Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Breast cancer research is an organizational priority at Hadassah, all five Bloomingdale's stores in Florida displayed Hadassah's decorated bras from local artists and Hadassah members to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research, treatment and education during October Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Shown here are members from Hadassah Orlando chapter and decorated bras on display at Orlando Bloomingdales on Oct. 18, 2017 Contact Hadassah Florida to learn more about local activities...
It all goes back to April 2014 when Jason Mendelsohn, now 48, received the heart-stopping news that he had squamous cell carcinoma on his right tonsil. He was shocked. He didn't smoke, it was just a small bump on his neck. Later, his doctor confirmed that is was stage 4 HPV-related tonsil cancer. He probably contracted the HPV virus while he was in college, 25 years earlier. Before the shock had time to wear off, he had a radical tonsillectomy, neck dissection (42 lymph nodes removed from his...
One year ago, the first "Bless Israel Summit"-a gathering of Central Florida churches, synagogues, and ministries who support Israel-was held in Orlando. It was an avenue for Christians to show their love and support for Israel. Event organizer Pastor Blake Lorenz had the vision to bring Christians and Jews together to celebrate their love for Israel. Now, on Nov. 19 the second "Bless Israel" event, titled "A Night to Bless Israel," will be held at the Rosen Plaza, 9700 International Drive, Orla...
For the past 26 years, India and Israel have been developing a strong relationship. While once India was an adherent to the Arab League boycott of Israel, in 1992, India announced it would establish full diplomatic relations with Israel. A few months later, the two nations signed an agreement to increase cooperation between Indian and Israeli industries. Today, trade is booming. India is Israel's ninth leading trade partner. Exports have risen from $200 million in 1992 to $4.2 billion in 2016....
While Jews have been interwoven in a myriad of ways into the fabric of life in Central Florida-from law to medicine, art to amusement parks, social change to social glitz-no single field has felt the impact of Jewish involvement more than the humble and all-encompassing retail shop. In the first half of the 20th century, more Jewish families in Central Florida were in retail than any other field. And during the Kehillah: A History of Jewish Life in Central Florida exhibition, visitors will get...
By Christine DeSouza "No one has asked the Palestinian people what they want," stated Bassem Eid at a lecture sponsored by Chabad and AIPAC last Sunday evening. Who speaks on their "behalf"? Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, President Abbas, Fatah and the United Nations Refugee Works Agency-all of whom are just speaking for themselves and lining their pockets while keeping the Palestinian people pawns for "peace." What do the people want? The same as what most American's want: job security, a good education and healthcare for their children....
WINTER PARK-Rollins College, in partnership with Central Florida Hillel (CFH), announces the creation of a new Hillel, making Rollins the only small, liberal arts college in the state of Florida to have a full-time Hillel professional. To lead this new program, Emily M. Block, formerly the assistant director of Hillel at The University of Connecticut, has been hired as the inaugural associate director of Jewish Student Life. "I am so excited to be joining the Rollins College and the Central Flor...
(JTA)—Kenneth L. Marcus, an attorney who has championed the use of the 1964 federal civil rights act to investigate allegations of anti-Semitism on campus, has been appointed assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education. President Donald J. Trump announced the nomination Wednesday, Oct. 26. As president and general counsel of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Marcus has deployed Title VI of the civil rights act in urging the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to open investigations ove...
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York on Wednesday announced the discovery of a trove of lost Jewish materials in the Lithuanian city of Vilna, thought to have been destroyed during the Holocaust. Considered by some as the most important body of material in Jewish history and culture to be unearthed in more than half a century, possibly since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the documents include never-before-published literary manuscripts from some of the most famous Yiddish...
(JTA)—The booking agent for white nationalist Richard Spencer has filed a federal lawsuit against The Ohio State University for refusing a request to rent space on campus for a speech by the controversial far-right figure. The lawsuit was filed Sunday, two days comes after the university informed Cameron Padgett, a graduate student at Georgia State University who handles Spencer’s speaking arrangements, that the request to rent space was denied due to the “substantial risk to public safety.” “The University values freedom of speech,...
Have you ever asked yourself or wondered why after almost 70 years there are still “Palestinian” refugee camps? Have you ever wondered why there are still “Palestinian refugees”? I have asked myself the same questions. Apparently this one issue has been a constant stumbling block in finding a resolution to this horrific situation between the “Palestinians” and the Israeli government. So, I started to do a little research. It was easy using Google Chrome as my search engine, I was able to find a wealth of information. To begin with, you have to...
President Trump’s first overseas trip in May 2017 coincided with a very special day—the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, when for the first time since the destruction of the Second Temple by Roman armies 2000 years ago, Judaism’s holiest sites were finally under Jewish sovereignty. Jerusalem is a vibrant, modern, thriving city. A pilgrim site central to the history of Jews, Christians and Muslims, and open to people of all faiths. The home of the Israeli government, parliament and high court. A place interspersed with unive...
