Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 75
(JTA) — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is reportedly selling a majority stake in his NBA franchise to casino magnate and Jewish philanthropist Miriam Adelson. Cuban, the Jewish billionaire known for entrepreneurial endeavors including his starring role on ABC’s reality show “Shark Tank,” is selling a stake valued at $3.5 billion to Adelson, the widow of longtime Jewish megadonor Sheldon Adelson. The deal was first reported by NBA reporter Marc Stein. The deal represents something of a partnership for Cuban and Adelson, whose daughter is on t...
(JTA) — Four hours after Tuesday’s historic pro-Israel march in Washington, D.C., ended, Jennie Levy had expected to be touching down back in Detroit, after a long but fulfilling day standing shoulder to shoulder with Jews from around the country in support of Israel. Instead, her delegation of 900, organized by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, was hungry, disappointed and nowhere close to home. Many members had missed most if not all of the rally because of what the federation said was a “malicious walk-off of drivers” hired t...
(JTA) — Brandeis University is revoking recognition of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, saying the group “openly supports Hamas.” Brandeis informed the student group on Monday about its decision, which means that the group will no longer receive university funding or be able to hold activities on campus. The group canceled a “Vigil for Palestine” that had been scheduled for Monday night as a result. “This decision was not made lightly, as Brandeis is dedicated to upholding free speech principles,” the university wr...
(JTA) - On a night when Dean Kremer became the first Israeli-American to start an MLB playoff game - while his parents' country was at war, no less - fellow Jewish player Alex Bregman drew a Star of David on his Houston Astros hat for his own Tuesday night playoff game. Kremer, who holds dual citizenship, did not fare so well in his historic start: the 27-year-old surrendered six earned runs in just 1.2 innings, and his Baltimore Orioles lost 7-1 to the Texas Rangers in a game that ended their...
(JTA) — When Ryan Lavarnway joined Team Israel for the World Baseball Classic in 2017, the journeyman catcher chose jersey no. 36 not because of the number stitched onto the back, but because the shirt fit him best. But in the years since that tournament, any time Lavarnway has represented Israel, he’s stuck with 36, which holds meaning as a multiple of 18, a number that signifies life in Jewish tradition. That choice is emblematic of Lavarnway’s experience with Team Israel, one that he says...
By (JTA) - Israel won its first-ever gold medals at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Valencia, Spain, over the weekend, improving on last year's silver medal and solidifying its place as a global powerhouse in the sport. On Friday, Israel's team topped China and Spain to take gold in the all-around group category. On Sunday, Israel won gold in the combined exercise, beating out China and Ukraine. The team also finished fifth in the hoop final. Linoy Ashram, who became the first...
(JTA) - A film being billed as the first co-production by Israeli and Iranian filmmakers debuted at the Venice International Film Festival after a secretive production process that included a trip to Israel by the Iranian co-director. "Tatami," which received a standing ovation at the prestigious film competition, tells the story of a female Iranian judoka champion who is ordered to fake an injury to avoid facing an Israeli opponent at a judo championship. The story is loosely based on the 2019...
(JTA) — Before the Holocaust, the population of the town of Chmielnik, Poland, was around 80 percent Jewish. Sephardic Jews, having been expelled from Spain during the Inquisition, settled in Chmielnik and eventually built a synagogue in 1638. After the war, only four Jews remained. Today, the building houses a museum of the town’s Jewish life and history. Now another Jewish heritage site has been discovered, in an unlikely place. A few years ago, Marian Zwolski, a businessman from Chmielnik, purchased a former nightclub that has been clo...
(JTA) — As the calendar turns to September, many Jews eagerly await an annual fall tradition that signals a new beginning: Week 1 of the NFL season. This year, the season began on Sept. 7, just about 10 days before Rosh Hashanah. Read on for our guide to all the Jewish players (listed alphabetically) and storylines to watch — plus a few free agents who could get another chance. Jake Curhan, Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle Curhan, 25, appeared in four games for the Seahawks in 2022, a step back from his 15 games and five starts during his roo...
(JTA) - It's safe to say that few people watch more baseball than Rob Friedman. During the MLB season - which features 30 teams playing 162 games each from April through October - Friedman spends countless hours every day watching as much of the sport as he can from the comfort of a four-screen media center he set up in his home outside Atlanta. His particular area of expertise is pitching - a complex, crucial and, he believes, underappreciated aspect of the game. His dissection of individual...
(JTA) - Soon after Netflix dropped the first official trailer for its upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic "Maestro" on Tuesday, one aspect of the film footage sparked a flurry of conversation online - and it wasn't the preeminent Jewish conductor's music, or star Bradley Cooper's acting. Instead, the prosthetic nose supposedly used by the Oscar-nominated Cooper, who is not Jewish - and co-wrote, directed and stars as Bernstein in the film - infuriated many Jews who argued that the appendage plays...
(JTA) - Super Bowl champion Leonard Fournette paid a surprise visit to a Jewish overnight camp for children with cancer, blood disorders and other chronic illnesses. Fournette, who won a Super Bowl in 2021 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ran football drills, signed autographs and danced with campers during his visit on Sunday to Camp Simcha in Glen Sprey, New York. He arrived in a helicopter and revealed himself from under a fake tiger head to a room of cheering campers. Camp Simcha and a sister...
