Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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I love Christmas. I love looking at all the lights on people's homes and all the twinkling trees inside. I love holiday cookies. And I love how some people fill every inch of their house in Christmas decorations. That being said, I am very happy to celebrate the season vicariously. With a name like Marilyn Cohen Shapiro, you probably have realized that I have never actually celebrated Christmas. Growing up as the only Jewish family in a tiny upstate New York town, we never had a Christmas tree...
For newlyweds Erwin and Selma Diwald, getting out of Austria wasn't a choice. It was a necessity. Their daughter, Frances "Francie" Mendelsohn, shared their fascinating story. Despite the undertones of antisemitism and the looming threats coming from Hitler's rise in Germany, the two young Jews had lived comfortable, family- centered lives in the beautiful city of Vienna prior to their meeting at a cousin's wedding in 1936. Bettina and Sigmund Diwald had welcomed their first child, Erwin, in 190...
*A glimpse of Jewish Italy Thanks to a wonderful tour director, a great itinerary, and perfect weather, our recent trip to Italy was all that we had hoped for and more. We stayed in medieval buildings that had been converted to hotels, drove the stunning Amalfi coast, made our way through the Coliseum, tread over the ancient streets in Pompeii, enjoyed wine tasting in Umbria and Tuscany, climbed numerous stairs to churches and bell towers, and rode on a gondola in Venice. We enjoyed fabulous...
On Nov. 5, 2024, Americans will be voting in what many view as the most consequential elections in our history. As I make my selections, it will be imperative that my choices reflect the values that are important to me not only as a Jew but also as a human being, those concerning freedom, truth, justice, equality, intelligent leadership, and empathy. In a recent poll by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, 72 percent of Jewish voters backed Vice President Kamala Harris, and 25 percent supported former President Donald Trump. In 2021, the P...
It’s genetic. It’s a life-time achievement award. It’s inevitable. Choose all or some or one of the above. Along with cataracts, high cholesterol, worn-out knees, and numerous aches and pains that come with age, we can add hearing loss. According to a 2021 study by the National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorder, approximately 28.8 million American adults need hearing aids. Unfortunately, only one in six does something about it. My husband decided to be one of them. Larry’s problems began a few years back. His inabili...
The High Holy Days is a time for us to turn inward, to reflect on our lives, not only where we have been but also where we hope to go in the coming year. So much of the world needs our help. What can one person do? How can one person make a difference? In the Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Tarfon writes, “It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work but neither are you at liberty to desist from it.” That quote has been in my email signature for several years and serves as a reminder to me and those that read it that we can all can make a dif...
Along with school opening and all that is happening in the world, September is a memorable month for Larry and me. Fifty years ago on Sept. 8, 1974, Larry and I got married in Upstate New York. For those who have been reading my column for a while, you may remember many of the stories. We met at a Purim (not "porn" as some people misheard!) party held by the Jewish singles in Albany, New York. It was love at first sight, and we got engaged six months later. Our wedding was held on a relatively h...
O mermaid bold, long may you hold the wreath you've won by swimming, And spoil for gents their arguments Regarding Votes for Wimmen! - "To a Lady Swimmer," William F. Kirk 1914. I love to swim. So, it is no surprise that I spent much of the first week of the 2024 Paris Olympics watching the swim competition. I cheered on Team USA as they won 25 medals in the 39 events in the Paris La Défense Arena. As I yelled "Go! Go! Go!" at the screen during the 1500 freestyle, Katie Ledecky's last race, my...
Much has been written about Righteous Gentiles, the men and women who risked their lives to help save the Jews in Europe during the Holocaust. One of the most successful rescues happened in Denmark, where Danish authority and innumerable private citizens working with Jewish community leaders came together to rescue thousands of their fellow citizens from certain death. Although the Nazis had occupied Denmark in 1939, initially there had been an uneasy peace. The Germans regarded the blond,...
A long-time fan of “Jeopardy!,” I have become more interested in recent months watching the popular quiz show’s championship series that pits the best against the best. Watching it with Larry, we enjoy playing along, supplying our own questions to the clues given in numerous categories. As was true for the two of us in our Trivial Pursuit days, I do well in the arts and entertainment areas, especially literature. Larry does well in history, geography, and sports. We don’t do as well in the sciences. I know that I will never be a “Jeopar...
On Sunday night, Shalom Club held its annual Holocaust Remembrance Day event as planned. When I took over chairing this event around four years ago, we had 25 people in attendance. Tonight, there were between 130 and 150 people in a room meant to be at capacity at 108. Fortunately, it was a first-story room, and several stood outside the doors as we had too many for the fire code. Lou Ziemba's story was read by his wife Beth Landa. Two musicians provided musical interludes. Julia Wood sang...
Ludwig"Lou" Ziemba is a retired successful businessman, a descendent of "Jewish royalty'" and a Holocaust survivor. Lou's story begins in Poland. Rabbi Menachem Ziemba, was the chief rabbi of Warsaw, a renowned holy figure in the Ger sect of the Chassidic movement, and a key player in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising through his pleas that urged inhabitants to fight against their captors. One of Rabbi Ziemba's nephews was Henoch, son of his brother Moshe. Henoch was a bit of a non-conformist...
