Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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On Jan. 18, middle school students (6th-8th graders) from across the community are invited to attend a dance at the Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando's Harriett Lake Auditorium. The dance, which will be held from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., will feature a photo station, Junction 88 Productions DJ, emcee, games and snacks. The cost is $10 per person. Dress attire is encouraged. Six local Jewish organizations worked together to promote this event: BBYO Connect, Congregation Beth Am,...
LONGWOOD-Danny Siegel, poet, author and "Mitzvah Maven," will be the Scholar-in-Residence at Congregation Beth Am of Longwood for Shabbat Bo, Jan. 23-25, 2015. Siegel, probably the key Jewish leader associated with popularizing ideas like hands-on personalized tzedakah, recognizing "Mitzvah Heroes," promoting microphilanthropy (doing great good with small amounts of money) and tikkun olam, will share his ideas and inspire young and old. Siegel has authored 29 books on the topics of mitzvah and...
Temple Torat Emet, formerly Temple Torah of West Boynton Beach, announced that it will provide Central Florida Hillel with the gift of a Torah as a “permanent loan.” The Torah will be officially moving to the new home for CFH at Northview early this year. The gift marks the first time in known history that Jewish students in Central Florida will have their own Torah. “Due to the recent growth of Central Florida Hillel since opening its new building last year, there has been a dramatic increase in interest among students for access to a Torah...
(JTA)-An attack on the Paris headquarters of a French satirical magazine has left at least 12 people dead, including the Jewish caricaturist Georges Wolinski. Two of the reported fatalities in Wednesday's attack were police officers, according to the French daily newspaper Le Monde. Later reports said that one of the officers was Muslim. Ten others were wounded, five of them seriously. Details of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices are still sketchy, but witnesses said the three assailants...
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi calls for Islam to 'grow up' and join the 21st century in its "Islamic thinking" at the prestigious Al-Azhar University. Al-Azhar is the same location where President Obama gave his famous 2009 Cairo Speech insisting the two front row seats be assigned to Muslim Brotherhood members. General al-Sisi is saying the current Islamic thinking, based on the texts and Islamic Law, are "antagonizing the entire world." General al-Sisi understands that the current tr...
These will be the sounds being heard at the Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando's 11th Annual "Maj Madness" Mah Jongg Tournament to be held Sunday, Jan.25, 2015. The festivities will begin at 9:15 a.m. with registration and coffee, and the games will begin at 10 a.m. The tournament format will include four rounds following the National Mah Jongg League Official Rules of Play. Open to people of all playing levels, Maj Madness is $35 per person ($25 for JCC members) and includes...
Parenting is quite possibly the most difficult job in the world, yet it’s one for which most receive little or no preparation. Children do not come with instruction manuals, and the awesome responsibility of raising them to be well-adjusted, moral and productive members of society falls squarely on their parents’ shoulders. In order to help parents navigate the stormy waters of child-rearing, beginning Jan. 18, 2015 the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute will present The Art of Parenting, a new six-week winter course which explores parenting pri...
Beginning Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, Congregation of Reform Judaism invites all Jewish ninth through12th graders to participate in a 10-week course titled Facing History & Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior. Taught by director of Education, Sheryl Sacharoff, Ed. D, and Justin Sacharoff, and using resources from the internationally recognized organization Facing History and Ourselves, the class will explore how history is shaped by hatred, indifference, and denial, as well as by caring, compassion, and responsibility. The course will cover the...
As predictably as birds flying south for the winter, this week’s abominable terrorist attack on the headquarters of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, brought forth the usual burnt-out platitudes from those commentators who insist that Islamist violence is rooted in legitimate grievances with the West. One of the most heinous examples of this outwardly-nuanced, inwardly-confused discourse appeared in a piece for the Financial Times by Tony Barber. By the second paragraph, Barber was sagely counseling us not to jump to conclusions a...
Israel and Palestine are having another dance that may seem unreal, but is the essence of our relationship. Each is pressing on the other. Palestinians say they will bring charges against Israel for war crimes, overlooking the capacity of Israel to bring charges against Palestinians for war crimes. Israel is responding by withholding the taxes collected at the ports, levied by Palestine on imports. Palestinians may respond by postponing the payment of workers’ salaries, threatening an increase in unrest and violence. Palestinian extremists are...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Before the HarperCollins Middle East atlas story is deleted from email inboxes, it pays to spend another moment ruminating on the damage caused by companies that ought to know better. On its website, HarperCollins bills itself as “one of the world’s leading English-language publishers.” It has a storied brand and a list of top-notch authors going back some 200 years. It markets books in more than 150 countries on a wide range of subjects and boasts of having had 400 best-sellers in the past fiscal year. Among its offerin...
A major book publisher, deluged with criticism for leaving Israel off a map in its Middle East Atlas, has apologized and withdrawn the book from circulation. You don’t have to know the name of the publisher to know one thing for certain: it’s not the Palestinian Authority’s publishing division. Because if it were, there would be no outcry, no apology, no withdrawal. Why is there such a double standard? Before answering that question, let’s acknowledge the good news. HarperCollins, a major American publisher, this week apologized for omittin...
