Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Purim, or the Feast of Lots, is a joyous holiday that recounts the saving of the Jews from a threatened massacre during the Persian period (539-330 BCE). The story of Purim is recounted in the Book of Esther, whose eponymous heroine plays the leading role in saving her people. The holiday is traditionally celebrated with wild abandon and with the giving of gifts to friends and the poor. Purim History While the origins of Purim appear clear from the Book of Esther, historians have looked in vain...
Join Shalom Orlando in celebrating Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month. We recognize JDAAIM because we know that nearly 20 percent of our population live with a disability. To put that in perspective: • 52 million adults in the United States live with a disability • 10,000 Jews in Central Florida live with a disability • 55 children in the Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Center live with a disability, which is almost three per classroom. In short, everyone knows someo...
(JTA) - When a film about a group of Israeli youths who visit former concentration camps in Poland premiered on Sunday at the Berlin Film Festival, its Israeli producer took the microphone after the screening to decry the state of his nation. "The new far-right government that is in power is pushing fascist and racist laws," said Yoav Roeh, a producer of "Ha'Mishlahat" ("Delegation") on stage after the film's premiere. He was referring to lawmakers in Israel's government who have long histories...
If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you should be concerned about your loved one’s driving skills. It might be time to ask whether it’s time they retire the keys. 1. Has a friend or family member expressed concern about your loved one’s driving? 2. Has the doctor advised limiting driving for health reasons? 3. Has your loved one been pulled over by a police officer and warned about poor driving behavior? 4. Has your loved one been stopped by the police or had near misses or accidents in the last 3 years? 5. Does your loved...
From The Giving Table by Naomi Ross Do Ahead: Dough can be prepared up to three days in advance. The filling can be made up to a week in advance. Dough 3/4 cup oil 1 cup sugar 3 eggs 1/4 cup milk or soy/oat milk 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 3 1/2 cups flour, plus more for flouring 2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt Drunken Cherry Filling 1 (12-ounce) bag frozen dark pitted cherries, thawed 1/3 cup dry red wine 1/4 cup sugar 1 Tablespoon cornstarch...
Many Jewish people have been getting ready for Purim - the Jewish holiday that begins on Monday night - by baking hamantaschen cookies, triangular treats made of dough with poppy seeds or fruit jam in the middle. Asked what the dessert signifies, many celebrants would quickly answer that they're in the shape of the triangular hat supposedly worn by Haman, the villain of the Purim story in the Book of Esther. But there's more history than that to the cookie - and clues can be found in its name....
Desperate to find a restroom after a nearly nine-hour flight from Johannesburg, South African university student Klaas Mokgomole grabbed his carry-on and hurried off the plane. Urgently searching out a gate agent at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport and praying that the man understood English, Mokgomole asked, sincerely, "Can you please show me to the blacks-only restroom?" Mokgomole - then a South African university student and outspoken youth leader of the anti-Israel, Boycott,...
(New York Jewish Week) — Let’s face it: Classic Jewish deli and appetizing shops are having a moment. According to Bon Appetit, “the old school deli is the newest hot girl hangout,” while an exhibit on Jewish delis at the New-York Historical Society continues to draw crowds. These days, we’re basically all Estelle Reiner and we want to have what Sally Albright is having. In recent years, a whole new crop of appetizing stores and delis have popped up in New York, with even Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) from “Succession” getting into the busi...
(JTA) - When people enter the world of "Hogwarts Legacy," the blockbuster video game that was officially released on Friday, they will find themselves immersed in the fictional universe of "Harry Potter" - and face-to-face with an alleged antisemitic caricature. The narrative of the game centers on a goblin rebellion in the 1890s, about a century before the fantasy books take place. Some who have had an early look at the game have echoed longstanding concerns that the creatures' prominent hook...
(JTA) - When he was 13 years old, Josh Greene moved with his family to San Clemente, California, a city known as one of the best spots for surfing on the West Coast. Greene quickly fell in love with the sport, even holding his bar mitzvah party at a local museum dedicated to it. As a "skinny, very unathletic" teen, Greene said he endured a significant amount of bullying, including some that "extended itself into antisemitism." Students at his school would compare his physique to that of a...
(JNS) — Wearing tefillin may have life-saving cardiovascular benefits for both men and women, according to University of Cincinnati researchers. Tefillin, or phylacteries, are small leather boxes containing biblical passages on parchment scrolls. There are two in a set, one for the head and one for the arm. Both are secured via leather straps. “Tefillin is used for morning prayers for Jewish men over the age of 13 on an almost daily basis. It is placed on the nondominant arm around the bicep and the forearm in a fairly tight manner,” said...
(New York Jewish Week) - When disability activist Lily Brasch was asked if she would walk the runway as a model for New York Fashion Week, she didn't know if she would be able to do it. That's not because she has a rare form of muscular dystrophy, which weakens muscles and limits her ability to walk. Rather, it was unfortunate timing: The show was set for Friday evening, when the weekly Jewish holiday of Shabbat begins. But Brasch, who is Orthodox and goes by the stage name Lily B., quickly...
