Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 4451 - 4470 of 4470
SAN FRANCISCO—When local asparagus and rhubarb start showing up in your market, can Passover be far behind? These harbingers of spring always appear on my seder table, as they did on my mother’s table and her mother’s. You can get asparagus grown in Mexico any time of year, but the real deal comes from Stockton, Calif., the “Asparagus Capital of the World.” These sultry stalks always generate discussions about what to buy and how best to cook, prepare and eat them: white or green or lavender, thick or thin, cold or hot, cooked in a skillet o... Full story
Tel Aviv—Lower back pain is a common complaint, and treatment often requires many hours of physical therapy over multiple weekly clinic visits—a costly commitment. Now Dr. Michal Katz-Leurer of Tel Aviv University’s Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine says that a simple aerobic walking program is as effective in alleviating lower back pain as muscle strengthening programs that require specialized equipment in rehabilitation clinics. The program includes walking two to three times a week for a perio... Full story
Spielberg to lead Cannes jury NEW YORK—Snubbed at the Oscars for best director, perhaps Steven Spielberg will see this as some sort of consolation prize: The Cannes Film Festival named the “Lincoln” director to lead its jury in May. Spielberg called his selection an “honor and a privilege,” according to a statement. “My admiration for the steadfast mission of the Festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none,” he said. ”For over six decades, Cannes has served as a... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA)—Recalling her childhood friendship with the girl across the street fills Rozanne Dittersdorf with immense sadness but also deep gratitude. More than six decades later, the pain her friend evinced still brings Dittersdorf to tears. But by her very existence, the girl also unwittingly helped shape Dittersdorf’s Jewish identity. Now 78 and living in Great Neck, N.Y., Dittersdorf hopes to find her friend, whose name was Phyllis Garfunkel (or Garfinkle) when they lived during the lat... Full story
You might only know Alex Karpovsky as Ray Ploshansky, the caustic barista who fitfully romances the naïf Shoshanna on HBO’s zeitgeist-y hit, “Girls.” But while shooting that show, Karpovsky also has managed to write, direct and star in two independent films that recently premiered at Lincoln Center in New York: “Red Flag,” a meta-comedy in which he plays a self-absorbed independent filmmaker named, well, Alex Karpovsky; and “Rubberneck,” a psychological thriller about a scientist who becomes da... Full story
BOSTON (JTA)—When he was 5 years old, Marian Marzynski’s parents hatched a plan to smuggle him out of the Warsaw Ghetto. It was 1942, and Marzynski and his family were among the 400,00 Jews rounded up two years earlier by the Nazis, confined to the 1.3-sq.-mile ghetto in the heart of the city. To stay alive, Marzynski’s parents warned him, you must forget who you are. That lesson in survival shepherded the young boy over the next three years as he hid from his tormentors, separated from his p... Full story
GIVATAYIM, Israel—“The Retrospective” is a work of art inspired by another work of art, a novel with roots in a painting. A few years ago, A.B. Yehoshua and his wife were visiting Santiago de Compostelo, Spain, and he saw a graying reproduction of a disturbing painting, with a prisoner feeding at the breast of a young woman. He took a photo of the painting, something he rarely does, and then showed it to an expert. The painting is “Caritas Romana” or “Roman Charity,” based on an ancient Roman legend of Cimon, imprisoned and sentenced to... Full story
The bountiful buffets that have made “Israeli breakfast” famous among tourists usually include shakshouka, a spicy North African concoction of eggs poached in a tomato-pepper-onion sauce. So it was no surprise that Lonely Planet included the shakshouka at Jerusalem’s Tmol Shilshom café on its recent Top 10 list of the world’s best breakfasts. But Jewish food writer and historian Gil Marks tells ISRAEL21c that this signature dish is actually a latecomer to the already laden Israeli breakfas... Full story
Benjamin J. Feinman, a 6’ 3”, 225lb, senior right hand pitcher for West Broward High School has been appointed as one of 16 U.S. team members to play for the United States Junior Maccabi Baseball Team and will be representing the United States in Israel. The Bobcat Senior currently plays under Head Coach/Manager Sergio Ambrose and has been a member of the West Broward Bobcat Team for the last four years. Feinman started playing baseball as a pre teen at Pasadena Lakes Optimist. He later moved on to Cooper City Optimist and finally to Pem... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—Little kids will laugh at anything. The simplest knock-knock joke or a tickle fest—even the threat of one—can so easily end in hysterics. They laugh because they are surprised by something unexpected in a world they are constantly discovering. If only that kind of laughter came as easily as we got older. While the laughter of childhood is characterized by the element of surprise, the laughter in adulthood becomes a way of managing stress (filmmakers know this well and skill... Full story
