Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 3429 - 3453 of 3579
It was September 1982 when 31-year-old Eli Bercovici arrived in Orlando to begin his new career as the Sports and Wellness director of the Jewish Community Center. There was no gym, no fitness center, only the Early Childhood Learning Center, housed in a small building (what is now to the right of the main entrance to the JCC) and orange groves. But the JCC executive director at the time, Marvin Friedman, had an eye for people and must have known Bercovici would help to conceive and develop the...
The Holocaust Center in Maitland often uses personal stories and eye-witness accounts as an effective way to share the history of the Shoah. Those individual voices, telling their own experiences, can make that tragic time easier to grasp. Art exhibits, films and speakers at the center’s community commemorations often use the innocent faces and poignant testimony of victims, survivors, rescuers and liberators to explain the real cost of intolerance. In preparing for the observance of K...
The Zionistas of Orlando, a coalition of Christian and Jewish women united for Israel, will hold their inaugural meeting at Temple Israel on Sunday, Aug. 25, from 2 – 4 p.m. The guest speaker,Wallace S. Bruschweiler, Sr., will speak on Israel’s Counter Terrorism Program—the right approach and solutions. Mr. Bruschweiler, who was targeted for assassination by the Red Brigades for successfully profiling their terrorist operations, will share his counter terrorism experiences usually reser...
The following synagogues provided information about their High Holiday services to the Heritage by press time. For information about services at other local synagogues, contact the individual congregations. Most synagogues require tickets for admission, and their cost varies from congregation to congregation. Some may open one or more of their holiday services to the community. For tickets or information, contact the individual synagogue. Candlelighting At least two candles should be lit, representing the dual commandments to remember and to...
Gov. Rick Scott declared Sunday, July 21, 2013 to be “ Torah Day.” The proclamation honored the North Orlando Chabad community and the inauguration of the congregation’s first torah dedicated by Zvi and Dawn Shamu and Paul Sebag. Scott “extended greetings and best wishes upon” Rabbi Yanky Majesky and wife Chanshy on their commitment “to bringing the joy of Judaism” to residents of Sanford, Longwood, and Lake Mary (since 2010). A crowd of approximately 200 members of the Jewish community from all...
Since its founding more than 30 years ago, the Holocaust Center in Maitland has been using fine art as a vehicle to remind visitors of the importance—and the humanity—of victims of genocide. Holocaust history is wrapped around the unfathomable statistic of six million Jewish people, including one and a half million children, dead. Holocaust education, particularly as expressed through fine arts, acknowledges that within that unimaginable number one can see that it is one person who died, the...
Temple Shir Shalom of Oviedo will begin its 12th year of religious school with a “Meet the Teacher Oneg,” Friday evening, Aug. 16, immediately following Shabbat services at University Carillon United Methodist Church. Registration is underway for classes, which will begin at Double R Private School on Aug. 25. School hours are 9 a.m. to noon, and will run for 25 sessions during the school year. Temple membership is required for religious school enrollment. Shir Shalom, the largest Reform synagogue in Seminole County, enrolls students from Kin...
Jordan Schilit, 22, of Tampa, and grandson of Edith and Charles Schulman of Winter Springs, was asked back to once again participate in the 2013 Maccabia Games. In 2009, he ran in the Maccabia Games in Israel. For this year’s games he ran the 1500m and the 5K. “It was exciting for Charles and me because JLTV broadcast live from the games,” said Edith. An average-to-above-average runner who didn’t even make the high school varsity team (his freshman year), Schilit persisted, and by the time he...
While Jews across the nation are celebrating Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 5th and 6th, the Jewish Pavilion’s High Holiday season extends for several weeks. Their four program directors each coordinate a dozen High Holiday celebrations in independent, assisted- and skilled-nursing facilities in greater Orlando. Even buildings with one Jewish resident receive attention. The resident receives a visit complete with a card, High Holiday prayers, apples, honey, challah, honey cake and a Jewish calendar. I...
The Jewish residents in senior communities are so thrilled to receive an annual gift from Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel. Each year they can count on receiving gorgeous Jewish calendars at their Jewish Pavilion High holiday services. Pictured is Norma Ball distrusting a calendar to Charlotte of Lake Mary Rehab. Charlotte is holding a shofar....
The Heritage Florida Jewish News recently received two awards from The Florida Press Association/Florida Society of News Editors’ Better Weekly Newspaper Contest. Competing against 64 weekly newspapers and 1,641 entries, The Heritage took home third place for General Excellence and third place for Feature Story: Profile. “I am very happy that we were fortunate enough to win two awards this year and I am especially proud that we received an award in the General Excellence category, which is con...
Talia Joy Castellano, known to the online world as Taliajoy18, passed away on July 16, 2013 from metastatic Neuroblastoma, one month before her 14th birthday in Orlando, Fla. Born Aug. 18, 1999, she resided in Oviedo, Fla., New York, N.Y. and Southampton, N.Y. Talia became a YouTube sensation in the last two years of her life after deciding to throw away hats and wigs under the slogan “Make Up is My Wig.” She began making a series of makeup tutorials which, through her knowledge of her cra...
The Meitin Religious School will hold a summer “camp” experience for students. Temple Israel has developed this unique program to help refresh the skills students learned before the summer break. The camp will be a three-day “whirlwind multi-continent trip” with the Passport to Hebrew program featuring a virtual trip to a different continent each evening. Activities will include virtual geo-caching, geography, Jewish culture, music, art and food preparation (and eating) all to help bring H...
