah from 1820 to 1845” and published by the Magnes Press of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the book includes monographs and annotated indices to eight Hebrew periodicals published in Holland, Galicia, Germany and Lithuania in the 19th century. The mon... Full story
Cohen’s High Holidays snafu NEW YORK (6NoBacon.com)—Surprised by the early arrival of the High Holidays this year? You’re in good company. The iconic Jewish singer Leonard Cohen just rescheduled two dates on his United Kingdom tour after learning they fell out on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, BBC News reports. Cohen, 78, is already publicly repenting. In a statement from his promoter, he apologized “deeply for the inconvenience” he has caused fans. FYI, for those who still haven’t checked your J... Full story
Happy endings… The following are two true stories sent to me by The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. They are very touching to all people…especially to Jewish people. The first story comes from Minsk, Belarus. It happened back in March of 1943: Leah Ruderman escaped from the Minsk ghetto, approached by two women she did not know, Nadezhda and her mother, Anna. Leah begged them to hide her son, Leonid from the Nazis. They agreed to take the child. Leah returned to the ghetto, which was liq... Full story
How can art move someone to be more accepting of differences among people? Can what we see change how we feel? Those are the questions that drove The Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem to hold an international competition among world-famous artists and designers, asking them to interpret the theme of coexistence. The resulting exhibit, COEXISTENCE: The Art of Living Together, was created as striking way for visual art to create a call to action for social change. The works, selected by a... Full story
Many older people already take the compound phosphatidylserine to improve cognition and slow memory loss. There is more good news about this natural food supplement, coming out of an Israeli university: phosphatidylserine appears to improve the functioning of genes involved in degenerative brain disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and familial dysautonomia (FD). Produced from beef, oysters or soy, and already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, phosphatidylserine c... Full story
(JTA)—”World War Z” gives us the basics of a summer blockbuster—a star actor worth looking at (Brad Pitt) and a far-fetched action-packed plot (hero races to stop virus that is turning all of humanity into zombies). So can’t we all just buy some popcorn, suspend our disbelief and enjoy the show? Well, no. The movie features another equally well-known newsmaker, if in this case less publicized: Israel. The zombie plague is spreading like wildfire, and Pitt’s character, Gerry Lane, a former U.N.... Full story
Between May 14 and July 9, 1944, more than 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz. Yadveshem.org In a recent visit to the Orlando area former Miami resident Dr. Jill Klein, author of a newly released Holocaust memoir, “We Got the Water,” shared the details of her family’s path through Auschwitz, possibly as passengers on one of the first transports from Hungary to the infamous death camp. Throughout her book, Klein, a social psychologist and faculty member of Melbourne Business Schoo... Full story
Jewish residents at Savannah Court look forward to their monthly Shabbat luncheons with their Jewish Pavilion friends. The meals enable them to feel connected to their Jewish roots while they enjoy a lox and bagel sandwich. Pictured are residents and Pavilion volunteers at the Shabbat table.... Full story
When ill health prevents someone from Chambrel from going to shul, the Jewish Pavilion steps in. The Pavilion provides weekly Shabbat services at Chambrel, an independent and assisted living facility in Longwood. Pictured, from left, are Cliff Schilling, Emma Bookspan and Miriam Van. Prior to her move to Chambrel, Miriam was a dedicated and beloved Jewish Pavilion office volunteer with exquisite handwriting. She hand-addressed thousands of cards and envelopes over the years. Although she was... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA)—In their Tel Aviv boarding school a half-century ago, Moshe Zarchi and Zvi Halevy spent time together doing homework, playing hide-and-seek and enjoying Chamisha Avanim, a jacks-like game involving five gold cubes. Halevy, 62 and a resident of Netanya, Israel, fondly recalls their friendship. It may have meant even more to Zarchi, whose parents gave him up for adoption. Halevy learned only recently that Zarchi died in the United States more than 30 years ago—and perhaps was mur... Full story
Silverman’s dad rips JAPs NEW YORK—Thanks to the cultural gem that is “Princesses: Long Island,” lately the term JAP—Jewish American Princess—has been bandied around with a vigor that hasn’t been seen since the lavish bat mitzvah and nose job-filled days of our adolescence. Those not happy about the development have company in Donald Silverman, the father of JAC (Jewish American Comedian) Sarah Silverman. The elder Silverman finds it infuriating that anyone would proudly own a label that im... Full story
Why a resurgence?... Almost 70 years after Hitler’s hateful atrocities before and during WWII, why is anti-Semitism still going on? The national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN gives us some answers. In his words: “Beginning with 9/11 a new era of ‘anxiety’ hit the world and since then, a wave of anti-Jewish scapegoating has emerged. The combination of international terror, financial collapse, Islamic extremism and turmoil in the Middle East has created the per... Full story
