Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 36 of 36
(JTA)-When Carolyn Starman Hessel joined the New York-based Jewish Book Council in 1994-at the request of friend Marsha Posner-she knew nothing about the publishing world. Since then, she's been called the "Jewish Oprah" for her ability to help authors find audiences, and has enjoyed enormous clout and influence among publishers. The soon-to-be retired director, who says she simply learned "on the job," helped launch the career of novelist and short-story writer Nathan Englander, when in 1999...
Jewish Pavilion volunteer Kimberly Newton brought three of her children to visit Philip in an assisted living home in the Orlando area. With no family in this country, having Caleb, Lillie, and Zachariah visit was a gift in itself for Philip. They became instant family as they presented him with Chanukah gifts, including a menorah that could safely be "lit" over the course of the holiday. The Jewish Pavilion is very appreciative of the support and funds received from the Hornik Family...
(JTA)—What made headlines (in Israel, the U.S. and around the world) in 2014? Test your knowledge with JTA’s annual news quiz: 1. Palestinian officials apologized to Czech authorities after the Palestinian envoy to Prague, Jamal Al-Jamal, was killed in an explosion in his home because: a) a cache of illegal weapons was discovered there. b) the explosion damaged a historic Czech cemetery. c) the ambassador’s residence was being used by Palestinian militants as a safe house. d) Yasser Arafat’s widow, Suha, blamed the explosion on the Czech g...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Robert Wolfe, the irreplaceable former chief archivist for captured Nazi documents at the National Archives here, died Dec. 10 at the age of 93. With his death, a legacy also dies. Wolfe singlehandedly galvanized a generation of Holocaust and Nazi-era historians and authors-including me. He was assigned to the Nuremberg War Crimes prosecutor's office, where he became familiar not only with the infamous testimony now published in many volumes of the Nuremberg Trials, but also...
NEW YORK (JTA)-Ari Engel is homeless. It's been a decade since he last held a regular job and two years since he gave up his apartment. But don't shed any tears for him. Over the last 10 years or so, Engel has grossed about $5 million playing poker. The son of an Orthodox rabbi, Engel, 31, has become one of the world's best professional poker players-ranked No. 23 worldwide by the poker magazine Bluff-and probably the only top-tier player who wears a kipah. When Engel decided to give up his Toro...
(JTA)—Ari Engel, the son of an Orthodox rabbi, has become one of the world’s best professional poker players over the last few years. Engel says poker is a game of skill, not chance. Here are his top five tips for becoming a better poker player: 1. Patience is a virtue. I know you didn’t travel to the casino or home game to fold, but sometimes that’s what you need to do. Playing bad hands because you are bored is a recipe for a losing session. By being selective with the hands you play, you will have a better hand than your opponents over the l...
(JNS.org) The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has barred a group of 37 orphans in Gaza from visiting Israel as part of a peace-building trip meant to heal wounds between the parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to trip organizers, the group, which included children ages 13-16, was turned back by Hamas authorities at the last minute at the Erez border crossing into Israel. The group had received approval from Israeli authorities for the weeklong trip. “This was a suspicious visit that aimed to normalize our children with t...
Abbas: Palestinians will resubmit statehood resolution JERUSALEM (JTA)—Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinians will resubmit a statehood resolution to the United Nations Security Council. “We will go back to the Security Council until it recognizes our rights,” Abbas said Sunday in Ramallah, in the West Bank, Reuters reported. “We are determined to join international conventions and treaties despite the pressure. “We didn’t fail, the U.N. Security Council failed us. We’ll go again to the Security Council, why not? Pe...
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (JTA)-Jewish campus groups were ready for the painful national dialogue that took place in the wake of murky rape allegations at the University of Virginia. That's because organizations like Hillel and historically Jewish Greek houses such as Alpha Epsilon Pi, Zeta Beta Tau and Sigma Delta Tau had been having the conversations for months before the explosive Rolling Stone story made national headlines-first for the brutality of the alleged gang rape detailed in the magazine...
Since its founding in 1948, Muslim-majority allies have been hard to come by for the Jewish state. Yet an improbable romance continues to develop between Israel and Azerbaijan. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon took a surprise trip to Azerbaijan in September, marking the first-ever visit by the holder of his position to a Muslim-majority nation in the Southern Caucasus region. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and former president Shimon Peres have also visited Azerbaijan, and Azer...
Most recently, I had the privilege of celebrating a Pavilion Chanukah party with the seniors at the Mayflower Retirement Home in Winter Park, where a cadre of volunteers helped Program Director Judy Procell add warmth to the first night's festivities. Sponsors Sally Kopke, Nancy Bland, and the Gaeser family gifted the residents' plates of latkes along with a dose of Chanukah cheer. Volunteers Ellen Hrabovsky and Lisa Rizgony along with her grandchildren visited with the seniors. Volunteer,...
