Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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J Fit, a one-stop health and wellness fair, will be held at the JCC's Jack & Lee Rosen Southwest Orlando Campus on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 10 a.m-2 p.m. J Fit will provide a day of education, recreation and fun for all ages. Families, adults and seniors will enjoy strolling through the interactive Health and Wellness Showcase, Green Market, and Yoga Zen Den. Group exercise demos, health screenings and organic shopping options will be highlighted. The event is free and open to the community. For... Full story
The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida is proud to announce its new board members: Michele Brennan, director of Communications and Neighborhood Relations, City of Orlando; Joel Maser of Greenberg Traurig; Jill Schwartz of Jill S. Schwartz & Associates; Monte Starr of Holland & Knight LLP; Roger Chapin, executive vice president of Mears Transportation Group; and Ian D. Robinson, vice president of Business & Organizational Development of Massey Services, Inc. Serving as... Full story
Jewish National Fund (JNF) will honor Orlando resident Lois Tannenbaum with the Guardian of Israel Award at its annual Tree of Life™ Award Dinner at the Rosen Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. at the Rosen Plaza Hotel, located at 9700 International Drive in Orlando. The Guardian of Israel Award is a humanitarian award given in recognition of outstanding community involvement, dedication to the preservation of the environment, and the protection of natural habitats. "This year we are h... Full story
ORLANDO-Attorney Aaron J. Gorovitz and partner with Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A. was honored with the 2013 Personal Empowerment Cornerstone Award at the Central Florida Urban League's Annual Cornerstone Awards and Gala at Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort held on Saturday, Oct. 5. The Cornerstone Gala celebrated individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the community within the four areas of empowerment that are the cornerstones of the... Full story
The UCF Judaic Studies Program and Central Florida Hillel will be co-sponsoring a presentation Nov. 12, at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. by Rabbi Sanford Olshansky. The program is titled "Reconciling Science and Religion-the Book of Genesis and the Big Bang Theory." The program is part of the UCF Judaic Studies Distinguished Lecturers Series and will be held at Northview on campus. Rabbi Olshansky received his undergraduate degree in physics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and an MBA... Full story
Jewish Book Month is Oct. 26-Nov. 26 and Congregation Ohev Shalom will be celebrating! An all-Jewish book fair will be held Nov. 10-17 at the synagogue, 613 Concourse Pkwy. S., Maitland. A variety of Jewish books will be available for sale during Hebrew school hours as well as other hours as requested. Most of the books are geared toward children and youth but there will be leisure books for adults. The book fair will be a single copy book fair, which means all books need to be ordered but will be available within only a few short days at the c... Full story
Our Jewish Orlando (OJO), Jewish Federation's Young Adult Division that is focused on connecting the next generation of Jews in Central Florida had its first event, Torah on Tap, which proved to be a huge success. Almost 50 people attended the event at the Hangar Bar & Grille in College Park where they mixed and mingled with other young professionals. In addition, Rabbi Hillel Skolnik from South Orlando Jewish Congregation led an intriguing discussion on building a vibrant young Jewish... Full story
Reaching back more than 75 years, the new documentary “Refuge: Stories of the Selfhelp Home” gives a voice to the final generation Holocaust survivors from Central Europe. “Refuge” explores the lives of six survivors and refugees against the context of the Nazi cataclysm and how a small group of them came together to create a community that has given shelter to more than 1,000 victims of Nazi persecution from Central Europe. The film illuminates the lost world of Central European Jewry prior to World War II—middle class, educated, cultured... Full story
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando is hosting a program, titled “The Knowles Collection—What is it and how do I use it?” featuring FamilySearch and Jewish genealogy expert Todd Knowles, on Tuesday, Nov. 5 from 7 p.m. to 9.m. at the Roth JCC in Maitland. The Knowles Collection contains the genealogical records of Jewish people throughout the world. The people listed in the records are lined as families and a compiled from more than 1200 different sources. Knowles will show how to use this free research tool and how to make the m... Full story
The Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando is pleased to announce the appointment of Royal Webster as its new sports director. Webster, 51, succeeds the Roth JCC’s Eli Bercovici who retired this summer after 31 years as sports director. For Webster, the Roth JCC has long been a second home. When he and his wife, Simone, moved to Orlando in June 2004, they immediately enrolled their sons Alex, now 11, and Josh, 9, in the Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center. The boys rose through the Roth JCC’s programming, attending Cam... Full story
On Tuesday Nov. 5, Holocaust Center recourse teacher Mitch Bloomer will be speaking about the events of Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht, or “Night of Broken Glass,” was an incident where Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews. In the aftermath of Kristallnacht, some 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. In honor of the 75th anniversary of this tragic event, the Holocaust Memorial Recourse and Education Center will be hosting the lecture Mem... Full story
The Daytona Beach Chapter of Hadassah is hosting a Mah Jongg tournament with prizes awarded to the top winners. The fund-raising event will be held Thursday, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with check-in at 10:30 a.m., at the Plantation Oaks Clubhouse, Plantation Blvd, Flagler Beach. The fee of $18 includes the tournament, lunch, beverage and dessert. Paid registration deadline is Nov. 1. No walk-ins. Proceeds will go to Hadassah Medical Research. Everyone is welcome to attend with paid reservation. No walk-ins will be accepted. For more... Full story
On Thursday, Oct. 17, the UCF Global Perspectives Office presented a discussion on how religions can help address human trafficking. The talk was led by The Three Wise Guys, comprised of Rabbi Steven Engel, the Rev. Bryan Fulwider and Imam Muhammad Musri. The trio has a radio show on Central Florida’s public media station where they mix wit with wisdom while attempting to find common ground to promote religious tolerance. Doug Evans, an associate lecturer at UCF, introduced the panel. He had much praise for the writings of Moses Maimonides, t... Full story
