Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA)—The menorah bong is having a moment. By now, you may have seen the year-old YouTube video of a bearded guy in a blazer lighting all eight bowls of the Grav Menorah—a cross between a glass bong and a traditional hanukiah—and taking one massive toke. But the religiously inspired cannabis consumption device, which retails for, yes, $699 at 420Science.com, was not originally intended for sale. In fact, David Daily, the 35-year-old glass blower and businessman behind Grav Labs—the scientific glass company he founded a decade ago in Austin,... Full story
(JTA)-"You know, it's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob, what is the matter with them?" That was President Richard Nixon speaking to his top aide, H.R. "Bob" Haldeman, during a recorded White House meeting back in 1971. Fast forward some four decades, a new nonprofit group based in Portland, Ore., is hoping to prove Nixon right. Le'Or, founded about a year ago with seed funding from Dr.... Full story
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA)-When Lacey Schwartz celebrated her bat mitzvah more than two decades ago in her hometown of Woodstock, N.Y., a synagogue-goer turned to her and said, "It's so nice to have an Ethiopian Jew in our midst." Never mind that Schwartz, a striking 37-year-old with long black curls and a megawatt smile, is about as American as they come. Raised by two Ashkenazi Jewish parents in a largely white, upstate New York town, Schwartz's complexion-darker than that of her relatives-had long... Full story
BERKELEY, Calif. (JTA)-Plucking a violin on an empty stage, an animated scene of Manhattan skyscrapers scrolling behind her pregnant body, the musician, poet and Torah scholar Alicia Jo Rabins begins to sing what sounds like a mystical incantation of sorts. "Bring me your empty jar, I will fill it," she intones. "Where it comes from, I can't tell you, no one knows." Inspired by the biblical story of the prophet Elisha, Rabins, 37, is musing in the broadest possible terms about the crimes of... Full story
ASHLAND, Ore. (JTA)- It's a crisp fall day in southern Oregon and Josh Shupack, 32, is gently whispering in a chicken's ear. "We're going to return your soul to heaven, your blood to the earth," he says, petting the bird's bright red comb. "And nourish our bodies with your flesh." This is what Shupack tells every chicken before he cuts its esophagus and trachea with a razor-sharp blade and holds it by the feet as it bleeds out into the dirt below. Its body quivers and shakes for a minute, black... Full story
TOPANGA, Calif. (JTA)—Few world musicians get to play with rock bands, but 15 years ago, Hani Naser christened his new electric oud performing “Blister in the Sun” with The Violent Femmes. In May, when the 1980s folk-punk band reunited at the Bottlerock Music Festival in Napa Valley, Calif., Naser joined in again, strutting his stuff alongside Femmes front man Gordon Gano, this time playing the hand drums. A master percussionist and oud player, Naser has made music with the likes of Ry Coode... Full story
JOSHUA TREE, Calif. (JTA)—In 1968, only six years after founding the AEPi chapter at his Long Island University campus, Steven Silberfein took one of the thousand names of the Hindu god Vishnu and became Sridhar Silberfein. A year later, the one-time Jewish fraternity brother escorted the Hindu teacher Swami Satchidananda to the stage at Woodstock to deliver an invocation in front of 500,000 flower children. Surveying the crowd, Silberfein turned to the cotton-bearded swami and said, ... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—A semi-automatic weapon sits propped beside the front door of the ranch-style home that Eric Agaki shares with his wife, a couple of goats, some chickens and a horse. Only it’s not the real thing. “That’s an air gun for raccoons,” Agaki says. “For intruders I’ve got other things.” Agaki, 41, is particularly concerned with home security, and with good reason. A private investigator for the past 10 years, Agaki has put murderers in jail and staked out hundreds of spouses suspecte... Full story
