Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Driving to the Orlando International Airport the morning of July 9, the Star of David on the tail of an EL AL plane was visible above the building. It was thrilling to see, because this morning at 11:30 history was made as EL AL's inaugural flight from MCO to Tel Aviv took "to the skies," (EL AL literally means that). Prior to the flight, a media event, complete with ribbon and cake cutting ceremonies, was held to announce the new flights. Guest speakers included Gov. Ron DeSantis; Lior Haiat,...
It only took Brigitte Gabriel 14 minutes to make her point as she gave a keynote speech addressing the rise of global anti-Semitism before the United Nations in September 2014. She received a standing ovation as she spoke out strongly for Israel. Spring forward almost five years, and Gabriel, through her organization ACT for America, is still speaking out strongly for Israel, democracy and Judeo-Christian values. She was recently in Orlando to promote her new book, "Rise: In Defense of...
A recent Orlando Sentinel guest commentary by Zaina Alsous, a Palestinian-American organizer with the Dream Defenders in Miami and Donna Nevel, a community psychologist and educator and a Jewish social justice activist living in South Florida, pushed an anti-Israel agenda under the guise of criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to hold a Florida Cabinet meeting in Israel. The May 29 opinion piece was titled “DeSantis’ Israel meeting slap in the face to voters.” The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando quickly responded to the opinion piece....
The University of Central Florida's Shlichut Institute members participated in Israel's entry in this year's Eurovision Song Contest accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired population by producing a music video for singer Kobi Marimi's "Home" in American Sign Language. In the weeks leading up to Eurovision, which took place from May 14-18 in Tel Aviv, The Jewish Agency's Shlichim (emissaries) from around the world embarked on the "See the Sounds" initiative in order to help people with...
Last July, then-governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in seven South Florida counties because of the algae bloom all across Florida's west coast. The pea-green, thick film covering the freshwater lakes, salt-water canals and waterways not only looked bad, but smelled awful. "It is like moldy bread," said one Lake Okeechobee resident. Not only did it look and smell bad, it could be toxic if consumed, and fatal for dogs that swim in or drink the scum, according to Richard P. Stumpf, an...
Those who are planning to go to Israel this year, consider scheduling flights between July 2 and Aug. 27. This is when EL AL will have once-a-week flights out of Orlando International Airport. This is a trial run to see if there is enough interest in the Orlando community to generate more flights out of OIA in the future. "It's a great beginning!" said Vicki Jaramillo, senior director, marketing & air service development at OIA. Jaramillo, who is based in Orlando, has over 25 years experience...
Being in his late 80s was not a deterrent for Longwood resident Bob Herpe to becoming an author of a fiction mystery novel. He'd worn many "hats" in his careers and enjoyed many experiences-good and bad-to equal a "full" life. A creative man, writing almost came second nature. He already had experience with writing commercials for Broadcast Radio (he has owned several radio stations across the U.S.), and he wrote kiddie television shows when he worked for CBS in Chicago. However, he never seriou...
Last month a Jewish student who attends a charter school was given a reading assignment to prepare ninth graders for the Florida Reading FSA on inference of cultural experiences. Upon reading the excerpts, the student became extremely uncomfortable and fearful. He shared his experience with his parents, Eric and Wendy Nissan of Winter Park. When Wendy read the excerpts, she, too, was shaken by what her son was reading in the classroom. What concerned her was the content in the excerpts that...
Because her positions on BDS, Israel, and the Jewish people have made Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib a controversial figure among the freshman congressmen and women in the U.S. government, Heritage wanted to take the opportunity to hear and possibly interview her at a recent Emgage Gala, held at the Crown Plaza in Orlando. Emgage is an organization that seeks to “engage, educate and empower Muslim, South Asian and Arab American communities through educational events, voter initiatives, and leadership development for the purpose of creating a c...
The Israeli SpaceIL spacecraft Beresheet-Hebrew for Genesis-is on the moon, but not in the way that was hoped. Beresheet snapped its first "selfie," with the help of NASA, as it was landing, 22 kilometers (13.67 miles) from the surface. Then it was over. Apparently it crashed on the moon's surface after traveling 47 days and 6.5 million kilometers (4,038,912.75 miles) through space. In the last few moments before it was to land, communication was lost, then recovered. Then the main engine failed...
The Israeli SpaceIL spacecraft Beresheet - Hebrew for Genesis - is on the moon, but not in the way that was hoped. Beresheet snapped its first "selfie," with the help of NASA, as it was landing, 22 kilometers (13.67 miles) from the surface. Then it was over. Apparently it crashed on the moon's surface after traveling 47 days and 6.5 million kilometers (4,038,912.75 miles) through space. In the last few moments before it was to land, communication was lost, then recovered. Then the main engine...
Talented writer, director and producer Kevin O'Neill has written a short-film script about Dachua survivors of the Holocaust. The film, titled "Resemblance," has a different story line than most Holocaust movies. It takes place in a facility for patients with Alzheimer's Disease, most of whom are Jewish, where Dirk Kramer (played by Jordan Woods-Robinson) plays piano. A professional actor, Kramer sees a way that he can use his acting talents at the facility. Most of O'Neill's films are often...