From Nov. 4-13, 2013, join the Jewish Federation for a very special mission to Israel that has it all: Hikes through northern nature preserves and visits to spice markets and wineries, ancient historical sites and hi-tech start-ups. Encounters with cutting-edge artists, new immigrants and Israelis from all walks of life. Opportunities to learn about coexistence initiatives, and a magical Shabbat in Jerusalem. The mission culminates with the General Assembly, the Jewish community’s signature annual event. The GA will feature Israel’s Prime Min...
The Orlando Chapter of Hadassah is proud to present renowned violinist Matitiahu Braun at its opening meeting Aug. 27 at 11:30 a.m. at Congregation Ohev Shalom. Matitiahu Braun is a native of Israel where he graduated from the Israel Academy in Tel Aviv. He came to America in 1962 to study at the Juilliard where he received artist and post-graduate diplomas and was the recipient of the prestigious Naumburg Prize. In 1969 he joined the New York Philharmonic, a position he held until 2006. He...
Under the leadership and design supervision of Eagle Scout candidate Max Waldor, the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation is about to finish the construction of its Holocaust Memorial, a tribute to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. At 4’ tall by 8’ wide, this memorial is a collection of stories from the Holocaust, reproduced on tile and via the internet, to honor and describe the experiences of 40 of the Central Florida Jewish community’s loved ones during a terrible chapter in histo...
We are frequent visitors to Israel and have been going there for the past 35 years. We recently returned with our heads filled with visions and sights that resonate with pride and excitement at the unbelievable growth and prosperity that we witnessed as we drove around the country. What we noticed immediately were the automobiles. No longer do Israelis drive around in cars 10 years old, but are racing around (and I do mean racing) in all the same models that we drive here. What makes this so extraordinary is that they have to pay at least...
The Kinneret Council on Aging will proudly pay tribute to eight individuals over the age of 80 who have made significant contributions to the Jewish and Central Florida community on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014. “The 8 over 80 event really resonates with the mission of the Kinneret Council on Aging and the inspiring stories we hear about seniors who contribute to our community through leadership, activism, altruism and philanthropy,” says Neal Blaher, president of the Board for the Kinneret Council on Aging. The Kinneret Council on Aging is giv...
Rosh Hashanah may be early for most of us, but the senior group at the Roth Jewish Community Center has already planned for their Meet and Mingle program on Aug. 26. The program committee has invited Rabbi Merrill Shapiro to present to the 39ers to mark the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. This presentation will mark the 110th Anniversary of the publication of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” with an examination of how anti-Semitism has influence the liturgy of the High Holy Days. Many elements of the traditional High Holy Day liturgy ref...
J-Serve, the International Day of Jewish Youth Service, will be April 6, 2014. Since 2005, J-Serve has been a part of Youth Service America’s Global Youth Service Day weekend. J-Serve provides teens with the opportunity to fulfill the Jewish values of gemilut chasidim, acts of loving kindness; tzedakah, just and charitable giving; and tikun olam, the responsibility to repair the world. Across the globe, teens join each other to make their community and the world a better place. J-Serve 2014 i...
Partnership2Getheris a global platform developed by the Jewish Agency for Israel that connects 550 communities around the world in 45 partnerships with cities and towns in Israel. It’s how Jewish communities around the country partner directly with communities in Israel Through P2G, the Greater Orlando Jewish community has built a long-term partnership with Kiryat Motzkin (an Israeli city, north of Haifa). The partnership fosters educational and cultural opportunities in both cities. Annually, JFGO makes a direct allocation from its annual c...
Three months into her position as executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, Olga Yorish is even more determined to make a positive impact on our lives. Born in St Petersburg, Russia, the former refusenik has selflessly dedicated the past 20 years to Jewish Federations, having recently spent 5 ½ years serving as executive director in Greater New Bedford, Mass. “It was a very tired, old fashioned organization that had lost its way. It’s now not the same Federation I foun...
The big celebration is coming up in five years. In 2018, Congregation Ohev Shalom will mark 100 years of service to the Jewish community of Central Florida. But 95 isn’t too shabby, either. Essentially founded in a farmhouse by some of the first Jews to come to Orlando, Ohev Shalom moved into what is its third home two years ago. The new building, at 613 Concourse Parkway S. in Maitland, has been bustling with activity ever since. There aren’t any events being planned specifically for Ohev Shalom’s 95th birthday, but the congregation figur...
While the Jewish Pavilion is known for bringing Judaism to the doorsteps of our elders in long-term care, there is something even more important that we do says Nancy Ludin, executive director. Isolation and loneliness abound in senior communities. The friendships that the Jewish Pavilion staff and volunteers provide are priceless. Pictured is Pat Rubenstein with Carol, a resident at Savannah Court. Pat has been visiting and laughing with residents for more than 10 years. Also pictured is Barry...
Each year the Holocaust Memorial Research and Education Center of Florida sponsors a community program in remembrance of Kristallnacht, also known as the November Pogrom, a series of attacks against Jewish communities throughout Germany and parts of Austria. On Nov. 9–10, 1938, thousands of Jewish homes and shops were ransacked and destroyed with sledgehammers, pickaxes and rocks. The streets were left covered in pieces of smashed windows—the origin of the name Kristallnacht, the “Night of Br...
