Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 458
Probably just coincidence... I've been telling myself "coincidence" for more than 25 years. It was about that length of time back when I was visiting at the home of my cousin who is like me, a professional vocalist. He is also (not like me) a superb pianist and composer of musicals. My cousin surrounds himself with show business artifacts, including books. Thumbing through one of his books about George Gershwin that particular day, I shrieked when I thought I saw a photograph of myself as a...
I never served... Veteran's Day was celebrated with a delicious dinner out for me and my spouse. It was free for him because he is a veteran. My meal was not free because I never was in the military. I am the mother of a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander who served in Iraq from 2007-2008; I am also the mother of a psychologist who cared for sailors with mental health issues at Great Lakes Naval Base; and I am the mother of a sailor (our youngest) who served on a minesweeper in the Persian Gulf; als...
Out with a bang... What is happening? I'm beginning to wonder if those mental cases who desire suicide, choose grand-standing shoot-outs in very public places like movie theaters, navy bases, malls, airports, etc., are trying for their 15 minutes in the spotlight before police cause their "suicides" for them. Take others along? Who cares? The perpetrator will be dead too! Well, sometimes it backfires, as in the case of the alleged LAX Shooter. Clinging to life, he may spend the rest of it as a v...
Enough with the anti-Semitism... Frankly, I get disgusted when I hear such news as that which was reported recently by the World Jewish Congress Digest (WJC) about Turkey. I always considered Turkey to be a good friend of Israel. Here is the article in full: "The World Jewish Congress harshly criticized recent statements (this past summer) made by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister BESIR ATALAY who blamed a conspiracy of the foreign media and the Jewish Diaspora for anti-government protests...
Papal wishes... This is directly from The World Jewish Congress Digest: "On September 2, World Jewish Congress president, Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER, led a small delegation of WJC leaders to represent the global Jewish community before Pope FRANCIS at the Vatican. The pope asked Ambassador Lauder to convey his personal wishes for a sweet and peaceful new year 5774 to all Jews. On behalf of global Jewry, Ambassador Lauder presented the pontiff with a gift of a Kiddish cup and a honey cake. At...
If you see something, say something? Gimme a break! I just saw someone waving a Confederate Flag outside of the White House. It was on television, no less! Why didn’t anyone protest that vile act? As a Jew, I realize that the same misguided people who revere the Confederate Flag probably dislike Jews as well as African Americans... which leads me to wonder... if someone waved a flag with a swastika emblem on it outside of the White House, would anyone protest? I had to get that off my chest. (...
This may be controversial... I don’t honestly know how I feel about this... but I must admit, I am somewhat alarmed. This comes directly from a Secure America Now bulletin: “In a speech to the United Nations last week, Israel’s prime minister once again urged the world to stand strong against Iran’s nuclear program. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU exposed Iran’s new president for what he is—A loyal soldier in the Jihadist army of a radical Islamic regime. Netanyahu pointed out that Iran’s charm offensi...
We’re in the computer age... I recently read this in a World Jewish Congress Digest (WJC): “An independent computer lab reports that Israel was the target in the first quarter of 2013 of almost a million network attacks. In layman’s terms, that means that every third Israeli computer is attacked by malicious malware programs, according to Kaspersky Labs which recently presented the data. Globally regarded along with the United States as a leader in hi-tech web development, Israel is credi...
A complete surprise... At least to me. I read the following in the World Jewish Congress Digest (WJC) recently: “This October, Israel once again plans to offer some 100 sacrificial animals to needy citizens in Dakar.” (What is meant by “sacrificial” animals? Is it what I think it is? For shame!) To continue: “Eli Ben-Tura, the Israeli ambassador posted in the capital, said ‘It registers very strongly with locals that Israelis give them sheep for a Muslim holiday while most Arab embassies d...
What a tragedy... As the mother of a naval lieutenant commander whose whereabouts are never completely known to me, I admit I panicked when I heard the first newsbreak over television about the attack at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. I immediately sent my son a text and after assurance that he was safe, I calmed down but still was horribly saddened at the event that could have and should have been avoided. Of course, with the demise of 12 innocent precious people, now (and only now) a...
I was reminded... In last week’s column I wrote this: “Instead of the gassing of innocent Syrian people including children, Congress (especially members of the House of Representatives) had to vote on whether or not to save Jews from the Holocaust. Can you imagine how that vote would go? (I’m just saying.)” Since last week, I was reminded by someone a little older than me, how the United States did nothing to save the Jews of Europe from the Holocaust. I was also reminded about our anti-Se...
Can you imagine?... Just picture this: Instead of the gassing of innocent Syrian people including children, Congress (especially members of the House of Representatives) had to vote on whether or not to save Jews from the Holocaust. Can you imagine how that vote would go? (I’m just saying.) And on the subject of the Holocaust... This article caught my eye. It’s from the current issue of The World Jewish Congress Digest under the title “WJC President to Marchers: ‘Hitler Did Not Win.’”:...
How outrageous... This is once again a reminder that I write far in advance of publication... so if the subjects I address are way in the past, or resolved, or whatever, they were timely when I commented on them: Hannah Montana is dead! Where is Miley’s daddy, BILLY RAY CYRUS? Shouldn’t he be outraged by her MTV performance? Another “outrage” is the horrible fire in Yosemite National Park that, at the time of this writing, is still out of control. I performed at the Beautiful Tenaya Lodge in Yos...
