Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 9679 - 9703 of 11521
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Pew Research Center’s newly released 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study offers a trove of data on American Jews based on interviews with 35,071 American adults, 847 of whom identified their faith as Jewish. Here are some of the more interesting findings about the Jews. We’re highly educated: There are more American Jews with two or more university degrees than those who have just one—31 percent have a graduate degree and 29 percent have just a bachelor’s degree. With a college graduation rate of about 59 percent (more tha... Full story
Congregation Beth Sholom invites the public to attend as Rabbi Karen Allen leads a special Shavuot Shabbat service on Saturday, May 23, at 10 a.m. Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people. Customarily, groups stay up late into the night studying the Torah on the night before Shavuot in spiritual preparation for the holiday. It is considered that each person personally receives the Torah. The Shavuot Shabbat service will be held at Congregation Beth Sholom, 315 North 13th Street in Leesburg, with... Full story
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) will host a presentation on how to improve the security of your computer, how to reduce the risk of malware infecting your computer, and similar hazards in the digital age on Tuesday, June 2, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Roth Family JCC, in the Senior Lounge. Learn from a computer professional. Mark Schulman is an author, speaker, software designer, and technology enthusiast. He enjoys learning about the ways technology can make life better and sharing those ideas with others. He has de... Full story
The Tampa Orlando Pinellas (TOP) Jewish Foundation executive director, Emilie Socash has accepted the position of executive director of the Jewish Federation of Pinellas & Pasco Counties, effective July 1. Socash will continue half-time in her position at the TOP Foundation. "I'm tremendously excited and honored to be stepping into this important leadership role," Socash stated. "As a Pinellas resident, and a long-time Federation professional, I'm committed to fulfilling this role and assisting the organization-and really the entire... Full story
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando has appointed a new director of Outreach and Engagement. Jennifer Cohen has an extensive history of working with the Jewish community in Central Florida, with an emphasis on programming for children and families. She most recently served as program facilitator for "Arty-Party" at Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland. Prior to that she was Young Family Program facilitator for Temple Israel and has been a teacher and marketing manager. In her new Federation role, Cohen will develop and work with... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Seven weeks after he won reelection, Benjamin Netanyahu finally secured a fourth term as prime minister. With 90 minutes to go until a Wednesday night deadline to form a governing coalition, Netanyahu concluded an agreement with the religious, pro-settler Jewish Home party that gives him the narrowest of parliamentary majorities – 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats. Along with three other right-wing and religious factions - United Torah Judaism, Kulanu and Shas - the five-party Likud-led coalition skews right on diplomacy and def... Full story
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando (JFGO) has begun accepting applications for its $100,000 Community Collaborative Grants program. Community Collaborative Grants from JFGO are available for collaborative programs and services for the 2015-2016 program year. At least two agencies, synagogues, or organizations must work together to develop and submit a proposal and implement a program. The amount of the award will depend on the quality and potential impact of the proposed program and the number of collaborating organizations. Rhonda... Full story
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando has welcomed Paul Lefton as the new director of marketing and communication. Lefton brings more than 25 years of experience in journalism, marketing and communication to the Federation. He is a native of Indiana and a graduate of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Since moving to Florida in 1998, Lefton has worked as an editor and manager for publications such as The Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel and The Tampa Tribune, in addition to serving in a communications role at Lockheed Martin Missiles &... Full story
BERLIN (JTA)-This month marks 50 years since Israel and West Germany established diplomatic ties. It has been an understandably complex relationship, launched two decades after the Holocaust ended and 14 years after West Germany committed to reparations "both moral and material" for the genocide committed by the Nazis. (The decision to accept German money and goods was contentious among Israelis, some of whom referred to the payouts as "blood money.") Normalized relations between Israel and West Germany might have been initiated years earlier... Full story
(JTA)-Ayelet Shaked (pronounced ShahKED), Israel's newly appointed justice minister and a member of the right-wing Jewish Home party, has quickly risen to prominence having served just two years in the Knesset. Here's what you need to know about the 39-year-old political celebrity. She's seen as a poster child for Jewish Home's efforts to reach beyond its Orthodox base. A secular Jew from north Tel Aviv, Shaked is often described as a symbol of the Jewish Home and larger settler movement's effort to appeal to a wider group of voters, and to... Full story
(JNS.org) The White House issued a congratulatory statement on Thursday in response to the last-minute agreement in Israel between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and the Jewish Home party, which will join Kulanu, Shas, and United Torah Judaism in a new governing coalition. "President [Barack] Obama congratulates the Israeli people, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the new governing coalition on the formation of Israel's new government," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement. Despite the history of... Full story
To help kick off the Memorial Day Weekend, on May 22 Temple L'Chayim of Clermont will be hosting a special Community Memorial Service to honor and memorialize the soldiers, families and victims of the national and international war efforts by all American Veterans. All veterans of foreign wars are invited with their families as well as all city dignitaries, no matter what your belief or religion for this Clermont community to join together in this special Memorial Day / Weekend tribute. It will be held at the Clermont City Center, 620 West... Full story
