Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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It's a dog's life... People who know me know that I prefer dogs to people... well some people. I've hardly ever been without a dog in my life. They give unconditional love (and don't care how I look without makeup.) I read this a while back in a magazine and want to share it with you: "We Americans love our dogs and nearly half of our households have one. They protect our homes (or think they do), play fetch, beg for attention (usually with great charm) and, if we let them, hog the sofa. Our...
Simon Wiesenthal Center reaction... This email was sent to me by Alyssa Brognano of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. It reads as follows: "It is unprecedented for an outgoing Administration to make such a draconian foreign policy shift-while simultaneously packing their boxes to leave Washington", Rabbis Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean and Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO declared. "Secretary Kerry makes it sound like it's the apartments...
Some good news for a change... I just read this in the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along to you: "Anti-Semitic incidents in France decreased by 64 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to a year ago, according to GILLES CLAVREUL, France's interministerial delegate for the fight against racism and anti-Semitism. He credited the decline to his government's policing around Jewish institutions. Following the murder at a kosher supermarket in January 2015, some 12,000 have...
Remembering Babi Yar... I read this in the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest. What a sad, inhuman reminder of another Nazi atrocity we must never forget! I pass it along to you in part.: "On the 75th anniversary of the murder of more than 33,000 Jews at Babi Yar, WJC President Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder and other WJC leaders travelled to Ukraine to take part in commemorations of the atrocity committed by Nazi Germany on September 29-30, 1941, in Kyiv. Speaking at a dinner event, Amb.Lauder...
Chanukah is almost here!... "Twas the night before Chanukah, boichiks and maidels, Not a sound could be heard, not even the dreidels, The menorah was set by the chimney alight, In the kitchen, the Bubbe was hopping a bite, Salami, Pastrami, a glaisele tay, And zoyere pickles mit bagels... Oy Vay! Gezint and geschmock the kinderlach felt, While dreaming of taiglach and Chanukah gelt, And Bubbe was carving a shtickele chicken, A tummel arose, like the wildest K'duchas, Santa had fallen right on...
We all mourn... I received this during last month from the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along in part to you: "World Jewish Congress president Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder remembered former Israeli president and prime minister Shimon Peres, who passed away on Sept. 28 at the age of 93, as 'one of the greatest human beings I have ever known, an astute statesman, a great intellectual and strategist, a seasoned diplomat and a peace-maker. He did Israel proud, and he made Jews in...
Berlin hotel anti-Israel?... I read this recently in the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along to you in its entirety: "A well-known luxury hotel in Berlin denied claims that it had deliberately omitted Israel in its phone directory due to concerns of its Arab guests. French Jewish filmmaker, Claude Lanzmann, who directed the Holocaust documentary 'Shoah', wrote an op-ed in the French newspaper 'Le Figaro' and the German daily 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung' in which he claimed...
Not surprising... My spouse was an aerospace engineer who worked on Gemini 4 thru Apollo 16. I was even invited to NASA for Apollo 12 and sat near former President Nixon and his Secret Service detail. I read this recently in the Weizmann Institute of Science digest and pass it along to you: "On July 4, 2016, a long-anticipated milestone was reached: the Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter. It's goal: revealing the secrets of the planet, our solar system and how they were formed. It took almost...
Germany pays tribute... I read this in a recent edition of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest. I never heard this before, a very touching piece of history and I pass it along to you: "Germany's Foreign Office and the Centrum Judaicum Berlin held an event to honor Jose Arturo Castellanos Contreras, El Salvador's consul-general in Geneva who during World War II helped to save tens of thousands of Jews from Central Europe from Nazi persecution by providing them with false papers of Salvadoran...
Today is Veteran's Day... I am the proud widow of a Korean War Army veteran who was buried with full military honors at the National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. I am the proud mother of a Lt. Commander in the Navy who also served in the Army for many years, including a tour in Iraq during the worst of it. I am also the proud mother of a psychologist who worked with Navy recruits at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. And I am the proud mother of a third son who served in the Navy on a...
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)... I read this in a letter from the American Jewish Congress (AJC) and pass it along to you. Warning! This is aggravating to read: "Iran subjects children to the death penalty, including public hangings from cranes. North Korea maintains vast gulags where political prisoners, including the descendants and distant relatives of alleged political offenders, endure arbitrary executions, starvation, and forced marriages for the purpose of breeding slaves. Russia h...
Anti-Semitic rise in U.S... I read this in the latest issue of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and (although in part) feel you should be aware: "A recently released report lists a total of 941 cases of reported anti-Semitic attacks in the United States for 2015, compared to 912 in 2014. These included physical assaults, vandalism, harassment and threats. Specific attacks include Hasidic Jews being fired at with paintballs and air rifles while on their way to synagogue, and statements...
Pope visits Auschwitz... I read this in the current issue of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Digest and pass it along to you: "WJC President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER hailed Pope FRANCIS' visit on July 29 to Auschwitz-Birkenau as 'a strong signal' against hatred and called the Catholic Church leader 'one of the closest allies Jews have today in the fight against anti-Semitism and bigotry.' Pope Francis did not make a speech but rather walked the grounds of the former Nazi German death camp and...