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any messier over at the Center for Jewish History, a New York Times columnist who was invited to speak at an event there has unleashed a barrage of verbal attacks on Israel. The columnist, Roger Cohen, was invited to deliver this year’s Leo Baeck Memorial Lecture. The Leo Baeck Institute is one of six Jewish organizations that operate from the Center for Jewish History building. I did not attend Mr. Cohen’s lecture Oct. 15. But in a pre-lecture interview with the Baeck Institute’s newsletter, LBI New...
NEW YORK (JTA)—If a woman called the JTA office and said she wanted to tell her story of sexual harassment by a prominent community figure, we’d have questions. Would she put her name to the accusations? Can she corroborate them? Can she provide specific dates and descriptions of when and where the alleged abuse took place? Are there other people who could confirm her story? We’d also tell her that we are going to seek comment from the other side and she should prepare herself for the response. On Monday, an author named Jennifer Listman publi...
(JTA)—Here we go again: The issue of how and why the United States should engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is back in the news. The announcement by the Trump administration that the U.S. will be pulling out of UNESCO over its biased treatment of Israel is only the latest manifestation of a fraught relationship between America and this U.N. body. Established soon after World War II as an effort to ensure the de-Nazification in Germany and the promotion of democratic values, UNESCO took a more c...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Jewish month that began two weeks ago, Cheshvan, has traditionally been dubbed “mar,” or bitter, because it alone among the months is devoid of any holidays. It is time for the Jewish people, and the Jewish calendar, to drop mar from Cheshvan, since it is blessed with one of the most remarkable and sweetest Jewish holidays: Sigd. At the end of Cheshvan for well over a thousand years, the Jewish community of Ethiopia would dress in white, climb Mount Ambover in Gondar and pray for their redemption and aliyah to Jerusalem. The...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) Chabad of South Orlando—Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. and 10 minutes before sunset; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael—Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona—Monday, 8 a.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m., 904-672-9300. Congregation Ohev Shalom—Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community Minyan at Jewish Academy of Orlando—Monday—Friday, 7:45 a.m.—8:30 a.m. Temple Isr...
JERUSALEM (JTA)-The Israel Defense Forces takes pride in its status as a "people's army." More than just a military, the IDF embraces its reputation as an equalizing force in Israeli society. Every soldier, rich and poor, is supposed to learn during mandatory army service what it takes to be a successful Israeli. "Israel is a country known as 'a nation of immigrants,'" the army wrote on its blog several years ago. "The leading assumption is that by integration into the IDF, assimilation into...
According to my 93-year-old father, Arthur, the Witkov family had a ritual of sorts each time a son would go off to war. There would be a sendoff party of brave-faced family members, a new gift wristwatch presented by his Uncle Harry, hugs and handshakes, and a Blue Star placed in their Chicago Ashland Avenue apartment window (to show that a family member was serving in the armed forces). My dad's oldest brother, Sid, was the first to leave home. Next in line was brother Dave. And then it was...
ORLANDO—ShuffieldLowman attorney Daniel B. Harris was recently appointed as a board member of Central Florida Hillel. Harris has been an active supporter of Central Florida Hillel, and he currently chairs the Governance Committee in addition to being a member of the Event Committee. In 2001 the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando established Central Florida Hillel to serve Jewish college students, and in 2013 they opened a state-of-the-art building just off of campus at the University of Central Florida. NorthView, the 600,000 square foot f...
Israeli researchers have discovered that a specific protein is severely reduced in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease caused by brain cell death. Currently there is no cure, but according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), we now know what may trigger it. Dr. Debbie Toiber, of the BGU Department of Life Sciences, and her team discovered that a specific protein-Sirtuin-6 (SIRT6)-is severely reduced in the brains of...
Gloria Yousha could not write her Scene Around column this week because she recently had heart surgery. She wanted to let everyone know she is doing fine in her recovery, and thanks all her well wishers. Her column will return next week....
"That doesn't belong here." Peter Gutensohn stared at the large tarnished sterling silver piece almost hidden in a dusty corner of Lanier's Historic Downtown Marketplace. Peter had come in to the antiques mall in Kissimmee, Florida, on an early spring day in 2016 to look for a silver serving platter for his wife, Kelly. He was a frequent visitor, often successful in his search for a specific old, beautiful object. And sometimes he bought interesting items "just because." A few years earlier,...
NEW YORK (JTA)-The Orthodox Union is founding its own division to advance women as congregational leaders, as well as to promote Jewish study and communal participation for women in Modern Orthodoxy. The announcement comes nearly nine months after the group, an umbrella association of centrist Orthodox synagogues, issued a ruling banning those synagogues from hiring women for clergy roles. The Department of Women's Initiatives, which will launch Nov. 1, aims to increase women's participation in...
The IDF struck three Syrian rocket launchers Saturday after five rockets from Syria entered the Israeli Golan Heights earlier that day, and as Iran’s military chief inked an agreement with Damascus pledging to combat “Zio-American schemes.” Meanwhile, Russia has reportedly agreed to slightly expand a buffer zone in southern Syria to prevent Iranian forces and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah from operating near the Jewish state. The IDF located four of the five projectiles fired from Syria into Israeli territory. While all of the rocke...
