Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The cease-fire that ended the 1967 Six Day War left Israel in possession of territories roughly twice the size of the country at the time. Since then, those territories—the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Golan Heights—have been the subject of negotiations, the keys to peace treaties and the flashpoints for war. Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt under the 1979 peace treaty, and disengaged from Gaza in 2005. However, her presence in the other territories continues to spark emotionally charged debate. Are these territories... Full story
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the St, Augustine Accord Freedom Trail and the Civil Rights Museum of St. Augustine all were present in force as the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society (SAJHS) led a commemoration of the largest mass arrest of rabbis in the United States on June 18, 1964. SAJHS came only to help create a place of sacred memory on the site where 16 rabbis, 49 years ago stood up for the ethics and behavior mandated by Jewish tradition. The Jewish community of St.... Full story
The Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando will honor community leaders Keith and Julie Levitt at this year’s 30th Annual Beat-the-Heat 5K Road Race. This year’s event will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday July 24, beginning and ending at the Roth Jewish Community Center campus. When one mentions the Levitt family, three thoughts come to mind: the JCC, running and helping children. Keith, who grew up in Maitland (son of Ken and Jackie who have also been extremely active in the JCC), has... Full story
Biannually, Chabad at UCF brings students to Israel on the Taglit – Birthright Israel: Mayanot program. Every summer and winter break sees hundreds of students travel to Israel with UCF Chabad Rabbi Chaim Lipskier, and this summer marked their 10th trip to Israel with Birthright. With Lipskier serving as the rabbi and spiritual tour guide, the trip is a high-quality Israel experience that includes 10 days of visiting landmark attractions and participating in cultural activities together with y... Full story
The board of directors of Temple Israel in Winter Springs announces that Rabbi Joshua Neely will serve as Rav Beit HaSefer (Principal) of the religious school for the coming year. Neely will continue in his other rabbinical roles as well. The Temple Israel leadership team sees this as yet another advantage of having a synagogue family that is of a size to allow the rabbi, the students and the students’ family members to get to personally know one another. What else does it mean to have one’s rab... Full story
The Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando’s Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center is embarking on a fundraising campaign to renovate its enclosed courtyard playground, just behind its preschool lobby and outside of the infant/toddler patio. The playground renovation will include new surfacing, a gathering area for planning and storytelling, a secret garden pathway with sensory experiences, musical instruments for the stage, wooden decking for building and planters for flowers and herbs. New fencing will be installed a... Full story
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando’s next program, at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 23, will be “Smarter Searching on Ancestry.com.” An Ancestry.com expert, Crista Cowan, will be the facilitator. Shaky leaf hints. Global searches. Database specific. Fuzzy. Exact. These are just a few of the ways to locate records on Ancestry.com. You can search by person or location. You can use the Card Catalog to discover what is online before you begin your search. You can change your collection prior... Full story
Every morning Max, a kindergartner at the Jewish Academy of Orlando, would make sure his mother was awake by 6 because he didn’t want to be late for school and his morning ritual: greeting Lynne Shefsky, who had been head of school at the JAO for eight years. At 7:30 a.m. Max would be one of the first students in line to enter the school. “He would stand right by my side,” says Shefsky, “and if I were with someone else, he would wait patiently until he had a chance to say ‘Good morning,... Full story
Jewish Family Services Orlando (JFS Orlando), the Winter Park-based non-profit, human service agency, announces its partnership with Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) in providing its Kids Konnect Family Circle program to students and their families beginning August 2013. Participating Orange County schools will host licensed JFS Orlando therapists who will work on-site with school guidance counselors. The counseling program is geared toward students from homes that are experiencing family disruption or life-altering situations including,... Full story
The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando’s Maimonides and Cardozo Societies in partnership with the Holocaust Center played host to an afternoon with Dr. Perry Brickman. His presentation recounted his experience at Emory University’s Dental School as a Jewish student. After his first year, he received a letter ejecting him from the university. In 2006 he discovered by chance that 65 percent of all Jewish students in the dental school between 1949-1962 had been flunked or forced to repeat yea... Full story
The Florida Region of Women’s League f or Conservative Judaism held its annual conference on May 19-21 in Sarasota. Temple Israel Sisterhood, which sent six women to the conference, received top awards. The theme this year was: “Sisterhood: Many Visions, One Goal.” At the opening luncheon award certificates were presented to sisterhoods which had met the requirements for the Jewels in the Crown Awards, which honor those sisterhoods that nurture and sustain Jewish life and vitality in their... Full story
The Jewish Pavilion is gearing up for its annual Fall Festival/Walk at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 27 at Cranes Roost Park. Participants will walk in the paths of those who walked before us. The event will be named in memory of Nancy Kobrin and Lynn Steinmetz. Festivities include a free breakfast, live entertainment, activities for children, a health fair, vendors, live entertainment and a walk. Co-chairs of the 2013 walk are Norma Ball and Toby Vandemark.... Full story