I just returned home to Israel after an extraordinary 10-day trip in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, a massive country in central Africa. I had always wanted to visit Africa but until several months ago, Congo was not on my top 10 list, or even on my radar. I visited in the context of my work as president of the Genesis 123 Foundation, which builds bridges between Jews and Christians and Christians with Israel in ways that are new, unique, and meaningful. Most Israeli Jews like myself wh...
The new limited series "A Small Light" focuses on the inspiring, real-life story of Miep Gies, who played a critical role in hiding Anne Frank and her family during the Nazi occupation in Amsterdam. To honor Gies on what would have been her 114th birthday, National Geographic announced the powerful limited series, produced by ABC Signature and Keshet Studios, will premiere on Monday, May 1, at 9/8c on National Geographic with two back-to-back episodes. New episodes will debut every Monday at...
On June 1, 1982, Israel undertook Operation Peace for Galilee, the second of its Lebanon invasions. Its goal was the elimination of Yasser Arafat and the PLO. Ultimately, public pressure and the Reagan administration’s US Special Envoy Philip Habib, enabled the PLO to survive and relocate to Tripoli. US press and TV news were fostering stories of Israel’s inhumane targeting of schools, hospitals, and indiscriminate bombing of civilian population. The press distortions were undermining US public support, as well as that of the American Jew...
TAIPEI (JTA) - Ho Feng-Shan, the Chinese diplomat stationed in Vienna who helped thousands of Jews escape from Europe during World War II, never met Adolf Eichmann. But in "Night Angels," a novel based on his life, Feng-Shan comes face to face with Eichmann several times - and his wife Grace's Jewish tutor, Lola, tries to kill the architect of the Holocaust. That detail is one of many that has spurred Ho Manli, Feng-Shan's daughter, to speak out against "Night Angels," the fourth novel by the...
Many caregivers are caring for loved ones who have developed hearing loss over the years. Seniors often have trouble understanding others speaking to them over the telephone. Increasingly, they “pretend” to understand what is being said, ask the person to “speak up” or request the information be repeated over and over. They can find it increasingly difficult to understand instructions or directions, recognize confirmation numbers for products or services, and most important, communicate with emergency operators when necessary. Today, new mor...
Netflix is marketing a recently released film called "You People" as an edgy romantic comedy about race relations in the U.S. In reality, the movie traffics in negative stereotypes about Jews and shamefully normalizes hate-preacher Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan's decades-long history of Jew-hatred is well-documented. It includes remarks such as "Satanic Jews have infected the whole world with poison and deceit" and outright lies, including his demonstrably false claim that...
(JNS) - More than 80 years ago, Disney's "Pinocchio" won two Oscars. Another film with a hefty nose is a pundit-and bettings-site favorite for this year's Best Picture, although its proboscis has drawn criticism for antisemitism. Early on in the film "Everything Everywhere All at Once," the main character, Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) calls Jenny Slate's character "Big Nose." The credits initially referred to the character as "Big Nose" but were changed for the digital release. "Big Nose"...
(JTA) - Like many of us left without plans during the initial COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Lisa Edelstein spent some of her time rummaging through old family photographs. But instead of just basking in the nostalgia, she was also on the lookout for her next painting project. Since then, the actress, known for her often Jewish roles on several hit TV shows - from "House" to "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce" to "The West Wing" to "The Kominsky Method" - has been producing paintings that recreate old...
(JNS) - A year after introducing a line of ovens that allowed for automated use during Shabbat, General Electrical Appliances is preparing to roll out refrigerators and freezers with the same built-in technology. The line of 45 top-freezer refrigerators is to include manually operated, built-in Enhanced Shabbos Mode. Products with the feature will include the Orthodox Union (OU) Kosher symbol on the product and will be certified by both the OU and the Central Rabbinical Congress...
When Jon Cohen was in college a decade ago studying biology and chemistry with plans for medical school, he knew he wanted to make a difference in the world beyond the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee. So he and some friends decided to launch a community project teaching science to children from low-income households living nearby. Every Friday, they'd conduct experiments with the kids designed to spark excitement and curiosity about the world around them in a way that would leave...
The best part of being a program director for the Jewish Pavilion is that it gives me the opportunity to meet interesting and sometimes outstanding individuals in our community. Two of these residents, whom I had the pleasure to meet recently at the Village on the Green, are Mati Braun and his wife, Rachel Heimovics. Mati is a native of Israel where he graduated from the Israel Academy in Tel Aviv. He came to America in 1962 to study with Joseph Fuchs at the Juilliard School, and in 1969 he...
(JTA) — On a couple of occasions in Julian Schlossberg’s early life, he found himself in parts of the United States where some people he talked to had never met a Jewish person. The first was a stint in the Army, the second was while selling movies to rural television stations. But over the next six decades — once Schlossberg embarked on a long and successful career that included stops as a Hollywood studio executive with Paramount Pictures and later as a prolific distributor of movies and p...
(JTA) - Mark Auerbach was not yet 5 years old when he noticed an unusual stamp in his father's dresser. The well-worn three-cent stamp featured a drawing of a small group of men and a sinking ship, with the words "The Immortal Chaplains... Interfaith in action." It piqued his interest, so he asked his father about it. "Our cousin is on that," Auerbach, who grew up in Brooklyn, recalls him saying, searching for an age-appropriate explanation. "He said he was a rabbi who died during World War II w...