He has been on Food Network and on Home and Family, but now he will be here in person. The Orlando Chapter of Hadassah is pleased to announce that renowned chef and chocolate artist Paul Joachim will be the guest at the Tuesday, Nov. 5, meeting to be held at the Congregation of Reform Judaism (CRJ) at 11:30 a.m. Known as The Chocolate Genius, Paul Joachim is a classically trained fine-artist, who has turned his passion for luxurious cooking and sculpting into incredible live entertainment at... Full story
Jewish National Fund (JNF) will host its annual Tree of Life™ Award Dinner at the Rosen Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The event will honor two generations of the Weiner family, Dick and wife Louise and son Ben and wife Maura with the Guardian of Israel Award along with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer with the recipient of the prestigious Tree of Life™ Award. “I believe that anything is possible in Israel through JNF,” said Aaron Gorovitz, JNF Orlando board member. “Having been active in this orga... Full story
Jewish Family Services Orlando, a Winter Park based nonprofit human service agency that provides social programs to those in need from all faiths, will celebrate its 35th anniversary at its 12th Annual Evening of Valor on Nov. 3, from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Evening of Valor is JFS’ main fundraiser and will honor past agency presidents, former George Wolly Community Leadership Award recipients and Spring Fiesta honorees. Among those being recognized are George Wolly, the first JFS executive director and the namesake for the Leadership Award. Wolly and... Full story
Longtime friends and Orlando philanthropists, Chuck Steinmetz and Harvey Kobrin, have shared many experiences since their days as fraternity brothers at the University of Florida in the 1960s. Kobrin and Steinmetz cemented their friendship at Pi Lambda Phi fraternity on the Gainesville campus, and have remained close for more than 50 years. This October the two men are joining forces to honor their late wives. The Jewish Pavilion’s annual “Walk in the Park” will be co-sponsored this year by Ch... Full story
“There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.” This comment by American educator, teacher and author Mary Ellen Chase could not be truer in an age when books yield to electronic media in the lives of our children. Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, author of “The Barefoot Book of Jewish Tales,” and a mother of three children, brings her latest book to a storytelling and meet-and-greet session on Tuesday evening, Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m., at Congregation Beth Am, 3899 Sand Lake Road in Longwoo... Full story
Modern medicine has brought us near miracles. It’s also brought us some of the most difficult decisions we’ll ever have to face. Are we obliged to prolong life even at the cost of terrible suffering? Should we legalize the sale of organs, such as kidneys, to save the lives of transplant patients? May a woman with a multiple-fetus pregnancy opt for fetal reduction, thus forfeiting the lives of some to possibly save others? When it seems that every available option is morally questionable, how do we decide? Torah and the Talmud are not sil... Full story
On Sunday, Oct.27, a panel of four local Holocaust survivors—Sonja Marchesano, Sylvia Rapp, Eva Ritt and Harry Lowenstein—will share their memories of Kristallnacht at a special program at the Holocaust Center, 851 N. Maitland Avenue. They will talk about their experiences on the night of Nov. 9, 1938, that began Hitler’s Final Solution. They will also discuss how they survived the war. The panel will be moderated by Professor Richard Gair of Valencia College. The program, which starts at 2 p.m., is free and open to the public. Free parki... Full story
Join Rabbi Karen Allen on Friday, Oct. 25 at Congregation Beth Sholom for the inaugural meeting of the Rabbi’s Torah Roundtable, a lively discussion of contemporary issues in the context of Jewish tradition. The program will begin at 4 p.m. with conversation and light refreshments. This informal and interactive forum is a unique opportunity to talk with the rabbi as we explore together the meaning and impact on our lives today of the Torah portion we will read at our Shabbat service on the following morning. On Saturday, Oct. 26 at 10 a.m., R... Full story
“You are on a special mission behind enemy lines. The enemy is chasing you. Your mission is complete, but the journey home is even more perilous. As you quietly make your way across a rocky embankment in the dark, you hear the tell-tale sounds of enemy soldiers as they approach your position. Your heart is pounding. Exhausted, famished and dehydrated, you know that one false move could be your last.” Stressed? At 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, in The Homewood Suites, 755 Currency Circle in Lake Mary, Chabad Lubavitch of North Orlando presents Min... Full story
In 2012 the Holocaust Center created a drama, titled “Witness,” that tells the story of Kristallnacht through the words of the victims, perpetrators and bystanders who were there on that fateful night. Because of its format—a readers’ theater that requires no costumes, memorization or special staging, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation of historic photographs—it provides a simple but powerful way to focus on the human cost of Nazi persecution. In recognition of the 75th anniversa... Full story
Simchat Torah is one of the most joyous days in the Jewish year. On this day, synagogues and Jewish communities throughout the world study the closing words of Deuteronomy and immediately recite the opening words of Genesis. Acknowledging that the study of Torah is endless the last aliya with its theme of the death of Moses is followed immediately by the first aliya with its theme of creation. The highest congregational honor one can receive is to be called to the Torah for the “last” aliya or... Full story
Are teens prepared to make choices that will shape their future? For example, is it okay to lie to protect someone you love? Do parents have a right to read their children’s text messages?; is there anything wrong with being a bystander to bullying? Jewish Learning Institute Teens (JLI Teens) new course, ‘Is it Legit? Steering your Way through Everyday Ethical Dilemmas’ offers teens the tools to make decisions, develop strong ethical opinions, and to empower their inner voice to stand up for what they believe in. The course encourages teens... Full story
