Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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By With new COVID variants, seemingly never-ending vaccines, mandates causing tensions between government and citizens, and travel restrictions forcing the separation of families and friends this winter, there is a prevalent feeling of uncertainty. The upcoming holiday of Tu B'shevat reminds us that despite it all, the Jewish people are always a nation with hope. Tu B'shevat, the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shevat, is a unique holiday. According to the Talmud (Rosh Hashana 2a), Tu B'Shevat...
(JTA) - Bob Saget, the comedian and actor famous for playing a wholesome sitcom father figure but who never lost his flair for raunchy comedy, has died at 65. Saget died shortly after performing in Orlando, where he had delivered a show with his trademark mashup of dark humor and dad jokes that he first developed while misbehaving in Hebrew school. Saget was found dead in his hotel room in Orlando. The cause of his death is unknown but police do not suspect drugs or foul play. Beth Shalom...
This past Thursday, Jeremy Gimpel, one of the founders of the Arugot Farm near Tekoa in Judea, received notice from the IDF that the vineyard that he and his partners planted on state land five years ago is slated to be demolished beginning on Jan. 16, on the week of Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish holiday when it’s customary to plant trees, except during the Shmita (Sabbatical) year. “Nothing like this has happened in Judea in more than 10 years,” said Gimpel, who is completely baffled by this order. “T...
The community is invited to join Congregation Ohev Shalom in honoring Cantor Allan Robuck's 30 years of service and dedication to the synagogue at the COS Gala on Sunday, March 6, 2022. The evening's highlight will be "From Bimah to Broadway," a concert by world-renowned vocalist and recording artist Cantor Azi Schwartz. Cantor Schwartz is the senior cantor of Park Avenue Synagogue, the largest Conservative community in New York City and the flagship of Jewish liturgical music in North America....
Marvin Friedman was called to the Torah for the second time in his life as a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, at Chabad of Greater Orlando. Friedman was first called to the Torah in 1955 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The following is a letter Friedman, a graduate of MIT, shared with MIT Hillel news. A renewal of my Jewish identity By Marvin Friedman I am 80 years old and just celebrated my second bar mitzvah. This was all about reestablishing my identity as a Jew. On Jan. 8, 2022, I was called to...
The Jewish Pavilion provides many services to those living in elder-care communities, and among them is hosting Shabbat services at places like Oakmonte Village at Lake Mary. Randi Cunningham, who has volunteered through the Jewish Pavilion at Oakmonte for six years, plays a role in making the services happen. She first started volunteering in September 2016 following her dad's move from South Florida to Oakmonte's assisted-living facility. Cunningham said she didn't want him to move to Central...
(JNS) — As details emerged from Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Dec. 28 meeting at his private residence in Rosh Ha’ayin with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, many Israelis were left in shock. According to various reports, Gantz had offered Abbas a series of “confidence-building measures” as described by the Israeli Defense Ministry, which included economic benefits to the P.A. with regard to VAT, import taxes and excise duties; a NIS 100 million ($32.2 million) loan; 1,100 entry permits for Palestinian businessmen; and dozens...
(JNS) — The British publisher of a children’s book about strong Middle Eastern women that included a map of the region with “Palestine” in place of Israel has removed the title from its website after complaints from pro-Israel groups. Author Wafa Tarnowski’s “Amazing Women of the Middle East: 25 Stories From Ancient Times to Present Day,” released by Pikku Publishing in the United Kingdom, had also provided teacher resources. “It is good news that the U.K. publisher has removed the book from sale,” said Caroline Turner, director of UK La...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister on Monday called for a diplomatic dialogue with the Palestinians, citing concerns that otherwise international organizations may designate Israel and apartheid state. In a press briefing, Lapid said the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet would soon convene to discuss a scenario in which the Palestinian Authority announced it was willing to start talks with Israel. Citing an “intelligence-based assessment,” he said that Israel should expect to see a significant increase in allegations from the Pales...
At the UN General Assembly last week, a large majority of member nations voted to lavishly fund a permanent inquisition against the Jewish state. The member states funded the operation of an “ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry,” against Israel. The commission, run by outspoken haters of Israel with long records of demonizing the State of Israel and its people, was formed by the UN Human Rights Council in a special session in May. Its purpose is to deny and reject Israel’s right to exist, its right to self-defense, its r...
There are bad people in this world who do bad things. Sometimes they’ll blow up buildings or shoot people in schools or burn down a police precinct or even violently riot at the U.S. Capitol. When these horrible crimes are committed, some of the questions we ask, especially with assaults on public buildings, are: How could we have prevented it? Was our security sufficient? Did we take the proper precautions? And yet, no one seems to be mentioning any of these crucial concerns as we review and analyze the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol by T...
News of prominent NYC business woman and Jewish philanthropist, Helene Fortunoff’s death brought back memories of working in the Fortunoff family business during my college years in the 1960s. Helene was the last of the second generation of matriarchs of a very successful family of retailers who created a mini-retail empire, a model and forerunner for the Walmart and Target stores, which today dominate the big box retail business Soon after graduation from high school in June 1960, I landed a summer job in a warehouse and housewares store o...