On Jan. 27, the Jewish Community Center’s Jack & Lee Rosen Southwest Orlando Campus hosted its 4th Annual Winter Festival, featuring wintery activities and snowy delights.... Full story
Farewell, my friend… Just a little tribute to a wonderful man I was fortunate to meet when he visited our Orlando Jewish community some years ago. I refer to former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who died recently. Mayor Koch was a man I always admired, especially my being a native New Yorker (Brooklyn), and realizing all the good he had done. For one, I can remember Times Square in Manhattan being a really seedy place with X-rated movies and show bars where “low-life” criminal types hung out.... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—Who knew the man behind the Brooklyn homecomings of Jay-Z and Barbra Streisand had a thing for heimische melodies? Bruce Ratner, the developer and majority owner of the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, which opened last September with a Jay-Z show and hosted borough native Streisand a month later, holds a special place in his heart for cantorial music. “My parents are both from Eastern European descent, so that type of Jewish music is in my blood,” Ratner told JTA. “I grew up... Full story
BALTIMORE (JTA)—Even as he sits on the Cleveland Cavaliers bench, watching yet another game proceed without him, Omri Casspi is working to improve. He studies his teammates and his opponents, focusing on the player he’d likely be defending if he were on the court. Casspi uses the time to prepare for whenever he is summoned to participate—now or the next game or the one after. For Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the NBA, his fourth season in the elite league for pro hoopsters has been the most trying. The 6-foot, 9-inch forward doesn’t play... Full story
For many students, one of the most difficult parts of their bar/bat mitzvah preparation is writing the speech about their Torah portion. While there are many Torah commentaries, it’s rare to find one whose comments relate directly to the lives of contemporary teenagers. Fortunately, the publication of “Text Messages: A Torah Commentary for Teens,” edited by Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin (Jewish Lights Publishing), solves this problem. Its title contains a play on words that refers to the younger generation’s dependence on technology: Salkin notes t... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—It’s hard to imagine two more divergent perspectives on Israeli-Palestinian relations: that of a Palestinian farmer whose village is resisting the encroachment of a nearby Jewish settlement and of the security service chiefs responsible for maintaining order in the Palestinian territories. Surprisingly, however, these protagonists in two documentaries vying for an Academy Award in the best documentary feature category come to much the same conclusion: that military force alo... Full story
The surprise of Israel’s 2013 election was the rapid ascendance of the new Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, led by former television celebrity Yair Lapid, at the expense of Israel’s known political entities. The party surpassed all polling estimates to be come the nation’s second-most powerful party in Israel’s 19th Knesset. With 19 out of 120 parliamentary seats, Yesh Atid is in prime position to dictate many of the terms of Israel’s next ruling coalition, to be led by re-elected Prime Min... Full story
AMUKAH, Israel (JTA)—They walked up a tree-lined path through stony hills to a square, white building—men in black hats, beards and frock coats; in T-shirts and jeans; in sweaters, slacks and velvet kippahs. They came by the hundreds—19-year-olds looking for a match, 40-year-olds losing hope that they would ever find one, boys of 15 praying for the unmarried. They had come for a special ceremony: They would blow 1,000 shofars, encircle the building seven times and recite penitential prayers led... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—After years of watching synagogue members die or move away, the Sephardic Jewish Center of Canarsie made the difficult decision to downsize. The 50-year-old Brooklyn synagogue had been a thriving center for the area’s Sephardim. But after accepting that it could no longer pull together enough money to cover expenses, let alone muster the 10 men necessary for daily prayer, the synagogue disposed of most of its belongings and began holding Shabbat services in a nearby Ashkenazi cong... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—Spiderman heroically dispatched countless foes since he arrived on the scene in 1962. Nearly a half-century later, Brian Michael Bendis managed to kill him. In 2000, Bendis was hired to write Ultimate Spiderman, a modern-day retelling of the classic Spiderman story. More than 10 years, 160 issues and several blockbuster Hollywood adaptations later, Bendis did the unthinkable, killing off the superhero’s famous alter ego, Peter Parker, and replacing him with a half-black, hal... Full story