The story of Passover, more than any other Jewish holiday, is all about miracles. A burning bush. A staff that turns into a serpent. Ten plaques, each one worse than the previous one. The parting of the Red Sea. Manna coming down from heaven. Moses receiving the Torah. I have experienced what I consider miracles in my own life. Meeting Larry at a Purim party over 50 years ago. Holding our son and, three years later, our daughter, in our arms. Seeing flashes of ourselves and our children in our three beautiful grandchildren. Just this past...
In October, on a miserable, windy, rainy day, Larry and I found a puddle on our kitchen floor. Looking up, we could see water coming from one of our recessed lights. Damn! We called a roofing company the next day. After spending an hour directing a hose onto spots on the roof, the roofer found nothing. “Just call us if it happens again.” It did. On Dec. 23, on another miserable, windy, rainy day, we had to again pull out the buckets to catch the water dripping from the same spot. As promised, the roofer came back free of charge. This time, he...
On a beautiful, chilly January morning, my family and I made our way up the path in Muir Woods National Monuments. As part of a planned family reunion, our children had made early morning reservations. A weak sun shone through the trees, a small creek caught the light, the redwoods soared above us. I was in the woods again - an absolutely pristine national monument that had survived fires and earthquakes to awe us with its beauty. Muir Woods, managed by the National Park Service, is located on...
In mid-December, Central Florida was experiencing a cold snap, and I decided to make chili. I had the canned tomatoes and chopped green chilis and the soy meat crumbles for the recipe, and I had all the ingredients for cornbread, a must whenever I made it. Once I checked my pantry, however, I realized I was out for canned beans. No problem! I had been meaning to use up the dried red kidney beans tucked away for a while. What I quickly realized that the “while” was at least 9 years. Yes, as evi...
Israel Tsvaygenbaum views what is happening in Israel as a painful reminder of his own family history. His father was 29 when he fled Poland in 1939 to escape the Nazis. The remaining family members were murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau. "I have always reflected in my paintings the theme of the Holocaust and, in general, human tragedy, the loss of people close to us," said the Russian-American artist, whose work representing the magic realism art movement is known throughout the world....
On Thursday, Dec. 7, Jews around the world will begin celebrating Chanukah. Each night, we will light the candles placed in our Chanukiahs to remember yet another time in our history when Jews faced the possibility of annihilation. In 167 B.C.E. Judah Maccabeus and his brothers led a revolt against Antiochus, the Seleucid king who had tried to eradicate their religion. This Jewish festival commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem and the subsequent rededication of the Second Temple Now, 2190 years later, Jews are facing another enemy whose goal...
In today's crazy world, it is hard to find things for which to be thankful. So I have been trying to find gratitude in the small things: a FaceTime with my children and grandchildren; a good cup of coffee with a piece of warm challah; a special moment with Larry. Recently, I reached back 54 years to remember an evening that still holds a special place in my heart. In 1969, my brother Jay, who was going for his master's at Cornell University, invited me out for the weekend. Jay arranged for me...
On a train to Auschwitz, 15-year-old Eva made a promise to her brother, Heinz Geiringer. If he did not survive the camps, Eva promised to retrieve the paintings and poetry Heinz hid under the floorboards of his attic hiding place. Heinz Geiringer's story sits in the shadow of the better-known "Diary of a Young Girl." After the war, Eva became the posthumous stepsister of Anne Frank when her mother married Anne's father. While the world knows Anne's story, this film introduces Heinz, his...
Every year since 2015, my husband, Larry, and I have spent six weeks in Frisco, Colorado, a beautiful mountain town nestled in the Rockies. Our rented condo is a two-minute walk to my daughter, Julie, and her family. We breathe in the fresh mountain air and savor the beauty that surrounds us. We hike on miles of trail that take us under shimmering aspens, by flowing streams, and onto the shores of blue mountain lakes that reflected the snow-topped mountains. Frisco has always been a place of...
As Jews around the world herald in the Hebrew Year 5784, I am celebrating Rosh Hashanah with the release of my fourth book, "Keep Calm and Bake Challah: How I Survived the Pandemic, Politics, Pratfalls, and Other of Life's Problems." Before you start getting out your baking pans, please be warned: No, this is NOT a cookbook! In March 2020, as the reality of COVID-19 hit home, I started baking challah, the delicious, braided egg bread that is typically eaten on the Sabbath and other important...
Standing in front of the Bielefeld, Germany, railroad station in June 2018, Harry Lowenstein traced his fingers over the all-too-familiar names etched into the Holocaust memorial: His father, David. His mother, Bernhardine. His sister, Klaere. Aunts and uncles and cousins. Friends and neighbors. During the Nazis' reign of terror, his family and hundreds of Jews from surrounding areas had stood on the station's platform before being herded onto railroad cars for the thousand-mile journey to ghett...
As I write this, I am at 9100 feet in Summit County, Colorado, spending time with my daughter Julie and my granddaughter, The Mountain Girl, while my son-in-law Sam is away on a once-in-a-lifetime rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. On one particularly beautiful morning, I dropped my second-grade Mountain Girl off at school and, with the help of trekking poles, started a hike on the bike path that runs through the county. After an invigorating hour work-out, I considered expanding my hike to...
Recently, the University of Southern California renamed the school track and field Allyson Felix Field in honor of the USC alumna and its illustrious 11-time Olympic medalist. Most media sources did not include in its coverage the previous name of the venue: Cromwell Field. What is the story behind the change? Dean Cromwell, known as the "Maker of Champions" headed the USC track and field team from 1909 through 1948. During his tenure, he guided the team to 12 NCAA team national championships and 34 individual NCAA titles. A darker story...