David Leonhardt wrote an opinion article in the New York Times Morning Newsletter on Tuesday titled “No Way to Grow Up” in which he posited that “Americans have accepted more harm to children in exchange for less harm to adults.” This ‘sacrifice’ is precisely the attitude that the Israelites had when sacrificing their children to the Canaanite diety Molloch an Israeli rabbi charges. “American children are starting 2022 in crisis,” Leonhardt wrote. “I have long been aware that the pandemic was upending children’s lives. But until I spent time pu...
By now, Dr. Fauci’s Covid “fearspeak” has become background noise. Yes, the new “Omicron” variant is making its way around the world. Fortunately, reports from South Africa as well as other studies indicate that Omicron’s illness is milder than Delta. Even Fauci-friendly public health physicians have cautioned that there is “absolutely no reason to panic.” In 2022, we should panic because opioid overdoses took the lives of 100,000 fellow Americans from April 2020 to April 2021—an increase of 28 percent from the same period the year before....
MORNING MINYANS (Please note, because of the coronavirus, some minyans have been canceled or held virtually.) Chabad of North Orlando and Chabad of Altamonte Springs are holding in-person minyans. 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. Congr...
(JTA) — At least 90,000 descendants of Sephardic Jews have become citizens of Portugal or Spain since 2015, when those countries passed laws offering a naturalization process for such applicants, according to the most updated information data from the two countries. The laws were meant to atone for the Inquisition, a campaign of religious persecution unleashed at the end of the 15th century on the hundreds of thousands of Jews who had inhabited the Iberian Peninsula and flourished there. Spain has received at least 153,000 applications for citi...
(JNS) — As Lebanon’s citizens deal with a collapsing economy and a paralyzed government, murmurings of dissatisfaction with Hezbollah, Iran’s terror proxy in Beirut, have begun to surface. But experts say it is unrealistic to believe Hezbollah’s iron grip on the country will loosen. These simmering tensions were expressed even more publicly in a televised speech made by Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Dec. 27, when he called for a “national dialogue” to confront the country’s political and social issues. Aoun warned that Lebanon was ...
(JNS) — After the University of Southern California was included in the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Global Anti-Semitism 2021 Top Ten list, the school responded on Wednesday by condemning both anti-Semitism in all its forms and the threatening tweets by a student leader that led to the distinction. USC board of trustees Chairman Rick Caruso said that “the board of trustees together with [University] President [Carol] Folt unequivocally rejects antisemitism. We explicitly condemn and denounce tweets calling for the killing of Jews. This kind of ha...
(JTA) — In recent years, some “Harry Potter” fans have reconsidered their love for the series in light of the controversy surrounding its author J.K. Rowling, who has been criticized for comments about the transgender community. But after the release of an HBO special last week that celebrates the “Harry Potter” movies’ 20th anniversary, some are critiquing the series for a different reason: the inclusion of goblin characters that run the wizarding world’s bank. In the “Harry Potter” world, Gringott’s Bank, the bank that serves wizards and wher...
I feel heartsick ... Don't forget... I write this column almost two weeks in advance of your reading it. So... it is January 1st and I just watched "Fiddler On The Roof" for the third time. It was featured on television and that's what I do most of my spare time, watch television! Getting back to "heartsick": Although I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and my dad was born in Brooklyn also ... and my mom was born in Montreal, Canada, I know my ancestry is Russian and Polish. Actually, my maternal...
(JNS) — A new procedure through which Sephardic Jews of Portuguese origin can apply for Portuguese citizenship is expected to eliminate cumbersome paperwork by going digital. Portugal has taken an active role in fostering Jewish life since 2015, and part of this effort included passing a law granting Portuguese nationality to Jews of families from traditional Sephardic communities whose ancestors had been expelled in the 15th century. This move came as Portugal seeks to atone for what became known as the Inquisition. Chelsea FC soccer team o...
Time, in its essence, is an unceasing flow on which human beings have imposed meaning with arbitrary divisions and markers — years, months, weeks, days, minutes, and seconds. These units of time serve as measures for human activity in education, commerce, leisure, agriculture, and religion. Jewish time grew out of God’s imposition of order on the primeval chaos. First, God separated the light from darkness, creating day and night. Then, as a reflection of God’s cycle of creation and rest, the work week was differentiated from Shabbat. Later...
Sally Dreyer Lessure passed away on Jan. 3, 2022, in Orlando. She was born in Saginaw, Michigan on Jan. 18, 1927, the daughter of Jake and Reva Dreyer. Sally lived her adult life and raised her family in Cincinnati. She was happily married to Louis Lessure for 65 years. They were ballroom dancers and loved to dance and travel. Sally taught deaf children at Clifton School and Hamilton County Schools for over 50 years. She enjoyed cooking and baking, and her home was always a place for friends...
TEL AVIV (JTA) – For years, only those with special permission could visit the climate-controlled repositories of the Jerusalem Cinematheque to see the moving pictures held in the Israel Film Archive. But following a massive digitization effort, anyone with an internet connection can now watch the footage. "We're at the fun part where we can share this treasure with the public," says Noa Regev, director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque. Following a $10 million project that began in 2015 to p...
After US pushback, Israel is reportedly reviewing its close ties with China By Jordyn Haime (JTA) — Israel has pledged to keep the Biden administration in the loop on major deals with China and would reconsider those deals if the United States raises opposition, Haaretz reported on Monday. Both the Biden administration and the Trump administration have raised concerns about growing ties between Israel and China as the latter’s relationships with the United States and European countries have soured. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sul...
