Eretz Israel ...

Oops ... How did I miss writing about May 14 1948? YEAH! Israel is officially a state!

Have you ever been to Israel? I have!

It is our PROMISED LAND, YES!

I left my heart there ... Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Masada, the Dead Sea. the Golan Heights and on and on. A return trip to Israel is definitely on my Bucket List!

More about famous Jews who have my heart ...

WOLF BLITZER, for one. He is a noted American journalist, television news anchor and author who has been a CNN reporter since 1990 and who currently serves as one of the principal anchors at the network.

Wolf was born in Augsburg, Germany, after World War II. His parents were Polish Jewish refugees who survived Auschwitz concentration camp. Sadly, his grandparents, two uncles and two aunts on his father's side all died there.

Wolf and his immediate family came to the United States and settled in in Buffalo, New York.

Also, in my heart will always be Sid Caesar. His fabulous career spanned 60 years, including his fabulous television show "Your Show of Shows."

He was considered a sketch comic and actor, as opposed to a stand-up comedian.

Some of the most famous writers wrote for Sid Caesar, including Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Carl Reiner and Woody Allen. (It doesn't get any better than that!)

As a young teen, Sid even performed in the Catskill Mountains of New York as a saxophonist. (Known as the Borscht Belt to me and many other Jews, the Catskills were the height of "making it."

Although I never performed there, I did celebrate my honeymoon in the Catskills.)

The threat from Iran ...

I read this in a current issue of the World Jewish Congress digest, and pass it along to you:

"Together with the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan forum for the study and debate of foreign policy operating under WJC auspices, the WJC organized a session on the state of the threat posed by the Iranian regime. The conversation centered on and featured remarks from leading experts including Alliance Center for Iranian Studies founding director, DAVID MENASHRI, Emirates Policy Center founder and president, EBTESAM AL KETBI, and Koret Project on Arab-Israeli Relations director DAVID MAKOVSKY.

Menashri, an authority on the Iranian nuclear program, noted that while developments may emerge, the Iranian nuclear negotiations is the only tier one issue for the United States in the Middle East, and proffered that the President BIDEN administration's focus is to try to constrain Iran inside a nuclear agreement that would limit its capabilities, at least for a few years.

He opined that the fundamental differences between the policy preferences of Israel and the United States is that Israel wants to keep all the sanctions in place, because without them, the parties will not reach an Iran nuclear deal 2.0, while the U.S. believes that if the system is overloaded with sanctions, there will be no capacity to inspect Iran's nuclear programs.

Makovsky cited three main challenges faced by 'the free world'. Iran's nuclear program, it's regional behavior, and its human rights violations.

He contended that Israel's most immediate challenge is that Iran, a sponsor of terror, now unofficially borders Israel, with proxies in nearly every direction.

'Look at the number of rockets and missiles that Lebanon has, Iranian presence in Syria, relations with Hamas, and the approaching elections in the Palestinian Authority,' he said."

(Oy Vay!!!!)

Israel wins Gold! ...

Israel's Artem Dolgopyat has won a historic gold medal in artistic gymnastics, claiming the men's floor exercise gold during the first of four apparatus finals on Sunday (1 August). Prior to this, no gymnast from the nation had won a medal of any color in the sport at the Olympic Games and only one other athlete has won gold in Olympic history - Gal Fridman's sailing gold in 2004.

Dolgopyat came off the floor not knowing if he'd done enough, after a few bouncy landings and having incurred a .100 neutral deduction for going out of the area.

It took a moment for the score and placement to register with Dolgopyat matching the score from Rayderley Zapata of Spain (14.933). The duo had the same execution score, usually the tie-breaker. But the Israeli had a 0.1 advantage in the difficulty score to win the tie break."

(YES!)

The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando...

The JFGO Annual meeting will be held on Thursday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m.

It will be hosted by Federation Board member YEOSH BENDAYAN, and Rhonda Forest will present Bruce Gould the Heritage Human Service award!

This year's annual meeting will be held on Zoom.

Make sure to secure your spot by registering today! Phone 407-645-5933 for details.

Shout-Out ...

Maybe it's me, my looks, my personality, my chubbiness, my wrinkles ... (OH SHUT UP!)

Actually, every time I've been out this awful year and a half of pandemic, I've been served by the nicest, the sweetest, the most efficient waiters and waitresses (wearing masks of course!)

At the Perkins Restaurant on University in Winter Park, I was served by MACKENZIE STARR, a real sweet and efficient person. She made my day!

And at the Town House Restaurant in Oviedo, I was served by such a handsome (I notice these things) and efficient waiter. All I know is that his name is SHAYNE. Well, he sure is Shayne (Yiddish for handsome!)

One for the road ...

Sol and Herbie were finishing their lunch in an Orlando restaurant when the waiter asked, "Tea or coffee, gentlemen?"

"I'll have tea," said Sol.

"Me too," said Herbie. "And make sure the glass is clean."

David Menashri

The waiter returned in a few minutes and announced, "Two teas! And which one gets the clean glass?"