Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2681 - 2705 of 3584
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... 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... 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... 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... 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... 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... 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
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
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
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... Full story
Many years ago, Gene Starn, former publisher, now editor emeritus of the Heritage Florida Jewish News, and Joe Wittenstein started gathering information for the beginnings of a book about the Jewish history of Orlando. Personal circumstances prevented either of them from going further than the idea, notes, sources and resources. While going through his files and getting rid of “tons of junk,” Starn came across these notes. He doesn’t want to dispose of any of these notes and resources without knowing if any of it would still be useful to someo... Full story
It's so nice to have live performances at the JCC again. Theater at the J has brought a talented cast together to bring its audiences a familiar rendition of "Fiddler on the Roof" and it was a pleasurable experience (not to mention the very comfortable seats). Tom Limbacher captured Tevye's optimistic spirit and his blues eyes reflected surprise, fear, happiness and sadness as he struggled with letting go of long-held traditions to see his daughters' happy in unarranged marriages. Corina... Full story
Mary Lee Walker has been hired as JFS’ development director. Walker brings her years of fundraising experience to the JFS team and is a certified fund raising executive. She is active in the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Central Florida Chapter, and has prior fundraising experience with several other local nonprofits, including Junior Achievement of Central Florida, Christian Service Center of Central Florida, Lighthouse Central Florida, and Heart of Florida United Way. “Mary Lee is a great asset to the JFS Orlando family,” said... Full story
Hadassah of Williamsburg is having a general membership meeting on Wednesday, May 13, at 1 p.m. at Parkview Pointe Village Clubhouse, in Williamsburg. This is the last meeting of this season and will be the installation of officers for the coming year. Susan Livingstone will be the installing officer. Members associates and guests are cordially invited to attend this installation to welcome the new officers. Refreshments will be served. For further information please call Eleanore at 407-351-9189 or Sylvia at 407-370-4812.... 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
Ninety-three teens from the Greater Orlando area, along with 11,000 Jewish teens in 80 communities across 16 countries, participated in a day of community service and improvement projects as they took part in J‑Serve, the International Day of Jewish Youth Service on April 12. This year marks the eleventh year that Jewish youth from around the world turned out in force for J‑Serve in an effort to encourage community building and connections across religious and societal lines. Orlando's J-S... Full story
This year the Seminole County School Board presented two school calendars to the community. One was with the school year beginning Aug. 24. The second, which was adopted later, has the school year beginning Aug. 17. What is interesting is that the calendar that was first posted (start date Aug. 24), included Rosh Hashanah (Monday, Sept. 14) and Yom Kippur (Wednesday, Sept. 23) as days off. The new and revised calendar (start date Aug. 17) only allows Rosh Hashanah as a day off. The second calendar came about after Gov. Scott signed the bill... Full story
JFS Orlando, the Winter Park-based nonprofit human service agency, is pleased to announce its upcoming 2015 Spring Brunch on Sunday, May 17 at 11 a.m. at The Heathrow Country Club, located at 1200 Bridgewater Drive, Heathrow, Fla. The brunch will honor Madeline Wolly with the George Wolly Community Leadership Award and will benefit JFS' programs and services including counseling, emergency assistance and the Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry. "We are honored to have Madeline as such an exemplary... Full story
The first week in May will be a very merry one for the Jewish Pavilion. The organization, which is known for bringing a smile to the face of seniors, is hosting two fundraisers that fall just three days apart. Pavilion Executive Director Nancy Ludin shared, "It just so happened that our annual Fashion Show and Golf Society Tournament ended up being scheduled the same week, when the venues became available to us. Although our upcoming calendar is a little hectic, it's all for the benefit of our... Full story
On Wednesday, May 6, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) will host a special Lawyers for Israel Breakfast featuring guest speaker Brian Rosenzweig, co-founder and managing partner at JANVEST Technologies. The breakfast will take place 7:45 a.m. at The Alfond Inn, 300 East New England Ave., Winter Park. Founded by two Americans and two Israelis, JANVEST is a U.S.-based investment group operating a series of Institutional Angel Funds directed at seed stage innovation within Israel’s emerging technology market. As a partner at JANVEST, Rosenzweig is r... 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
Temple Israel invites the Orlando Jewish community to a Lag B’Omer celebration on Sunday, May 3 from 10 a.m. to noon. Participate in the reenactment of the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) that was built by the Israelites during their 40-year journey in the wilderness. Help construct the Mishkan and the Ark of the Covenant, as wll as the Parochet (curtains). Temple Israel is located at 50 S. Moss Road, Winter Springs.... Full story
