Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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NEW YORK (JTA)-Jon Stewart's directorial film debut, "Rosewater," is set to premiere at film festivals in the United States and Canada this September. So the Hollywood Reporter took the opportunity to grab some golden quotes (and glam shots) of the iconic "Daily Show" comedian about filming in the Middle East-and his own take on the region's politics. "Rosewater" tells a story that Stewart was drawn to because of his own real-life involvement: The film is adapted from the memoir of Maziar...
NEW YORK (JTA)-On Twitter, pro-Palestinian activists dubbed it "DivestApalooza." Student governments at three Southern California public universities all voted on divestment resolutions targeting Israel in a single day. The April 23 votes were part of a surge in student governments at American universities voting on divestment resolutions. In the past two years, at least 16 student governments have weighed divestment measures, including nine this spring, though a majority have rejected them....
NEW YORK (JTA)-In their small farmhouse bakery in Vermont, Doug Freilich and Julie Sperling work round the clock producing matzah in the period preceding Passover-a matzah that feels ancient and modern at once. Using a mix of grain they grow on their own farm and wheat sourced from other local farmers, the couple create hundreds of pieces of the wholesome unleavened bread they call Vermatzah. "The idea came because of our initial interest in growing grains, looking at them from the harvest to...
(JTA)-Russia's annexation of Crimea, the strategically critical peninsula that dangles from Ukraine into the Black Sea, has drawn international condemnation. But for the leader of the All-Ukrainian Organization of Crimean Karaites-a group with an unusual heritage that draws from Jewish traditions-joining Russia is a welcome development. "In Crimea, the majority of Karaites support annexation to Russia, and voted for it," Vladimir Ormeli, the group's head, told JTA. "Culture and people connect...
(JTA)- When even Russian policemen had to pass security checks to enter the Sochi Winter Olympics, Rabbi Berel Lazar was waved in without ever showing his ID. Lazar, a Chabad-affiliated chief rabbi of Russia, was invited to the opening ceremony of the games last month by President Vladimir Putin's office. But since the event was on Shabbat, Lazar initially declined the invitation, explaining he was prevented from carrying documents, among other religious restrictions. So Putin ordered his staff...
(JTA)-The turmoil in Ukraine has left one of Europe's largest Jewish communities on edge. After an outbreak of violence in Kiev last week that left dozens of protesters and policemen dead, President Viktor Yanukovych fled the capital and parliament installed an interim leader to take the still-contested reins of power. Like their compatriots, Ukraine's Jews are waiting to see what the future holds for their country, but with the added fear that they could become targets amid the chaos. There...
NEW YORK (JTA)-The murder of Menachem Stark has sparked intense media scrutiny of the Brooklyn real estate developer's troubled business record, prompting the New York Post to ask "Who didn't want him dead?" on its front page. But while mainstream media outlets scrutinized the Satmar hasid's relationships with tenants, contractors and lenders, haredi Orthodox publications offered a decidedly different take-looking not for clues to why someone would kill Stark, but celebrating his many virtues....
Stiller's Western Wall romancing NEW YORK (JTA)-Ben Stiller revealed to Parade magazine that he has some fond memories from visiting Israel as a teen. The actor and director, promoting his new movie, recalled that at 16 he took a father-son bonding trip to Israel with his father, comedian Jerry Stiller, and found himself in a romantic dalliance there. "I met a girl on that trip and we had a whirlwind romance," Stiller told Parade. "Is it blasphemous to say we ended up making out near the...
NEW YORK (JTA)-Jazz music drifts from speakers down to the cherry wood tables of the West Cafe in Brooklyn as the Israeli artist Nurit Bar-Shai prepares to show examples of her latest work. With deft, freckled hands, she opens a manila envelope and slides three petri dishes across the table. In the dishes are billions of Paenibaciullus vortex bacteria arranged in delicate whorls of blue. The series, which Bar-Shai calls "Objectivity [tentative]," displays "chemical tweets" of bacterial communica...
(JTA)-On the last evening in November, at least 31 protesters were taken into custody and dozens treated for injuries following a violent confrontation with Ukrainian police in Kiev's Independence Square. But that wasn't enough to intimidate the crowds who have occupied the main square of the capital since Nov. 21. Thousands showed up the following morning, including a young woman carrying a 10-liter pot of fresh borscht to help the crowd through another cold day on the square. It was "like a...
NEW YORK (JTA)-For most of the seven years Tova Kinderlehrer lived with her young family in Pittsburgh, she wished she were somewhere else. Her son wasn't doing well in school, her husband's construction career had stalled and Kinderlehrer, though part of a "massive" urban community, felt isolated. She dreamed of escape. In 2011, Kinderlehrer and her husband, Micah Simmons, bought a 38-acre property in Conneautville, Pa., they named Farm Schmarm. Along with their three children, they care for 16...
(JTA)—Many Jews feel a connection with their ancestors, but how many have regular conversations with them? Rebecca Rosen, a 36-year-old mother of two, is one who does. Rosen lists her profession as “psychic medium,” and her specialty is communing with the dead, acting as “the bridge between the spiritual and the physical world.” Rosen is a far cry from most psychics, with their storefront tables, tarot cards and crystal balls. She has appeared on “Dr. Phil” and “The Rachael Ray Show” and write...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Nine months ago, Natalia Demidova crouched on the second floor of her Staten Island home and watched her neighbor’s SUV race a 10-foot wave down the street. The wave crashed through Demidova’s quiet residential block in the South Beach neighborhood and flooded her home with more than two feet of water. Demidova is among the many residents of South Beach still struggling to restore the life she had before Hurricane Sandy hit the northeastern United States last October. For most...
NEW YORK (JTA— David Harris-Gershon, author of the forthcoming memoir “What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?,” is frank about the contradictions in his personality. An admitted “natural introvert,” Harris-Gershon describes himself as “surprisingly good” at public speaking. “I love being in front of an audience,” said Harris-Gershon, 39, who works as a Judaic studies teacher in Pittsburgh, “but it drains me.” Nonetheless, Harris-Gershon maintains a very publ...