If Jews had “magical powers to control people” as Ilhan Omar says, then she would be gone from Congress, not just the Foreign Affairs Committee because the “magical powers of the Jewish people” would have kicked her keister to the curb. Too bad the Jewish people don’t control others with money and “magical powers”—they wouldn’t have suffered as they have throughout history. Alas, I can’t kick her to the curb, but what has the Democratic Party done? Absolutely nothing. Pelosi has said that Omar’s anti-Semitic remarks were “not intentionally an...
The Jewish community here in Central Florida should make its voice heard concerning the anti-Semitic slurs being spewn about in Congress as well as the appointment of Ilhan Omar to the Foreign Affairs Committee. One community member, Dr. Daniel Layish, has made his voice heard by one congressman. (He said he even got a human being to answer the phone with no waiting.) “Call Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) to encourage him to stay strong in his condemnation of Ilhan Omar,” Layish said. Rep. Engel is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Com...
Imagine Lawrence Dressler's surprise when fellow inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, N.Y., told him that he was mentioned on the Bill Maher show the night before. "At the time the show aired I was eating gefilte fish and lokshen kugel with fellow Sabbath observant felons," Dressler posted on his blog (larrynoodles.com), which is about the lives of wealthy, powerful men he lived in close quarters with at Otisville. "I was honored to be mentioned on a show that is hosted...
Tuesday evening, Feb. 26, ACT for America, a national security grassroots organization, hosted a panel discussion about political Islam and Western culture. Although ACT is also recognized as the largest anti-Muslim group in the U.S. and takes a hardline stance on Islam and immigration, this meeting’s panelists—Dr. Jonathan Matusitz, an associate professor at the Nicholson School of Communication at UCF who teaches a class on terrorism; Rev. Bruce Lieske, former chairman of the Florida-Georgia District Muslim Evangelism Task Force and a ret...
At exactly 8:45 p.m. EST a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off the Florida coast at Cape Canaveral carrying the SpaceIL Lunar Lander, named "Beresheet." The night launch was easily seen from Altamonte Springs as it rose into the atmosphere. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu watched the lift off with his wife, Sarah, South African philanthropist Morris Kahn and a host of others at the Yehud Command Center. At 9:25 p.m. EST, Beresheet separated from the Falcon 9 rocket, deployed its...
Actor Hal Linden (of "Barny Miller" fame) has never been to Orlando, but he has been all up and down the east coast of Florida as the national spokesman for the Jewish National Fund, a position he has held since 1997. He came into the world with a father who was a Zionist before World War I. He remembers always putting nickels and dimes into the JNF Blue Box as a kid, but didn't really grasp his father's passion at that time. He also stars in the film "The Samuel Project," which opens today in...
If you thought that the Jewish National Fund only planted trees, you are way behind the times. JNF was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land for Jewish settlements well before Israel became a nation in 1948. By 2007 it owned 13 percent of the total land in Israel and the nonprofit has planted over 240 million trees. Now JNF is invested in many other ways to support the land and the people of Israel through water solutions, research and development, education and most recently, becoming a key...
On the coldest morning of the year, Jan. 21, Jewish Academy of Orlando students, teachers, staff and parents braved the weather to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gan Shel Chesed, the Kindness Garden. The fifth grade class—under the guidance of their teacher, Emily Watson, and art teacher Penny Goldstein—chose to do this project as their legacy to the school. In the center of the garden, the fifth graders planted an olive tree—the tree of peace. The other grades also planted trees...
By Christine DeSouza Many people in the Central Florida Jewish community know Idit Lotringer very well. She is the type of person who is liked immediately because of her energy, openness, friendliness and kindness. She is also a real go-getter and is the Orlando regional manager of the Israeli American Council, which opened a chapter here last August. "There are 20 offices in the United States and we are the 18th office to open!" Lotringer proclaimed with a big smile. She wasn't always involved...
Are the Jews in Israel white European colonialists? Are Israel’s settlements in the West Bank illegal? Isn’t a Jewish state, by definition, racist and undemocratic? These are just a few of the questions StandWithUs addresses to educate middle and high school students about Israel in an effort to dash all the mistruths about Israel and perhaps tear down some walls of anti-Israel sentiment. Tuesday evening, Jan. 22, Dr. Daniel and Staci Layish opened their home to introduce the community to StandWithUs, an international, nonprofit Israel edu...
Almost every year during Passover, Rafi Layish's family would watch "The Prince of Egypt," an animated movie about the Exodus. He loved it. "It was a really cool movie all around for animation, soundtrack," said Layish. It was also the inspiration for what he wanted to do with his future. He loved the newspaper comics, too. "Pearls Before Swine" was one of his favorites. When he was a child, he and friends would spend hours drawing pages and pages of comics. And even today if he thinks of a funn...
This year’s Men’s Night Out, the second event of its kind, was again, a successful venture. While last year’s get together could be defined as a reunion among men who hadn’t seen each other in a while, this year’s event was a coming together of generations. Several UCF and Stetson Hillel members turned out for the good eats and networking with active members of the Jewish community. “We are incredibly grateful to the leadership of Federation for extending tickets to Stetson Hillel students,...
Ask people in the Miami area if they have heard of Stephen Gamson, and the majority will say a resounding "Yes!" He is so well known that Dec. 3, 2018, was proclaimed Stephen Gamson Day by City of Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and Vice Mayor Michael Gongora. The honor was bestowed upon Gamson during a pre-Art Basel party held on Fisher Island, an exclusive private island off the coast of Miami Beach. Gamson was the featured artist at the party, a forerunner of the art festival held in Basel,...
