Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 100
I wrote this originally in June of this year...it seems more appropriate now than ever When the Second Jewish Commonwealth was declared in 1948, there were Jews in America who were not sure whether to cheer or pretend not to care. 1948. What I call the “Sha Still Generation.” It was a time of meekness in the American Jewish psyche. A time when Jewish parents would take their young daughters to get their noses bobbed so they “wouldn’t look so Jewish.” When families changed their names from Cohen to Kane so they could more easily “fit in....
I am writing this because I have to. I am writing this for myself. If it gets read or answered, that’s fine. If it does not, I care not. I am writing this, but I have no words. I am writing this because I have not lived a day like this in my 93+ years. I was 11 years old when Pearl Harbor was struck by the Japanese. I was sad, felt somewhat scared — but not angry, sorrowful and helpless as I feel now. I am writing this because while September 11 was a “one off” what happened in Israel this week has been going on for thousands of years. No Jew...
It might be my age. It might be what our world has become. It might be weariness of the whole thing. This year’s High Holy Days had a whole different effect on me. I have written before that I was raised in a home that could be called “Not Jewish.” I didn’t celebrated my bar mitzvah until I was 40. My family never went to synagogue until I had children of my own. It was, as I have written, my father. His father, my grandfather, was again, as I have written before, a dyed-in-the-wool Socialist. His father, that would be my great-g...
When Israel declared the forming of the Second Jewish Commonwealth on the very land where the First Jewish Commonwealth was declared centuries ago, there were those who were thrilled, those who were nervous and those who violently protested the change in that part of the world. It took a war, according to biblical accounts, because there were people living there. This has been proven through archeological digs and other evidence – so whether it was God or Providence or a people tired of wandering – the First Jewish Commonwealth was formed, fou...
I have written before about how tough it has been for me to get used to the pace of things here in New Orleans. While publicity and television and the music might lead you to believe that New Orleans is one big party, it just is not so. When all is said and done, this remains at heart, a sleepy small Southern town. Dependent on tourism as its life blood, the city also has had to contend with its threat of hurricanes and a number of problems brought upon themselves. Let’s start with this: The city itself is disappearing. For years, this l...
The “Tonys,” the awards for the Best of Broadway, were really interesting this year. Their diversity, their power and their depth showed a rather new attitude on Broadway towards the acceptance of reality. Most interesting to me was the winner of best Musical. The Tony was awarded to the revival of a show from 1998. It tells, with strong musical accompaniment, the story of Leo Frank, a young Jewish factory manager in Atlanta who was accused of raping and killing a 13-year-old factory worker, Mary Phagan, at the pencil factory he managed. Let...
There seems to be a zealous increase in the United States of the banning of certain books from both school and general libraries. From what I’ve read and researched it seems that the overwhelming reason for this is that certain conservative Christian groups have decided that the material in these books are “not acceptable” for certain groups, basically young readers. This may be so but I do not believe many books of any kind are taken out of libraries by 10 year olds. Their parents – yes. And I am sure that some of these books are indeed...
I have mentioned before that I volunteer twice a week at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience here in New Orleans. I love the experience of guiding people through over 430 years of the American Southern Jewish Experience. Did you know that the first Jews in America came from Spain in the 1500s? Did you know that they settled in the Caribbean Islands before coming to the U.S.? And that they came through Galveston, Texas as their port of entry some 300 years before the great Northern European Migration to New York? As I guide these...
I have mentioned before that I volunteer twice a week at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience here in New Orleans. I love the experience of guiding people through over 430 years of the American Southern Jewish Experience. Did you know that the first Jews in America came from Spain in the 1500s? Did you know that they settled in the Caribbean Islands before coming to the U.S.? And that they came through Galveston, Texas as their port of entry some 300 years before the great Northern European Migration to New York? As I guide these...
Marjorie Taylor Greene has just been elected by the Republican Party to a position right behind Party Whip Kevin McCarthy. This puts an avowed “Christian Nationalist” and outspoken antisemite in a power position within the Republican Party. She is a wealthy Georgia citizen who is now being divorced by her husband of 27 years. She has, among other outrageous acts, made loud noises and “fooled around” like a belligerent child during the President’s State of the Union address in January of last year. She has claimed in public that the forest fi...
I have written before about my dad. A two-fisted fighter who fought and fought hard for what he believed in. One thing he fell short on in his younger years was his Judaism. As I have said, his paternal grandfather was a nasty, bitter old man. He hated the Russians for throwing him out of Russia to live in a bitterly empty wasteland that today is Ukraine. He came to America to find that the streets were not lined with gold and life in America was not a paradise after all. His religion was his only escape — and he dove in head first. His son, m...
I have been a Ken Burns fan for years. His technique and artistry have taken everything from Country music to the Civil War, from disjointed history to present day entertainment and handled it superbly. His loving treatment of Country music was praiseworthy. From the Civil War to Jazz, he has documented American history in an entertaining, frank and historically accurate manner. In undertaking “The Holocaust” he has tackled a major challenge. This sensitive subject, written about, discussed, argued over and never forgotten is at the same time e...
I have written before about my dad. A two-fisted fighter who fought and fought hard for what he believed in. One thing he fell short on in his younger years was his Judaism. As I have said, his paternal grandfather was a nasty, bitter old man. He hated the Russians for throwing him out of Russia to live in a bitterly empty wasteland that today is Ukraine. He came to America to find that the streets were not lined with gold and life in America was not a paradise after all. His religion was his only escape — and he dove in head first. His son, m...