Critics of Israel periodically issue doomsday warnings about how the Jewish state will face international isolation if it does not quickly give in to Palestinian demands. Last week’s United Nations Security Council vote shows, once again, how wrong they are. Earlier this year, Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Israel’s reluctance to make more unilateral concessions would bring down upon it “an increasing delegitimization campaign.” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and other pundits likewise declared that Israel is increas...
Well known rights advocate, celebrated criminal attorney and Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz is under attack. An under-age girl claimed in court proceedings that she had sexual relations with him while she was a “sex slave” by businessman Jeffrey Epstein. Dershowitz, who is truly a master of media, knows all too well that the the court of public opinion works much quicker than the court of law; and he is not wasting any time firing back at his accuser. Time will tell whether or not he is guilty—but his character will be hurt regar...
Dear Editor: I had a non-Jewish girlfriend my first year at college some four decades ago. I remember being at her home one day and visiting with her and her mother. The mood was light and we were kidding one another, and then her mother said to me that I had the “map of Israel” on my face. Being caught off guard and not being familiar with the expression she tossed at me, I was at a loss for words. Sensing I had become uncomfortable, my girlfriend’s mother explained to me that I had a very Jewish looking face. She then assured me I was an at...
MORNING AND EVENING MINYANS (Call synagogue to confirm time.) Chabad of South Orlando—Monday and Thursday, 8 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 Israel—Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3055. FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 Light Shabba...
The Tri County Chapter of Hadassah (Lake, Marion and Sumter) was founded in 2010 by past-President Sheila Shayne with about 25-30 members, most if not all from The Villages, Florida. Today under the leadership of Sandee Bearison, the Tri County Chapter has grown to 286 members and has a vibrant and enthusiastic group of women. New members are joining continually and the chapter had its election of office bearers for 2015 at the Dec. 18 meeting at Providence Independence of Wildwood. Regional...
Congregation Sinai, Minneola, Fla., will present a free educational seminar titled Celebration of Life - Planning your Legacy on Sunday Feb. 8, 2015 from 2- 4:30 p.m. The entire community is invited to attend. This seminar’s goal is to help people make their final/legacy plans by providing information about options. Pre-need sales of memorial plaques at a reduced price, will also be available, good until Mar. 8, 2015. Anyone buying a memorial plaque will ensure that they or a loved one will be remembered with memorial services said for the n...
Rabbi Joshua Neely of Temple Israel will continue his series, "Conversations with the Rabbi," on Sunday, Jan. 25, 4 p.m., at Brown's New York Deli in Maitland. This month's topic is Jewish Criminals-Shame, Ignore or Defend? "Conversations" is a monthly program that gives community members a chance to meet and talk with Rabbi Neely in an intimate group setting. The uniqueness of this program is that it is always held outside of the synagogue, usually at a restaurant or bookstore (this month at...
The end of fall introduced the kindergarten students at the Jewish Academy of Orlando to the hibernation habits of many different animals. Science lessons answered inquires about the 5W's: who hibernates, what happens to animals when they hibernate, where they hibernate, when they hibernate, and why animals hibernate. To culminate the unit, the kindergarten students had a Hibernation Hoopla. During the Hoopla students in KA and KB were partnered up, given an animal (of the stuffed species),...
The Seeking Kin column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. BALTIMORE (JTA)-Early on the morning of Oct. 23, 1973, Arye David found himself on a hill deep in the Golan Heights beside the imposing Mount Hermon. Though it was still dark, the Israeli soldier from his perch above the road could see three of his army's tanks making their way up. The Yom Kippur War had started 17 days earlier with surprise coordinated attacks against Israel led by Egypt and Syria, and would end with a...
(JNS.org)—The American Historical Association (AHA) rejected two anti-Israel resolutions proposed by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement activists in a 144-55 vote at the association’s annual meeting on Sunday in New York. The resolutions, proposed by Historians Against the War (HAW), criticized Israeli policies but did not go as far as calling for a boycott of Israel. To become a member of HAW, which a separate entity from AHA, one must sign an online statement declaring opposition “to wars of aggression, military occup...
Mark Bernadiner, PhD., sent this article to the Heritage. This is a photo of a page from the Larousse French dictionary from 1939. In the appendix it lists all the then current flags of the world in alphabetical order. You'll notice that for Germany at that time the flag was the Nazi one replete with Zwastika, which proves that this was printed before 1945. Now, alphabetically, look for the Palestinian flag. Yes, there is one. What does it look like? Surprised? Oh, but you thought (Mandate...
"Where did I park the car?..." This is a question I asked my spouse once, as I was coming out of a shopping center. "Where did I park the car? I don't remember. I think I may have Alzheimer's disease," was the complete question I asked him. He responded, "It's not forgetting where you parked the car that indicates Alzheimer's... it's when you forget what to do with the car!" (He was right!) On the subject of Alzheimer's disease, the following comes directly from the "Health & Science page of...
(JNS.org)—The Palestinian Authority’s unilateral quest for statehood and other forms of recognition in the international arena is among 10 points illustrating why the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians are no longer valid, wrote Alan Baker, Israel’s former ambassador to Canada, in a new article for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) think tank. In a September 1993 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had stated that “all outstanding issues relating to permanent status...