(JTA) — Amar’e Stoudemire hasn’t donned a Phoenix Suns jersey since 2010, but soon, no Suns player will wear his No. 32 ever again. The Suns announced Wednesday that Stoudemire, along with his teammate Shawn Marion, would be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor during the 2023-2024 NBA season. According to the team’s press release, this represents “the franchise’s highest honor bestowed to individuals who have made an enduring impact on the organization, community and Suns fans.” Stoudemire, who formally converted to Judaism in 2020, played...
(JTA) - Israeli-Canadian billionaire and philanthropist Sylvan Adams, a key figure in the development of Israeli competitive cycling, won a world championship of his own in the sport's 65-69 age group. At the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland, Adams, who owns the Israel-Premier Tech Cycling Team, finished first in the Masters 65-69 age group on Friday. Then on Monday, Adams, who turns 65 in November, also finished first in his age bracket in the championship's individual time tria...
(JTA) — The German football team Borussia Dortmund joined students at the San Diego Jewish Academy on Friday to participate in a project to commemorate children who were killed in the Holocaust. The club, which plays in the Bundesliga, Germany’s top tier of professional soccer, is in the United States for a series of exhibition matches against other teams from the United States and England. According to a press release from the World Jewish Congress, Dortmund had been training at the San Diego Jewish Academy over the past week. On Friday, the...
(JTA) - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft participated in a panel conversation on fighting antisemitism and racism during the annual NAACP convention in Boston. Titled "Hate Has No Home: Racism, Anti-Semitism and Building Bridges to Fight All Hate," the conversation was moderated by Fox Sports host Joy Taylor and featured NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Kraft and the rapper and activist Meek Mill. Mill and Kraft have been friends since Kraft...
(JTA) - As head of programming for Maccabi USA, Shane Carr is used to having people ask him to add sports to the organization's many Jewish sports tournaments around the world. But since 2019, one sport has been suggested above all others: pickleball. Widely considered the fastest-growing sport in America, pickleball is a sort of condensed court tennis and pingpong hybrid that has attracted millions of new fanatics since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, from middle schoolers to the likes...
(JTA) - Josh Harris already owned parts of professional sports teams in the NBA, NHL, NFL and the English Premier League. But when the opportunity arose to purchase his hometown Washington Commanders, the Chevy Chase, Maryland, native said it was "bashert," using the Yiddish word for fate. Harris, a co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which manages over $500 billion in assets globally, bought the Commanders earlier this year from embattled Jewish owner Daniel Snyder...
(JTA) — Though there were no Jewish players at this week’s MLB All-Star Game, the future is bright. The best bellwether of what’s to come is the MLB Draft, which included 20 rounds split between the past three nights. A total of 614 players were drafted this year, and according to Jewish Baseball News, five of them are Jewish. Here’s the 2023 Jewish MLB draft class: Jake Gelof, 60th overall Taken in the second round by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jake Gelof is a power-hitting third baseman who jus...
(JTA) - When Michael Neuman found out his run on this season of the NBC obstacle course competition show "American Ninja Warrior" would not air, the competitor inside of him was crushed. Part of the filming schedule had conflicted with his Shabbat observance. But Neuman was even more disappointed that he would not get to keep any footage from the show. Neuman, a 30-year-old psychotherapist from Miami Beach, had arranged to bring three young people from his Jewish Inspiration Foundation - which...
LOS ANGELES (JTA) - The White House recently released a detailed strategy for combating antisemitism, complete with more than 100 action items. One thing not on the list? Comedy. That's where Jewish celebrities such as Howie Mandel, Rachel Bloom and Michael Rapaport came in on Wednesday night at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, at a so-called "Roast of Anti-Semitism." As event organizer Dani Zoldan put it, the comedy show was focused on "making fun of people that hate Jews." Emceed by...
(JTA) - The 2023 MLB season is almost upon us, and it has the potential to be a historic year for Jews in professional baseball. Last year, 17 Jewish players appeared in a game - a likely record. This season, the number could be even higher. The slate of Jewish players in the game this year features stars such as Max Fried and Alex Bregman, on-the-rise big league talent like Harrison Bader and Dean Kremer, and an impressive wave of minor league prospects on the cusp of the majors. With the World...
(JTA) - Many fans were despairing as Team Israel trailed Puerto Rico 6-0 in the World Baseball Classic last week, but the team's Twitter account had a different message. "We will never give up," the account tweeted. "After all, Moses was once a basket case." While the quip couldn't stave off the team's ultimate 10-0 loss, it came in the course of a win for Avi Miller, the 30-year-old marketing veteran who runs the @ILBaseball account. For Miller - who tweeted the tournament from 3,000 miles...
MIAMI (JTA) - They didn't call it the "Pool of Death" for nothing. After a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Nicaragua on Sunday, Israel finished the World Baseball Classic with only one additional run over the next three games. Israel lost 10-0 to both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, recording only one hit across the two games, both of which were cut short by the WBC mercy rule. On Wednesday, Israel's bats came alive in the final game, with nine hits, including three for Noah...
(JTA) - For tuned-in baseball fans, Jeff Passan is everywhere. As ESPN's senior MLB insider, he frequently breaks some of the sport's biggest news and appears on several of the global sports network's television, radio and podcast programs. After two decades of reporting, can anything make him nervous? There is one athlete who does: Jewish legend Sandy Koufax. "Generally speaking, when I'm talking to people, I'll call them by their first name. He was Mr. Koufax," Passan told the Jewish...