“There, but for the grace of God...” My late mom’s family fled the pogroms from the Ukraine to Canada where my mom was born in Montreal. My dad’s family came from Poland to New York City where he was born in Brooklyn. Each family unit (not including my great aunts, uncles, first, second and third cousins, unfortunately) got out of hell before the devil, Adolph Hitler, was even born. I was spared only because of the location of my birth here in the U.S., as were many of you. The world must ne...
This is very interesting... This comes directly from the World Jewish Congress Digest. It is something that has been bothering many of us: “The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, RICHARD FALK, is notorious for outrageous comments. In his latest verbal spew, he said that the Boston Marathon bombings were directly attributable to America’s policy on Israel. “World Jewish Congress President Ambassador RONALD S. LAUDER called Falk’s comments linking...
Yet another well-deserved honor... This comes directly from the World Jewish Congress Digest: “Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish ambassador to Berlin who saved many thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, has received yet another posthumous recognition... Australia’s conferral of its first-ever honorary citizenship.” In announcing the honor, Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD said, “The lives of those he rescued are Mr. Wallenberg’s greatest memorial, and Australia is honored to have survivors he rescue...
Right around the corner... When you read this column, hopefully I will have returned safely from Las Vegas... but actually, I don’t fly out there for another day. I hope my airport experience is more pleasant than on my last flight, which was round trip to Chicago from Orlando. It was an especially long wait for me on the TSA lines because the guy in front of me had to remove his ear pierce, his nose pierce, his tongue pierce, his belly-button pierce... (And I’m grateful not to have to remove my...
Egypt still in the headlines… As we go to press, Egypt is still making news so I thought I would write about the new head of Egyptian Jews. I wrote about the passing of Carmen Weinstein, head of the Egyptian Jewish people in last week’s column. This information comes directly from the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Digest about her replacement: “With the passing of Carmen Weinstein, MAGDA HAROUN, 60, has been unanimously elected to preside over Egypt’s thinning Jewish communities. The daughte...
It’s almost time… I recently found an old…very old column of mine dated Feb. 8, 2002. (You read right, 2002!) In it, I made some comments about my marriage to Irv, and since our 53rd wedding anniversary is almost upon us (Aug. 3, 1960), I decided to repeat the comments: “I’ve mentioned often that I am married a long time to the same man. We exchanged vows with the words ‘Till death do us part.’ “Back in ancient times that wasn’t such a binding commitment. People knew they weren’t going to...
In Memoriam… This tribute comes directly from the World Jewish Congress Digest: “The World lost a lovely lady… and a wonderful leader of the Jewish Community Council of Cairo, Egypt.” (With Egypt in the news every night, I thought it would be appropriate to write about her.) “Carmen Weinstein, 82, president of the Jewish Community Council of Cairo, passed away this past April. “In the face of a dwindling population of Jews…from over 80,000 60 years ago to a few dozen senior citizens toda...
Happy endings… The following are two true stories sent to me by The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. They are very touching to all people…especially to Jewish people. The first story comes from Minsk, Belarus. It happened back in March of 1943: Leah Ruderman escaped from the Minsk ghetto, approached by two women she did not know, Nadezhda and her mother, Anna. Leah begged them to hide her son, Leonid from the Nazis. They agreed to take the child. Leah returned to the ghetto, which was liq...
Why a resurgence?... Almost 70 years after Hitler’s hateful atrocities before and during WWII, why is anti-Semitism still going on? The national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN gives us some answers. In his words: “Beginning with 9/11 a new era of ‘anxiety’ hit the world and since then, a wave of anti-Jewish scapegoating has emerged. The combination of international terror, financial collapse, Islamic extremism and turmoil in the Middle East has created the per...
Oy Gevalt… Please excuse the language but these two words express exactly how I felt after reading the following report from the World Jewish Congress Digest: “A new study by Israeli researchers reports that anti-Semitic violence worldwide soared 30 percent in 2012. Sponsored in part by the World Jewish Congress affiliate European Jewish Congress (EJC), the study conducted by Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, recorded 686 attacks (including vanda...
“Chicago, Chicago, a todd’lin town”… This native New Yorker recently returned from Chicago where the temperature was in the 60s and the natives were wearing shorts and t-shirts, flip flops, and some even wore swimsuits! (I had to borrow a jacket to wear over my sweatshirt!) Of course, when my plane landed back in Orlando, I faced the mid 90s and a lot of humidity. (I’m living here almost 49 years but will never get used to the extreme heat… yuck!) The trip to Chicago was purely for pleasure… n...
Happy Birthday to me… Today, Friday, June 14 is my birthday. It is also Flag Day, the official day when Betsy Ross created the American Flag. When I was just a young kid, I asked my mom why people waved American Flags on my birthday. She said it was to celebrate me! (Of course, I thought!) Would you believe that today I turn 35 years old? (How about 45?...55?...65?... seventy something? HELL NO! My cousin, BENNETT PRIETO, was also born on this very same day. We were always known as “the twi...