By Pamela Ruben Special to the Heritage The Pavilion Golf Society shot a hole in one for the elder community with a successful inaugural golf outing June 2. More than 70 golfers were in full swing at Alaqua Country Club for a morning round of golf to raise funds for the Jewish Pavilion and its Senior Help Desk. Sunday morning golfer and Pavilion member Hank Katzen noted, “Today’s all about spending time with family and friends, while raising money for a great cause.” This sentiment was secon... Full story
Jewish National Fund announces that Laura Abramson will be the new campaign executive for Orlando. “My passion for Israel began in 1976 after my first trip to Israel for six weeks,” says Abramson. “A lot has changed since then, but there will always be a need to continue to build the infrastructure of the country and to continue to provide assistance to those that are less fortunate with special programs. I am eager to work with JNF to help enhance the quality of life for Israel’s residen... Full story
Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando, the Orlando-based nonprofit, human service agency, announces its partnership with the Fern Park Winn-Dixie in hosting a scan program now through Tuesday, June 11. Fern Park Winn-Dixie customers will be encouraged to make a monetary donation to JFS at check out. Contributions raised during the program will go directly to JFS’ Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry, which positively impacts more than 20,000 Central Florida residents each year. Fern Park Winn-Dixie customers may also contribute nonperishable food... Full story
Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations through today for the 2013 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented in August 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,” says Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last year’s recipient was Dr. Zena Sulkes. The Herit... Full story
The leadership of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando’s Early Childhood Learning Centers returned in March from the JCCs of North America Professional Conference at the Rosen Plaza Hotel, where they studied together in the JCC Association’s new early childhood framework Sheva. More than 80 early childhood leaders, including directors Carol McNally from the Roth JCC’s Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center in Maitland, and Brenda Sher, from the JCC’s Jack & Lee Rosen Southwest Orlando Campus, learned together for five da... Full story
Current parents of Jewish Academy of Orlando, as well as alumni families, members of the board of directors, teachers, colleagues and members of the community joined together May 19 at the Winter Park Racquet Club to honor Lynne Shefsky, the institution’s head of school. In June, Shefsky will be retiring after a 16-year tenure at Orlando’s only K-8th grade Jewish day school. Eight of those years were spent as the head of school, where making sure that every Jewish child who wanted to attend the... Full story
Every spring brings new holidays and for the Jewish Pavilion it means visiting with wonderful, aging Jewish residents, now living in a nursing care facility. “One beautiful morning I had the pleasure of meeting Laura Fischer,” relates Jewish Pavilion program director Melanie Baxt, who was visiting The Parks Health and Rehabilitation Center in Orlando. “I pulled up a chair and we began to talk. She showed me a picture of her new grandson, Jacob, only 10 days old. After reciting the Shabbat praye... Full story
Estate planners, accountants and bankers will have the opportunity to network with other wealth management professionals at a private party in Longwood hosted by Jewish Pavilion Board member Barbara Coenson, (Coenson Law), from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, June 9. Spouses and significant others are welcome. Participants will be invited to join an advisory board. To obtain an invitation, contact Nancy Ludin, executive director at the Jewish Pavilion at nancyludin@jewishpavilion.org or call... Full story
All good things must come to end. Thankfully the monthly musicals at Horizon Bay Boston Avenue will return in September. What a wonderful “season” it had been with some of the most wonderful entertainers. Not only did the talent bring such joy to the residents on Sunday afternoons, but what made it more meaningful was that these artists showed such passion within their music. Stewart Bloom, one of the entertainers as well as a monthly volunteer with his family, says, “My performance was heart... Full story
The Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation is inviting everyone to submit their family’s stories of both loss and survival from the Nazi Holocaust of WWII. “We at SOJC want everyone to remember history’s lessons in order to avoid repetition and hope to do so by remembering those who were lost and celebrating the stories of survival through a Holocaust Memorial exhibit being constructed for permanent display at SOJC by an aspiring Eagle Scout of Troop 996,” an event planner says. “We invite you to join in this important project by sharing y... Full story
More than 25 Jewish National Fund supporters gathered at the Women For Israel wine and trivia event hosted by Caryn and Mark Israel at their home in Winter Park. Israeli wine expert Laura Abramson educated guests on wines from various Israeli wine regions including the Galil and Judean Hills. “The event was extremely successful,” said Laura Abramson, incoming JNF Orlando campaign executive. “I was excited to see so many women attended to learn about Israeli wines and test their trivia knowl... Full story
Lee Chepenik, chairman of the Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando Golf Classic, presents Robin and Rich Lerner the JCC Community Leadership Award for their outstanding work, dedication and commitment to the Central Florida community. This year’s event was at the Rosen Shingle Creek Golf Resort. Eighty-five golfers participated in the event raising $40,000 for the Marvin Friedman Children Scholarship Fund. Families in need have received more than $1,000,000 the past five y... Full story
(JTA) – Real estate developer Hank Katzen has a conviction: If you build it, they will come. Except this is no baseball field in an Iowa cornfield. It’s a $60 million, 600,000-square-foot luxury dormitory at the nation’s second-largest college campus, the University of Central Florida. When it opens in August, the new dorm will push the bounds of cushiness. Every room has en-suite bathrooms and flat-screen TVs. Suites have island kitchens with stone countertops, washer-dryers and walk-in closets... Full story