On Sunday, May 17, Temple Israel's adult education committee will present an interesting and informative lecture by Murray Toborowsky on Jews in American History: The European Wave. It will be held in the Roth Social Hall, and the community is cordially invited to attend free of charge. Refreshments will be served from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the lecture will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Toborowsky is an experienced history teacher whose passion is the impact of Jews on American history. He has taught a four-part course on the subject at... Full story
There will not be an eighth-grade class next year at the Jewish Academy of Orlando. However, it is not a permanent situation, and the eighth-grade class will be back the following year. What happened to cause the school to make this decision? According to Alan Rusonik, head of school, there were four students enrolled for eighth grade for the coming year. “While disappointing, we have in the past had grades with just four students and we have navigated through successfully,” he stated. Through no fault of the school, they learned that two of... Full story
Learn seven off-the-wall business tips at next Jewish Business Network meeting Launched just two months ago by the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, the Jewish Business Network already is making an impact in the Jewish business community, bringing together Jewish business men and women to help them form important social and business relationships. Now JBN has added another incentive to participate: a monthly guest speaker. Those who attended April's JBN breakfast at Brown's New York Deli in Maitland were treated to a short but insightful... Full story
More than 120 women gathered at the 7th annual Jewish Pavilion fashion show at Bloomingdales in Orlando on May 6, for a morning of friendship, fashion, food and fun, honoring Friends board member Susan Livingstone. A handful of Pavilion volunteers served as runway models as Jennifer Bentson, Bloomingdale's public relations manager, shared the latest fashion trends. Event co-chairwoman Marlene Adler delivered opening remarks and expressed her gratitude to the many lovely ladies responsible for... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-From roundtable discussions to protests and prayers to candid talk with law enforcement officials, American Jewish communities are joining in the debate about community policing in the wake of several high-profile deaths of unarmed black men while in police custody. Officials were short on specifics, but several told JTA that protests in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray on April 19 have sparked a determination to confront the tensions between police and minority communities. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs,... Full story
JFS Orlando Executive Director Eric Geboff is pleased to announce the expansion of JFS’ RIDE program, Reliable Independent Drivers for the Elderly, to the Jewish community. The new advancement of the program is funded by a grant from Melvin and Zelda Siskind. The RIDE program offers free, round-trip transportation services to essential shopping trips, in addition to the already existing medical appointments. JFS’ expanded RIDE program is now also available to low income, Jewish seniors, ages 65 and up, who live in the Lake Mary and Sanford are... Full story
The Pavilion Golf Society shot a hole in one for the elder community for the third year in a row with a successful golf outing, honoring founders Sheryl and Julian Meitin. More than 90 golfers were in full swing at Alaqua Country Club on Sunday, May 3, for a morning round of golf to raise funds for the Jewish Pavilion and its seniors help desk. Pavilion Golf Society (PGS) co-chairmen, Ken Davis and Eli Bercovici thanked attendees for "being the ace-in-the-hole for the senior community." Davis... Full story
(JNS.org) A search team discovered the body of 22-year-old Israeli trekker Or Asraf, who was the last Israeli citizen unaccounted for in Nepal following the devastating earthquake there. The IsraeLife Joint Disaster Response Team-compromised of volunteers from United Hatzalah, Zaka, and F.I.R.S.T-found and identified Asraf. "We are very sad that our mission has ended in this way," said Eli Beer, president of United Hatzalah. "Throughout all the days of the search, we remained hopeful that we would find Or alive and bring him home to his... Full story
By Cnaan Liphshiz (JTA)-On April 19, Keren Zachmi's daughter returned from her kindergarten near Tel Aviv wearing a yellow patch emblazoned with the word "Jude." A teacher had put the yellow star on 17 kindergarteners so they would feel like Holocaust victims during Yom Hashoah, Israel's national Holocaust commemoration day. Appalled, Zachmi took a picture of her 3-year-old with the patch and posted it to her municipality's Facebook page with a complaint. "I am utterly shocked and worried about where our kids' education is heading," Zachmi... Full story
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2015 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. “For more than 25 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award,” said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last year’s recipient was Loren London. Former recipients have included Wolf... Full story
Anti-Semitic, right-wing attacks rise in Germany BERLIN (JTA)—A major increase in anti-Semitic and right-wing violent attacks in Germany is “extremely worrying,” according to the country’s interior minister. The number of right-wing extremist violent crimes in 2014 was 22.9 percent higher than in 2013, according to the annual report of the Ministry of the Interior released this month. Anti-Semitic crimes rose 25.2 percent to 1,596 in 2014 after declining in 2013. In releasing the statistics, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere describ... Full story
The community is invited to join Temple Shir Shalom of Oviedo to say thank you to cantorial leader Beth Schafer for the years of service, guidance, music and friendship that she has brought to this community for the past 20 years. A luncheon, to be catered by Dexters, will be held at the Jewish Academy of Orlando, at 851 N. Maitland Ave., Maitland, on Sunday, May 31, 2015, from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. The cost for the luncheon is $25 per adult, $18 per child ages 12 and under. Seating is limited. Your paid reservation is your RSVP. Deadline... Full story
For just more than a month now, the Virginia State Bar (VSB)-which, it should be noted, is a state body working with the legal profession in Virginia-has been embroiled in a nasty political row over its apparent boycott of Israel. I say "apparent" because this hasn't been the kind of run-of-the-mill boycott row one encounters on college campuses. Leading officials of the VSB are insisting that they are not boycotting Israel and that, moreover, they were not even aware of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement until this whole... Full story