"Don't be evil Google"?... I read this in the current issue of World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along to you: "The World Jewish Congress called it 'scandalous' that the world's largest Internet company, Google Inc., is failing to remove thousands of neo-Nazi hate videos from its video platform YouTube. An investigative report broadcast on German television found that many video clips which incite violence against Jews, Muslims, Blacks and refugees remain easily accessible on...
A wonderful man... Rabbi Adler died recently. He was in his mid 90s. A scholar and teacher, he was a Holocaust survivor (something I never knew). When my late husband, Irv, our young son DAVID, and I moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Central Florida back in 1964, among the first people we met were Rabbi and Rose and their children. Rabbi was spiritual leader of Congregation Ohev Shalom and we became members as soon as we arrived. Through the years he was always there for us. All three of our...
France's Jewish community... I read this in the World Jewish Congress Digest (WJC), and pass it along to you: "France's Jewish community, the largest in Europe, has elected a Sephardic Jew as its new leader for the first time in half a century. Algerian-born FRANCIS KALIFAT was unanimously elected as the new president of the Jewish umbrella organization CRIF (Council Representative Jewish Institutions of France). He said his priority was to fight against anti-Semitism in all it's forms." The 63...
I need an orange crayon and a yellow one... (oops! No. I am not writing anything political!) What a friend Israel is... Besides finding many cures for disease and developing scientific projects that make our lives better, Israel always comes through in emergencies. I received this letter recently titled "Nepalese Foreign Minister Thanks Israel For Support." I pass it along to you: "In a speech in Jerusalem before the Israel Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), which operates under the auspices...
Polish Death Camps?... I read this in the current issue of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest and pass it along to you: "Poland is planning to adopt new regulations to punish people who use the phrase 'Polish Death Camps' when referring to wartime Nazi concentration camps on Polish soil during World War II. The Nazis operated their most infamous death camps, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor and Treblinka, mostly in occupied Poland rather than in Germany. Justice Minister ZBIGNIEW ZIOBRO...
I am in shock... I just received the following letter from the WJC. I am in shock! "Recently, the World Jewish Congress launched a petition campaign urging Google Germany to remove the lyrics below by the neo-Nazi Kommando Freisler from their song 'In Belson' that was widely available on YouTube, including in Germany. (I warn you. It is upsetting to say the least.) "Here are some of the translated lyrics of the song. 'In Belsen, in Belsen, they hung there by the neck. Fidiralala, In Buchenwald,...
This is troubling to me. "A final solution?"... I received the following in the mail from the World Jewish "ACongress (WJC) digest. I pass it along to you: "World Jewish Congress President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER called upon the UN and the international community to end the anti-Israel rhetoric that has exceeded proportion and is extending into the realm of the absurb. Anti-Israel statements at the United Nations, within many of the bodies, including the Security Council, are mounting to lev...
Leave it to Israel when it comes to medical advances... It seems many people I know have diabetes 2. According to the latest World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest, this could be a life-changing development. Read on: "Diabetic neuropathy, a type of nerve damage associated with the development of foot ulcers resulting from excessive pressure and poor blood supply, affects more than 130 million diabetic patients around the world. Diabetic neuropathy is also the leading cause of amputation. While...
"Oh Canada, Oh Canada"... I'm not singing the Canadian anthem. I am a proud American, believe me. But Canada is very special to me. My maternal grandparents fled to Canada from Ukraine because of rampant anti-Semitism. My mom was born in Montreal, Canada. With the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra, I performed in Calgary, Canada, at the world famous Calgary Stampede and also had the opportunity, with my spouse, to visit Lake Louise and Banff, truly beautiful places. Why am I writing about Canada, you ask?...
Oh no! Who broke in?... (Remember, I write way in advance.) In the early morning yesterday, maybe 2 a.m. or so, I heard a loud boom which sounded like someone kicked in my front door. Not only did I hear it clearly, my dog started to bark and growl. She was also alarmed. What to do? I called 911 and was told that they were getting hundreds of calls reporting the same thing. They also said I should calm down as it probably was the sound of a sonic boom! Calm down? She didn't know me! Sheriff's...
Ha Ha Ha Hee Hee Hee Ho Ho Ho... No. Santa Claus isn't coming to town. (No way! This is a Jewish story!) I'm writing about my experience the other day with the Jewish Community Center's Laughter Yoga class that takes place every Monday afternoon from 12:15 pm until 1 pm. It is lead by the very talented and likeable DANA KAPLAN. I walked into the designated room at the JCC with Dana and saw some chairs in a semi-circle waiting for us. Lovely gals who were taking part, Barbara and Sylvia, were...
Remember Hezbollah?... With all the talk and worry about Isis these days, we almost put on the "back burner" terrorist organizations like Hezbollah. DAVID HARRIS of the American Jewish Congress wrote the following (in part) on April 27th of this year: "Nearly three years ago, The European Union finally overcame its longstanding resistance and addressed the issue of adding Hezbollah to its terrorism list. The good news is that the 28 member states, prompted by the determination of Bulgaria,...