Ya know, just when we think we have successfully dealt with antisemitism and the threat of the “Proud Boys” etc. here comes a new/old threat to the Jewish People: Christian Nationalism. This theory, pushed by the far right organizations active in our political landscape today, states that America was founded as a Christian Nation and all other religions have no place in American life and/or American philosophy. It states in the Declaration of Independence that the United States is “One Nation Under God.” So, what does that mean? As Jews we...
It’s summer. Time for vacation. Maybe the beach. Maybe that foreign trip postponed the past couple of years? One thing for sure, books will be part of the agenda. Summer = books. It is a time when we naturally just chill. Why do book sales escalate in the summertime? Why are new releases always scheduled for this time of year? It is traditional that be it the beach, the mountains or a local hangout, books get packed to tag along. For some reason we allow ourselves the liberty wherever we vacation to read. That’s why book publishing booms in...
As many of you know, almost two years ago Rachel and I moved to New Orleans. As you also probably know, we lost her a little over a year ago to dementia. And, the “Let the Good Times Roll” city shut down shortly after we arrived due to Covid. Well, times change. For the first time in two years the town opened up for Mardi Gras and the Good Times are rolling once again. The question for me again was, okay — what now? I had that same question when we came to Orlando from Cleveland. My first project was to build and create a radio station, which...
Poor Whoopi Goldberg performed “Foot-in-Mouth” once again. The argument (only maybe three centuries old) is about antisemitism. When is it real? When is it imagined? Now, poor Whoopi added some fuel to the fire. And as such things do, here we are weeks later and people are still all over her and the subject. She said: “Antisemitism is not about Race, it’s about man’s inhumanity to man.” Okay – so? What is Race? Well, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Race is pretty much a matter of personal choice – BUT divided along Color lines. When it...
I am writing this on Jan. 6, 2022. It could not wait until my usual deadline date. I was two years old in 1932. The only thing I knew about the burning down of the German Reichstag (their Parliament Building) was what I read and was taught in school. A group of disgruntled voters who had not won the election stormed Germany’s Capitol and burned down the Reichstag because their chosen leader, one Adolph Hitler had won only thirty two percent of the popular vote. They were told by the Nazi party and believed the vote had been rigged and that H...
Antisemitism is alive and well in the United States. Everything from shootings in a Kosher food market in New York to marches with Neo-Nazis chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us” to cold-blooded killings in a synagogue. Now it has entered the halls of Congress. Meet “The Squad” (although I’m sure you have heard of them): From New York, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez; from Minnesota, Ilhan Omar; from Michigan, Rashida Tlaib. And on the Right we have the Supreme Whacko: from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene. Interesting that they are all women. And excep...
Up until about six months ago “CRT” was an abstract for me. I had been hearing about “CRT” for more than a year. I did not know what the letters “CRT” stood for. Now I know. They stand for “Critical Race Theory.” It professes to teach the role of race in our lives since the Civil War to high school students. I really finally found out this fall, during the run for governor of Virginia what effect CRT is having politically. It CANNOT have an effect on education because it is NOT being taught in ANY school district in the U.S. politically? In...
Domestic antisemitism has a new tactic. The present wave of antisemitic drivel comes not from the Right (“Jews will not replace us”) but from the Left. Now, in clearing up who and what is the Right and the Left, we have to shift our ideas from just a few short years ago. We knew that the Far Right was antisemitic, yet seemed to favor Israel. Confusing? Of course. The Left for the most part in its early configuration was Liberal, in favor of most minorities, fought for voting rights, etc. Today however, in the Democratic party, there is a “Far L...
So, here I am in New Orleans, Louisiana — NOLA. The Big Easy. This is where the people eat more fish than meat. This is where if it isn’t spicy it doesn’t pass muster. So, what’s a guy in search of a good bowl of chicken soup or, oy vey: Kosher cooking, to do? Well, Thank God and providence and a good Yiddisha Kup, I found it. It’s a restaurant/grocery store/chochkie shop called: The Kosher Cajun. The Kosher Cajun is the creaion of an Orthodox Southern Jew named Joel Brown and his family. New Orleans, Louisiana is not what you would call a Je...
There was a time that negative stereotypes flourished on major networks. “Amos and Andy” was a parody on Black Americans. Their parts were played on radio with white actors putting on exaggerated Black accents. A group of African Americans were portrayed as foolish, stereotypical black people who had trouble like many people but with a nasty racist twist. On radio, Jews were not portrayed with raw racist antisemitism. Maybe it was the preponderance of Jews in high positions in the radio and TV industry. “The Goldbergs,” a staple of daytime...
Since I moved to the “Deep South” my cultural education gets a rough shock almost daily. From governors trying to undo a legal election to who is eligible to vote and where and when you can vote to the newest twist on an old subject to be taught in the coming school year called “Critical Race Theory.” Now, I haven’t seen the textbook or any discussion guides. All I have learned so far is that it deals with attitudes on race and will modify the treatment of African Americans in our history so that periods like Reconstruction will not be taught...
By Jim Shipley Did it start with George Floyd? Back to Michael Brown? Has it been hidden in the police files of dozens of municipalities for years? Statistics are proving as they have for decades that, yes, we are still a racist society at heart. Decades of ignoring it, shoveling it under tons of paper work, claiming that we are better, all turns out is nonsense. Black men, women and even children are being gunned down by uniformed policemen throughout the country. The police forces, specifically in major cities are under tremendous pressure....
